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. We’ve traveled through Asia, through Europe, through… The Caribbean. And through South America teaching dancing and performing. In the various festivals around the world. Now, we reside in Manhattan where we teach and perform our local as well as all over the United States. What drives me to tango everyday, every time I teach it, every time I dance it with someone, is the interaction you have between the couple. It’s 3 minutes where you don’t talk and you concentrate in your body, and your understanding of each other’s body, and just language that happens through the body. And very magical moments can happen with complete strangers, people that you’ve never, you can’t even speak their own language. But, you dance with them, and you enjoy it and you really have fun. So, tango really speaks to me because of that. When a song moves you, it really comes from the core of your body and it makes your whole body move. To learn more about us and sign up for our classes and watch more of our performances, you can find us at TangoForAll.com.

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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. My opponent is Anna today so we’re going to fake her out. So we have-, we’re going to go and fake at a heel so we’re going to go all the way to the cross and we’re going to fake to get into a heel. Another well common fake is side step. A side step to come to the close side of the embrace. Or into a heel.

Anna: This is a great time to know when the follower is leading or not. So if the following is looking at the leader’s feet and you start to go Amage with him without him leading it then you know you’re not doing your role correctly. So just, it’s very important for a follower to wait. If you feel bored, then you have your little embellishments until you feel the next push or pull for the next thing.

Diego: There you have it.

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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, you bring your feet together and there will be a similar whipping sensation as the Back Ocho but this time knees together and you’re going to come around the front making sure your knees stay together and you don’t have any space. That it’s closed. Yes? So one more time. Side, from a rock step, forward, whipping sensation, and he’ll bring you back. Rock step, forward, whipping sensation and he’ll bring you back. So the Castegata will look like this. You’re going to go from a rock step and using the same opposition to create that whipping sensation that your partner will lead. So making sure that you keep your chest to your partner and you’re going to turn your hips and your knees are going to stay together, no space. And that’s the forward burleo Castegata. Now Diego will teach you the lead.

Diego: OK. Let’s take this from the basic. So we’re going to go side, forward into a forward step, rock step, step back with her forward step. Now from that forward step that she takes you, you’re going to lead her into a Forward Ocho and as she finds the last moment of the Forward Ocho you’re going to step into it to create the Castegata. OK? So, you got rock step, step with her and step around her as you lead her. OK? This is better demonstrated with a partner so let’s take a look. Side, forward, forward, rock step to a back step. She does a forward step. Lead into a Forward Ocho and at the last minute-. Let’s try that one more time. And at the last minute you come to it by shifting-, by taking a step side. From here you’re going to end up on a cross system-based system so you can close with a cross basic. Rock, step, back, lead it, rock, and (?).

[music playing]

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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 your butt. Just brush the floor and try to brush from your hips. Just like a walk, but it’s just going to lift up, and you’re going to see why now.

B: A common mistake that most followers at the beginning do is, when they come around into the gancho, they leave it here. You want to put it all the way back. OK, let’s try it with the basic. Let’s take it from a back ocho.

From the back ocho, you’re going to over-rotate the back ocho. No longer are you going to lead it here, but you’re going to lead it closer to you. Place the foot around her foot into a gancho.

A: And, I brush back. I feel the lead just like a back step. Since his leg is in the way, that is what’s creating my leg to lift in the air.

B: We’ll continue in the basic, to a cross, forward ocho, and we stop the trailing leg. Now, we lead a back step and this allows the gancho to happen. Notice that I am not in a straight leg, otherwise she can’t do the gancho. I receive the gancho on a bent leg. This holds true for the gancho in the back ocho. Make a resolution, rosalida, from a forward step.

Let’s look at this from a different angle – we have an ocho, and we overturn one of the ochos, place it, come back to feet together. Go into the basic step, to the cross. Lead a forward step, but we stop it, as you probably would do in the cicada. So, think something like so.

And we rewind into the gancho. She takes a forward step, I place my feet together. I lead her into another forward step, we can re-embrace, and continue the dance.

