How to Do the Argentine Tango

Transcript Hi, my name is Ana Padron. And my name is Diego Blanco. We have been dancing the Argentine Tango together for 12 years. And we are professional teachers, choreographers and performers. We graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelors in the Performing Fine Arts. Where we are trained in ballet then modern. …

Transcript Diego: Now we’re going to show you an Amage [sp ?]. An Armage is an embellishment for the man but it’s a nice step to learn. Armage’s a fake as if you would have in soccer, for instance, or football or any other sport where the man, or the player rather, fakes the opponent. …

Transcript Diego: So now we’re going to show you what a Castegata [sp ?] looks like. We call this nowadays a burleo front. Anna: We’re going to take this front burleo [sp ?] or Castegata from a rock step. So the partner will take you into a rock step and as he brings you forward, …

Transcript A: Hi. Now, we’re going to teach you the gancho. We’re going to do it from a forward ocho and from a back ocho. A gancho, similar to a bolero [sp], you’re going to take it from a rock step or from a stop. You’re going to brush the floor and try to kick …

Transcript Hi. So, now we’re going to teach colgada. Colgada is an off-axis movement that hangs. So colgada means to hang. To practice it is good to take yourself and practice position, and think back when you were young and you lean like so, and you run around, like, in the park. The difference here …

Transcript So the history of Argentinian tango begins with Milonga. But the origin of Milonga comes from Playeras actually and Playeras is a song. It’s a song, it’s a song battle. There’s a call and answer and Playeras began in the great place of Argentina with the Gouchos. Gouchos are Argentinian cowboys so they would …

Transcript Ana: Hi, now we’re going to discover Leg Wraps. Diego: We’re going to take that from a back ochos. Let’s try it. We’re going to go side, give a back ochos feeling or a boleo feeling in this case, insert the leg and she’s going to meet and do a leg wrap here. You …

Transcript Diego: So now we’re going to show you how to lead a sakara for the follower. Okay, this is a more advanced step because you have to be precise in your lead and to be precise in your lead you have to have some years behind your back. But, nonetheless, you should still try …

Transcript [music] A: Hi so now we are going to teach you Boleo. Now I’m going to teach the followers their step and Diego will come back and teach the lead. So Boleo can either be done forward or back. Today we are going to do back Boleo. Its just going to come from ochos. …

Transcript Female: Hi. So now we’re going to show you walking in parallel and walking in cross system. When we’re walking in parallel the follower tends to always walk backwards. So when you’re walking backwards, a couple of things you want to remember, as you’re walking keep your heels together and toes apart and brush …

Transcript Man: Now we’re going to show you an enrosque. An enrosque is another embellishment for the leaders. It shows poise and balance, lots of balance, so let’s try it. We’re going to take just for a moment, the luna. We have side, forward. We’re going to pica, or to… Woman: Tap. Man: Then we …

Transcript Q: Hi. So now we’re going to discover single axis turns to the right and to the left. So together the design of the single axis turns we’re going to actually create an axis by bringing our feet together so the center will be in our feet. And in order to create space and …

Transcript Female: Hi, now we’re going to try the vocara. Male: Vocara means to spill, so we’re going to get our partners to spill their weight on us. Generally you can do this in a big step, but we recommend that it’s done in a small amount. So let’s start with the side step, normally …

Transcript Ana Padron: So now we’re going to do the Ocho Cortado. From the basic going forward, side, back, back, cross. Your partner will pivot you, take you to a forward ocho. But now he’s going to cut. Instead of finishing the turn, he’ll cut you and slice you into the cross again, into the …

Transcript Q: So what you’re going to do is your going to go into an ocho forward to the left. And from here you’re going to go planeo. What’s keeping me in balance is that I send her first and I follow her movement. So in slow motion if I can I will show you …

Transcript Ana: Hi. So, now we’re gonna teach you the grapevine or the Giros. So the Giros can be introduced by the leader, any which way. He could take it from any step of the basic, and then we’ll do our part. So I’m gonna teach you the Giro for the follower and Diego will …

Transcript Hi. We are going to teach you today how to change your weight from leg to leg, or we call this cambio de peso. So, it’s very simple actually. We place our weight on one leg and then we switch our weight to the other leg, but we do this in an up motion. …

Transcript Female: Hi. Today we are going to show you the Rock Step or La Cadencia. Male: Sometimes it is not as (?) as well. Female: So now what we are going to show you we are just going to show you individually what it would look like as your role. For the followers, if …

Transcript A: So, the Melia Luna is going to be a circular step so we’re going to go around our partner. So, we’re going to start it from a side step; we’re going to start side, we’re going to go back, side around my partner, forward around my partner always aiming for his shoulder, and …

Transcript So, pararas, any parara that the leader might do, you have a little time to embellish with only the free leg, the one that has no weight. From here, you can caress your partner’s leg, come across, caress your leg, feet together and just wait for his lead. Leaders, make sure you give time …

Transcript A: So, a Salida basically is like a door. A door can be an entrance or it can be an exit. What this step is meant for is, you can begin or you can exit using the same step. B: I’m going to illustrate this with an A count basic. So, mind you we’re …

Transcript Okay. Now we’re going to show you the Adornos or the Embellishments for the man. Keep in mind that embellishments are that. They’re not all the time in the dance. They’re just to embellish. Let’s start with the basic. When you first begin, to prepare, you can embellish, here. The follower can also receive …

