Tango Lessons

Well, she´s certainly no spring chicken anymore. Has gotten many scratches in her life.

But she´s got power. You can see that immediately. A real bundle of energy.
When she kicks off – Mamma mia! A real Italian!

She´s from Sicily. As far as I know there they are all small and stocky like her. Actually, the way I imagine a real milonga dancer.

Maybe I should try that, Milonga. Yet, – on that floor? You risk to break your legs.

So I better take it slow. Step by step. No Tango Nuevo. No chance to do that.

What´s now? We´re way too fast! She runs away from me. Completely out of rhythm. Who´s the leader here?

Just don’t get nervous now. Don’t mess around with your arms. It only gets her off track.

Calm! Lead consciously with your body. Yes, that’s how it works.

One step to the left, one to the right. Certainly we won´t perform beautiful ochos that way.

After all, – we are now pushing along calmly.

If only she wouldn’t wheeze so loud. Impossible to hear any music.

For that she now plays the coquette. Drops some part ever so often. Hopelessly old-fashioned and so obvious. It’s best not to go into it at all. Who knows what comes out of it.

What now? She just stops. Abruptly. She won´t go on. Nothing I can do about it? Nothing at all?   Nothing at all.

The end of the song: oil filter gone. Exhaust pipe demolished. Starter blocked. My motor milling machine is on strike.

Meaning I have to dig over the vegetable beds by hand again.

In my article “Heel or Ball? The secret how to walk right in Argentine Tango” I describe the different possibilities of walking in Tango.

Walking in Tango Argentino: Men mostly walk forward, women instead mostly walk backwards Photo: Ricky Barrios und Laura Melo

However, this is only about the right way to walk forward.

That means the description is more for men, or for all those who play the role of the “leader” (Though I find it more fitting and nice to talk about seducing to take a step instead of leading.),  AND for situations where the women go forward.

So here is the little completion on the topic

How to walk right in Tango?

Since women usually go backwards in tango, they are almost always landing on the toe and roll over the heel. It looks most elegant when the inside of the big toe first touches the ground and the foot points outward and slightly backwards (slightly backwards is, admittedly, the more difficult variant).

This is wonce women get used to it, in most cases the most stable posture.

Of course the woman can stand on the ball of her feet during the whole dance, and many dancers do that as well. However, in the long run thi is is quite exhausting, and when she wears high-heeled shoes very difficult or even impossible.

It is more comfortable and relaxing to really set the foot down on the heel and make contact with the ground. Here high-heeled shoes are helpful. Many women who usually do not wear shoes with high or very high heels are amazed at how much safety and firm hold they provide in dancing Tango.

Of course, the same applies to men when they dance backwards while dancing tango (apart from the high heels :-).

Another short note: For women who wear high-heeled shoes, rolling over the heels is probably the only sensible option when walking forward with long strides.

You might also be interested in this article.

Heel or ball? The secret how to walk right in Argentine Tango

Dance tango? Really nice and without stress?
If you want that, forget the “basic step”

Important Tango lesson. Argentine Tango is a social dance. Always dance in harmony with all the other couples. Photo: Wolfgang Sandt

Sure, when I started learning tango in 1994, my first tango teachers also taught me the so-called “basic step”.

At that time, in the beginnings of Tango Argentino in Germany, almost everyone did so.

As far as I know, shortly before Antonio Todaro, one of the most famous stage dancers of that time, while teaching in Europe, introduced this method because he (and possibly many other Argentines) believed that Europeans were unable to learn the tango in any other way.

Honestly, I can not really understand, why he assumed that this was a good method.

Argentine tango is a totally improvised dance, which all tango teachers I know are eager to confirm without hesitation.

Of course, every tango dancer will notice that there is a contradiction here. How can a dance that is completely improvised from beginning to end have a set sequence of steps?

Well, that’s a very fundamental question and one could easily ignore it if the so-called basic step did not have a whole bunch of negative effects.

In practice it´s like this. Most tango dancers who have learned the so-called “Paso di Base”, at least for a long time are unable to dance anything else than just this one memorized step sequence and therefore constantly get into trouble on the dance floor.

Why it is like that? The answers are simple.

For one thing, when dancing tango on the dance floor, there are usually many other dancers who miraculously always stand in your way the moment you want to perform the basic step or other prefabricated steps.

