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.



April 19, 2014

Cadencia and the Flow of Tango


When we dance tango our body oscillates as our weight shifts from one foot to the other. The oscillation can be enhanced by accelerating the motion of the body. This technique is called cadencia. It feels like riding back and forth on a swing, which is a cozy feeling for both dancers but especially for the woman, as she is the one being swayed by the man.

The man swings the woman's body to one side and then to the other side alternately. Since their torsos are connected in the embrace, the woman needs to swivel her hips after each swing to allow him to reverse the swing in the opposit diraction. (See Dissociation and Gear Effect.)

In fact, that is how ocho is danced. When teaching ocho, tango teachers often emphasize dissociation or the swivel of the hips, but overlook cadencia or the swing of the body. However, if dissociation and cadencia are combined, it will not only increase the elegance of the ocho movement but also produce a rocking feeling, making the movement more enjoyable.




In order to do cadencia there has to be some speed, without which the body cannot swing. That is why experienced dancers like to dance in the flow. When the floor is full of experienced dancers, you can see a counterclockwise flow of people like the waves surge forward in correspondence with the rhythmic flow of music, and the speed of the flow is quite fast. But if there are too many novices on the dance floor, then the speed of flow is slowed down. Sometimes it even becomes like a pool of stagnant water.

Novices who have no sense of flow often stay in place practicing steps, disregarding the people behind them waiting for them to move forward. In an empty room that may cause no problem, but on a crowded dance floor, that could obstruct the traffic. Mark Word calls such people "rocks in the stream." You drive to work in the morning and suddenly there is a car blocking your way, that is the same kind of feeling. People dancing on a crowded dance floor must not be such "rocks in the stream." I'm not saying that you cannot slow down or pause for a moment, which experienced dancers also do. But they do so only when there is enough space or when the music tells everyone to slow down. If the dancers behind you are approaching, then you must keep moving to avoid causing obstruction to traffic. This is the code, which all dancers have to follow.



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