Tango Corazon: How to Dance the Argentine Tango

A Deeper Look

In this -- last -- lesson we'll fill in some blanks in previous lessons and go deeper into some material. Then we'll see how you can use what you've learned in two dances closely related to tango: the milonga and tango vals.

The Keys to Leading and Following

Before now all the commentary on leading and following has focused on mechanics. Now we'll explore important  "spiritual" skills. I'll use language that assumes the leader is a man and the follower a woman, but this is purely for convenience.

The most important leading and following skill is awareness of your surroundings. Even the best and most considerate of your fellow dancers make mistakes and can annoy or even hurt you. Tango is especially dangerous because many dancers learned (directly or indirectly) from show dancers who don't need this awareness skill. Performers tend not to teach floorcraft, and teach patterns that are big, fast-moving, and ignore the line of dance. Keep your head up unless absolutely necessary and even then tilt your head down just just an instant at at time. Keep your head turned to one side (generally to the left for men and the right for women) but occasionally turn it to the other side. If you're leading, lead figures that turn a lot so that both of you get a wider view of those near you. If you're following, be ready to resist your partner if he tries to lead you into danger. A smart leader will appreciate your help.

At the same time you must also be aware of your partner. It's obvious why followers must have this ability, but it's equally important for leaders. You must know where she is before you can get her to where you want her, and you must notice where she deviates from the path you're shaping for her so that you can get her back into that path. The best follower in the world isn't perfect, nor will you ever be a perfect leader, and there are plenty of distractions on even a lightly crowded dance floor.

Like any skill this one improves with practice; when you're dancing try to remain aware of your partner. At the beginning of the dance before you begin moving (and at any dramatic pauses during the dance), close your eyes briefly and focus on the places where you touch your partner. Focus on your balance and stance and how they are affected by how you connect with your partner. Readjust your arms and hands and body to improve the situation. If you feel comfortable doing so, make your readjustment a subtle caress or squeeze. This heightens your own and your partner's awareness of your emotional and physical connection. While moving, defocus your eyes. It may take a little practice; if you wear glasses it can help to take them off. Defocussing lets you see the large actions that might be dangerous but reduces visual detail and the attention it demands of you.

For men it's essential that you know very well what you want your partner to do. Without intending to, you will then subliminally communicate your certainty and knowledge in a variety of ways. This will comfort her and make her move more surely, and in the specific ways that you desire. To gain this knowledge, always watch when women are taught their part. It's also very helpful to do the woman's part, especially if you can get an expert leader to lead you in doing it. It also helps if you practice with an imaginary partner, visualizing what she will be doing. This is not easy, but with practice you can do it. At the very least imagine where you want her upper body to go during the figure. Generally if you lead her upper body correctly she will place her feet as you require.

For women it's essential that you NOT know what your partner wants you do. Focus on your connection to him, on your balance, and on staying over the balls of your feet. This will help keep your attention away from thinking about where and how you will move. For the same reason, focus on the music, especially the underlying beat. Try to step on the beats when you move, but resist very slightly being moved. This will stimulate your partner to be more definite in his leading as well as physically tightening your connection to him. Try to remain alert but relaxed. This will be harder if you have an inexperienced leader for a partner but it will become easier as you improve the focussing skills discussed in this paragraph.

If you're studying this section with a partner, now would be a good time to stop and dance a few minutes, trying out the techniques taught.

Adornos: Rondes and Boleos

Another Adorno is the Ronde (Round). These are circles which you make on the floor with the tip of your shoe. Try this: with your left shoe-tip make a six-inch counterclockwise circle. Now with your right shoe-tip make a clockwise circle. Then with your left shoe make several circles that grows larger each time around; do the same with your right foot.

Closely related to the Ronde is an intermediate-level Adorno called the Boleo. To do one, begin a circle with your left shoe that starts small but grows larger and continues behind you. Keep your knees together and point the toes of your left foot. See if you can make an arc on the floor ending with your lower leg straight out to your right side. You'll have to twist your lower body to do this, but keep your upper body facing forward. Then bring your left foot back to the neutral position. Also try doing the Boleo with your lower leg in the air. Now, do the same thing with your right foot.

If you're a woman and wearing heels, try a variation the Boleo. Make it small enough that you can tuck your free foot in behind your supporting foot.

