tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post960333222316581146..comments2024-02-23T08:34:49.655-08:00Comments on My Tango Diaries: Lessons and more LessonsMarihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08960763038363579526noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post-81621312810026304952012-08-17T11:41:13.032-07:002012-08-17T11:41:13.032-07:00Wow, that is a lot of things to be scanning for. P...Wow, that is a lot of things to be scanning for. Personally, I might focus on those kinds of technical considerations when practising but never when dancing at the milonga when I have only two things in my mind: dancing with my partner and with the music. For leaders, of course, there is a third consideration: floorcraft. Terpsichoralhttp://www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post-58090336027165874432012-08-08T14:43:14.762-07:002012-08-08T14:43:14.762-07:00A TANGUERO'S CHECKLIST
As I am dancing and pra...A TANGUERO'S CHECKLIST<br />As I am dancing and practicing I routinely and regularly keep these feelings in body, checking in on myself repeatedly:<br /><br />This is the scan while dancing:<br /><br />Head<br />Shoulders<br />Arms and hands L/R<br />Core<br />Hips<br />Knees<br />Feet<br /><br />These are the qualities I am scanning for:<br /><br />Head upright, level, and facing her; neck long.<br /><br />Shoulders upright, level, and facing her.<br /><br />Left arm holding hers in a simple, attractive, comfortable position between us. Left palm pressing inwards (toward our common axis) with closed, relaxed fingers. Elbow down. Relaxed.<br /><br />Right arm giving as full an enclosure as practical considering body possibilities, respectfully, without causing discomfort to her left shoulder. Fingers closed. Keeping the embrace definite but not rigid, elastic but not loose. Flexing closer/farther from heart, and sliding along her back to accommodate movements, but not breaking forward, back, or side at shoulder. Elbow down. Relaxed.<br /><br />Torso upright and tall, with heart light shining out to the horizon.<br /><br />Containing her within a gentle yet definite embrace between my shoulders, all the time.<br /><br />Dancing in control, comfortably, and expressively. Giving pause to breathe and reconnect.<br /><br />Torso dissociates from lower body easily, flexibly, and extensively. Torso rotating over stable platform or platform rotating under stable torso. Movement intention (forward, backward, sideways, rotational) originates in the solar plexus (pit of stomach ~ base of sternum).<br /><br />Hips back. Legs soft.<br /><br />The driving impulse, forward or backward or sideways, matches the beat (or melodic element, or instrument, or . . .). Each step, regardless of direction, size, or speed is given impetus, drive, intention from supporting leg pushing off.<br /><br />Settle weight fully between steps to fully convey the lead, but continue to move thru the step.<br /><br />... and repeat.<br /><br />Possibly this sort of approach is adaptable for the tanguera?<br /> --DavidDavid Phillipshttp://austindeafevents.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post-15251234354937168362012-08-08T13:16:55.728-07:002012-08-08T13:16:55.728-07:00Thank you for the DVD reference. I'll bet that...Thank you for the DVD reference. I'll bet that even as a leader I can get something from it, and Jennifer might like it, too.<br /><br />Like you, I often find myself in the position of wanting to say, "Well, yes, I understand that intellectually, but how do I get my body to know or perform or remember it?" I do also celebrate when I recognize that teachers aren't merely working on something I "should" already know but rather are giving me new insights, nuances, or deeper understanding. (For example, in a recent private lesson with Silvina Valz she had me do an exercise of rotating the torso while sitting, leading me to an awareness of intention originating in the solar plexus, rather than my naive thinking of "the torso" as shoulders or even breast/ribcage.)<br /><br />After a (group) lesson where I asked that unresourceful question of myself, "Why am I not remembering X, Y, or Z," I created a tool for myself. As an instrument pilot I understand the value of two concepts: 1) the instrument scan in an ongoing, organized, and rigorous fashion to detect as early as possible when things are out of balance, so as to recognize the problem and begin correction; and 2) the value of a checklist as a way to ensure that the essentials of a procedure are covered. I combined the two concepts into a Leader's Checklist that I seek to run internally whenever I am dancing. I'll share it with you in a moment.