Women's Walk in Tango

Tango walk is performed in close embrace by two dancers in a chest-to-chest posture. The man walks forward, while the woman steps backward, and they must walk with matching posture, alignment, CBM, dissociation, timing, and pace in perfect coordination, balance, harmony, and elegance. Many students do not walk well because they do not have the needed stability, flexibility and techniques. Their postures and habits are not up to the standard of tango. Their legs and feet are not strong enough to maintain balance, and their personal praxes conflict with each other, causing instability and disharmony in their walk.

There are more exercises designed for women than men in tango, just as there are more fashions, shoes, jewelry and cosmetics designed for women than men. This is not surprising given the significance of beauty to women and the fact that, while the man leads the woman, it's the woman who beautifies the dance. How women walk, therefore, matters more than how men walk in tango. (See The Gender Roles in Tango.)

Muscle Development
In order to walk well, you first need to develop muscles that enable your feet to suck the floor and stay very grounded in the walk. Dancing a lot certainly helps. Supplementary exercises can also be beneficial. One exercise that I found particularly helpful is demonstrated by Vanessa Gauch in the following video.

When done in slow motion, this exercise can effectively build foot muscles and improve stability and elegance in women's walk. The exercise can be summed up in six steps to help you memorize the sequence: (1) Stand on one leg, stretching the other leg forward. (2) Transfer weight forward to rest on the heel of the front foot and the toes of the back foot. (3) Shift weight back and forth a few times in this position. (4) Transfer weight fully onto the front leg. (5) Start the next step by swiveling the hips to move the leg - which gives women's walk a feminine grace. (6) Repeat the sequence with the opposite leg.

Walk Backwards
In tango, women mostly walk backwards, which is a challenge since that is not how they normally walk. To learn to walk backwards, you almost need to start from toddle. The following video, demonstrated also by Vanessa Gauch, can help you understand how it should be done.

Walk in Leaning Position
It is important to note that embrace affects walk significantly. Walking in an A-shaped frame is very different from walking in an H-shaped frame. A woman using open dance hold cannot stretch her leg back far enough, because without leaning on her partner it's hard for her to keep balance with just one leg when the other leg must stretch back as far as possible. Here is an example.

The two teachers are competent dancers, I believe, but the H-shaped frame hampered their performance. In comparison, walking in close embrace, or an A-shaped frame, is much more stable, balanced and elegant, as illustrated by Jennifer Bratt and Ney Melo in the following video.

Note that Jennifer leans on Ney with an increased incline. She bends her standing leg slightly and uses a little bit dissociation - turning her hips upwards and downwards to allow the free leg to reach back far. Note also that when her hips are turned, she uses the thumb rather than the toes of the foot to reach the floor. Also note that her leg is swayed by the hip slightly sideways in contrast to the forward walk in which the leg is swayed by the hip towards the center, as demonstrated by Vanessa Gauch in the first video. These all add a feminine touch to her walk.

Hip Sway
Experienced tangueras use the hip, rather than the thigh, to initiate leg movement. Here is a good example danced by Mariana Montes and Sebastian Arce.

While their style is too exhibitionist to suit the milonga, in my humble opinion, the opening walk (0:15 - 0:28) is absolutely gorgeous, appropriate in social dancing, and worth watching again and again. The walk is done in close embrace that enables Mariana to outstretch her leg far. Her beautiful hip sway, with a subtle dissociation and very straight leg line, contributes to the unequivocal beauty and elegance of her walk. Note that her leg is also swayed slightly sideways as a result of using the hip to move the leg.

Maintaining Balance and Lightness
As comfortable as it is to lean on your partner, you need to keep yourself light and not put too much weight on him. This means you have to maintain your own balance by slightly bending your standing leg when you stretch back your free leg, as explained by Vanessa and illustrated by Jennifer and Mariana, so that most of your weight is carried by your standing leg rather than on him. This will also allow you to outstretch your free leg farther. Personally, I found that when a woman leans lightly with her chest rather than heavily with her stomach on me, she becomes lighter.

Pushing with the Standing Leg
You stretch back your free leg until the thumb of its foot touches the floor. At that point you should not just wait there for the man to push you. Instead, you activate yourself by pushing with your standing leg. Failure to do that is the reason why some women are heavy in the walk. Beware not to push yourself so hard that you lose torso contact with your partner. You only push with enough force to make yourself light but remain your leaning position and hence the connection with him.

Walking with Straight Knees
Walking with bent knees is a common issue amongr beginners. Although your standing leg needs to bend a little in order that your free leg can stretch back far, the free leg should remain straight until the weight transfer to that leg completes. You should not use the thigh to move the leg since that could cause the knee to curve. Instead, moving the leg with the hip, and keep the leg straight as you transfer weight to it. Walking with straight legs enhances the elegance of the movement.

Alignment
When walk backwards in parallel system, the free leg should move in line with the hip rather than crossing over the standing leg, otherwise it will cause a distorted line. Even walk in cross system, excessive crossing can still cause a winding path. Instead, you should swivel the hips and move your leg in line with the hip. The hip rotation should be very small, since you are just walking backwards straight along the line of dance, not doing back ocho. Overturning the hips is a cause of instability.

Synchronization
Tango walking is a synchronized movement. The two partners walk not as two independent individuals but as one coherent body. Their legs should start, move and arrive together with exactly the same timing and pace. The woman should closely mirror the man's movement and not land her foot too soon before he finishes his step. A common problem is that she walks on her own and lands her foot on the floor before he lands his foot, causing him to step on her toes. The correct way is holding her free leg outstretched in the air to allow him to push her, along with the push of her own standing leg, so that their acting legs land on the floor at the same time and with the same pace.

Improving Your walk Is the Key to Improve Your Dance
One's walk defines one's tango. The following video, dedicated to Andrea Misse, a brilliant tango dancer died too young in a car accident in 2012, is a good example. Please pay attention to Andrea's walk and see how it relates to her dance. Walking is not only a significant part of tango but also the foundation of the dance because other tango steps are but variations of the walk. For a woman, elegant walk is a guaranteed eye catcher and proof of her ability. By learning to walk elegantly, your tango can be improved in more ways than you can imagine. (See Walk.)