My Tango Diaries

Milonga lesson with Daniela Arcuri and "Latigo" Daniel Ponce 2/13/11) When I watch this video from my typical analytical perspective, I cringe. I regret having Dennis record it. Every time I know I'm being recorded, I get nervous and forget everything I knew 3 minutes before the camera started rolling. This time was no different. I was exhausted, having stayed far too late all week and most especially the night before, and it shows. My balance suffered. My posture was crap. I wasn't able to keep my center/core firm. I was so tired that my knees felt like I was walking through water. I'm off the music in several places. (And of course there's that usual self-critical voice saying, " Christ-on-crutches is that really my butt ???") Now for the part you can't see - the reason this video is up here at all. The reason I don't truly regret Dennis recording it. What you can't see are the tears streaming down my face from the pure bliss of dancing...

It's all in the hips . . . Well, all in my *right* hip - the trouble, that is. I suffered a labral tear in dance class many, many years ago and even though my hip rolled back into place fairly quickly, the damage stuck around for quite awhile. Since I started tango, I've had to learn how to dance on a hip that doesn't pivot right and locks whenever I place my balance over it. When I started doing the physical therapy exercises I remembered from way-back-when, I thought the locking was mostly a case of "guarding behavior' - favoring and protecting the hip that was injured. But as I've tried to work on it, it isn't a matter of just loosening up, or not actively locking the hip - it's a matter of relearning how to move on that hip. Right now I can't do the exercise in tango-blog.com's side step exercise (see video) without my right hip locking. I can unlock it/loosen it when I notice it, but it takes time and attention. When dancing, I've mostl...

Part I - A Very Long Diversion into the Embrace.. The tango embrace is my greatest source of pleasure from this dance. It is also my greatest frustration. Every leader is different, and so is every teacher. My most negative experience in a tango workshop was being told in front of an entire class that my embrace was (in much harsher terms than this) unacceptable . Even as I was being corrected and told to keep my hand on the leader's right shoulder blade, I felt like the corrected embrace was not very comfortable for me, especially as my partner at the time was shorter than I was. But I did what I was told. In that embrace I had the option of my elbow jutting out (creating a gap between the bend of my elbow and my leader's shoulder) or pulling my elbow in and down, thereby restricting the movement of my leader's right arm. I kept as light as I could, so that I wouldn't weigh his arm down, but I still felt a little more disconnected and like I was constantly lagging behi...

I made it through almost two of Daniela Arcuri's classes before my ankle gave out. It wasn't too bad - sore and weak - but if I continued dancing on it, especially through milonga class, I'd be unable to dance later. So I gave up 2/3 of the way through molinete class. The molinete class *alone* was worth the price of all three workshops! Daniela taught everyone (leaders and followers) how to lead molinetes three ways, as well as how to follow them. She emphasized recognizing where and when the lead is felt and how to position feet to lead it more smoothly. While this made me appreciate more how much is involved in leading the step, it also made me very grateful to be a follower. I thought my brain was going to melt from too much information. Daniela's first class of the day, a yoga inspired tango exercise class (which I had already taken twice!), still makes me feel like totally inept Daniel Larusso at the beginning of Karate Kid. I caught myself wondering if I was g...

Sorry for the delay in getting this post written - seems like ages since the workshop. I was only able to take the first of Daniela's classes which focused on posture, strength and balance exercises. The class included around 30 people from experienced dancers to "I just walked in off the street, what class is this?" dancers and I believe that she accomodated all of us very well. The exercises, while simple and straightforward, were not easy to hold - which was her point. Bending knees deeply into lunges, while disassociating the torso and twisting - and, because you can always do more afterall, check foot position so that the toe is pointed out. She walked up and down the lines of dancers to check foot position, lower shoulders, straighten backs - meanwhile several dancers (including me) were starting to quiver from the exertion. We were barely moving but we were working hard just holding the forms. Most of the time Daniela maintained a careful balance between pointing o...