Dance: Stage Tango 101, preparation for social Tango dancers

 There was a talk that I and a dance partner are going to demonstrate Argentine Tango, then teach Tango for about 45 minutes followed by some dance, in a wedding.

Due to schedule and other conflicts, I backed out of the gig. I am not going to do it. I suggested some others who might be able to take the gig. Hope everything works out.

This (unrealized) gig had me think about how we would have proceeded in preparation for 6 weeks.

The prospective partner does not have stage experience much, although she dances Tango in milonga and has decent basics for social Tango. 

My plan. First two weeks are time for physical and mental preparation, upgrading and converting Tango moves for stage version. 

That is why I planned to lecture Stage Tango 101.

(Some time ago, as a part of my Tango research, I interviewed several traveling Tango instructors [strong stage dancers/performers] on stage Tango. I planned to eventually assemble the materials as a book about doing or how to do stage tango. ...maybe later.) 

Anyway, as the prospective partner was already familiar with tango basics, the initial lecture should be simple. I planned to emphasize only 5 points. (It's a lot of work, though).

#1 Forget about milonga rules.

Social Tango in milonga and stage tango performance on an open floor are two different dances. In social tango, you are to respect other dancers, including no high kicks, no passing, no going against the line of dance, no lifts, no drops, etc.

Believe or not, there rules are rather strongly engrained in social Tango dancers. Milonga-raised dancers may become good at "staying there and going around each other in small ways" moves (molinete, giro, ocho cortado, etc). But they can also develop habits of restraining widths of stride, causing little timid walk that won't do well on stage. When larger energy/momentum is applied, they can collapse. And that shouldn't happen.

Going clockwise (not "counterclockwise, along line of dance") is legal on (solo) stage.

Taking big strides means you move fast from here to there. You can do it. No worrying for traffic jam or running into other couples.

And they never kick up big. On stage, you should.

#2 Focus on how your dance look

Stage Tango is a visual art, from the standpoint of audience. In social dance, indulging in your dance feeling is fine. But on stage in performing and in demonstrating your dance for an audience, you have to prioritize the look of your dance.

One of arts close to dancing is acting. You need to learn to convey your message by your art of acting/dancing. The message is visual, when your audience is far away.

Your feeling is poor indicator of visually good dance. 90-95% of social dancers in milonga have wrong or poor postures and body alignments that do not look "trained". Correct posture can be uncomfortable at first, because you are just not used to it.

Use mirror and practice until your "feeling good" matches your "looking good".

#3 Learn to move big and fast

You are "demonstrating" moves. Your moves, as a couple, should be visible from a distance (20 feet away at least. You need to consider how far your audiences are).

#4  Learn to use big and visible embellishments

Again, don't worry about kicking others. Break the "psychological block by milonga rules" first. Focus on how you demonstrate your embellished moves. 

To do high boleo and high kicks, you need to activate specific muscles in hips and/or legs. To add hesitation or styling in your walk to show your musical interpretation, you want to use ankle-foot play or some gesture moves. You need to know these moves as knowledge. Then, these moves need practice, both solo and as a couple.

This motion size and type conversion can take a long time for a dancer. The reason can be psychological and/or physical. That is why I wanted to include these points in the first lecture.

#5  Contrast in fast and slow energy flow

Dance can look boring if all moves are performed in a monotone, metronomic manner. Fast fast fast fast......predictability is an enemy of good-looking dance.

Besides, Tango music itself is a mixture of fast energy and slow energy. You dance to the music. Then you'll move with contrasted energies.

If you check out good stage dances, dancers mix up fast and slow, dynamic and deliberate. You should do it, too.

#1-#4 are already a lot of work. #5 may be a little much, but I wanted to mention it early.

Later on weeks 3-5, once the conversion started showing, we would have worked on select choreographed moves with the song (TBD). 

Dance is to be with the song/music. A choreography can be danced much easier with the matching song/music.

Your body cannot lie on stage. You show what you got. That is why stage dancing can be scary.

We can tell good dancers just by their dances. You show what you got. You dancers communicate your art visually to your audience. How exhilarating.

