5320  Structure vs. technique (formerly I wanna buy a

Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 10:59:26 -0800 (PST)
From: "Trini y Sean (PATangoS)" <patangos@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Structure vs. technique (formerly I wanna buy a
tango book)
To: Victor Bennetts <Victor_Bennetts@infosys.com>,
mekimdung@tang-go.net, "tango-l@mit.edu" <tango-l@mit.edu>

Hi Victor,

I'm curious as to whether the book you recommend talks
about the structure of the steps as opposed to tango
technique. Most books or websites deal with the former and
not the latter. I think this difference is where many of
us have issues.

When I think of tango technique, I think of the quality of
movement. There is so many layers to this, I don't think
it's possible to write a book to do it justice.

I have to agree with Krasimir's review of the instuctor in
question. I only saw the first video, but he wasn't using
his whole body as one unit to produce elegance and grace.
This is what I look for in studying technique. But I'm
sure he doesn't present himself as the know-all of tango
technique but is merely sharing his love and knowledge of
the dance.

Which leave us with the question of what exactly does the
original poster want - structure or technique?

Trini

--- Victor Bennetts <Victor_Bennetts@infosys.com> wrote:

>
> Krasimir, I don't find your response rude because it is
> not a personal attack. So far as I am concerned,
> criticism is fine and helpful, just so long as it is
> directed to the post and not the person.
>
> I agree with everything you say, but don't think this
> means the book is worthless. I just said the book had
> some good stuff in it IMHO, nothing about the author's
> videos or if he can dance. If you look on the amazon
> listing it is recommended by at least one well known US
> dancer who can dance really well and it was on the
> strength of that recommendation that I bought it. The
> book covers all the common figures like ochos, giros,
> boleos, ganchos so would be a good reference just to give
> you a catalogue of what is generally considered to be the
> tango repertoire. And I liked the guy's attitude, saying
> things like the 8 step basic wont teach you how to dance
> tango. I don't see why a bad dancer (if he is bad, I
> don't know) can't write a good book. You can be an
> armchair general and write a great biography of Napoleon
> without actually commanding an army in the field can't
> you?
>

PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh?s most popular social dance!
https://patangos.home.comcast.net/




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Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 11:24:08 +1100
From: Victor Bennetts <Victor_Bennetts@infosys.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Structure vs. technique (formerly I wanna buy a
tango book)
To: "'Trini y Sean (PATangoS)'" <patangos@yahoo.com>,
"tango-l@mit.edu" <tango-l@mit.edu>
<EBAF6BD07D1C6C42AF55D51893B4C6DA0256643A60@AUSMELMBX01.ad.infosys.com>



The book 'a passion for tango' goes into the whole deal, a bit of a brain dump from the author who also teaches. Like I said, I don't agree with everything in it, but it is far from worthless and many of the ideas are sound based on what I know of tango. There may just be a gap between ability and understanding. For instance, I knew from my first tango lesson that you need to lead with the chest, but it took me three years and (more importantly) a trip to BsAs to really understand what that means. I can't see the videos at all for the moment so can't comment. To me the main attraction of the book is - it is readily and easily available. However, now we have so many recommendations of other books (and my Spanish is a little better) I am going to have to dust off the credit card... Actually if anyone is interested, Amazon has a quite a few reviews of the book I mentioned and I am sure they go into much more detail than what I can give as it has been some time since I picked it!
up - too much to practice right now from all those teachers in BsAs :-).

Victor Bennetts

>Hi Victor,

>I'm curious as to whether the book you recommend talks
>about the structure of the steps as opposed to tango
>technique.

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