One of the joys of tango is meeting people from different tango communities and learning from them.
Yesterday, we met a lovely couple from Mumbai, who explained to me that in India today the tandas last only for 3 temas: “Because people don’t know many steps, so the women get bored otherwise”.
Understated dancing
It got me thinking about how we dance here, and if I ever get bored of simple steps. What I like about Tango is that generally, the more experienced the dancer, the simpler the dance is. Nothing fancy. The thrill is in the walking, in the musicality, in the embrace. Understated dancing at its best*
By comparison, some dancers with less experience will tend to do A LOT. Enroques, sacadas, turns-turns-turns, little walking, no pauses… I understand that they’d worry that the woman would get bored… but newsflash:
If a woman is bored when there is music and a leader who is doing his best, then it’s her responsibility, not yours.
And also, too many steps go in the way of the dancing.
Doing too much
When a dancer wants to do too much, the movements are often rushed. They are not done with the music. The man loses his axis, so the lady spends much of the tanda trying to compensate and keep hers – with no energy left to think about the music.
It is the same when women desperately want to add embellishment: we get so focused on our speed, our own movement. It is often done at the expense of musicality, axis and connection – or even axis.
A good, musical walk in a connected is so wonderful I sometimes wonder why people ever need to learn anything else…
Finish your movements
Yet even when the dance is simple and powerful, the quality of movements can always be improved. In my ballet classes, the teacher always used to tell us to ‘finish our movements’. When she said that, our turns and our balance improved.
Applied to tango, this is a like a magic trick: whatever I dance – simple walk or complicated sequences – simply thinking about ‘finishing the movements’ give our dancing an extra oomph.
Quality. Perfect axis. Better connection. Cleaner ochos.
Pablo tells me that he can feel the impact on our connection. And I feel much more empowered as a follower.
Forever with me when I dance.
*Same as luxury products! The higher you go in range, the LESS you can see from the outside. But when you try on the dress/suit/shoes, you can feel the love, care and time it took to make. Bottega Veneta vs. Armani.