Never Forget Why We Started

As our second anniversary is approaching, we can be proud of the progress we’ve made in the past two years. Our number is steadily growing. Our dance skills have improved a lot. We now hold our own milonga on a regular base. When we go out to dance as a group, people are impressed by us. We start to have an impact on the tango community in this city.

But there are no grounds for complacency. We are still far short from our goal. Our number is still small. Our dance skills are still not adequate. We are still a marginal section in the local tango scene. The entire community remains in the shadow of the Nuevo influence. A lot more still wait for us to do both in terms of personal growth and community building.

But some of us feel so good about themselves already that they don’t want to remain low profile. They want to show others what they can do and experience new things with new people. They start to miss classes when there are conflicting events to ours. Some think they are good enough to be on their own and don’t need the group anymore. Some left already.

While exploration is commendable, we shall not forget why we started. This group has a mission. We are not individualists who come only for personal gain and leave when that goal is reached. We are here for a bigger cause: to promote the milonguero style of tango, to build a strong tango community, to change the tango culture in this city, and to bring more people into our cause (see Champaign Milongueros Group Charter).

This vision requires team work, commitment, discipline, responsibility, grit and personal sacrifice. If we only think about ourselves and neglect our mission, we will end up repeating the mistake of those before us who have wandered in tango for many years and still do not have a place to dance. People seeking independence will discover soon or later that they need a home group to study, dance, improve themselves and enjoy tango.

Gathering a group of like-minded dancers is important because we cannot enjoy tango with just anyone. We can only enjoy tango with dancers who share the same philosophy, dance the same style, use the same embrace, mastered the same steps, and reached the same level of proficiency. Tango is the collective work of a group of like-minded and educated dancers, without whom one alone cannot enjoy tango no matter how good his/her dance skill is. That is why we must not just think about ourselves but work together, help each other to grow, and join hands to build a strong team.

This is of course easier said than done. People are different and unleveled. Some are quicker learners and better dancers than others. It takes time for everyone in the group to reach the same level of proficiency. Meanwhile, those who are better may lose patience and think it would be in their own interests to dance on their own with higher level dancers. When we put self-interest above the common cause, we lose the perspective, the group suffers the consequence, and we all pay a price.

But if we remain united and work together to support and encourage each other, the group will grow faster and become better sooner, and we will all benefit as a result. It takes committed people to make a strong group. It takes a strong group to make an impact. Until we become such a group, we cannot convince others to join us, and we cannot make a real difference. Therefore, the most important thing for us to do now is not to flaunt around but to improve ourselves. History will be made by those who stick to the cause, work together and don’t give up (see Tango in Small Cities).

Learning Tango: Two Perspectives

The following behaviors are common among beginners: (1) They are eager to learn steps but overlook basic skills. (2) They imitate movements but ignore technical details. (3) They focus on themselves but neglect their partner. (4) They lean back to avoid intimate physical contact. (5) They lead and follow with arms and hands. (6) They grasp hold of the partner to help themselves with the movements. (7) They don’t listen to and follow music carefully (see Imitating Steps vs. Developing Skills).

These are all due to one reason: they regard tango only as steps. To them, learning tango is learning steps, and they think if they can do steps, they can dance tango. This step-centered perspective causes them to neglect many other aspects of the dance.

It is important to understand that what we dance in tango is not the steps but the music and the feelings that music inspiresis. Tango is a feeling that is danced and that feeling comes from music. Steps are but the tools used to express the music and feelings. Of all the elements that made tango, music and the feelings stirred by the music are the most important two, without which there is no tango, only gymnastics (see Tango Is a Feeling).

You need to know steps to dance tango, of course. But just knowing steps doesn’t mean that you can do them musically and coherently with a partner. Tango is team work, in which the man uses his body to effect the movement of the woman. The woman must follow the lead of the man's body and not just focus on doing her own moves. Focusing on the steps can cause her to dance according to what she thinks the steps should be and ignore the lead. That's why dancing with a beginner often feels awkward and uncomfortable. The man leads according to music. When music is sharp, his lead is sharp. When music turns to tenderness, his lead becomes softer. Therefore, the same step must be danced differently according to the music. Instead of fosucing on doing her steps, the woman should focus on following the lead and expressing the music.

Different leads carry different messages. For example, when the man’s right chest becomes pushing and his left chest becomes pulling, that indicates he wants you to swivel your hips to his right, and when his left chest becomes pushing and his right chest becomes pulling, that indicates he wants you to swivel your hips to his left. Often, the lead emitted from his chest is so subtle that it cannot be seen but only felt. Tango is a sophisticated body language. Learning tango is not primarily learning steps but learning that body language, learning to conceive, respond to, communicate with, and be one with your partner's body with your body (see Tango Is a Language (I)).

