The occasion was a dance studio's Spring showcase. The studio is pretty big, and they had a matinee and an evening show to accommodate all performers.
The studio has 18 years of history and runs a variety of programs, including hip-hop, ballet, jazz, contemporary, Mexican folklore and flamenco, for kids and for adults. My performance partner, Martha, works at the studio as a manager. She also offers introductory Argentine Tango and performs the dance with her husband, David.
This time, David was unavailable because of his own passion project, umpiring baseball. He has been a baseball player, a very good one I might add, and in this season he has been actively involved in umpiring games in local junior league. His love for the sport is evolving. Good for him.
When her another partner backed out, this Stage Tango project fell on to my lap. There are not many Tango leads in this city, let alone performers. I thought it would work for me as a part of my self-appointed divorce recovery program (and it did). "When you are up, you dance. When you are down, you dance, too." In addition to a scientist's mind, I may have gotten a dancer's spirit somehow.
Preparation time: eight weeks. We had music (a techno/nuevo version of "Tango to Evora"), but no choreography. We could practice together once or twice per week on weekends.
In this entry, I'll briefly describe how we prepared for the dance.
Dancing a stage tango is a very different business from social/salon tango. If you think dancing a lot of social tango will lead to a good Stage Tango, think again. For the stage presence and audience appeal, with the performer's skills being equal, Stage Tango has an advantage over Salon Tango, as the names suggest.
Many couples who dance Tango for a show or for their special occasion resort to ask pros to choreograph. It is a good way to learn and to have something to show quickly. But this time we wanted to choreograph the dance by ourselves. It's a part of fun.
We got to think what we even want to show. Like any other sports, what you practice shows on the stage. In the sense, I wouldn't believe in last minute miracle. By the time you show up on stage, how you would do is pretty much determined.
First thing first. We started working on Tango basics by incorporating 30 minutes Tango warm-up for each practice session. Changing and improving body usage takes several weeks. Considering the remaining time, it was the first task.
Next step was to analyze the song and the structure, so that we could fit the moves to the song.
When Hugo and Celina came to OKC (5/3/14 weekend), we were on the third week into preparation and still nowhere near showing anything. But their workshops helped a lot. We even incorporated a few of their moves into our final choreo.
Following two weeks was the main time for coming up with ideas and assembly. It was good that we had some "stock" moves that we could use. It would have been harder for us if we had to start from scratch. Professionals have large amount of stockpile moves that can be used as modules for on spot "improvisation". That's why they can pull off "improv" well.
One more thing: I believe Argentine Tango is a strongly lead-follow dance, and even in a choreography, lead-follow should be there. Two people doing their parts of the choreo independently is not exactly what I want. I want to see lead-follow.
Once the entire routine was roughly assembled (2 weeks before the show), polishing began. There were some trouble spots at first, so we needed to work on them.
Final stage (1.5 weeks before the show) was also the time for mental rehearsal of the routine. Create mental videos, and rehearse the dance in your head, as well as moving physically. The important trick is to think only of positive and successful performance. And it can be difficult. If you have never done it, try it. You may be surprised how "self-defeating" you can be.
Saturday (5/31/14) was dress rehearsal. There were many tasks to be done in a short time; know the backstage, make sure the dress/costume is good, check out the order of dance, decide initial positioning on stage, dance on the stage to get the feel, adjust timing for lighting and music, etc, etc. Stage lights can be very blinding, and you need to be prepared for it.
For dancing a partner dance publicly, there are two approaches in general. One approach is to try to appeal to the audience directly. Another approach is that we dance to each other, and attract the audience. We took the approach two. A merit of the approach two is that it is easier to focus on the dance itself, and it has less chance of distraction from the audience or of stage fright.
Also, note that adrenalin on stage grants you to move quickly. You need to consciously relax, slow down, and dance with the music. Monitor your heartbeat. Stay on the moment.
And there we danced in front of 500-700 people on Sunday matinee. Believe it or not, I enjoyed dancing there on stage. She danced very well. So we danced well and it was awesome. I am very happy about it. Yeah.
When the video becomes available, we'd upload it.
Hiroshi "Hiro" Yamada and Martha Wells
