We had the Oklahoma Tango Festival last weekend. There I met my hero who inspired me to start learning Argentine Tango 14 years ago.
In the introduction of my book "Beginning Argentine Tango," I wrote how I got interested in Argentine Tango. Basically I was inspired by the Broadway show during 1999 in New York.
We invited Hugo Patyn and Celina Rotundo. And it turned out Hugo was among the dancers on the stage in the performance in 1999.
They were the major components of this event. I will summarize what impressed me with three aspects.
(i) Their performance in the show. It was superb.
Their dance was Show Tango, a different breed of Tango from what we see in a milonga (social Tango party). They danced four songs, and all were amazing. I can be a hard-to-please spectator, but they were great.
(ii) Their classes. They were very well designed. Argentine Tango looks complex, because the dance is not about remembering patterns, but about combining small basic units. You can have infinite combinations of the units. That makes Argentine Tango look very complex.
From the standpoint of a leader, learning the dance is like learning driving. Just like set patterns don't cut it in real street driving, the leader needs to learn how to drive.
In the workshops they effectively broke down the patterns to units, had the learners practice the units, then re-combined them. If you use the units well, instead of memorizing a pattern, it would be a faster way to master Argentine Tango. A participant said that after traveling to many festivals, their workshops were one of the best she ever took, because they really broke things down. I agree.
Also, their dance was very dynamic. It emphasizes the flow of motion, and results in a very smooth and comfortable Tango. Certainly it was different dance from the style that emphasizes small-and-subtle Tango.
(iii) Their Body usage.
Advanced followers are dancers, not just followers. Meaning that they will DANCE what is led by the leader. A beginner can follow and do a simple back ocho. Advanced follower will follow and DANCE the back ocho. That is the difference you can feel immediately.
As a result, the advanced dancer's dance can feel like an entirely different game. She knows what she is supposed to do, and she will dance it. She can feel like a sport car with a revving engine that will respond to the lead sharply. A sloppy lead/driving would wreck the precious car.
Less advanced dancers are weaker in that aspect. A body not dancing feels somewhat unstructured in the motion, and ironically more difficult to read and lead. Even if they say Tango is a conversation, it helps to be articulate and clear with your words.
Usually when I dance with someone for the first time, I dance cautiously to figure out the partner's habit. I danced with Celina for just one song. It was refreshing to dance with someone with that fluid, yet well-structured response.
From my standpoint, that event was a very memorable one.
There is one thing I regret, though. Hugo and Celina are top-of-the-game dancers who have danced in Broadway and on world tour. They are the strongest Argentine Tango dancers to have ever visited, performed and taught in this state of Oklahoma. I do not feel our promotion did them justice. We focused our ads toward the Tango/dance community, but it should have been organized better, and more toward a broader general audience, so that more people could watch the Broadway level Argentine Tango. Some of the audience might have gone home with a lasting impression, like I did 14 years ago. In other words, there is much we can still improve on as event organizers. We will fix these regrets next time.
August 26, 2013
August 21, 2013
Event, Oklahoma Tango Festival in OKC, Aug 23-25, 2013
Jose is our friend from Argentina. He teaches Argentine Tango here in OKC. This summer my wife Cora and Jose got some time to work together (more time than I did, I'd say), and they came up with a couple of performance routines.
This weekend, Jose invited his personal friend and famous Argentine Tango instructor Hugo Patyn to have an Argentine Tango event, the Oklahoma Tango Festival in OKC, a series of workshops, milongas and a show night. Cora has been helping with the administrative work for the event, and also will be performing with Jose.
Hugo and his partner Celina seem to have a very playful and dynamic style of Tango when performing. I like it. They know what showmanship means to professionals. The Salon style is fun to do, but from a spectator's standpoint it is no match for the Show Tango (oops, did I say that? These two styles are different businesses, you know).
This video was taken last week when they were in Dallas, by our another friend Jasmine. It shows their playful dance.
Hugo & Celina Dallas, TX performance video by Jasmine S. Williams
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200319996429883
As in the testimonials, they got reputation not only as
performers but also as instructors as well. Effective teaching develops through
experience, and they got that. The classes should be good.