This perspective requires the dancer to change focus from steps to the body, embrace, connection, communication, music, and the emotions stirred by the music, to use your body to feel, to share with the partner what you feel, to exchange feelings through direct physical interaction, to move your body in harmony with the movement of the partner's body, and to please the partner with your body. Tango is not any ordinary dance. It is intimate interplays between two dancers. Instead of focusing on emulating steps, let dancing with you be a treat for your partner be the purpose and focus of your learning and dancing tango.

The transformation from a step-oriented, self-centered and single-focused beginner to a feeling-oriented, partner-centered and multitasking team player is a long process. Beginners will not fully understand the essence of tango until they have accumulated enough knowledge, skills and experiences. But the right perspective from the outset can head you in the right direction and shorten the process to become an adequate tango dancer (see The Four Stages of the Tango Journey).

How to Dance Milonga

Milonga music is 2/4 time. There are two quarter notes in each measure, each quarter note receives a beat, counted as 1+, 2+ (1 is the downbeat, 2 is the upbeat, + is the subdivision), which is twice as fast as tango (see Tango Music and Its Danceability). How well one dances milonga depends on one's ability to handle its fast rhythm.

There are three ways to do that.

Milonga Lisa
The first way is called milonga Lisa, in which the dancer steps only on the downbeat of each measure and ignore the upbeat and subdivisions, that is, right foot on 1 of the first measure, left foot on 1 of the second measure, right foot on 1 of the third measure, left food on 1 of the forth measure... in even speed.

Milonga Lisa is the simplest way to dance milonga. It feels a bit slow and monotonous, but fits well when music is very fast.

Dynamic Timing
The second way is using dynamic timing to step randomly on any or all beats and subdivisions in different speeds.

For example, you may step on 1 of the first measure, then on both 1 and 2 of the second measure (slow, quick-quick), or vice versa (quick-quick, slow), or on all downbeats and upbeats (quick-quick, quick-quick).

You may also step on subdivisions in addition to beats: left foot on 1, right foot on +, left foot on 2 (quick-quick, slow); or left foot on 1, right foot on 2, left foot on + (slow, quick-quick); or left foot on 1, right foot on +, left foot on 2, right foot on + (quick-quick, quick-quick). Of course you may also use pause and slow motion.

Dancing milonga with dynamic timing is more interesting, but due to frequent weight changes, it feels busy and could be tedious if the whole tanda is danced in this way. It fits nicely when music is slower.

Milonga Traspie
The third and more sophisticated way to dance milonga is called milonga traspie. Meaning stumble, traspie refers to the stumble like step, i.e., a pseudo-step or semi-weight change, to reduce the movements, thus make the fast-paced milonga easier to handle.

When the leg is blocked by an obstacle, it can either cross over to land on the other side of the obstacle, or it can stop or rebound. Similarly, there are two types of milonga traspie.

The first type of traspie is double-step traspie, in which the dancer steps twice with the same leg on two consecutive downbeats in slow-slow timing. The first step resembles the outstretched leg meets the obstacle. The second step resembles that same leg crosses over the obstacle. The first step is not an actual step but only a tap, carrying 50% of the body weight. The second step is a real step, carrying 100% of the body weight to free the standing leg. Dancing double-step traspie, the left leg steps in line with the partner's leg, the right leg steps outside of the partner's leg, often in a pattern of two traspies forward and two traspies backward.

With its slow-slow timing, double-step traspie can help slow down the pace of the movements when music is very fast.

The second type of traspie is rock traspie, resembling the rebound reaction of the leg after it meets an obstacle. The dancer uses the rock actions to transfer weight back and forth three times in quick-quick-slow timing: (1) stretch one leg out to the front, or back, or side, and transfer 50% of the body weight to that leg on 1 (quick), (2) push with that leg to transfer weight back to the standing leg on + (quick), (3) push with the standing leg to transfer weight back to the stretched leg completely on 2 to free the standing leg (slow).

Rock traspie is particuarly favored by the milongueros for its plainness, compactness, inconspicuousness, and easiness.

By using a feigned step, whether tap or rock, traspie can keep the body movements in tune with the fast-paced milonga music without actually changing weight on every beat and subdivision, thus retain the rhythmic motion of the body but make the dance more manageable.

Due to the subtlety of its lead, traspie is best executed in close embrace with good physical connection between the dancers. Since traspie is a pseudo-step rather than real step, beginners who are used to changing weight every step need to go through a habit-breaking process to master it.

