Different partners, different journeys

Ladies, we may sometimes lament the gender imbalance at milongas.  Perhaps we dance less than we’d like.  But have you considered some of the advantages of our role in tango? 

After Marta’s milonga Wednesday night (El Rodríguez), I was reminded how lucky we can be … if we are patient.  During that milonga I experienced three truly memorable tandas with men I had never previously danced with.  And each one was so very different!

D took me on a whirling flight through energetic D’Arienzo valses.   His strong dissociation and control meant our turns were so tight, we were like the vortex of a tornado.  Yet our movement was contained and couples around us remained undisturbed.

I caught the eye of S when I heard the introduction of a romantic Di Sarli tango.  His response to the music felt like waves in the ocean.  Carrying us gently, suspending at the crest of the wave and then accelerating downwards. 

Troilo’s tangos get a lot of coverage here, I’m happy to say.  I noticed a man trying to invite me when a Troilo tanda started.  Not having seen him dance, I looked away.  Fortunately, two lovely local ladies at my table, quickly reassured me that I should definitely not pass up that offer.  C took me on a nuanced musical journey, taking time to savour moments in the music and attentively responding to my responses.

To be ready for such diverse, special experiences in the milonga, good technique/body control is needed, allowing me to respond to a variety of movement possibilities.  The woman’s role also requires her to simultaneously follow the music … as well as her partner’s interpretation of it.  She doesn’t “just follow the lead”.

Finally, mindset is critical.  If I had had a preconceived idea of the dance, eg. dancing certain figures; being determined to display decorations; etc., then I would have missed out on the magic.  Being flexible and open to my partner is pivotal.  That’s when it gets interesting.  As in life!

Pat

Ladies in waiting

No, this isn’t a reference to serving the royals, but rather a key element of the dance. Anticipation by followers is a hazard for their leaders and can destroy the timing & interpretation of the music that defines each tango; it also affects the leaders’ balance & posture as well as making them tense & watchful – not great for improvisation. I’m talking about guessing at what’s coming next & stepping into it, rather than intuitiveness with regard to timing & rhythms that comes with long experience.

So what can help women wait for the lead (a proposal) instead of moving ahead of her partner? Maybe looking at some possible causes will provide some clues. I’d suggest that it begins in the woman’s head – does she have confidence in her own skills and trust in her partner? From the beginner, who can do no more than walk well with good posture, to the dancer who has a broad range of well-developed skills, she needs to have a sense of self-belief – a belief that she can do what she does well - regardless of the partner (provided, of course, he can lead effectively). This confidence will translate to her being prepared to wait for a clear, well-timed lead – after all, rushing ahead can mean the moment is lost, whereas if she takes her time, the man has no alternative but to wait for her.

Clearly, this assumes that the man leads in a manner that will generate trust in his partner. He needs to quickly assess what his partner can do well, and dance within that range in order to make it an enjoyable tango for them both. He also needs to subscribe to the principle that he leads (proposes), the woman follows (listens and then responds in her own time), and he follows her (when the music invites). Which sounds very much like the leader needs to listen to and wait for the follower!

In fact, it’s that constant & well-timed two-way communication between the two bodies which can result in a truly satisfying tango.

So what can you (leader or follower) do if you find yourself dancing with a partner who doesn’t wait?

Bob

Improvisation - it doesn't just happen.

Ever stepped onto a milonga dance-floor, only to find that all creativity has deserted you?

Here's some advice for a start: keep it simple, focus on the music, and choose the right partner.

Let me expand on that. I recently came across a couple of references that reinforced my views on improvisation in tango, and encouraged me to keep delving into that zone where the music takes over the body.

Improvisation is not random and chaotic, says Michael Gladwell in his best-selling book, Blink. When talking about how elite basketballers train in order to play intuitively (e.g. the instant, magic pass after no more than a glance), he could be talking equally about tango dancers when he says that spontaneity is only possible after engaging in hours of highly repetitive and structured practice.

Swedish professor of psychology Anders Ericsson said that deliberate practice begins in the brain: focused, repetitive training in which the person is always monitoring their performance, correcting, experimenting, listening to immediate & constant feedback, investing a significant amount of time. For the tango dancer, that means continuing to practise tango's fundamental skills - the walk, pivots, ochos, etc., no matter how experienced the dancer is, just like concert pianists practise their scales.

Improvisation in tango appears to be under-pinned by a couple of essential elements:

1) a repertoire of well-practised movements, which could amount to no more than a good tango walk, simple ochos, changing direction, and a variety of timing to go with them, ........ or the repertoire may be more extensive.

2) an ability to really hear the music - its rhythms, melodies, moods, timing changes.

Of course, you then need to move to the next level - an ability to actually connect with the music: responding to it in a manner that reflects its rhythms & emotions, and using movements (figures or segments of figures) & timing that allow this to happen.

On the dance-floor, however, at the moment you start becoming reflective about your dance, your ability to improvise is undermined - you lose the flow. The dance then starts to take place in your head (leader's & follower's), and all creativity & the possibility of quick responses to changes in rhythm or melody are lost. For the dancer who improvises well, the responses & figures come from the body; to suddenly introduce a newly-learned, but not sufficiently practised sequence on the dance-floor, is courting failure, because introspection is bad for improvisation. Planning, calculating assessing, remembering (sequences, for example) kill improvisation. While response to music is a right-brain activity, introspection on the other hand is left-brain, and will quickly over-ride creativity. This means that thinking about or trying to remember sequences is more than just a simple distraction from the music - it actually subverts improvisation.

In other words, keep the dance simple, using well-practised movements (as opposed to 12-16 step rigid sequences), responding to the music in connection with your partner. One of the most important rules that makes improvisation possible is the idea of agreement, writes Martin Gladwell. So in tango, we probably look for partners who follow the same "rules" as us, for example in relation to embrace, lead-follow, musicality, emotional response. Is it any wonder that we may look for particular partners when a vals tanda begins, or Pugliese? Or maybe bypass a tanda that we have no feeling for?

For me, genuine improvisation will only occur when I connect with the music and I connect with my partner. From here, I'm transported into the dance by the music, with my body drawing from a relatively small bag of movements that have been embedded after several thousand uses - and only then can the experience be heightened by playing with the timing. For me, there is no other tango!

It's worth looking at videos of Buenos Aires milongueros improvising in this Tango and Chaos chapter.

Bob.

Improvisation ... that's what it's all about

Feeling the music, connecting with your partner in the embrace, sensing the possibilities which open up from moment to moment on a floor full of dancing couples - all these present creative moments, which become more intuitive the more you dance. I've even heard some say that those so-called "mistakes" which their partner makes are, in fact, openings for improvisation.

So, do you want to develop your improvisational skills further? Then take a look a this article and practise ... a lot.

And here are Melina and Detlef improvising to Biagi's Belgica at Porteño y Bailarin in BsAs.

Enjoy!

Pat