[music]

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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 in tango, and in dance, is that
we don’t throw our shoulders back because it’s too much to hold. So what
we do is, we bend our knees, and we pull from our tailbones. And this,
this is what creates the colgada. Never, ever, do this. You might fall
on the dance floor.

So it’s the same concept as keeping your spine straight from the
base of your spine to the crown of your head, and you’re just going to
pretend like you’re going to sit on a chair, keeping your back straight.
Since our heads weigh too much, that’ll send us off.

Right. You could practice this, to get the feeling of a colgada.
I’m going to teach you a colgada from the, from a side [colgada] here.
Now, we’re going to send the follower out.

By stretching your elbows slightly, and I will receive that and
stretch it from my hip. I’ll pretend like I’m sitting on the side of a
chair.

Right.

And I make sure to fill my partner’s hand.

Notice that we move together, as I send her out so do I, I send
myself out. Yes. Once you send the follower out, you have to shift your
weight like so, so you’re all going to be on one leg, which would be the
right for both of you. And then you turn. So, you’re going to go side,
parada, colgada, and then you’re going to step back to create the turn.
Let’s do it in one motion. Don’t be afraid to do a small one at first. A
colgada can be like this… but I want to show you something that you
can aim for.

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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 battle off similar to rapping nowadays, Hip-hop, Okay?.

So this Playeras goes to the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, in the outskirts where there are immigrants. African immigrants and European immigrants. Now picture that there’s a poor setting in these places and then this Playeras is giving the name of Milonga and Milonga is a name of arguments. The word argument in Angolian so it’s an African word. And it’s an argument in a dance so, it’s a dance battle just as much like you have that in break dancing.

It’s also another form of call and response. So, here picture these people battling each other and mixing European forms of dance like the polka which is dancing in an embrace and then you break the position and Candombe, which is an African dance solo, there’s no accompaniment with a partner. It is dancing Encambrada, which means back’s bent, and the knees are also bent so if you put those two together you have the common thing. You have cheek to cheek embrace, you know you are dancing very down into the ground.

So it was through this mixture of cultures, it was an influence of cultures that where the first origins of tango come about. There’s a misconception about the birth of tango in brothels. Yes, it was danced in brothels, but tango was danced everywhere. It was danced in street corners, it was danced in cafes, it was danced in theaters, dance halls, you know, or ball rooms as you call them. So that’s a brief history of tango as a dance form.

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
step onto it for it to be clear. Let’s take a look at it from this
perspective. Side, you step around and bend your knee, now you give sort
of a boleo feeling into the leg so now she’s wrapping her leg around mine.
In order to get out of this we’re going to step onto the foot, try not to
move the lady into something, but rather step your weight onto that leg and
she will realize that she has to move the foot out of the way.

Ana: In order to feel these leads, the sensations are as so.
I know that it’s a boleo feeling or a back ocho and I know to extend my leg
because my partner has changed his level so I know to stretch my leg back.
As I come around, I know to maintain myself on that level because his
knees are still bent. Here I make contact with his upper leg. I know to
begin to wrap because he starts to transfer weight he starts to move over
to his right leg and there I can create a little wrap. As he transfers all
the weight I quickly take my legs out by bringing them together and we’re
ready for the next step.

Diego: Make sure that after you leave the boleo back around here you bring
your leg close to her standing leg so that she can be in balance. You
don’t have to look at any of these things, you have to feel. Tango is all
about feeling and what you want to do is touch her leg and she will be able
to wrap in balance. If you don’t, she’s going to be off balance, so you’re
going to be around.

[music]

Ana: Step closer to our standing leg.

Diego: Very hard.

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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 it. Now, we’re going to go into cross system here and I’m going to take a step forward and I’m going to lead Anna to sakara on my back foot. Then, I’m going to lead her to sakara on my side foot. I also lead her to come two feet together as such. So there’s a lot of leading here but it’s fun. So we go forward, side, forward, side, forward, side. This type of movement that is mixed is also called a carena. So you learn a lot of things here.