The consequences of this are clashes with other dancers, anger and frustration, because you just never really get to dance without hassle and finally for many the final, unnerved retreat from the dance floor.

On the other hand, the dancers, who first learn the so-called tango basic step, waste their time practicing a certain, ultimately unnecessary step sequence rather than focusing on really important things.

So what is important in tango?
To answer that, you can ask a few simple questions
1.    Can you dance tango without paying attention to the music?  A clear NO!
2.   Can you dance tango without paying attention to your partner?  Again, a clear NO!

3.   Can you dance tango without paying attention to the other couples on the dance floor? If you do not want to be in constant trouble, of course not.
4.    Can you dance tango without following a specific, memorized sequence?   Yes, of course!

But if you concentrate on the so-called basic step, the following happens:

Most beginners are so busy practicing the step sequence that they mostly can not concentrate on the music of the tango anymore and dance completely independently of the music (expressed in a friendly way). Of course you can´t call that tango anymore.

Since one has agreed in advance on a certain step pattern, which both dance partners could in principle dance independently of each other, one places no more value on the contact within the couple.
Unfortunately, it is obvious that many teachers, who obviously have no idea themselves, do not teach their students how to dance together, how to convey invitations with their body or how to feel what the partner wants.

As a result, this means that the ladies perform memorized figures at the push of a button, whether they were led or not, like a mechanical doll.
The men who have never learned to lead their dancing partners (or better, how to seduce them to do a certain step) pull and tug at the ladies and are upset or frustrated if they don´t do what they want them to do.

In short, one of the most important things in tango, the communication between the dance partners is lost.

If you have never learned to dance tango with the music, free and improvised, but instead dance only a certain sequence of steps (in the worst case even against the line of the dance) trouble with the other couples is inevitable.

One of the most beautiful experiences in tango, the common dancing in the Ronda, the harmonious dance flow of all dancers on the dance floor, is thus made difficult and often becomes impossible.

So, my appeal to all tango dancers (and of course to all tango teachers)

Forget the basic step, focus on the really important things and start dancing

Then Tango can become a magical experience.

Do you want to know more about the magical moments of the tango? Click Here!

You  might be also interested in this article.

What are figures good for?

So, here´s the summary of my survey.

Of course this summary is not representative according to scientific standards, but essentially everything has been mentioned here, what I heard from ladies during my entire tango life.

So what is important for all ladies

1. Neat appearance and personal hygiene
2. Respect for the dance partner (this includes, of course, already point 1)
   
3. Empathy
4. To be connected with the dance partner
5. To not understand the lady as a “dance sport device”
6. Musical dancing
7. No lecturing on the dance floor to “explain to the lady how to do it”
8. Humour
9. Give the dance partner the feeling of security so that she can trust the guidance / invitations of the leader
10. Friendliness
11. Courtesy / good behavior
12. No showing of the repertoire of figures, which one masters (more or less), no matter whether the lady is able or willing to perform it.
    
13. Passion / Energy (but you should fine-tune.) Ladies do not want to be dragged back and forth by a dancer, nor is it fun to dance with a juiceless wuss.
    

Of course, some of these things overlap.

Many interesting things have been addressed by the ladies.

But it is also interesting what was not addressed / desired at all.

Among all the things that ladies expect from their dance partners, one is “missing” completely. And probably that will astonish many dancers.

Not a single lady wished that the gentlemen make more steps, figures,  sequences.

Apparently that’s not important to the vast majority of ladies.

This is interesting because most tango dancers I talk to believe that they need to know and perform as many figures as possible in order to make the dance interesting for the ladies.

I also know that many gentlemen stress themselves just because of that, and do not feel really good and complete as dancers when they know only a few “figures”.

All I can say about that: Forget it!

If you really need proof that figures are comparatively unimportant for the ladies, read, What do you expect from the men you dance with.

Every now and then the following happens to me.

At a milonga or a tango ball, I try to invite a lady in the traditional way with “Mirada and Cabeceo” meaning with eye contact.

If I do not look away immediately, she gets even more tensed up.

Her attitude and facial expression say in big letters “WHY IS HE STARING AT ME…?”

No chance! This lady is busy and certainly does not want to dance with me now …

Of course it may be that this lady simply does not want to dance this tanda with me.