Experienced dancers mix all above methods to make their dance more interesting and fun. The following are few more examples.

Imitating Steps vs. Developing Skills

Beginners often think that if they can do the steps, they can dance tango. That's why they only focus on imitating steps. As soon as they have memorized a step, they move on to copy another step. They believe in that way they can learn faster and be able to dance tango sooner.

What they don’t know is that what makes a qualified tango dancer is not the number of steps one knows, but the behind the scene skills upon which the steps are built. These basic skills include musicality, embrace, posture, connection, the ability to use the torso to lead/follow, switch between parallel system and cross system, the ability to return to the home position in a timely manner, flexibility, lightness, balance, stability, walk, salida, resolution, cross, pivot, dissociation, ocho, molinete, gear effect, cadencia, rock, traspie, synchronization, and slow motion. These are the building blocks of all tango steps. Those who have a solid grounding in these basic skills can dance beautifully with few simple steps. Those who lack these basic skills, their dance looks incoherent and awkward even though they may know a lot of fancy steps.

The purpose of teachers teaching steps is not only to teach steps, but more importantly, to teach basic skills. For example, the teacher instructs the students to use dissociation in ocho because dissociation is a key skill not only in ocho but also in many other tango steps. Students, however, may not understand that. They imitate the ocho movemment by crossing one leg in front of the other leg and leave out the hard work of swiveling the hips. Instead of taking the pain to develop a skill, they take a short cut to get quick results. Consequently, although they may have dabbled at many steps, their basic skills remain poor.

Another purpose of teachers teaching steps is to help students overcome bad habits, such as bending over, leaning back, bowing the head, curving the knees, breaking the embrace, using arms and hands to lead/follow, grasping hold of the partner to do steps, etc. Until students break away from these bad habits and develop good habits that meet the requirement of tango, they cannot dance tango well. But students may not understand that. They focus on imitating steps but pay little attention to correcting their bad habits. Consequently, although they may have smattered many steps, their old habits remain, and their dance is still not up to the standard of tango.

The eagerness to succeed is a big obstacle to learning. Students must understand that it is not the number of steps they know but the basic skills and good habits they have developed that decide the quality of their dance. Instead of focusing on copying steps, they should focus on laying the foundation, so that what they learn in each step becomes a building block for the next step. By proceeding in an orderly and gradual way, by diligently practicing basic skills, by carefully following instructions and paying attention to technical details, by taking pains to do drills, and by laying a solid foundation, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort overall. That is the only way to become a qualified tango dancer.

Rock Steps and Variations of Ocho Cortado

Rock refers to the rebound action in weight change when the two legs are apart. It is typically done in quick-quick-slow timing: (1) stretching one leg forward/backward and transfering 50 percent of the body weight to that leg (quick), (2) pushing with that leg to transfer weight back to the standing leg (quick), (3) collecting the stretched leg and changing weight to it to free the standing leg (slow). Rock can be done in various patterns: forward and backward, right and left, forward and side, etc. Because the position of the standing leg can be altered at (2) and the position of the stretched leg can be altered at (3), rock can be used to change the direction of travel. The following video shows you how.

This video includes three parts. The first part demonstrates the basic forward-back-collect rock pattern. For the convenience of explanation I will describe mainly from the leader's perspective: (1) He steps forward with his left leg without collecting his right leg (quick). (2) He pushes with his left leg to transfer weight back to his right leg (quick). (3) He collects his left leg and changes weight to it to free the right leg (slow). He then repeats the pattern with the right leg. This pattern can also be done diagonally to the left and diagonally to the right. The woman mirrors the man's movements. Notice that she does not collect her stretched leg when her weight is transfered back to her standing leg. Rather, she keeps the heel of her stretched leg on the floor and tilts up the foot to make the movement stylish.

In the second part, the man demonstrates the forward-back-side rock pattern: (1) He steps forward with his left leg without collecting his right leg (quick). (2) He pushes with his left leg to transfer weight back to his right leg (quick). (3) He steps to the side with his left leg and changs weight to it to free the right leg (slow). He then repeats the pattern with the right leg. Notice that he makes a 90-degree turn when he rocks to either side. The woman mirrors his movements and swivels her back leg to the right and to the left but keeps her front leg in place.

In the third part, the man demonstrates how to change the direction of travel at position 5 by using two sets of rock patterns. After leading the woman to the cross, he first uses the forward-back-side rock pattern, starting with his left leg: (1) He steps forward with his left leg to lead her right leg to step back. (2) He pushes with his left leg to transfer weight back to his right leg to lead her to transfer weight forward to her left leg. (3) He turns 90 degree to the left and steps to the side with his left leg to lead her to pivot 90 degree on her left leg and her right leg step on his left.