Anna: An important part of the lead is to maintain your partner going around and from here you wanna make sure that you don’t overturn your partner to take a back step. You just want to bring her foot together and you’re having a lot of opposition from your upper body and your hips. Notice how when Diego takes a step, he maintains a circle motion. Followers, don’t be scared to step where your partner is leading you. Take a nice forward step and a nice side step, a nice forward step and a nice side step.

Diego: From here, you end up in a cross system, but you know how to go into a cross system so you can cross and get out of it.

[music playing]

Diego: As a leader it’s up to you. And there we have it.

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[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.

So as I take a side step my partner is going to lead an ocho and give me a whipping sensation at the end. One more time. Side. He’s going to send and ocho and whip me back around. So there is a opposition happening in the lead which creates this whipping sensation. He can also do it to the other side. Knees together. Side, knees together, opposition in the torso. I’m going to use my arms pressing against my leader’s back to have this whipping sensation. Now Diego will teach us the lead.

Diego: This is a type of step that we don’t do much but lead. It’s very important that we focus our energy on that. We go side, when I place my weight on this leg I send the leg back to her and then immediately bring it back. That brings the whipping action.

So it looks like this. Side bum bah. Your going to go, side the first bam sense as if it was going to be an ocho and immediately I bring it around. Bam bum bah. Like so, side move, move with her.

A: So followers make sure you still have that opposition with your upper body. As my partner takes me side, he’ll turn me, and here is the opposition because he’s bringing back my body before my legs, creating the Boleo.

Diego: Side, bum bah.

[music]

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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 the floor and brush your feet together. If your partner changes direction it will still stay the same in the walk. So no matter if your partner is walking in parallel or cross system you want to really stretch your knees from your hips and brush your feet, keeping one slightly lifted so you remember what leg your on, or what leg he led you.

Male: When we’re walking forward we want to avoid having the cowboy stance, so what we do is we brush our knees together, so think about this, foot, knee, heel, foot, knee, heel, OK, foot, knee, heel, foot, knee, heel, foot, kneel, heel, foot, knee, heel, all around.

Female: So when you’re walking with your partner remember to keep your spine straight, weight over the balls of your feet, and don’t move until you feel a signal, a push or a pull lead from your partner.

Male: So we begin. Shift your weight to find out which leg you’re going to be on. And press the floor to begin. You’re going to be dancing directly in front of your partner in this moment.

Female: So this is walking in parallel system.

Male: Cross system is a little bit different. In cross system there’s a relationship that we want to have, when we do parallel the leg that”s in front of my left leg moves, when we’re doing cross system we change legs, so now when you walk you have a different relationship.

Female: So you want to make sure as a leader that this leg will follow my right leg. So you want to maintain it and brush together, and the other leg will stay on the outside just so we don’t step on each other.

Male: When you’re doing the cross system and you want to change your weight, the easiest way to change your weight without leading it to her is by crossing your feet, we’ll show you how. You take a step forward with the left, bring your right foot in, and here you change the weight, so you take two forward steps with the left. Left, change weight, left. Left, change weight, left. So to begin this step you’re going to change your weight with a cross, back leaders, step forward, cross, and then you have…

Female: Cross system walking.

Male: OK, you want to go back to the parallel you do the same thing, step, cross, but here you want to make sure that you go back in front of her.

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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 go side then we’re going to go forward. Once we go forward into a saccara, we’re going to cross our feet and turn only on our left foot, and she steps around, Okay. Let’s try that, in one motion.

Pica, around, into a (?) la Bese. This is a good example of a lot of embellishments for the leader. We have side, forward, pica, around, (?) la Bese.

Woman: Followers, remember to always follow your partner’s shoulder. That will tell you the speed and it also helps your partner have you as the focus. You will be the focus as you go around your partner.