However, a lady who knows “Mirada and Cabeceo”, the game of inviting with eye contact, usually does not look cramped towards the floor, but just turns her head slightly, or signals by eye contact that she does not want to dance with me (at least not at the moment), – kind of a friendly, relaxed “no thanks” or “not now”.

By now, I know from experience that many dancers still do not know the reciprocal invitation to dance with “Mirada and Cabeceo”, because in their tango school it has been never told that it exists, let alone be practiced, how it works.

And as I notice again and again, unfortunately many ladies also do not have the self-confidence to seek eye contact, actively, to find their favorite dancer, to flirt a bit and to arrange to dance with him without words.

The problem with this: Hardly anybody asks them to dance, because traditionally in Argentine Tango someone who is not actively looking for a dance partner, shows that he or she does not want to dance

Only through eye contact does the lady give the gentleman the opportunity, or, if you like, the permission to ask her.

So if a lady always lowers her eyes when a man looks at her more intensely, she signals whether she wants it or not, that she does not feel like dancing.

Of course, this does not attract any dancer. The frustration is inevitable.

…but maybe this lady does…

So ladies, have more confidence!

Show that you do not need to hide. Fear not, but return the glances of the men (At least in the milonga, this is part of the game and is perfectly fine).

Take an active part in the game of “Mirada and Cabeceo”, instead of waiting passively and hoping (in vain) that maybe someday a dancer will come and invite you.

Your chances of getting nice dances will increase enormously.

By the way, there comes to my mind another practical obstacle that may occur. Every now and then I am told by ladies that they have not seen my invitation by eye contact without their glasses.

Well, with the rather subtle lighting in most milongas that can be a problem.

But in this case applies: Leave your glasses on. At least until you find your dance partner, and the dance begins.

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Is there a foolproof way to avoid a "no", inviting someone to dance?

Good old Mirada and good old Cabeceo

Those who danced tango in Munich in the mid-90s can certainly remember Metin Yazir’s Tango exercise evenings at the German-Turkish meeting center in Hermann-Lingg-Street. I too was there regularly.

One evening, just taking a break from dancing, cooling myself with a fresh wheat beer and watching the people, a tall, elegant, pretty attractive blonde came into the ballroom and sat down two tables away from me on the other side of the narrow corridor leading to the Dance floor.

I waited for her to drop her things and order something to drink. She noticed that I was looking at her, returned my gaze, perhaps a little mockingly amused, but not unfriendly. She appealed to me. So I went to her and asked her to dance.

We danced one tanda, maybe even two…

About a week later, Metin organized an afternoon milonga in the “Möwe” – “Seagull,” a restaurant that has long been gone. There was announced a little show with dancers of “Tango Passion”, who happened to have a guest appearance in Munich, at that time.

Of course, I also went to this milonga and met there again the same tall, blonde tango dancer – Annette.

We started talking, a bit longer than the first time, and the whole thing ended with me drawing and explaining my artistic ideas on beer mats and napkins.

She listened patiently, with signs of polite interest, we danced more than one Tanda together and exchanged our phone numbers.

Later she told me she had not really understood what I had been explaining her, about fragile, translucent sculptures…

Later she told me that she had not really understood what I had been explaining, about fragile, translucent sculptures, sculptures with breaking points, and so on and so fort… but, somehow, I probably had not left the worst impression.

We then met more often at different milongas, attended courses together with Metin and Gustavo Naveira (organised by Metin).

But it still us took half a year to become a couple and another two years to get married.

Of course, Metin’s practicas and milongas are always well-remembered, and if anyone asks us today how we met, we usually say, “It´s Metin’s fault.”

It´s Metin´s fault! It happened during a practica…

P.S. If you are curious to now what I did tell Annette about my art, you can see it here without beer mats and napkins on my artist´s website

http://www.atelier-wolfgangsandt.de/en/home.html

Last minute offer for tango classes in September and October at Villa La Rogaia.

Fall is beautiful in the Umbrian hills. Come to Italy to enjoy a relaxing holiday, intensive tango classes in small groups, authentic Italian countryside food and Dolce Vita!

Unfortunately two couples of tango dancers who had enrolled in tango classes at Villa La Rogaia had to cancel their holidays.

Therefore Villa La Rogaia offers a Last Minute price for these classes.

To see the Last Minute offers Click Here