Le Plan. Posted on March 23, 2008.

N more weeks.
Don't say anything. No matter what happens. Just don't. Keep quiet, friendly, and neutral. Do not offer comments of any kind. Silence is gold. You will appreciate it later.
Do not ask for anything. The less movement, the better.
Do not take offense. Do not take anything personally. Or, at least, do not voice it now. You will have a chance to revenge later.
Avoid (or physically remove yourself from) hurtful situations. If not possible, distance yourself emotionally.
Ignore. Focus on yourself. Stay on the lookout for new and exciting things for yourself.
Just wait. Be patient.
Observe and have fun from that.

A Valuable Lesson. Posted on March 22, 2008.

It's been a while since I posted. What has been going on? Lets just say, life is determined to teach me something. And I better be a good student this time.

I took another lesson with my new instructor. It went very well, even better than the first one. Here are some things to watch and practice upon:

He noticed that while stepping, especially turning corners and pivoting, I do not transfer my weight entirely. The free leg does not become completely free and relaxed. The hip of the "free" side often pops up. I need to drop it down, level it with the other hip. Now I see that this habit actually made me miss and misread a lot of leads.

When I step, I have to transfer my weight completely on that foot. Clear check point. No cheating on ochos cortados and such.

When I step, I have to aspire to be in front of the leader. So far I am more on his right-my left.

In general, and especially in close embrace, I rely heavily on my left side and keep my balance left, instead of being in front of the leader. When I step on the right, the weight has to get on the right, the head above the right foot. And do not forget to use the knees all the time.

I have to remember relaxing my shoulders, and, especially, arms. Some figures, turns, overturned pivots, boleos, are impossible to complete because I hold my arms tense/locked, and that prevents me from moving properly. No tension in the right hand, that keeps me left instead of being in front. I have to figure out how to hold my left arm in order to maintain contact, but not lock. The embrace has to become entirely loose and pliant in all directions.

The energy of boleo comes from a pivot. I don't know how many times I need to return to that point until I finally get it. Complete the pivot. Go all the way till you cannot turn anymore. And only after that the foot flies up. Practice folding the knee without using the hip first. You have to kick your own hip making a front boleo.

Same principle with sacadas. Complete the pivot, then go. Back sacada, go with your tailbone. Push from the standing foot, and make a long step.

In general, while walking, imagine that the legs grow from your rib cage. That is how long the steps should be.

The position of the trunk is up and forward, toward the leader, as if somebody held onto your rib cage and risen it up. The back is large, from the lats. But the shoulders are still open and relaxed. Do not relax the abs, though. Do not arch your back.

I have to practice staying leveled on the steps. I still bounce up and down quite a bit.

I have been practicing a lot on my own nowadays. So far, it seems to be OK...

This blog has progressively become a notebook from my lessons and practicas. Reading it, one may decide that I completely ceased to have fun in my tango. But that is not true. Last night I went to a very well attended practica. And even though I was more in a practice mood than in a dancing mood ( and I actually practiced), I managed to get a few very, very sweet tandas.
On my way home, I had that wonderful afterglow. As a result, I missed my exit, that hadn't happened to me for a long time. So, I believe the pleasure is back.

It was about time, decidedly.

I am looking forward to the future. To making the best of all my tango shoes.

Le pied est de retour?

A Valuable Lesson.

Preguntas. Posted on March 1, 2008.

Why have I been sad about something that will never happen?
Why am I jealous of what I cannot have?
Why cannot I just be happy about what I get? And be grateful for it? And enjoy it thoroughly?
Somebody envies me, probably. Somebody out there is jealous of me and the things I have. Because they are precious, fabulous, unique.
Why don't I appreciate them? Been too busy crying over spilled milk, mourning the impossibility of the impossible?
How stupid all that is?

Up in the air. January 30, 2008.

It has been a lot of changes again in the last four weeks. I did not do my best to stay away from emotional disturbances and conflicts. I have to try much harder. On the other hand, tribulations and torments are part of tango life. So it would be better if I learned to take it easier when I cannot completely avoid them.

I have had some new tango insights since I last posted. One important one about the axis. We were working on colgadas with my partner and his new teacher. That made me realize that the axis is actually what is inside me, inside my spine. I have to keep my own axis, even while taken off it. That means, my spinal cord is to remain upright, or straight, rather, and my sides even.

Next realization was about connection. I ought to keep my weight on the ball of the foot, forward, even while pivoting or spinning, in order to stay connected to my partner and his lead.