This weekend, Jose invited his personal friend and famous Argentine Tango instructor Hugo Patyn to have an Argentine Tango event, the Oklahoma Tango Festival in OKC, a series of workshops, milongas and a show night. Cora has been helping with the administrative work for the event, and also will be performing with Jose.
Hugo and his partner Celina seem to have a very playful and dynamic style of Tango when performing. I like it. They know what showmanship means to professionals. The Salon style is fun to do, but from a spectator's standpoint it is no match for the Show Tango (oops, did I say that? These two styles are different businesses, you know).
This video was taken last week when they were in Dallas, by our another friend Jasmine. It shows their playful dance.
Hugo & Celina Dallas, TX performance video by Jasmine S. Williams
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200319996429883
(Video is personal property of Jasmine S Williams)
Of course I'll be attending the event. This is going to be
fun.
August 18, 2013
Dance: Dance Nicely with lots of "Reserve"
Yesterday West Coast Swing dance champion Barry Jones came to the OKC Swing Dance Club and had workshops, followed by our monthly club Birthday party. During such a time, the party tends to attract dancers from neighboring cities and tends to be big.
There were many good dancers. Some were up-and-coming active competitors. Some were established dancers and instructors with known names. Many others were social, fun and recreational dancers. Looking at the crowd was interesting.
I'll share one thing I noticed on the floor. You should be able to tell the same thing when you go to a big WCS contest/party. I am going Dallas Dance on labor day weekend, and I expect to see it there as well.
That is, when the Champions dance socially, they dance nicely.
"Dance nicely" means that the leader-champion pays attention to and takes care of his partner so she can dance her best, and that the follower-champion does what she can to make the overall dance pretty and fun, adding technical and moral support and compensating some shortcomings of the leader if necessary.
Social dance is not exactly a time for training. Yet a few dancers with intermediate or even advanced titles dance like they have to prove something. How fast they can be, how many patterns they can show, or how outstanding they can be. The dances can be intriguing if they have an equal match, but occasionally the dances reek of a hint of desperation. I hope to see less desperate dancers, and hope to see more dancers dance nicely, like Champions do.
The Champion's niceness may be coming from their mental attitude. They know they are champions, and they know that the joy of dancing is not necessarily about showing off.
The niceness is coming from their physical ability, too. They have had their body well-trained so that they don't have to make extra effort to spin and position themselves in the right place on time, for example.
The nice dance, as a result, serves best to everyone involved; The leader, the follower, and the audience. I am not a fan of watching abuse anyway.
The Champions are rich enough to give, so to speak. Hungry up-and-coming dancers do look hungry.
I started to think why I dislike desperate dances. I came up with my answer. Because I like to watch the "reserve" in the dancers.
What is the "reserve?" I have been telling my wife to train to have a "reserve" in her dance for a while.
In a partner dance, we basically do the same thing as others. Same steps, same patterns. A trendy pattern may have differentiation power for a short while. But what really counts and what the factor is for differentiating yourself is the amount of "reserve."
Let's say you do what you do with only 50% of your best. The remaining 50% is the "reserve." You can use the extra "reserve" for adding expression to the dance, flirting with the audience, supporting the partner, talking and smiling, etc.
In contrast, if you are doing what you do with 100% of what you got, you have zero reserve.
With lots of reserve, your execution of the pattern looks easy, because it IS easy for you.
With lots of reserve, what you "show off" is not the pattern itself, but how easy it is for you. And that tells how good you are. Barely doing a pattern with all your effort is not attractive.
Dance is not a speed contest. Even if you are dancing fast, you can enjoy the view, feel the partner, take a breath, and enjoy the time. That is a good dance to me. And the "Reserve" make these possible.
This concept may be for dancers rather than for beginners. I'd like to see dancers working on developing more "reserve" in their dance.
"Birthday" people of August
There were many good dancers. Some were up-and-coming active competitors. Some were established dancers and instructors with known names. Many others were social, fun and recreational dancers. Looking at the crowd was interesting.
I'll share one thing I noticed on the floor. You should be able to tell the same thing when you go to a big WCS contest/party. I am going Dallas Dance on labor day weekend, and I expect to see it there as well.
That is, when the Champions dance socially, they dance nicely.
