2462  Watching tango.

Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 08:42:36 -0700
From: Rick McGarrey <rickmcg@FLASH.NET>
Subject: Watching tango.

Great social tango dancers have the ability to express the music with their
bodies. This is a deceptively simple concept. How do they do it? In skiing,
I had a coach who would say that if you can't see it, you can't ski it. He
spent hundreds of hours looking at videos of the best racers, and learning to
identify the mechanics of great skiing.

Of course, finding great ski racers is easy. You just film the ones on the
World Cup with the fastest time. But finding the best social tango dancers is
not so easy. You might think the famous performers are the ones to film- but
they are not. They are good at performing, but not at finding inspiration on
the social dance floor. I spent several years looking and filming in BsAs,
before I really began to get the best ones. I was able to find and get
permission to film them mainly because my partner Alejandra knows and dances
with them all. But in time, I began to learn what to look for. If you can't
see it, you can't dance it- so here are a couple of things I learned. If you
practice it, I think you may begin to see tango a little differently.

First, block out the upper bodies with your hand, and look only at the feet.
This is what many people do naturally. I see a lot of videos, where the camera
shows just the feet, and also a lot of people in milongas looking at the feet.
I think most of them are trying to find new steps, or patterns to learn.
That's okay, but it is misleading- and it is really a small part of tango.
There are more important things to look for. One is how the foot contacts the
floor. This can be complicated, and I won't discuss it now- but the second is
easier. Watch the cadence of the steps. You can either tap your fingers, or
just say bop, bop under your breath. The best dancers will be stepping in
varying rhythms that express the music very well - and also leading their
partner in separate and equally creative rhythms. They are like drummers
playing along with the music, hitting different fast runs and pauses. Few
dancers do this, but if you find it, you have found a good dancer.

The feet, however, are only part of the story. Now block out the lower body,
and look at what's happening. With the best dancers, you can even block out
everything but the head. If you find a true master, you will see a movement
that is such a beautiful interpretation of what is happening with the melody,
and the cadences of the different instruments, that the head seems to be
bobbing and flowing and weaving around the floor as if it is being driven by
the waves of sound coming from the orchestra. This movement has infinite
variety, it is personal, and it is the true art of tango. And of course it is
what the milongueras feel when they dance with the best. But if you can't see
it, you can't begin to work on it.