Tango in Torquay, 2012... Two: the Classes

17th January 2011

Tango In Torquay One | Tango In Torquay Two | Tango In Torquay Three | Tango In Torquay Four

Introduction

So, as described in the previous entry, I went to the Rockbottoms Tango weekender in Devon, from 13-16th January 2012.

This entry is about the classes - basically, my notes and thoughts from the classes I took.

Class levels

The classes were classed into three levels:

  • Beginner (up to 9 months experience)
  • Intermediate (9 - 24 months)
  • Advanced ("good").

Levels of classes are always problematic things - just because someone's been dancing two years doesn't mean they're better than someone who's only been dancing two months. But it's best to have some levels defined, to give some structure, than to have none at all.

Classes were held in two separate rooms, and lasted an hour each. Considering the relatively small scale of the weekender (200+ attendees), there were a lot of classes - around 30 in all - and the classes all seemed well-attended.

My initial intention was to attend 2-3 classes on each day (Saturday and Sunday).

The Class Schedule

(Grabbed from the website)

Saturday - Hall 1 Saturday Hall 2
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Advanced)
Dynamics in Giros (Turns) 		Rene & Hiba - Tango (beginners)
Get Comfortable in Close Embrace
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Intermediate)
Unsterstanding Boleos: Leading and Following
Steve Hunt - Modern Jive
(Let's take a walk)
Rene & Hiba - Tango (intermediate)
Musicality		 Warren and Kerenza - Tango (beginners)
Ochos (steps + pivots), Paradas (blocks) and Sandwich steps
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Advanced)
Milonga: Interesting Traspies 		Steve Hunt - West Coast Swing
(fundamentals)
Rene & Hiba - Tango (intermediate)
Decorations - Musical & Well Executed 		Warren and Kerenza - Tango (beginners)
Milonga - Have fun with tango's fastest, most frivolous rhythm. Great for jivers new to tango
Rene & Hiba - Tango (advanced)
Milonga		 Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Beginners)
Balance and Fluidity of Movement
Steve Hunt - Blues
(musicality)		 None
 
Sunday - Hall 1 Sunday - Hall 2
Steve Hunt - MJ
(Leans, dips and cheeky seducers)		 None
Rene & Hiba - Tango (intermediate)
Rebounds in close/open embrace		 Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Advanced)
Vals: Playing with Dynamics in Giros (Turns)
Rene & Hiba - Tango (advanced)
Unexpected Out-of-Axis Surprises 		Warren and Kerenza - Tango (beginners)
Simple Giros (turns) and medio Giros (half turns)
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Intermediate)
Comfort and Combinations in Close Embrace 		Steve Hunt - West Coast Swing
(the conversation)
Rene & Hiba Tango (advanced)
Advanced Close Embrace 		Warren and Kerenza - Tango (beginners)
Milonga - More technique + fun steps to help beginners enjoy the Milonga rhythm
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Advanced)
Rebotes (Bounces) and Pasadas 		Warren and Kerenza - Tango (intermediate)
Different Crosses (backwards, forced, extended, double) + Crossing tango’s 3 walking tracks
Jenny & Ricardo - Tango (Intermediate)
Developing Musical Boleos 		Rene & Hiba - Tango (beginners)
Ocho Cortado

Milonga: Interesting Traspies

Saturday , 1:30 - 2:30

Teachers: Jenny and Ricardo

This class was a Advanced level, so it assumed you knew about the concept of Milonga, and for that matter, traspies. Certainly that seemed to be the case with all the partners I danced with.

Firstly, some technique: take little steps, but put lots of energy into the steps. Which sounds contradictory, but makes sense in context.

We did the "wiggle test" to ensure you're connected - connecting belly button to belly button. This connection is important to ensure the movements work correctly.

Steps are "low" - think that you're wearing magnetic boots on a metal floor.

We did a "Diagonal traspie" sequence:

  1. Man steps forward diagonally to the right (on the left foot)
  2. Man steps back to the (left) side
  3. Man steps back diagonally to the left (on the right foot)
  4. Man steps back to the (right) side

Dissociation is important here - man pivots the upper body towards the forward foot on both step 1 and step 3.

We then did some variations - multiple left forwards or right backwards combinations, preferably in single time.

What did you think?

