Tango is not only a fascinating dance but also a fascinating philosophy, culture and lifestyle. The search of tango is the search of connection, love, fellowship, unity, harmony and beauty, i.e., an idealism that is not consistent with the dehumanizing reality of the modern world. The world divides us into individuals, but tango unites us into a team, community and species. In tango we are not individualists, feminists, nationalists, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but interconnected and interdependent members of the human family. Tango calls us to tear down the walls, to build bridges, and to regain humanity through affinity, altruism, cooperation, and accommodation. It is a dance that teaches the world to love.



January 27, 2011

Walk


The traditional tango pedagogy put a lot of emphasis on walk. In those days tango masters spent an extended length of time teaching walk before they started any figure. There are good reasons for that. First, tango is a walking dance. No other dance uses so much walk in the dance as tango does. Second, there is a correlation between walk and dance. Those who can walk well usually dance well. Those who do not dance well, their walk usually sucks. Third, walk is the simplest step in all steps, yet it is the foundation upon which other steps evolved. If one can't do the simplest step right, it is unlikely that he/she can do complex steps well, and their problems usually can be traced back to walk. Finally, because walk is the simplest step, it can be used to train other basic skills such as embrace, posture, connection, communication, balance, dissociation and musicality. People new to tango can't evenly distribute their attention to all aspects when learning complex movements. They need to develop good embrace, posture, connection, communication, balance, dissociation and musicality before learning figures, not after or at the same time. In order to train these basic skills, the exercise needs to be kept simple, and walk is a perfect way to achieve that.

The subpar quality of our tango is due in many ways to the insufficient walk training. American culture holds that learning must be fun and painless. Our schools have the most entertaining environment and least homework. Our teachers do not want to bore students with dull drills, and our pupils want to get fancy before they can walk, which they think they can already.

Nothing is farther from the truth. You look normal only till people see you try to learn walk in tango. In fact, everybody looks clumsy and funny in their first tango walk. That's because walking chest against chest with a partner in close embrace isn't something people usually do. You are uncomfortable of being intimate with a stranger. You feel awkward to walk backwards in a leaning posture. Your body is stiff, heavy and unbalanced. You do not step on the beat. Your leg does not reach back far enough. Your toes are frequently stepped on by your partner. Your behind sticks up and knees bend too much. You bounce up and down like a grasshopper, or wobble side to side like a chimpanzee. You fail to dissociate your upper and lower body when walk on the side of your partner. You break the embrace and drag your partner out of his/her balance… Until you regain your comfortable zone in the embrace, you are not ready for the next step. That is why walk is so important. It is simple. It keeps you focused. In fact, it is not just walk. It is about everything fundamental - embrace, posture, connection, musicality, balance, stability, flexibility, lightness, dissociation, communication, elegance and harmony. (See Women's Walk in Tango.)





2 comments:

  1. Paul, so right and well said!
    I should print out this post and hand it to every one of our beginning students.
    Bravo!
    Besos,
    Cherie y Ruben

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  2. I thought I had learned how to walk when I was younger. Little did I know that I had to learn how to walk again to learn Tango. I was told about learning how to walk in Tango but did not realize just how important it is.

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