He then uses the forward-back-turn rock pattern with the right leg: (1) He steps forward his right leg to lead her left leg to step back. (2) He transfers weight back to his left leg after adjusted its position to lead her to transfers weight forward to her left leg. (3) He turns to the left with his left leg to lead her to step forward with her left leg and povit 180 degree to face him, meantime he collects his right leg and changes weight to it. The two rock patterns are combined to form a revised version of ocho cortado, which is done on his left side instead of on his right side as ocho cortado normally is done.

This version of ocho cortado can also be done in the cross system, as demonstrated in the following video in 0:33-0:44.

After leading her into the cross system, the man first uses a forward-back-turn rock pattern executed counterclocwise, starting with his right leg: (1) He steps forward with his right leg to lead her right leg to step back. (2) He twists his right leg 90 degree to the left and steps back his left leg to lead her to change weight forward to her left leg. (3) He continues the left turn with his left leg to lead her right leg to swivel counterclockwise to step on his left, meantime he collect his right leg and changes weight to it.

He then uses a forward-turn-side rock pattern with his left leg: (1) He steps forward his left leg on her right side to led her left leg to step back. (2) He changes weight back to his right leg after turning it 90 degree to the left to lead her to transfer weight forward to her right leg. (3) He steps to the side with his left leg to led her left leg to swivel 90 degree counterclockwise to land on her back.

He then steps forward his right leg with a left twist to lead her left leg to swivel counterclockwise to make a back-cross, meantime he collects his left leg. (These are done in slow-slow timing.) He then steps back with his right leg to lead her to do a normal cocho cortado.

Other rock patterns could also be applied at position 5, as shown in the following clip.

After leading the woman to the cross, the man first uses a forward-turn-turn rock pattern: (1) He steps forward with his left leg to lead her right leg to step back. (2) He pivots his two legs 90 degree to the right and changes weight to his right leg to lead her to transfer weight forward to her left leg. (3) He pivots another 90 degree to the right with his right leg to lead her to step forward with her right leg, meantime he changes weight to his left leg. On her part, the woman uses the back-forward-forward rock pattern: (1) She steps back with her right leg without collecting her left leg. (2) She pushes with her right leg to transfer weight forward to her left leg. (3) She steps forward with her right leg to free her left leg. Notice that as her weight is transfered backward to her right leg in action (1) she tilts up her left foot to make the movement stylish.

The man then uses a right-left-turn rock pattern with the other leg: (1) He steps to the right with his right leg to lead her to pivot 180 degree on her right leg to face him and her left leg step on his right. (2) He pushes with his right leg to transfer weight back to his left leg to lead her to transfer weight to her right leg. (3) He pivots 180 degree to the left with his left leg to lead her to step forward with her left leg and pivot 180 degree to face him, meantime he changes weight to his right leg. On her part, the woman uses the turn-right-forward rock pattern: (1) She pivots 180 degree on her right leg to face him and steps on his right with her left leg. (2) She pushes with her left leg to transfer weight to her right leg. (3) She steps forward with her left leg and pivots 180 degree counterclocwise to face him. Notice the dissociation of her body when she steps to and fro on his side. The whole sequence is another creative variation of ocho cortado.

The couple continue to exploit rock patterns in another video.

This time the man first uses a forward-back-back rock pattern executed clockwise. After leading the woman to the cross: (1) He steps forward his left leg in a clockwise arc to lead her right leg to step back in a clockwise arc. (2) He twists his left leg 90 degree to the right and steps back his right leg to lead her to transfer weight forward to her left leg. (3) He steps back his left leg to lead her right leg to step forward to his right.

He then uses a back-side-turn rock pattern with the other leg: (1) He steps back his right leg to lead her left leg to step forward on his right. (2) He steps to the side with his left leg to lead her right leg to step forward on his left. (3) He turns to the left 90 degree to lead her left leg to step forward on his left side and pivot 180 degree to face him, meantime he collects and changes weight to his right leg. The result is a clockwise semicircular version of ocho cortado.

Perhaps you can revise this version by using the same sequence but continuously turning to the left instead of turning to the right to make the entire sequence a counterclocwise circular version of ocho cortado.

Rock step is the most iconic step of tango milonguero that made this style simple, compact, rhythmic and elegant. The patterns described above are only a few in a pool of rock patterns. Familiarizing yourself with these rock patterns will enrich your tango vocabulary and improve your tango. (See How to Dance Milonga.)