2715  Milonguero Vs. Close Embrace Salon

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 14:02:14 -0600
From: Paul Akmajian & Karen Reck <paulnkaren@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Re: Milonguero Vs. Close Embrace Salon

This post is from Karen:

Bernhard wrote:

> that's a pretty accurate description of Susanna Miller dancing, no elegance at
> all. But watching Alicia Pons dancing is such a contrast and treat - there is
> plenty of elegance and joyful energy.

I understand Bernhard's observation, while not agreeing with it. (And Susana
has heard/read worse.)

I find great joy in both watching & dancing with Susana, because she is so
on & in the music, so grounded, and so connected to her partner, dancing
heart-to-heart. She is not inelegant to me.

Jenny DeBouzek (another US instructor for the Progress Report list) & I are
organizers in NM who host Susana, Alicia & Cacho. Our classes are also the
source of Bernhard's experience with these instructors.

Susana, Alicia & Cacho have different teaching methodologies, yet each is
Milonguero. I find elegance in each approach. Each dances with the shared
axis, "heart-to-heart." We encourage students to accept an instructor's
approach while in their respective classes, then to experiment & choose what
works for them. Some students find these differences if not fully
reconcilable, at least interesting; others find them confusing (&
occasionally confounding).

All three instructors stress coming through the center between steps, but
this ranges from an emphasis on what was commonly called "collecting" or
"brushing through," which places an (at least visual) emphasis on the
ankles, to a more natural-to-walking brushing of thighs. I see the man's
stance (at "rest"/between steps) as more open for stability, while the woman
has a calves-together stance as a natural outcome of transfer of weight
between the standing & "hanging" leg. Together the couple creates a stable
tripod.

Each to their own elegance,
Karen Reck
Albuquerque, NM