2224  Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part II, continued)

Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 17:38:58 -0800
From: Evan Wallace <evanw@INGENIUX.COM>
Subject: Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part II, continued)

[Continued from previous posting entitled "Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part I)"]

3. Partnering Skills

A. Crowded floors demand the ability to dance close--not all the time, but certainly some of the time. This is a skill that lead and follow =
need to have in their repertoire. When space is tight, a closer embrace lets the partnership take up less space, and gives the lead more =
positive control over the partnership to make rapid direction changes.

B. A lead's primary responsibility is to the safety of his follow. It is usually the follows who get injured in dancing since they are often =
walking backwards, are often on the outside of circular movements, often have their eyes closed, and usually are wearing less substantial shoes.

C. The follow has a role in dancing responsibly on crowded floors as well:

i) The follow should keep her feet under her, where they are less likely to trip someone.

ii) No high boleos on a crowded floor. (One could argue that this is really a leader's issue;, i.e., never lead a boleo if there is any =
chance that it could hit someone. Assume that any boleo, no matter how softly led, could be made vigorously and high.)

iii) The follow should provide consistency in the connection with the lead so that the lead may change the speed and direction of the =
partnership quickly and definitively.

iv) Navigation: If the follow's eyes are closed as is common in the close embrace, there is not much she can be expected to do. However, if =
her eyes are open, she is not likely to want to be crashed into another couple or a table without warning you. How should the follow convey =
information of an impending collision to the lead?


4. Vocabulary

A. There are elements of vocabulary that work better than others on crowded floors. The Tango of crowded floors cannot be a dance of =
patterns, and cannot even be a dance of one step. It must be a dance of the next inch and the next fraction of a second. Dancers must be able to =
totally change what is happening at any point in any part of a step. If your body mechanic is such that you are committed to finishing a step =
once you have begun it, you are dancing irresponsibly if the floor is crowded.

B. Use rotation in combination with direction changes to get visual information about the state of the dance floor. For example, checking =
forward with left, and rocking back onto the right while rotating to the left gives the lead a clear view of where his left foot will land on the =
subsequent open step to the left. Similarly, checking forward with the left while rotating right allows the leader to see into what had =
previously been his blind spot (especially in the close embrace), while ensuring that the subsequent weight change to the right will be onto a =
spot on the floor which a fraction of a second before was visually verified as free.

***

Lastly and most importantly, teachers should try to convey to their students by word and deed that crowded floors are can be fun and =
beautiful to dance on. We tend to teach little awareness of the other couples on the floor, except as pesky objects to be avoided, like tables =
and chairs. But the other couples on the floor, if they are similarly aware of the joy of dancing with other couples, can provide wonderful =
opportunities for expression, creativity, and enjoyment that are not available on empty or disorderly floors. On a crowded floor, you can =
play with other couples, and key off of their movements. You take advantage of the spaces they leave you; and you must improvise quickly =
when those spaces are taken away. On a crowded, well-behaved floor, the sum is greater than the parts. There is an uncanny, unspoken unison of =
motion, like a school of fish, turning simultaneously this way or that, each taking the subtle clues from their neighbors as to which way to go. =
When it works, it is beautiful and exhilarating.

If we do not teach our students to value this kind of interaction on the dance floor, then all of the skills in the world will not help them.

I welcome your feedback.

Evan Wallace
Seattle, WA
www.Tango42.biz
evan@tango42.biz

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 12:07:49 -0800
From: Robert Hauk <robhauk@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: Re: Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part II, continued)

Hey everybody,

I Couldn't agree more with Evan on this point. Often the discussion
about navigation and dance floor etiquette makes it all sound like a
bunch of restrictive rules and nothing more.

The rules are guidelines so that everyone can share the floor. The main
reason we want to share the floor this way is that it is so much fun. I
have had some of the very best times dancing on very crowded floors.
When the floor is crowded you end up interacting with the couples around
you. The followers don't really participate in this, except to make
sure they are keeping their feet under them, and their boleos on the
floor and such. Leaders have to interract though, because they are
sharing the space. When I see the guy ahead of me do something that
needs a little more space, I give it to him. Then I may get the same
from him when I need it.

I have experienced very crowded dance floors in Buenos Aires, where
mostly older dancers went. Those guys had the skill to share a very
crowded space, and still dance very creatively. It was amazing to dance
among them because you never had to worry about getting bumped. I
remember a place, now long gone, the milonga was called Pavadita. Maybe
some people on the list remember it. You could dance there for 6 hours
and not get so much as touched. It was the most crowded floor I have
ever danced on. It was so crowded that all the dancers on the floor
would fall into a similar phrasing of moving and stopping. All movement
had that collective quality because there wasn't room for anything
else. Still you had room to do much more than just shuffle your feet.
You could turn and do anything, as long as you could control where it
went as you did it. If you could turn in place you could do it there,
it was amazing. Because everyone had to move together the whole floor
could fall into a groove that could take everyone to tango heaven at the
same time.

