Be Satisfied With What You Can Do Already

Improvement Is Not The Key To Happiness

I have yet to meet a dancer who didn't want to become a better dancer. 

Beginners dream of moving with the ease and fluidity of a more experienced dancer. Intermediate students take workshops in anticipation of their next hard-won breakthrough. Professionals and advanced amateurs develop their technique continually, always striving to do new things in new ways. 

There's no level where dancers stop feeling the desire to improve. We shall never reach some magical place where there's nothing new left to try, no technique left to master, no creative idea left unexpressed.

The desire to improve if firmly ingrained within each of us. Improvement feels wonderful. Breakthroughs are very satisfying when they arrive. But don't come often. How should we feel when it seems that we're not making progress?

Avoiding Disappointment

We should feel happy. Every day. In every way. If you can dance at all, appreciate it consciously and conspicuously. You weren't always able to do what you can do today. Enjoy the fact that you have come this far. Because any level of skill that you have, you have earned.

What's the alternative? Constant disappointment? A perpetual nagging feeling that you don't measure up to some arbitrary ideal of social expectation? That's not much fun. And it's not much fun to dance with someone who feels stressed out about their perceived lack of progress.

Why did you sign up for dance lessons in the first place? To enjoy yourself? Or to feel badly because you can't do every possible thing that you would like to do right now?

The Improvement Trap

Don't look for improvement. Instead, understand how it works. Breakthroughs are like surprise gifts. We can't see them coming. We notice them only after they have arrived.

Feel free to look back over your past breakthroughs. Appreciate all of the effort that went into achieving anything that you can do today that once seemed more challenging. You should feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction for all that you have accomplished regardless of your level of experience. Because in dance - as in anything else worth doing well - no quantum of improvement comes easily.

Don't worry about your next breakthrough. It will arrive when you have put in the required amount of work and when you have gained a certain level of understanding. Obsessing over "the next level" will diminish the your appreciation for what you have accomplished already.

Frustration and Impatience

Prolonged disappointment can lead to frustration and impatience. Neither will help you to improve, and their effects can be counterproductive.

Frustration increases stress levels. People who experience frustration can end up feeling irritable and unhappy. If dancing is causing unhappiness, then why the **** are you doing it? Think about it. Does that make any sense at all? 

You're supposed to be enjoying your dance life, not dreading it. Reevaluate how you feel about your progress. Dancing without a sense of genuine enjoyment is pointless. Don't let future aspirations drive you to despair.

Impatience, the other unfortunate cousin of disappointment, can inspire foolish and impulsive choices. An impatient student might be tempted to give up on a good teacher or a solid curriculum if they feel that they're not making enough progress. This often delays their progress even further.

Keep working, keep studying, and keep practicing. If you have enjoyed improvement in the past, rest assured that more is on its way. Just keep yourself on a sensible trajectory, and avoid disappointment by viewing your progress in context. 

Above all, enjoy being where you are at all times. Your journey will have many steps. Learn to appreciate each one as it comes to pass.

¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com 

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What Students Like And What They Despise

A Predictive Menu of Satisfaction Levels

Students are typically too polite to admit when they are bothered by something in class, but faces and body language are easy to read.

Dance lessons can be like vegetables. The ones that have the potential to do us the most good aren't always the ones that we enjoy the most. 

Uncomfortable interpersonal interactions also occur from time to time. The teacher should be ready to interrupt these situations and divert attention back to the core material when necessary.

Here is a summary of student reactions to techniques and situations encountered in tango classes.

