4456  Sense of dance

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 19:09:56 -0700
From: "Igor Polk" <ipolk@virtuar.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Sense of dance

Sense of dance.

Sense of dance !

This is most important thing for dancing. What it is? I am not competent to
answer that. I only know that it means experience joy of dance, joy of
movement with music, joy of being a musical instrument themselves.

That is what many women can not find in classes, but find on the dance
floor.
Men there make them feel the dance, help them obtain this fascinating Sense
of Dance.

That is why some of them do not go to classes any more. Why?
Sense of dance should be a true goal of all classes. They have found it.

But this is a trap. Men progress. And they want to experience dance trance
on higher level. So they drop those who do not progress with them. ( That is
a critical, I would say, hypothetical description. Just a model ).
Fortunately for women, I see that most women progress on the dance floor
faster then men.

For men it is different. There is no one to make them dance. They supposed
to make the dance themselves for their partner. Some women can give them
hints, but men must be very sensitive, observant, and well developed in many
ways to learn right on the dance floor. Generally speaking, they should
already have the sense of dance. Then they will be able to find how to apply
it to tango. If not - they should seek for the sense of dance where it is
taught and developed - professional dancing schools, or may be somewhere
else, I do not know..

I remember some workshops where teachers were able to convey the sense of
dance in application to tango. It includes Ruben Milonga, Paulo Arojo,
Miriam Larici and Hugo Patyn, I remember privates with Brigitta Winkler. I
am sure everyone can remember this sort of workshops when one felt a great
sense of achievement, joy, and sense that they really danced there.

Main tapes for me for that were Tete, Marta Anthon, and Juan Bruno. I am
sure there are many more. But it does not happen always. It is a subtle
thing. As much as on a teacher skill, it depends on the crowd and in what
half the moon is. So for women it is really much easier to find it on the
dance floor.


It is a very difficult task for teachers. Some of the people coming to
workshops have sense of dance, but most - not. It should be easy to convey
everything to people with the sense of dance, but most of them are busy
dancing :). And for those with little developed sense of dance, all the
material is essentially useless. This is a dilemma ! I hope understanding
the situation will help.




Igor

PS
Jonathan,

My advice was for those who can not find satisfaction in the tango classes
to be able to dance better on the dance floor. ( Or dance at all )

If there is a mountain, you do not have to climb, you can find a way around.

But do not worry. Most of those people does not understand it and they do
not read Tango-L, and especially my humble messages. So they will continue
with their tango classes.

Your mentioning of "Authentic Movement classes. Also classes in
improvisation, Contact Improvisation and a class based on the dance movement
of Suprapto Suryodarmo." is, probably in line what I wanted to convey. I
just do not know about these schools, so thank you for bringing it here.

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 19:58:36 -0700
From: "Jonathan Thornton" <obscurebardo@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Sense of dance
To: "Igor Polk" <ipolk@virtuar.com>
Cc: tango-l@mit.edu
<f9247e8a0607051958k299b47e0p157b5c21ed95041@mail.gmail.com>

On 7/5/06, Igor Polk <ipolk@virtuar.com> wrote:

For men it is different. There is no one to make them dance. They supposed

> to make the dance themselves for their partner. Some women can give them
> hints, but men must be very sensitive, observant, and well developed in
> many
> ways to learn right on the dance floor. Generally speaking, they should
> already have the sense of dance. Then they will be able to find how to
> apply
> it to tango. If not - they should seek for the sense of dance where it is
> taught and developed - professional dancing schools, or may be somewhere
> else, I do not know..

Igor,

I'll see if I can find a way to put this into words. Women can inspire men
from their own internal power expressed in a very feminine way.

My first experience of cabeceo had nothing to do with tango. I was a
teenager and it was a small afternoon dance at a summer camp. I was standing
with some guys trying to feel comfortable by hiding out in the group. Did I
feel her eyes on me? Or did I just notice the intent way she looked at me. I
think I looked away and yet had to look once again. I don't even know why
but I found myself walking across the floor. I stood in front of her and she
looked at me. I was embarrassed and ill at ease. I had no idea what to do.
Maybe she looked at the dance floor, I don't recall. It was that I couldn't
think of anything else to do once I was there but to ask her to dance. My
very rudimentary swing steps were entirely forgettable. The point to the
story was I did the walking and the asking, but who really initiated this
whole interaction?

Chinese wisdom says at the heart of yang is yin and at the heart of yin is
yang. At the core of aggressive male yang orientation is this receptivity
that calls it into action. At the core of receptive female yin orientation
is this intention which can galvanize action.

When a woman uses her yang center power to call forth while at the same time
being receptive to the man and a man uses his yin receptive center to
respond with yang expression one can experience a reciprocal balanced
completeness. It's definitely two way communication. The man just doesn't
create the dance for the woman nor does the woman passively follow the man.
Their style and way of contributing is different but the responsibility for
the creation is mutual. They both contribute and both benefit and sometimes
the dance becomes more than merely the sum of their contributions. It
becomes something greater than their individuality.

This is an awkward attempt to convey something but it's the clearest I've
ever been able to put it, though I'm afraid that is not saying much.

Jonathan Thornton

>

--
"The tango can be debated, and we have debates over it,
but it still encloses, as does all that which is truthful, a secret."
Jorge Luis Borges