Sometimes the DJ would play an especially good tanda, and at the end
there would be this wonderful silence as couples held their embrace for
a few extra seconds, as everyone slowly woke up from the experience.
You would realize that everyone had been in the tango trance at the same
time. I have only seen that happen on a really crowded floor. When
there is room for everyone to move on their own some people get there
and some don't. It seems to require that everyone moves together for
everyone to share that same deep experience at the same time.

That is why we should navigate well, and learn to share the dance floor
well. There is a wonderful experience that can only happen when we do.
It is better than dancing on an empty floor.

Thank you Evan for bringing this up.

Robert




Evan Wallace wrote:

> Lastly and most importantly, teachers should try to convey to their students by word and deed that crowded floors are can be fun and beautiful to dance on. We tend to teach little awareness of the other couples on the floor, except as pesky objects to be avoided, like tables and chairs. But the other couples on the floor, if they are similarly aware of the joy of dancing with other couples, can provide wonderful opportunities for expression, creativity, and enjoyment that are not available on empty or disorderly floors. On a crowded floor, you can play with other couples, and key off of their movements. You take advantage of the spaces they leave you; and you must improvise quickly when those spaces are taken away. On a crowded, well-behaved floor, the sum is greater than the parts. There is an uncanny, unspoken unison of motion, like a school of fish, turning simultaneously this way or that, each taking the subtle clues from their neighbors as to which way to go. When it works, it
> is beautiful and exhilarating.

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 22:31:29 -0500
From: WHITE 95 R <white95r@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part II, continued)

----Original Message Follows----

Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2004 21:15:01 -0800
From: Robert Hauk <robhauk@TELEPORT.COM>
Subject: Re: Teaching the Tango of Tight Spaces (Part II, continued)

Manuel,

What you say is also true. I think those that live in Buenos Aires
would agree that there is a spectrum there as well. La Viruta/La
Estrella has exactly the reputation you describe. It is the place to go
to get kicked and stepped on all night. What I was describing is the
other end of the spectrum, the places attended by the older and much
more experienced dancers. What I wanted to point out is that, in fact
it is possible to have great experiences on very crowded floors. My
experience proved it to me, and I would hate for that to be lost when
the older dancers are gone. I would also like to see it happen here in
the states as well. I think it is possible, but to get there people
need to know it is fun, and conducive to a wonderful experience.

I am not sure how many milongas like the old Pavadita exist now. That
was five years ago, and that is a long time. I think Lo de Celia can be
like that. On a good night El Beso reminds me of it.

We have to think about what we want for the future. We can have
relatively empty dance floors if we quit bringing people to tango and
keep it a secret. Then with no new people we will always have space to
dance without getting bumped, and since people will get more skilled
every year, things should improve. I want to be able to dance tango
when I am too old to want to organize a milonga so this solution isn't
going to work.

We could start more milongas to make more room. We would, however, have
to assign people to the respective milongas or else everyone will try to
go to the most popular milonga and we will have crowded floors all over
again.

We could give everyone numbers when they come through the door and make
the rule that you can only dance when your number comes up. I doubt
that many people would go for that though.

My point is that we are going to have to learn to navigate well if tango
is to continue to grow. Consider the big festivals around the country.
They already have crowded dance floors and many people don't handle it
well, generating this same discussion again and again. If we work at
navigating there is a big reward when we all get together. We will all
be able to share the dance floor and maybe 300 of us can experience
tango heaven together. That would be so wonderful. We will always have
times of the night when there is more room. No need to give up dancing
with more space than is needed. It would be nice though if it was
possible for people to dance well on a crowded floor when we all find
ourselves together in the same room.

The rules of the dance floor aren't just a bunch of boring rules. They
make it possible for us to all enjoy this dance and share it with as
many people as possible. If we can do that we may have the chance to
dance tango 30 years from now. I want that!

Many happy tangos,

Robert


Manuel wrote:

> Anyway, I was thinking of your post and I remember perhaps a counterpoint to
> your lovely description. I remember going to a milonga in BsAs it was either
> La estrella or La viruta (same room, different day). Anyway, the crowded
> floor was there, as well as the music, ect. But I'm here to tell you that it
> was a disaster. some dancers were inconsiderate and rude, they elbowed and
> pusehd their way around and it was a very unpleasant experience. Those
> dancers were no better and perhaps worse than any other dancers I've seen in
> other places. I think it's easy to romanticize certain places and memories
> have a funny way to conform with what we want them to be sometimes.....
> Frankly, I've generally found that the dancing is more pleasant and the
> floor easier to manage when the floor is not overcrowded.