Love

- complex step sequences

- exciting techniques

- the moment where a technique "clicks" for the first time

- being promoted to the next class level

Enjoy

- new material

- techniques that they want to understand better

- dancing to inspiring music in class

- candid discussions of milonga etiquette and experiences

- laughter

- an explanation of a problem that they encountered when practicing or dancing outside of class

- dancing with a well-matched partner

Tolerate

- exercises to improve fundamental technique

- exercises to improve floor craft/navigation skills

- repeating material that they think that they understand well enough (but don't)

Barely tolerate

- exercises to improve musical awareness, comprehension, and interpretation

- gender imbalance

- criticism from or arguments with fellow students (yes, married couples, we hear you fighting in the back of the room)

- dancing with a struggling classmate

- feeling that they aren't receiving enough individual attention

Despise

- mixed-level classes (e.g. Beginners and Intermediate students in the same room)

- inappropriate or creepy behavior from fellow students

- feeling uncomfortable in the embrace (physically or emotionally)

- reckless floor hogs

Have fun making all of THAT work in real time!  ;-) 


¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com

All Rights Reserved

Chemistry Between Partners

The Secret Formula

When we see a couple dancing beautifully together, we might notice and appreciate any of a number of elements -

- clean, precise technique
- inventive choreography
- moving musical interpretation
- an eye-catching "move" or trick

Each is important. But to me, the most essential and powerful element that a couple can share is chemistry.

Chemistry broadly describes the quality of the interaction between two people, in this case between two dance partners. Chemistry is difficult to describe, but we react to it instinctively when we see it and when we feel it.

When the interaction works at an average level, i.e. it's nothing special, the other elements become more important. But when the chemistry between two partners is deep and meaningful, it's enough to watch them just walk together, or even to just stand and hold each others without much movement. We sense the electricity between them.


Chemistry Exemplified

Chemistry can describe a physical interaction, as in how seamlessly the leading and following work together to produce movement.

Chemistry can describe an intellectual interaction, as in how well the couple expresses themselves through improvisation and nuance.

Chemistry can describe any of several emotional interactions: trust, passion, the thrill of being in each others arms.

Chemistry can describe a theatrical interaction, as in how the couple uses humor and drama to evoke a mood or tell a story.


A Brief Tangent From Tango

Dancing With The Stars is a popular American reality television program where celebrities study dance for a short amount of time and then put on performances in a competition of elimination. I don't watch the show very often, in part because it does a brutally unjust of representing Argentine tango. 

But I would like to mention that one of the contestants on the current season is a very impressive dancer named James Maslow. In addition to extraordinary natural talent, Mr. Maslow has an incredible chemistry with his professional partner/teacher. Every time they perform, it's a delight to watch.

Despite his extraordinary performances, Mr. Maslow finds himself in last place at the moment - yet another reason why I don't watch the show. 

But if you have a chance to watch this guy perform with his partner - even if you have to go back to past episodes, I would urge you to do so. It is an illustration of dance chemistry at the highest level.


Chemistry at the Milonga

The next time you find yourself watching couples dance at a milonga, instead of watching for fancy steps (or fancy shoes), watch for chemistry. 

The couple with the best chemistry might not be doing the most fancy steps, and vice versa - the couples that are doing the most fancy movements might not have much chemistry.


Chem 101

Think about your own dancing. Think about the partners with whom you feel a special connection. Dancing with certain people just feels better. It's more exciting, more creative, and more smoothly flowing even though their level of experience might not be as high as some of the other people at the milonga.

Chemistry is an important subject. Study it. Do experiments. Gain a respect and an understanding of the power of interaction, of the magic that makes those special partners special. 

And then, when you're ready to go for your Ph.D. in Chemistry, share that special formula with all of your partners and make every dance special.

¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com 

All Rights Reserved

This Is Tango

Transcendent Comprehension

The Argentine tango is like a big, open arts fair that accepts and encourages waves of new ideas. 

Tango, the offspring of folk dances and international musical traditions, regenerates itself with each passing decade. New steps and alternative musical options are added continually.

The Argentine tango is danced in multiple styles. Each style has recognized masters, yet no master dances like any of the others. The Argentine tango is a fertile and powerful framework for individual expression.

Tango exists in the hearts and minds of the people who practice it, who cherish it. As the tango community grows and evolves, the tango evolves along with us. It's not constrained by arbitrary definitions or an approved syllabus of movements.

What Tango Is Not

Despite the open architecture of Argentine tango, the tango doesn't include everything. It's easy to find examples of things that are NOT tango. Salsa isn't tango. Samba isn't tango. Swing isn't tango (although I have seen an intriguing combination of the two called Swango).

