Ocho

Although all tango women can do ocho, many fail to grasp its importance and dedicate sufficient time to practicing it. However, if there is one step that can significantly enhance a woman's tango, it is ocho. This is because ocho encompasses all basic techniques that are essential in women's dancing, including embrace, posture, connection, torso communication, pivot, dissociation, gear effect, cadencia, and the ability to return to the home position in a timely manner after each turn. A woman who can do ocho well will also be good at other moves, and a woman whose ocho is clumsy won't be good at other moves either. Moreover, ocho is the most frequently used female step in tango. It can best express a woman's feminine beauty, such as her softness, gentleness, suppleness, lightness, grace, and elegance. A woman's tango can be truly stunning only if she can execute ocho perfectly. While some may argue that molinete is another quintessential female step, it is merely a sequence of forward and backward ochos.

The term "ocho" originates from the Spanish word for "eight". In this figure the woman traces the shape of an S on the floor with one leg and then repeats the same with the other leg. The two S shapes overlap in opposite directions, creating the visual effect of the number 8. To execute ocho, the woman begins by rotating her hips and walking to one side of her partner. She then pivots, rotates her hips again, and walks in the opposite direction.

It's crucial to perform ocho with excellent connection, balance, flexibility, smoothness and elegance. Women who use open dance hold tend to turn their entire body instead of rotating their hips, causing a breakdown in connection and intimacy. The correct way is to keep your torso connected to your partner and swivel your hips before making the forward step, as shown in the video below (6:10-10:00), so that you can maintain close physical interaction with your partner while dancing ocho.

Most tango teachers emphasize dissociation, i.e., the rotation of the hips, when they teach ocho, while neglecting to teach another important technique, cadencia, or the swing of the body. However, combining dissociation and cadencia adds elegance to the movement while creating a swaying feel that enhances the pleasure of the movement. In order to swing the body, it is important to moderate the dance tempo. Many students dance too hastily, leaving no time for their body to sway gracefully. The man should allow the woman time to execute the swing, while the woman should perform it with poise and elegance, as the couple in the vedio below demonstrate.

Ocho can be danced in a variety of ways. It is the most colorful step of all tango steps that can fully display a woman's feminine, gentle, soft, pliable, graceful and creative beauty. Here are some examples.

Mastering these variations can make a woman's dance more interesting. Tango women should practice them until they have internalized the movements. The key word here is internalization, which will enable women to concentrate on their partner rather than the steps. A current bad trend is for women to use too many variations in their dance. Women should overcome the urge to swagger, dance tango in the most elegant classic style, and only occasionally use variations as embellishments instead of overwhelming themselves with flashy alternatives.

Ocho can be a very seductive move due to the gear effect between the partners. (See Dissociation and Gear Effect.) Instead of concentrating on her own performance, the woman should devote her attention to making her partner feel good, and establishing a deep and meaningful communication with him as she dances ocho. This is only possible when she has internalized the movement. (See The Four Stages of the Tango Journey.)