Man: Leaders, make sure you do not disconnect. Now, what does disconnect look like? Take a look at my shoulders. We’re going to pica, and we’re going to send our follower, but we’re going to stay here, and disconnect them. We do not want to do this. Instead, we want to look heart to heart, the whole time, as much as possible. Let’s start with the music.

[music to end]

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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 to create a turn we’re actually going to create a little ball of energy between our stomachs.

A: We do that by bending our knees. OK.

Q: And in the embrace there’ll be a little bit more compression between the palms. Diego will slightly extend his elbow which is going to send me back. This is how we create the space. So there’s a lot of buoyancy in the embrace here as we start to turn.

A: This foot is into a step. So, we’re going to go into the cross system rock step. Side. And now we’re in the cross system rock step. Now, we’re going to catch that forward step she’s stepping on and we’re going to turn on it. Don’t be afraid to repeat a couple of rock steps in order to get the feel of it. As long as you dance to the music, you’re fine. We’re going to take it from the cross system rock step. So here you are in the cross system rock step. Don’t about afraid to try a couple of rock steps before you actually get to this step. We catch this step and we send around.

Q: The lead for the follower the sensation is the same as a hero. Your partner is going to open the door and catch you to bring you into a sandwich. He will take your axis slightly off to create the turn together. So that’s the turn to the right.

A: To the left is the same thing, but to the left. So how do we do that? We go side, we change weight and instead of stepping on this side, we’re going to step on this side with the left. We do a rock step. And just like the other step we step at the same time. And send the rotation to happen, but this time to the left. So we have side, change weight. When we change weight we want to pivot a little bit right here guys so we get some space, especially if we’re in a close embrace. Side, step, step, rock step and then send. It’s a fun one so have fun.

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 we step in the side step like so, but for the vocara we’re going to step away from our partners so that they can spill their weight on us like so. A small step, if you take a little bigger step it’s too much for the ladies, their back is going to kill them, we don’t want that, it kills the chemistry. So just a sleight step back, to get that initiation, as you get that you’re going to give a circular feeling to cross as you step. The lead for the leader is side, around and goes, think of stirring something, like stirring a soup for instance, wha, pa, OK?

Female: So you really, really want to pretend like you’re drawing a figure on the floor with your leg. And that will be portrayed through your upper body, so the purpose is to bring my left leg around into a cross off axis. For followers make sure that you’re embrace is really intact. And what you want to do is you don’t want to collapse your back in the embrace, keeping that technique of spine straight, it’s like doing a plank pose in yoga, you’re going to slightly do a small push up, and the flexion will happen in your ankles, and as he takes you forward you let that leg loose from the hip joint. So as he takes me to the side I’m already slightly off axis and he brings my leg around. It’s really important that you keep your leg loose from the hip joint, so then you can create a nice circular move.

Male: Yes. Leaders make sure that you do not do this with the arm again, you move the torso as a whole piece. Pa, wha, boom. Not pa, wha. Let’s try it. [pause] Notice that I’m arranging my footwork again. From here I make sure that she gets back in her place, and then we continue.

Female: So ladies, help your partner and bring your body back to axis. Don’t stay expecting him to hold onto you. So as he steps closer to your axis bring your whole spine upright.

Male: Adjusting your feet is good in tango, you need to be comfortable, always think comfortable. As a leader this is your responsibility as well as a follower. And there you have it.

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 Salida. So the Ocho Cortado, again from the basic: forward, side, back, back, cross, he’ll pivot you slightly, take you forward, and instead of bringing you back around he’ll cut and slice you right back into the cross. And maybe into a Salida. Remember, keeping your back straight, weight over the balls of your feet, and your frame connected.

Diego Blanco: From the basic. Back, side, forward, forward, cross. Now here, as you lead her and uncross her, you’re going to take the step back with her as she steps forward. Spiral your body, step in between her feet and then take her and cross her back again. From here, you finish it like a regular basic: forward, side, together. Let’s take a look at it from another angle. We have, back, all the way to the cross. Make sure you cross, you uncross, and as she steps forward you follow that and you stop the Ocho from happening. You bring her back to the cross and you resolution with her. Forward, side, feet together. We have. Once again, all the way to the cross. This time, you’re going to accompany her forward step. And you’re going to stop her right foot. Then, you bring her back to a cross and a resolute. So we have back, all the way to the cross. You want to lead by taking your left shoulder back. You accompany the step, then you lead your partner by opening the door this way. And then you sharply close it.