Transcript Ana Padron: So now we are going to teach you Planeos. Planeos and Calesitas tend to get confusing. So the difference with a Planeo is that your partner will actually lower your level. Diego Blanco: By lowering his. Ana: By lowering his and that will create your leg to create a longer stride. But …

Transcript Q: First you have to find the beat. And finding the beat is pretty much the down beat. Finding the down beat is anything that makes your head nod and you step on that. All the time you step on that beat. You can also speed it up a little. And that is what …

Transcript So now we are going to go with sacada and we are going to teach you. But what is Sacada? Sacada is a displacement of the foot so in other words i take her place. Sacad literally means to take out. Now you take her with embrase and now we are going to go …

Transcript Diego Blanco: Okay. So now we’re going to show you la barrida, or el arrastre. Barrida means to sweep and arrastre means to drag. Shall we? Ana Padron: We shall. Diego: You’re going to step side and give a barrida. Slightly change your weight and lead your partner to a back step. From here, …

Transcript Diego Blanco: So now we’re going to show you the Cross Basic System. I’m going to show you this step. So we have. Side. We’re going to change our weight without leading her into it. We’re going all the way to the cross, lead her to the cross. And then resolution it. Like so. …

Transcript [Music playing] A: So the Back Ocho we’re going to start it from a side step. So I go forward, side, my leader pivots me and I pivot on my right leg. Take a back step, pivot. My leader pushes, pivots, push, pivot. And it’s up to him to resolution. So as I go …

Transcript Now we’re going to show you a triple arrastre. So that means that we’re going to show you three arrastres. So, let’s try it. We’re going to take the space this way. We start it just the same way we started the first one. Lead the lady as if you were leading an [?] …

Transcript Q: OK. Now we’re going to show you calecita or a carousel. A carousel is a carousel. You can take it from any step really. You can take it from a side step. You can take it from a forward step. You can take it from a back step. We are going to show …

Transcript Woman: Hi, so now we are going to show you the 8-step basic. I’m going to teach the follower step and Diego will come back and show the leader step. So the followers begin with their feet together, toes apart. Shifting our weight to the right leg and we’re going to step forward, one, …

Transcript Okay. We’re going to show you what a parara looks like. Parara means to stop or pause. So parara, again, we’re going to take it from the basic. So I’m going to start with forward, side, back, back, cross. My leader pivots me, takes me out of the cross. I step forward to ocho …

Transcript Woman: Hi, so now that we’re going to show you the front ocho. Man: It’s an ocho because you make an 8 figure on the floor. Woman: We’re going to take the front ocho from the basic step. So I’m going to begin with the basic forward, side, back, back, cross, and from here …

Transcript A: Hi, so now we’re going to do some directional turns. We use directional turns because tango is very circular. You’re able to use any angle you like; you could go 45, 180, 360, or even 5 degrees. B: Let’s take a look from the basic. If we take a side step, usually we’ll …

Transcript Q: One of the biggest parts of dance etiquette is called cabeceo. Cabeceo comes from the word cabeza which means head. A cabecero is just as you would say hello to somebody that’s passing by you have a little something like this. This is an invitation when we look at each other and say …

Transcript Ana Padron : So now we’re going to discuss what to wear. So the Argentine Tango, just like it’s always been, even from the beginning, has been very fashionable. So with the tango came the slits along the ladies dresses because they made it easier to move around the floor and it’s always been …

Transcript So now we’re going to talk about some music to dance to in the Argentine Tango. So some orchestras or some composers are Anibal Troilo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Carlos di Sarli, Juan d’Arienzo. And so these different orchestras came about at different times. To describe some of them, we can take for instance, beginners like …

Transcript Diego: We are going to take a look at how to lead and how to follow an Argentine Tango. There are two main things that you want to think about, or steps, or ways of leading and following. First, when you are stepping, you take your partner, and when I am stepping I am …

Transcript [music] Teacher 1: Teaching the Argentine tango is like teaching anything. Just like you would teach somebody how to cook, or how you would teach someone physics. It takes time. It takes dedication, and it takes experience. A famous quote from Martha Graham says, “It takes ten years to be a dancer.” If it …

Transcript A: Hi! So, today we’re going to discuss embraces and how to maintain space between you and your partner. B: Let’s take a look at the close embrace. You walk towards your partner, making sure that you step in between her feet. You offer your arm- A: And I will connect with him palm …

Transcript A: So, today we’re going to talk a little bit about posture in the Argentine tango. So, for the follower it’s very, very, very important -I believe for the leader as well- to keep your spine straight. You should be feeling it all the way from the tip of your spine to your head. …

Transcript Q: So what is a tanda? A tan da is a set of three to four songs. Those three and four songs are usually, depending on the DJ of that night will be very well balanced in the sense that they’re composers that have a little more, they’re faster, or they’re slower, or they …

Transcript So a lot of questions that we receive is what is a milonga. So a milonga means two different things. First there is a milonga which is a dance party that happens every night. And there is the music which is slightly quicker. And milonga’s quicker but is a happier music because of it’s …

Transcript A: So, now we’re going to discuss a little bit about Flora edicate. B: The first thing you have to know is to always dance counter clockwise all the time. A: So, leaders, make sure that you’re left hand faces the inside of the circle as you go around. Just like driving there are …

Transcript So styles of Argentine tango, before I start I want to mention that these techniques evolved through time, not one set technique was brought and then took over another one, they all live within each other in harmonious dancing, so one dancer doesn’t dance one style in particular, they might lean towards one style …