The Tango Identity

Because there is no formal syllabus for tango, it's difficult to establish a clear method of determining whether a dance is or is not a tango. We tend to rely on impressions, and impressions are influenced by our individual experiences. 

There are videos of beautiful tango performances on the Internet with viewer comments claiming that it's not tango at all. The viewer has an idea of what constitutes a tango. If the performance doesn't match their definition of tango, they reject it as a fraud.

Essential Elements

The Argentine tango contains certain essential elements. When these elements aren't present, the "it's not a tango" assessment becomes more compelling.

The first essential element is a communicative embrace, an embrace that enables improvised movement by a pair of dancers through the mechanisms of leading and following. Tango is not always improvised. Tango performances are often choreographed. But good choreography still uses leading and following to drive the movements of the dancers. It looks as though it's being improvised even of it isn't.

The second essential element is a free and flexible interpretation of musical mood and timing. Most ballroom and folk dances are based on immutable rhythmic patterns. Salsa's repeating quick-quick-slow rhythmic pattern is a good example. 

The timing of movements in Argentine tango is open to interpretation. Wide open! We can move on the beat, pause for a beat (or several beats), move on a subdivision of a beat, step quickly through one phrase and slowly through the next. Improvisation in Argentine tango is not limited to the step patterns that we create. We can improvise our musical interpretation of those steps as well.

Compelling Evidence

There are moments, special moments, when the identity of tango reveals itself in dramatic fashion. We see a couple dancing - or we engage in a dance ourselves - where the essential elements are so clearly exemplified that our minds exclaim, "That's it! That's tango! Right there!"

It doesn't matter whether the movements are complex or simple. It doesn't matter whether the dancers are perfect or whether they "make mistakes" along the way. Improvisation is a conversation; conversations have misunderstandings that require clarification occasionally.

I witnessed a couple dancing like this recently. They were so connected and in tune with each other. They improvised so thoughtfully and tenderly. I had to stop and watch them. I couldn't walk away. I couldn't think about anything else except that one thought that persisted through those moments: "This is tango. This is it. This is the culmination of everything for which we work and practice."

In these moments, we recognize the true meaning of Argentine tango.

¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com 

All Rights Reserved

Argentine Tango Quick Tips - Muscality

Beyond The Beat

Music has many dimensions and layers of nuance. We can explore music for a lifetime.

For this purposes of this article, let's examine five musical dimensions that can enhance your dancing quickly and effectively.

1. Mood
2. Rhythmic Intensity
3. Song Structure
4. Phrases
5. Dynamics


Get Into the Mood

Tango music is often associated with drama, passion, or sadness, but that's not always the case. However, many tango song express lighter emotions - happiness, cheer, fun, pep, humor.

The mood of a piece of music is very easy to sense. Even if you can't feel the beat you can probably tell a happy song from a sad song. Use that inherent ability.

When you hear a lighter, peppy song, try to dance with lighter movements. When you hear a dramatic song, dance with more expressive and exaggerated movements. 

This is a guideline. You don't need to follow it all the time. Sometimes it's fun to do the opposite of what's expected.

Whatever you do, don't dance the same way all the time regardless of the mood of the music. At least make an attempt to match your movements to the mood. It's a step in the right direction.


Feel the Rhythm

I've written extensively about the creative use of rhythm; I won't repeat those suggestions here. For the purposes of this discussion, I would encourage you to notice the FEEL of the beats within the music. 

Are those beats intense and driving? Or are they light and delicate?

As with mood, it's desirable to match the intensity of our steps to the intensity of the beats within the music. All of this is optional, of course, but if you do this effectively, it will give you the sense of being more connected to the orchestra when you dance. And your dance partner will love it!

Rhythm is a complex subject. Most music is structured around time, and there are many different ways to subdivide, accent, and contrast the way that time impacts the sonic events that occur within a piece of music. 


Navigate the Structure

It's not always the case, but pieces of music are often organized into sections. A typical tango song might begin with an introduction which is followed by a verse or two. There might be a bridge, which sounds different than the rest of the song, followed by another verse. There could be a coda, a specialized ending that differs from the rest of the piece.