Rondes and Boleos are done more often by women, but men can do them too. They can be done when walking forward; Boleos can be done after a side step and can be not only spontaneous but led (though that is a more advanced topic). They are more usually done when stopped. They provide the basis for some advanced tango dance figures (and are good agility exercises!).

The Reverse L

There is one more basic pattern to learn: the Reverse L-Shaped Walk. It is the reverse of the L-Shaped walk that makes up the second part of the U-Shaped Salida.

 

If you're a woman, step back right, then side left. If you're a man, step forward left, then side right.  This is similar to the Tango Close, but don't confuse it with that pattern. It doesn't have the third closing step which gives the Tango Close the feeling that makes it a good way to end complex patterns. You use the Reverse-L in the middle of a complex pattern, not at the end.  Here are some patterns you should try.  L-Shaped Walk, Reverse-L, Stroll. L-Shaped Walk, Reverse-L, Side Rock, Stroll. L-Shaped Walk, Side Rock, Reverse-L. Then repeat. Notice when you repeat the last pattern that the Reverse-L and the L-Shaped Walk following it give the effect of a Side Rock, but toward the outside of the dance floor.

the Reverse L Woman's Man's

Adornos: Shoe Taps and Elevadas

Now try the last two patterns again, but this time at the end of each side step do a new kind Golpecito. Rather than tapping the floor with the ball of your foot, tap the side of the shoe on your supporting foot with the side of the shoe on your free foot. This is called the Zapatazo (Shoe Tap).

The Elevada (Elevation) is another kind of Adorno: lifting your feet higher off the floor than good tango style normally requires. Try dancing this way now with some music, with just a Forward Stroll. How high and often you step should be dictated by good taste, the situation, and the music. You must also be careful when you're in an Inside position not to do high Elevations with your inside foot, lest you hurt your partner!

When you do Ochos the same thing goes: normally you should keep your feet near each other near the floor as they pass during the pivots. However, you can also do Elevations at that point. This swings your lower leg up till it points straight back or even higher. This turns your Ochos into Ochos Picante (Spicy Ochos). Practice this now a few times.

Short Zigzags

The three major ways to vary steps are doing them in inside or outside position, pivots before and/or after steps, and shortening or lengthening steps. You could, for instance, shorten the second step of a Zigzag, turning it from something like a Stroll to something like a Chase.

If you're a man, do a Zigzag without a partner and shorten the second step into a cross in front of your left foot. Follow through to the neutral position by bringing your left foot around behind your right.

If you're a woman, do a Zigzag without a partner and shorten the second step into a cross behind your right foot. Follow through to the neutral position by bringing your right foot around in front of your left.

Now try this with a partner. Be sure you do the first step of the Zigzag in Left Foot Outside position. This will keep your feet from interfering with your partner's on the cross step and on the follow-through.

Now try this again with the following change. If you're a man, lengthen the first step a bit and lift your right arm slightly as you start your second, cross-front step. This leads your partner to do an Elevada during her cross-behind, turning her shortened Zigzag almost into a Backward Ocho Picante.  If you're a woman, when you feel the man lift your left arm as you start your second, cross behind step, do an Elevada before you set your left foot down, turning your shortened Zigzag almost into a Backward Ocho Picante.

The Triple-Step Zigzag

In Lesson Five you learned the opened-up Tango Box step and (near the end) how to change the Opened Tango Box into a straight line by shortening the side steps to steps in place. There is another variation that's a combination of this "narrow" Opened Tango Box and the Ocho Zigzag. Try it now as follows.

If you're a man, pivot right 45 degrees and step forward left. Then do two steps in place, pivoting a total of 90 degrees to your left. Step forward right and do two more steps in place pivoting a total of 45 degrees to your right.

If you're a woman, pivot right 45 degrees and step back right. Do two steps in place, pivoting a total of 90 degrees to your left. Step back left and do two more steps in place pivoting a total of 45 degrees to your right.

You can do this with an all-slow rhythm, a SLOW QUICK QUICK rhythm, or an all-quick rhythm.

Backward Step Patterns

You've seen that all the patterns that go forward (from the leader's viewpoint) also have variations that go to the side. They also have variations that go backward (while the woman goes forward). You've already learned most of them, including the Single Step, Rock Step, Zigzag, and Ocho. Backward patterns are important for a couple of reasons. They exercise a different set of muscles (or in a different way) and let other muscles rest so both partners can dance longer. Also, backward step patterns give dancers a more varied dance "palette" and so are esthetically important.

