Dance: two axes for follower, three axes for leader, in Argentine Tango dancing (technique note)

 Notion of axis (plural axes) and use of it/them is essential in dancing Argentine Tango.

For follower, she uses right or left axes. As clean weight transfer (from one axis to another) is critical to this dance, especially for follower, I usually tell beginning follower to have two good axes first.

For the lead, yes, clean weight transfer is also critical. So he should have two axes (right and left).

In addition, he can use center/spine axis that runs along his spine, with his weight distributed in between both feet/legs. Think upside-down Y-shaped structure.

When he uses the center/spine axis, it is not for mobility but for stability and support. When he uses both feet/legs to stand strong, he has much better stability, and can give her much stronger support as well as solid guide post for her moves.

As his major role in Tango dancing is to support her dance, his use of central/spine axis makes sense as an important part of this dance.

Hence, he needs to learn how to use these three axes as a leader.

[screenshots from YouTube "German Cornejo's IMMORTAL TANGO: "A Los Amigos" (German Cornejo & Gisela Galeassi)". Very cool Stage Tango performance. A favorite to watch]

What happens if she uses center/spine axis? She tends to be stable (predictably. and will be heavy), weight transfer is not clean (a major issue), and would move smaller (if she is not freeing up non-axis leg, she cannot move from where she stands). Tango becomes poorly done Kizomba of sorts. 

That is why she should not (at least initially) use center/spine axis as a follow, but to focus on using two axes (right or left).

Followers are often told to "be light on your feet". It is the same thing. Either right or left, don't get stuck in between.

There are exceptions, of course, such as times the lead wants her to stand stably on both legs so that he can show off his gancho or kick through the space between her legs. 

Similar moves can be done in transition, but in this case he is "placing her on the spot". You can observe and tell when he is "placing her" (or not).

You can watch Tango from this standpoint; How dancers are using their axes.

Life: covid recovery, arctic front, earthquake (MLK Jr holiday weekend 2024)

 I had covid in mid-late December and was in bed for 12 days. It was incredibly exhausting experience.

My body kicked the virus in 12 days. But afterwards, I was still sleeping 8-12 hours straight at night, probably still fixing something. I'd say it was damage recovery time that was needed for additional 2 weeks.

Last weekend I was out for Tango, then the next day for Salsa/party Latins. I was cautious and going easy on myself, as it was after some bed-ridden time and break. 

For Tango, I needed to check on my balance, but was fine for social dancing. My body was moving well for Salsa, which was a nice surprise.

This weekend, I was again out for dancing. I felt I recovered. 

I don't know how much these senolytics and mitochondrial function supplements helped, but results were what I can be thankful for.

Incidentally, an arctic front is visiting here. Outside is currently 5F (-15C). Tonight would be 2F (-16C). This near record-cold weather would last for next 2-3 days.

Need to watch out for frozen pipes. Reminding me of why I was not searching for a job in cold places.

Also incidentally, we had noticeable earthquakes 2 days earlier, biggest one was M4.4. 

Had the earthquakes been bigger, enough to cause house and building breakdowns (similar to what we saw recently in Noto peninsula in Japan), this arctic weather would have been a true disaster.

Assuming another earthquake is not coming, we were lucky.

This MLK Jr holiday weekend is going to be cold, "stay at home" weekend.

Life: Supplements for Covid recovery. Will see if they help.

I am doing okay with recovering from covid. My sense of smell is back. But still feel tired sometimes.

If this was a video game, my life gauge would be at 50-60% range as of today. 

I lost 10lb in a week during active infection, but gained back 6lb so far.

I'll start going dance parties, though. 50-60% is a big progress from red zone (below 20%) right after I got out of bed around Christmas (10 days ago). I'll test my body out, slowly, without pushing hard yet.

To facilitate my recovery, I am using some supplements.

Following is an email I sent to my colleague, who also got covid and wanted to know what kind of supplements I am using.

"Hi, xxxx,.

There are 7-25% (or more) of former covid patients who get “long covid”. They have some symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, etc) even after 3-12 months. There are many hypotheses for the cause(s). We can test some supplements that can work on the possible causes and see if they help our own recovery.


(a) A hypothesis states that increased senescent cells generated during active infection are causing long covid. For that, we can try senolytics.


Fisetin, quercetin, and apigenin, are ones we can buy easily from Amazon. Some supplements are sold as combined senolytics.



(b) Another hypothesis concerns mitochondrial damage and lowered energy generation, not unlike chemo/radiotherapy after-effects. Possibly relevant to fatigue.


Co-Q10, acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid, PQQ, and NAD+ supplements are said to help mitochondrial function or regeneration. Fasting is also said to aid mitochondrial recovery.



(c) Others that may help.

Taurine, Fish oil, green tea, ginseng, and “Tonic”-type Traditional Chinese medicine (Shi Quan Da Bu pian 十全大补片, Bi Zhong Yi Qi pian 补中益气片). These Chinese medicine are used in Japan to aid reducing sickness during cancer therapies.


Pick some that you like. Some supplements come as combination. If you want I can send product links.


Hope this helps. "

So now I have a collection of supplements. I'll keep using the supplements until I use up the bottles (about 1 month supply), and will see if they worked or not.

Since it is impossible to set up appropriate controls, it is not a proper scientific experiment. But I don't want to wait for someone to run proper clinical trials either.

Besides, I don't think they do harm anyways (unless over-dosing). In the case, either they work, or they don't work. Nothing will be lost. Only gain if they work.

Most things in life are N=1 experiment. Got to live with it.

Note: I don't sell these supplements nor know who sells. No conflicts of interest. Test them at your own risk.