Some tango music is purely instrumental, and some features singing. Note the difference between the sections when the singer is present and the other sections when only instruments are playing.

An easy way to experiment with musicality is to change your dancing as the song moves from section to section. If you do a lot of turns through the verses, perhaps do more linear figures during the bridge. Use light quick steps during the instrumental portions and more dramatic movements while the singer is singing.

There's no right or wrong way to approach this. The idea is to do something consistently through one section of the song and then "switch gears" when another section approaches. Experiment!


Go Through A Phrase

Melodies are broken into phrases. These are the musical equivalent of sentences, and they are usually separated by pauses.

It's easier to hear phrases when listening to a singer. Try this: dance actively when the singer is singing his or her lyrics, and then pause in that brief moment when they take their breath. After a while you'll begin to hear phrases in the instrumental sections as well.


Be Dynamic

Think for a moment about mood as discussed above. Some music, like that of Pugliese and Orquesta Color Tango, varies considerably within the scope of a single song or piece. In one moment, the music is soft. Soon thereafter, it's booming and overflowing with emotion.

It's possible to ride these waves within the music expressively. Match the intensity, not only of the entire piece, but of what's happening in any given moment. Watch professional performers - their choreography often takes these musical dynamics into play. And you can, too!

Enjoy!


¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com 

All Rights Reserved

Argentine Tango Quick Tips - Embrace

Optimizing Comfort and Functionality

Imagine that you're walking down the street with a small child. You hold the child's hand to keep them beside you and away from hazards. 

Anytime you approach a potentially dangerous situation - an intersection, a passing dog, or if the child tries to dash away from you - you can respond by increasing the pressure on their hand, and if necessary, by adding tension to your arm. 

However, most of the time your arm will be relaxed, and the pressure on the child's hand will be only as much as is needed to maintain connection. 

If you can stretch your imagination and picture yourself as the child in this situation, you should feel a sense of assurance from the hand of the adult. If the grip is too tight, it will feel domineering and unpleasant. If it's too loose, it will feel as though they're not paying attention and they might slip away.


The Embrace

This is an effective analogy for the optimal level of muscular engagement in the tango embrace. 

The embrace needs to be comfortable and reassuring. It should never feel domineering or unnecessarily rigid. Nor should it feel flimsy, disconnected, or unsupportive. 

Look around the room at your next milonga. I'll predict that the quality of the embrace will vary somewhat from couple to couple. 

Some embraces will seem rigid, while others seem more relaxed. 

Some dancers will seem to be comfortable within the embrace of their partners. Others, less so.

You might see an embrace that looks as though it's restricting the movement, causing stumbling awkwardness.

Someone might be pulling their partner closer or holding them rigidly at a fixed distance. What would change if these dancers relaxed some of that muscular tension?

You might notice a follower who uses her partner's embrace in order to steady her balance from time to time. What might change in the embrace if the follower were able to maintain her own stability?


Optimizing the Comfort Zone

I've written about the embrace before, and I always come back to the same set of terms: comfort, reassurance, functionality.

First and foremost, the embrace has to be comfortable. 

It has to be a place where you're like to spend some time. No one ever wants to feel dominated, manipulated, clung to, squeezed, knocked off balance, or pushed around.

The embrace has to be functional. 

Improvisation and creative expression require freedom of movement. It doesn't do any good to hold onto someone so rigidly as to impede their movement, interfere with their axis, or to block them from putting their feet where they need to step.

And the embrace has to be reassuring. 

The follower needs a certain degree of connection in order to feel the lead effectively, but she needs to be able to move freely within the embrace. The leader needs to feel enough connection to sense how the follower is moving so he can make any necessary adjustments in real time.

Maintaining a good embrace requires a fine balance or strength, skill, and sensitivity, but it's critical to seek that balance actively with each partner and in every moment of the dance. The payoff is worth the effort.

¡Buena suerte, amigos, y muchas gracias!

Daniel

Copyright © 2014 The Exploring Tango Blog

www.exploringtango.com 

All Rights Reserved