This entry is to bust a misleading and potentially detrimental Tango saying, "you can just walk", said to a beginner.
Tango walking is dancing, not just a walk. There are some stylized ways to do the Tango walk. Unless you want the beginner to walk like a beginner for a long time, you need to teach the "dancing" walk from the beginning.
I heard a complaint from a guy, who said, "she said we can just walk. When I walked, she said, 'no, no, you are walking all wrong'. I got confused and somewhat offended." Sorry for him. She should have said at first that the Tango walking is a form of dancing and there are stylized ways to do it. It is misleading to say to a beginner that "you can just walk". If an instructor let a beginner walk as the beginner thinks it is, the walk will end up like a bad country-western or something. No hesitation, no attitude, no cat-like motion, no body-lead or body-follow, no axis, no gaze, nothing. Casual walk, no Tango.
A new dancer got to watch how good Tango dancers walk, and learn from them. Imitate. Usually it is an instructor's job to demonstrate a good "dancing" walk. But sometimes an well-meaning beginner intends to teach another beginner, and that's when trouble begins.
A countermeasure? Be very picky about the source of your learning. If he is (or his dancing looks like) a beginner, and he does not seem to know what he is talking about, probably it is wise not to take much of what he offers. Better not learning anything than learning bad habits that may be hard to unlearn.
Why am I writing this? I am not even remotely pissed or anything. It has nothing to do with the loss of the US team against Belgium team in the World Cup soccer today. Absolutely not.
Japan is gone, and the US. Well, which team am I going to root for now? Perhaps Argentina for Tango's sake?