["Choreographed Stage Tango in Buenos Aires", from wikipedia]

Dance: Mini milonga marathon in Dallas 5/7-8/2022

 Once or twice in a year in Studio22 Dallas, George and Jairelbhi are hosting this 3 milonga (Fri, Sat and Sun)+1 workshop event weekend, calling it Mini milonga marathon.

Musicality workshop was presented by John Turci-Escobar from Austin. Last time they did this mini-marathon with his workshop was March 2020. Right after that everything was shut down. No jinxing.

As OKC tango community is too small after the corona, if I really want to dance Tango, I need to travel. This past weekend agreed with my other things, so I drove four hours to get to Saturday and Sunday milongas.

They assign a theme for each party. For Saturday, it was masquerade. It is not easy to find a mask that works well with eyeglasses. For Sunday, Cowboy. I brought western shirts, jeans, a watch with cobra skin strap, and a bolo tie with Tiffany-blue turquoise. 

[event flyer]

I did take a break from Tango during corona. But thanks to some recent practice, my skills actually improved. What I practiced was solo dance and showy body usage, and make them smooth. Also, watching good dances/dancers, mostly on video, and picking up some good stuff help greatly.

You show what you practice. On dance floor your body cannot lie. It shows what you got. 

I like observing people's dances. It is fun for me to know what they have and don't have. Even just how you are standing can give you away. Something like how you construct your dance and how you show lines of energy flow as a couple interests me.

I can do and enjoy this spectator fun with videos. But it adds more fun with people.

I know it sounds like I am a dance otaku of sort. And I cannot deny that.

Last time I went to Dallas was August 2021. Nine months later, visiting there to dance with new people and friends is still fun.

Some swimming in hotel pool was nice and relaxing (also incredibly tiring and mellowing afterwards). How long ago was it when I swam last time? Probably years, but my body still remembers how to swim. What you practiced indeed resides in your body.

Dance: Dance and community ("A college fundraiser for Goose, Layla" 4/29/22 )

 An invitation for college fundraiser/dance show showed up in my FB feed. So I went.

There are several salsa places in OKC. Some are in bar/restaurant, where we casually drink and dance and have fun. Dance skills matter less in the places. Others are in dance studio that also offer salsa and other dance classes. There may be a few "more interesting" dancers there.

Marti's place at NW OKC ("Clips and Hips") is the latter. They offer regular salsa classes and monthly social Latin parties. 

The same people at Clips and Hips also serve as a community dance center of sorts. They present Latin American dances (Columbian, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Mexican, etc; of Spanish-speaking countries), with those colorful costumes.

It was an interesting dance place and very welcoming. I used to go there, stopped going after my divorce (I gave up a few dance places around that time), but OKed myself after years and the Corona break.

So that's about the Marti's place. Marti has a kid nicknamed Goose. I heard the kid was growing up as a serious dancer with awards, attending dance camps for future professionals and all.

I knew her indirectly as Marti's kid. Recently I came across her a few times at salsa parties. Out of curiosity, I asked her to dance. She's a real dancer alright. Feels light and agile, can do multiple spins (like 12 spins) with ease.

On social dance floor, we don't (necessarily) use eye-catching or showy moves that need preparations. But quality of dancers show in quality of basic moves. 

The college fundraiser/dance show this past Friday was for the kid and by the kid. In the dance show, she was dancing several numbers, along with other dancers (Latin group dances, ballroom Latin, stage salsa). 

An interesting one was a ballet with OKC ballet soloist, young and up-and-coming artist Alejandro Gonzales. Physical abilities of ballet dancers are quite impressive in person. Google Cabriole, Penche, Pirouette and Grand Jete, if you are curious about what kind of moves I am talking about. Just thinking about doing the moves give me sore.

Sure, professionals need to show why they are professionals. They can do what amateurs and common people cannot do. Sometimes it's as simple as that.

The show was entertaining. Pulling off such an event requires great deal of community support, and I am happy to see they have that in the Spanish-speaking Latin dance community.

I don't even know which college the kid is going, but I'd like to add my well-wishes.