Another insight came from a group class teacher. He noted the same mistake other instructors had pointed out in the past, that my steps are too shy, not energetic enough, and as a result, often too short. His approach to that problem was for me to free my knees, to soften them, and, how he put it, "to go more into the floor".
And to my dismay, I have to say, that , after all this time, my molinetes still suck! Oh well.

I got to do something about my free foot/leg movements, to make it really free. I think not understanding how to move my free legs started holding me back, big time.

As for the mood, I feel a little sad right now. I hope I will be able to make "mental adjustments" to the new situation, sooner the better.

Practice notes. January 3, 2008.

Since my regular teachers went to Argentina, I declared a two week moratorium on lessons and classes. I wanted to slow down, see where my tango and I are nowadays, how what I have learned so far worked on the floor. I wanted to take some time thinking of the plans and future strategies for my education.

However, I have had regular and rather effective practice session with both my partners. I focused on posture (relaxed and upright), pivots (more energy twisting), and of course, following and maintaining connection. On my own, I have continued playing with the embellishments (mostly, forward kicks). Also, I have been thinking a lot about my musicality lately. How can I make my movement look more musical. Now I gained a little better control of my body, so I believe it is time to focus on those things.

Brief notes from the practice sessions, before I forgot:

My partner commented on one very good follower, that her free foot moves very smoothly and evenly. That allows him to control the situation better. I tried to focus on doing that last night with my other partner. I haven't asked him for any feedback yet, but he was generally pleased with our connection, I believe. Will try the same next time.

From the last night practice, when the partner was leading a fast series of steps, we both noticed that I did not bring my foot to the other foot unless there is an immediate signal to put it down. I have to pay attention to bringing the free foot to a neutral position whenever, instead of anticipating an upcoming movement.

I also realized that I should not rush picking my foot up from the floor if I want to do a high boleo. Sometimes rushing results into anticipation and screws up the next step, if the leader does not lead a boleo, especially.

As for the new year plans, I think I will take a private lesson with a male teacher soon. It might be my regular one, or a new instructor.
If I wish to work on my musicality, I will need to be regularly led by good leaders who understand music.

Happy Holidays. December 22, 2007.

Lately, I have not been very diligent blog writer. Three weeks passed by without posting anything. I did not write down the notes from my lesson with my partner and our regular teacher. Meanwhile, I took another lesson with him, and his new teacher, this time. I want to start with the notes from that last lesson.

The teacher made several valuable points.

First of all, she asked me to do pivots, as in ochos, and overturned ochos, on both sides. She noticed that one of my sides gets more lazy than the other. I do not twist my hips as much as I need. The exercise went as follow: first I was doing backward and forward ochos using her as I would use a bar, and therefore pushing and twisting on my own. Then, she (or the partner) would add the lead, and I would follow the lead. But the point made was that with the lead present, I had to move, push, and twist with no less energy as if I was moving on my own.

Importantly, she made me step-pivot to music. I was struggling to keep up at times. I have got to practice that on my own.

Another note -- pay attention to the amount of pivot the leader is actually leading. Release your hips, and twist well in the middle. Stay leveled.

Then we moved on to giros/molinetes. Again, she found out that I tend to underturn. Another great point the teacher made: the centrifugal force in the molinete turn does not come from my physically leaning back, away from the leader. It is supposed to come from the circular movement, from the energy of the turn itself. Duh.

After that, we tried some giros with sacadas. The teacher said that every time the leader does a sacada, I had to twist even more, as if slightly overturning my pivot. It would give the leader the nessessary space to perform the sacada.

Hint -- do not look at the floor during giros, and you will not end up dizzy. Let alone the posture is much elegant with the head and neck pointing straight.

And last but not least, the boleo. I finally tried to pick my foot up from the floor. I have to do it on the back movement. Also, pay attention at going through the collect position every time. Basically, after the boleo is done, I ought to find myself in a neutral position to the leader, waiting for his next signal. It can be forward step, for example, or side step, or americana, or a contra boleo.

All in all, it was a good class. Physically tiring. My body is not used to such amount of energetic twisting. I really could use some training.

All the (although not very numerous) milongas I had during that period of time, were very enjoyable. I felt sure of myself, powerful, and calm, even on a super crowded floor or with a not-so-perfect lead. And the most important thing, the dancing was pleasurable with everybody I said yes to.
I am eager to see how it goes tonight. It has been a while since I hit that particular social floor. It feels a little like homecoming for me, every time.