"Dance nicely" means that the leader-champion pays attention to and takes care of his partner so she can dance her best, and that the follower-champion does what she can to make the overall dance pretty and fun, adding technical and moral support and compensating some shortcomings of the leader if necessary.
Social dance is not exactly a time for training. Yet a few dancers with intermediate or even advanced titles dance like they have to prove something. How fast they can be, how many patterns they can show, or how outstanding they can be. The dances can be intriguing if they have an equal match, but occasionally the dances reek of a hint of desperation. I hope to see less desperate dancers, and hope to see more dancers dance nicely, like Champions do.
The Champion's niceness may be coming from their mental attitude. They know they are champions, and they know that the joy of dancing is not necessarily about showing off.
The niceness is coming from their physical ability, too. They have had their body well-trained so that they don't have to make extra effort to spin and position themselves in the right place on time, for example.
The nice dance, as a result, serves best to everyone involved; The leader, the follower, and the audience. I am not a fan of watching abuse anyway.
The Champions are rich enough to give, so to speak. Hungry up-and-coming dancers do look hungry.
I started to think why I dislike desperate dances. I came up with my answer. Because I like to watch the "reserve" in the dancers.
What is the "reserve?" I have been telling my wife to train to have a "reserve" in her dance for a while.
In a partner dance, we basically do the same thing as others. Same steps, same patterns. A trendy pattern may have differentiation power for a short while. But what really counts and what the factor is for differentiating yourself is the amount of "reserve."
Let's say you do what you do with only 50% of your best. The remaining 50% is the "reserve." You can use the extra "reserve" for adding expression to the dance, flirting with the audience, supporting the partner, talking and smiling, etc.
In contrast, if you are doing what you do with 100% of what you got, you have zero reserve.
With lots of reserve, your execution of the pattern looks easy, because it IS easy for you.
With lots of reserve, what you "show off" is not the pattern itself, but how easy it is for you. And that tells how good you are. Barely doing a pattern with all your effort is not attractive.
Dance is not a speed contest. Even if you are dancing fast, you can enjoy the view, feel the partner, take a breath, and enjoy the time. That is a good dance to me. And the "Reserve" make these possible.
This concept may be for dancers rather than for beginners. I'd like to see dancers working on developing more "reserve" in their dance.
"Birthday" people of August
August 12, 2013
Dance: Tango anywhere
Last week we had my birthday dinner at Eischen's bar, Oklahoma's oldest bar famous for fried chicken. It's in Okarche, a small town about 40 miles from our place.
Five people had a good time chatting over fried chicken, fried okra, pickles and beer.
We stayed almost until closing time, and by that time most of the other guests were gone. We were all dancers, so when the floor was open, we got up and danced a Tango to a song on the radio. The song was not a Tango song, I don't remember what it was, but was good enough for an alternative song.
It is good that social Argentine Tango can be danced in a small space about the size of a table. A performance for a large audience on a big floor is fun, but performance is only an aspect of the dance.
Both of the dances I particularly love, Argentine Tango and West Coast Swing, are very improvisational and can be danced to a variety of songs. WCS may require a bit larger space, about the size of a bath tub for the slot, but is also danceable in a restaurant. So, dance anywhere if you can safely.
********************** On Saturday we had a family farewell dinner for Cora's brother at a Korean restaurant called Seoul Garden in Midwest City. On Sunday he was off to college. Good luck.
Five people had a good time chatting over fried chicken, fried okra, pickles and beer.
We stayed almost until closing time, and by that time most of the other guests were gone. We were all dancers, so when the floor was open, we got up and danced a Tango to a song on the radio. The song was not a Tango song, I don't remember what it was, but was good enough for an alternative song.
It is good that social Argentine Tango can be danced in a small space about the size of a table. A performance for a large audience on a big floor is fun, but performance is only an aspect of the dance.
Both of the dances I particularly love, Argentine Tango and West Coast Swing, are very improvisational and can be danced to a variety of songs. WCS may require a bit larger space, about the size of a bath tub for the slot, but is also danceable in a restaurant. So, dance anywhere if you can safely.
********************** On Saturday we had a family farewell dinner for Cora's brother at a Korean restaurant called Seoul Garden in Midwest City. On Sunday he was off to college. Good luck.
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