Ana: [indecipherable 00:02:32]

Diego: From here you can resolution. The Ocho Cortado tends to be done in a quick quick slow. Once again. [indecipherable 00:02:45]. And. Quick, quick slow. One more time? Back.

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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 how it looks. From here I send her first then I continue with my body. You don’t want to do this on a crowded floor.

A: So the followers would just take his movement and just keeping doing apero around your partner.

Q: When there’s a general lead around, followers know to do forward, side, back, side. Let’s try this with music.

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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 come back and tell us different ways to get in an out of it. So since we could take it from any step, we’re just gonna get down to business. So a Giro or a grapevine starts with a forward, a side, a back, and it’ll repeat itself again, side. And that’s a full turn. So it goes forward, side, back, side. And then you can also do it to the other side. So you go side, and it could turn the other way, forward, side, back, side. So let’s try it from this angle. So it could start from a forward ocho, forward step, side, back, side. Remember that your partner is at center and you’re revolving around him.

Diego: So let’s try it from cross position. We’re gonna go all the way to the cross position. Difference here is that I’m going to base myself like so. I’m gonna unwind her like a forward ocho, and I’m gonna lead her forward, side, back. When she reaches to the back point, I’m gonna give an ocho lead. Notice that the whole time, I’m in between just swiveling. This is so that you can concentrate on leading your partner and keeping the time. She’s reading your time as a leader. Back, and from here, you can close the step. So you go all the way to the cross, and now you’re gonna lead a forward step. Leading this is a continuous motion around. So think it like you’re hitchhiking around. Right? As you swivel you feet. From here, you’re gonna change the direction by leading the back ocho, and you can change it to swivel. You stop the step when she’s stepping forward. Change your footwork. And there you have it.

Now, let’s try this from a back ocho. It’s the same thing, but it’s another option that you can do. So, we’re gonna go side, you’re gonna take a step back, and you’re gonna lead a back ocho all around to a front ocho. The lady can play with the foot as Ana did. These are embellishments that we will cover later.

Ana: So I’m gonna make sure that I’m going around my partner. I’m trying to reach to his shoulder where he’s leading me. So I’m gonna start to go towards the center of his chest as my guide.

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. We don’t rise, but we don’t bend either when we change our weight. So there’s no other curves [?]. We usually change our weight in music to find the beat. Once I find the beat I go ahead. There you have it you have a change of weight.

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 your partner were to be walking, a rock step just happens by bending the knee and making sure that you are shifting your hips over to the balls of your feet. Make sure that you don’t start doing an Elvis by shifting your hips up. Make sure that your spine is still straight and you are just shifting your whole spine over the balls of your feet. From there he might push off and keep walking.

Male: For the leaders it is pretty much the same exact thing; you change your weight a couple of times and you hesitate your step. This is a great step to use when there is no space on the dance floor and also to look around at what is happening.

We are going to show you how it works with the walk. You change your weight and as you walk, somebody might be in front of you so therefore, you will Rock Step. You can do it to the other side too. You do not have to do it with the left all the time; you can do it to the right. It is a little more awkward when you do this but Tango is improvisation so you can mix and match. Try not to shift the weight entirely from one leg to another, that is not a Rock Step. A Rock Step uses both legs.

[Music plays]

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 then he’ll bring me around feet together and I’ll wait for the next lead. So, remember to keep your back straight and when you’re stepping step toward your partner’s center. Let’s try from this angle: so we’re going to go forward, side, back, side around my partner forward and make sure you turn your chest towards your partner and your foot will aim for the center of his chest. You can keep going from there. And Diego will teach us the lead.

