My Tango Diaries

The first time I watched the video of myself dancing, I thought my feet looked so terrible. Instead of being turned out a bit, walking on the inside edge, my feet were turned inward. I looked pigeon-toed and awkward. I was following what was led, not making mistakes, and I felt well connected to my partner. But I just couldn't take my eyes off my feet. So, I told myself I'd continue working on it, but ultimately what mattered most was my connection to my partner and my ability to follow what's led. After all, my leader can't see my feet. Right? Still, I watched other dancers. I asked teachers and followers about balance and foot placement. I put into practice what Silvina Valz taught about ochos (and the various steps that can be led from that position) which was to keep the knee of the non-weighted leg slightly behind (instead of in front of) the weighted leg's knee. That makes the appearance of the swivel or pivot sharper and allows for faster and easier change of...

You like potato and I like pot ah to, You like tomato and I like tom ah to Potato, pot ah to, Tomato, tom ah to, Let's call the whole thing off. --- "Let's call the whole thing off!" by George Gershwin You like salon, and I like apilado. You like nuevo, and I like traditional. You like ganchos, and I like cunitas. So we meet in the middle. You come a little closer, and I stand a little straighter. We dance. We turn. My temple rests against your jaw. I step through your ocho cortado and feel it coming - you lead the gancho. I follow it. This time without hesitation. Through my lowered lashes, I see you smile. I smile back. And I think, 'okay, I'll say potato with you.'

I've been having trouble consistently nailing my ochos. As soon as I stopped having such a wobbly axis, I seemed to have trouble pivoting enough - and with enough disassociating to make the step look and feel smooth, graceful .. and precise . I got a bit of advice from my instructor Monica, who I believe she said she got from Silvina Valz, regarding turning during ochos. She said pivot until you can see your butt (over your shoulder). How literally you take that is, of course, up to you. To my surprise, I found it incredibly helpful in remembering to disassociate my hips and first of all, not use my partner for leverage, and second, it gave me something more tangible to monitor my consistency. Do you have other ways you monitor how a step or movement needs to "feel" or look to know you've completed it correctly? (PS - that's me looking for my ocho booty and modeling my new Flabella tango shoes. :) )

Posted by PlanetTango, here is a link to a clip from GottaTango that demonstrates a bit of what was taught in Tuesday's class - with many more variations. The video quality isn't great but the audio instruction compensates a bit. For those who prefer a "count" and a slightly better video quality, below is a lesson from TangoCity on ochos. This demonstrates pivots very well, but it doesn't emphasize the weight shift, and importance of changes to the embrace that signal the invitation to the ocho. Still, between the two videos, the information presented will hopefully be helpful in practicing.