We start by looking at your posture and alignment during the pivot, and how to use the dissociation to pivot.

Why are they important?

• The posture and alignment:
• It’s very common for tango students to lose their posture when pivoting, which throws them off-balance. If you feel wobbly when you are pivoting, it could be the reason as this is one of the most common tango mistakes. We want to help you correct your posture, so you are grounded throughout the dance.

• The dissociation:
• The Dissociation helps you be more controlled and precise in your pivoting, and, as a result, more connected. Also, it helps you create movements that come organically from your embrace, so you are moving “as one” with your partner.

In this exercise, we show you how to practice the pivot with a perfect posture and dissociation, so you are always grounded and connected in the dance.

Here, we are helping you find more Power in your pivots.

Why is it important?

In tango, power comes from 2 things:

• Our core muscles
• The “release” of the spiral in our body created by the dissociation 

When dancers are still learning, they have a tendency to “look for” power from other parts of their bodies and contract them.

Usually, these body parts are the joints (hips, knees, toes) and, most importantly, the embrace.

This creates an uncomfortable experience for our partners.

So, our goal is to help you use the power of dissociation, so that you can relax the rest of the body and offer a comfortable, grounded embrace to your partner.

Let’s practice this with this exercise. It is similar to the one before, but we go a bit deeper…

We’re soooo excited about what we are sharing with you here.

We are decomposing the forward ocho, inviting you to “do then correct” the most common Forward Ocho mistakes.

Why this is important:

We know that you know the ocho… You might even already practice them at home on your own.

(and if that’s the case, we commend you :), this is great!)

However, we see many common mistakes which, if left uncorrected, can become bad habits. And as you know, bad habits in the dance are incredibly hard to get rid of!

So, let’s make sure you’re practicing in the best possible way.

In this video, we are decomposing the forward ocho… you’ll see, it’s quite fun!

In this exercise, we are decomposing and practicing the back ocho with you.

And if the back ocho is a movement you dread, fear not!

We’ll show you how you can make it feel fluid and balanced.

Why this is important:

The back ocho is a challenging movement, where dancers (leaders & followers) have a tendency to lose their balance.

If it is the case for you, know that it is very common.

But unfortunately, when you lose your balance in the dance, you tense up the upper body, and your embrace becomes uncomfortable for your partner.

(And if you’re anything like us, you probably don’t want that!)

So, let’s help you find balance and fluidity in the back ocho.

This is going to be fun; we promise!

We’ll invite you to do the most common mistakes we usually see, then correct them with us, so you understand where you stand, and what to work on.

We’ve worked with you on having a perfect dissociation technique, adding power to your pivots, and decomposing the forward and back ochos…

Now, let’s bring on the Super-Fun!

Here, we are helping you find fluidity when going from forward and to back ochos.

This is where you reap the reward of all the focused technique work you have done so far.

We are working with you on a simple-but oh-so-good exercise that will help you find fluidity between the back and forward ochos.

Remember, pivoting in one direction or the other is something we do all the time in tango, which is why you want to practice it at home.