The Backward Stroll is especially useful because it's fairly easy to do. Leaders can use it often with the Turning Forward and  Backward Rocks (the way you learned to do Backward Zigzags in Lesson Four).  Thus you can do a 360-degree turning walk along the line of dance. This gives you a 360-degree panoramic view of the other dancers and helps you prevent collisions and near-collisions.

The Chase (Forward as well as Backward) is also important. It's abrupt, almost jerky, feeling is useful for certain kinds of bouncy music such as that of D'Arienzo or milonga music. This feeling also makes the Chase useful as a "punctuation" device. It's rather like a comma in a sentence (and the Tango Close is like a period).

A Plethora of Patterns

With all you've learned you can now make dozens or even hundreds of complex patterns. Here are just a few.

• Turning Forward Rock, Backward Stroll, Turning Backward Rock
• Turning Forward Rock, two to four Backward Strolls curved to make a counterclockwise circle
• Turning Forward Rock, two to four Backward Chases curved to make a CCW arc or circle
• A Backward Chase with the woman doing a Forward Ocho to his right (very similar to the Back-Rock, Forward-Ocho pattern near the end of Lesson Four). Make the Backward Chase very smooth and slow.
• A counterclockwise pivot varying from slight to 90 degrees, then the previous pattern
• A CCW arc or circle made of several of the previous pattern
• A Turning Forward Rock with a clockwise upper-body twist near the end to lead the woman into a Right-Foot-Outside position
• The previous pattern, the Backward-Chase / Forward-Ocho pattern just learned, forward counterclockwise half circle make with one or two Strolls
• Forward Chase, Backward Chase (or vice versa). You can pivot before or after each Chase to make several variations.
• Turning Forward Rock, Backward Chase, forward clockwise half-circle

Milonga

The milonga uses all the steps and techniques of the tango, but it's usually done in a QUICK QUICK rhythm and in a bouncy, swaggery style.  Some people think the milonga, slowed down and made a smooth dance, birthed  the tango. Whatever the truth, the milonga is so historically important that tango dance parties are called milongas and dedicated tango dancers are more often called milonqueros than tangueros.

Milonga music is often played at tango dance parties and you won't have to be left out if you learn to dance the milonga. It's also a happy, high-energy dance that you'll probably want to learn for its own sake. You'll need music to practice it at home. However it's usually danced fairly simply and you can probably pick it up just by watching.

Watch out for the people when you do the milonga even more than when doing tango. It moves faster so you have less time to avoid collisions. It's also easy to get so caught up in the rhythm that you forget the other dancers.

Here are some dance patterns that you can use. You can probably make up many more; just remember that the milonga has no pauses or stops and usually only Golpecitos for adornment.

• Salida, Tango Close
• Salida, Cadencia, Tango Close
• Turning Forward Rock, Backward Stroll or ZigZag or Ochos, Turning Backward Rock
• Salida, Chase, Stroll, Cadencia, Tango Close

The advice in Lesson Three on dancing to very rhythmic music such as D'Arienzo's also applies to the milonga. Review it now.

Tango Vals

The tango vals (waltz) is simply a tango written in 3/4 time rather than the more usual 4/4 time. It is usually played as fast as a Viennese waltz, so you normally dance it with a step on the ONE beat of the ONE-two-three beats of each measure. This lets you dance slowly and do some of the more elaborate tango figures.

Occasionally you can throw in triple-step pattern such as the Triple-Step Zigzag, done in QUICK-QUICK-QUICK rhythm. It's also fairly easy to do a SLOW on one measure of music and a QUICK-QUICK on the next measure.

Normal tango style is fine for the tango vals. But the vals is normally played in a fairly steady rhythm, so you can use some of the rhythm techniques from Lesson Three but in a more subtle way. You can also do a bit of waltz-like up-and-down motion. This is especially easy with the Cradle-Rocking step; this pattern is the same as the conventional waltz Balance Step.

Some of the most beautiful, happy, and romantic tango music was written as a tango vals. Two of the CDs on the recommended music list includes several especially nice ones.

 
Lesson 6   Afterword