As always, very good - Jenny and Ricardo are have the combination of complete understanding, great communication, lovely chemistry between each other, and obviously wonderful dance ability, that rightly currently puts them at the top of the tree in UK Tango teaching. I'll stop now before I gush too much.

My only critique is that the class was over too quickly.

Milonga

Saturday, 3:50 - 4:50.

Teachers: Rene and Hiba

"Ladies, don't allow your partner to mess with your upper body" ~ Hiba

This class was again a "Level 3" (advanced) class, and dealt with timing variations and syncopations in milonga, with a coupld of example patterns.

We started with some general technique tips for milonga - small steps, and reduce the "hopping" or bouncing movement as you step.

We then examined timing - firstly by dancing (single time) to a very fast milonga, then by dancing half-time (calming it down), stepping on the "1" and "3".

We then looked at a sequence within Milonga - the leader's steps are as follows:

  1. Man steps with his right foot forward outside (offset)
  2. Swivel hips to the right and step forward diagonally to the right (parallel)
  3. Repeat

The woman effectively does a set of small-angled ochos backwards, following the direction of the leader's hips.

We then did the same sequence but varied the tempo - slow then fast.

For the second half of the class, we looked at syncopated movements, based around the following sequence:

  1. Man steps with his right foot forward outside (offset)
  2. Man leads lady to move her right leg back - but does not move his leg
  3. Man moves his left leg forward
  4. Both transfer weight
  5. Repeat

The point of this move is to get the ladies to move their legs without moving their upper bodies, to create a syncopation effect.

Quite tricky to achieve, but it's a nice exercise, and I think I'll adapt the concept to Tango, it's a good lead-and-follow exercise.

What did you think?

Excellent class again - a lot of interesting concepts and information, and it's given me a lot of food for thought regarding milonga concepts.

Advanced Close Embrace

2:40pm - 3:40pm

Teachers: Rene and Hiba

Rene "Do it like this."
Hiba: "No."
Rene "Errr.... do it like this...?"
Hiba: "No."
Rene "Err... carry on practicing for a while, everyone"

Exercise 1: Close embrace with left arm only

Body contact first, then arms.

Weight over the ball of the foot for the leaders.

Exercise 2: Close embrace with right arm only

Same exercise, nut connecting with the right arm only.

Exercise 3: Close embrace with both arms (hug)

Leaders use their right arms too much. Followers use their right arms too much.

Serquence - giro

In crossed system:

  1. Forwards on left then pause
  2. Man brings right foot back and to the left and pivots clockwise
  3. Lady takes big forward step, then big sidestep around man.
  4. Man leads a rebound step forward then back, then pivots clockwise
  5. Man leads the woman into a pasada over his right foot

Lower youself for the giro to achive more va-va-voom.

What did you think?

Excellent class, attendees were clearly advanced and the concepts were very useful.

Rebotes (Bounces) and Pasadas

3:50 - 4:50pm

Teachers: Jenny and Ricardo

Ricardo: "If you missed the Spiderman class, that was the most important class of the weekend.
Jenny (to Ricardo): "You're doing well, you normally say that at every class"
...
Ricardo (2 minutes later): "The next workshop will definitely be the most important class of the weekend."

Rebounds = sudden changes of direction (with pivots)

We focussed on a sequence with a Pasada, from a back rebote

In crossed system:

  1. Forward on right
  2. Pivot woman to take a back ocho and accompany her
  3. Lead her to a forward step and catch her forward foot with your right foot.
  4. Pivot her anti-clockwise
  5. Rebote to get her to take a back step - follow her with your chest
  6. Back and diagonal step for the man - pivot her to step over your front (right) foot

There were a lot of technique tips within this sequence, but the main idea was to be able to lead all these types of movement in an improvised manner - "surprising the follower" in a good way.

What did you think?

A good class - but probably the overall standard of attendees (and large number) made it difficult to pitch at too high a level. Useful information, however.

Overall thoughts

As always, it's great to have an opportunity to learn in a focussed environment. Personally, I can only "process" effectively 2-3 hours' of learning in a day at maximum, any more than that is just wasted.

Also, we all need to practice and review the lessons we do. Which, for me, is one reason I write these class notes up.

~ David Bailey, 17th January 2012