<br /><br />I run from the top of my head down. (A tanguero asked me why I didn't start with the feet, which he thought would be most important, and go up. Interesting, seeing people's different viewpoints.) Now I had thought to use this merely as a preparatory refresher before joining a milonga, thinking that if I tried using it as I danced that it would remove spontaneity and presence in the moment from the dance. I discovered quite the opposite, however. How often do we see when attempting to do our best at some physical activity that the active mind interferes. Rather than allow the native intelligence of the body to do its thing, the mind is busy judging everything and trying to tell the body how it really "ought" to be doing it.<br /><br />What I found was that by engaging my chattering mind with the simple but significant task of monitoring performance, that it took away a big distraction from my dancing. Not only was I dancing more the way I knew I wanted to, but I felt even more spontaneous, creative, and in the moment, enjoying the flow.<br /><br />In following the checklist the mind makes no judgement, and it offers no solutions; it merely makes observations. "Captain, the right shoulder is dipping below the horizon." "Captain, the undercarriage isn't collecting." "Captain, the belly isn't back."<br /><br />Here, then (in a second comment, since I hit the 4K length limit), is what I have now. I expect the detail part to become maybe shorter and simpler with more practice and miles on the dance floor, and to become more sophisticated with experience and further lessons, but the simple repeated scan seems like it will always be useful.<br /><br /> ...continuedDavid Phillipshttp://austindeafevents.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post-57561265123474775672012-08-08T11:00:12.659-07:002012-08-08T11:00:12.659-07:00Tangoaddiction - thank you for your comments - the...Tangoaddiction - thank you for your comments - they're very reassuring. The longer I dance, the more I believe in the solo technique exercises. It just makes everything so much easier and more comfortable when I dance at the milonga - and who wouldn't want that? <br /><br />I'm also grateful to the teachers I've had who've been very understanding and patient with me on my journey while I try to build up my strength. Thankfully, when I manage to explain the situation (and I've regretted it deeply when I haven't explained it) than my teacher and I both get a lot further in the lesson.Marikahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14195873941515232734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5370884568160752646.post-42559790825246140582012-08-08T10:40:52.390-07:002012-08-08T10:40:52.390-07:00An hour of technique practice every day -- that...An hour of technique practice every day -- that's great, Mari! <br /><br />As for teachers always repeating the same things: I think that happens to almost all of us, since, after tango does not have a huge number of elements to it. It's not a vastly complicated system, so the same issues tend to arise again and again. But I'm guessing that what the different teachers are trying to do is to solve the same problems using different approaches. I do this myself all the time when teaching. I use one image, description or visualisation, one solo exercise. And if that really doesn't seem to be helping I try another, since different people find different things helpful. <br /><br />As for what might seem like the teachers' impatience for you to get things right in the lesson, I think I can understand what's happening there. Of course, no one expects you to do things perfectly without A LOT of practice. But what they need is to see some improvement at some point in the lesson. Even if you do the movement just a little better, just once. This is so that they can tell if the methods/approaches they are using are liable to bear fruit later, when you are practising. And it is also helpful to you as a student to get the sensation of how the movement feels when you do it right, or less wrong, so that you can seek to replicate that sensation later. So, from my perspective, that's probably what the teachers' impatience is about.<br /><br />Hang in there! I feel exactly the same way as you do about own my technique failings and I take the same approach you do: practise, practise, practise. <br /><br />As for the DVD. I haven't seen it and can't comment specifically, but I generally find solo technique exercises of all kinds helpful. Even when the techniques are ones I don't use myself (I don't generally lift my heel at all, even for pivots, personally and I keep my weight over the arch of the foot, not mostly forward on the ball of the foot, as I find it more stable that way -- but I am no expert and mine isn't the only way). It's good to be able to move the body in different ways and to understand somatically how different techniques work. And then you are also better equipped to choose the ones that work for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com