B: So, the Melia Luna is a very useful tool for Floor Craft because it is circular and maintains you in the same place. The Melia Luna will help you when people are in front of you. Let’s take a look; so we have side, forward from the basic and here you’re going to need your partner’s side as you take a back step, and you’re going to lead your partner forward as you change your weight to the left. Change your weight and side, forward – lead your partner side, then forward as you step to the side. Side, forward, together step, together step, and around.

A: So, as Diego leads me around I have to make sure I step toward the center of his body. We step together here. We’re going to step together and my foot is going to aim for the front of his chest. I bring my feet together and again I want to aim for the middle of his chest although he’s leading. I want to make sure that I stay really close to him and our circle stays the same.

[Music]

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 for this. Who doesn’t want to be caressed. Now, we’re going to try forward ochos. Forward ochos, the transitions are in the middle, are in the waiting time. So, as my partner brings me around I have time to do a double cross until I feel the next push. And then you’re ready to go.

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 not going to teach you the A count basic, just what is a Salida. A Salida can be either stepping back as the beginning of the step or it can be stepping aside as the beginning of the step. So that will be the entrance to a pattern. Or, if you solve the basic step you have this solution here: side and feet together. This will be the solution for the snap. It’s good to know that you have these options because when you’re taking classes from time to time the teacher will say, you can Salida this way and you can Salida that way or you can Salida from a side step and then you will understand what is happening inside the classroom. This is pretty much the usage you have for Salida. Another way to illustrate a Salida is, from A Palata for instance. So, if we have a Palata I’m going to resolve this step by doing a tango close.

A: Or a forward and side step. So, the Salida from here would be: Diego steps forward and side, or the follower will step back and side.

B: So think of the Salida as the glue from one pattern to another pattern. Tango doesn’t always have to be improvised in set patterns; there can be a pattern within the pattern within the pattern and at that point they’re just all new steps.

A: So, think of the Salida as the period to a sentence. If we’re dancing the tango, Diego can use any sequence he wants and I have to follow, and this will be a period.

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 this lead and follow it. The side step can also have a little circular motion there.

Now, let’s take a look at the ochos and how we can embellish if the follower is embellishing and we want to accompany her. Side, to the cross. We can embellish here. Or we can top. If we paella, we don’t embellish. We allow the lady to embellish herself.

Always keep in mind, you don’t want to put too many of these.

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 you will still maintain all your weight on one access as he takes you around. So you will maintain this low figure until he changes his level, bringing your feet together.

Diego: When we talk about changes of level we’re pretty much talking about following the bend of the knees. If I bend my knees she bends her knees. It is pretty simple. Calecita on the other hand does not have that, as you have seen before. It is a straight figure. Okay? Let’s take this Planeo from the forward ochos.

Side, all the way to the cross, into a forward ocho. When she comes into that forward ocho I’m going to step around her and start to walk back. Make sure you don’t vary the size of the step as much as possible. And just bring your feet together once you step with the right. And for me you can continue dancing.

So the way the leading works for a Planeo is through your bend of knee. So when I bend my knees she is going to bend her knee. Now, I’m going to step around and maintain that bend of knee as I go down, around. For instance, if I do this, down and come back up, she’s going to be in a Calesita. So her leg, her trailing leg will not be long and therefore it will not be a Planeo.

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 we call a quick, quick, slow. Anna’s going to show us this.

A: Slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, so if I here going to walk I would just have to keep going. So I go slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, or slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.

Q: The other thing you can do when you’re dancing tango is pause. You could pause at any moment and within the length of time that you wish. So if we put numbers to the music or to the beats we have: one, three, one, three, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.

A: So if you’re wondering what happens to those even numbers, you’re actually transitioning to the next step. So if Diego were to count it, one-three, you can see that my trailing leg is at transition which is your even number so you have time. So if you’re going to go: one, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five.

Q: One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. If I want to speed it up, then I would have a quick, quick, slow, and we would use the two. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. If I want to slow it down a lot I would use the one. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.