Walking to the Cross • Workshopping Argentine Tango • Jacksonville, Florida

I love Argentine Tango! Had I a car, or a dance partner, I would attend absolutely event Milonga I could manage. I would surely dance at the UF Tango Club every Wednesday, the Class & Milonga in Ormond Beach every Thursday and both Milongas in Gainesville. Alas…. no car, no partner. 

My solution? To rent a dance floor so that those who dance Argentine in town may come out to practice. As well, I am hoping more and more people in Jacksonville, Florida will want to learn Salon Style Tango. There are so many cultural obstacles (it seems to me.) One is the “Men Don’t Dance” obstacle, and I just can’t do anything about that. 

Another obstacle? It seems most people in town have never really been exposed to the dance and so Performance Tango, which is lovely to watch and impossible for most to accomplish, is probably the image most have of this elegant walking dance. No matter! 

I am pleased to say the dance floor is open most every Tuesday from 8 pm -  9pm in Jacksonville, Florida. (detail at blogs end.)  As I am often the dancer with the most experience on the floor (not the teacher by any means) I share what I have learned from the best teachers I have studied with and I am happy to say that some of the people who drop in for a dance come back again and again.

This past Tuesday we were working on “The Walk” which all serious students of the dance work to perfect always. I have to say that it is much easier to pick up the fine points of the dance (gentlemen in particular) if you have the proper footwear. After a few workshops, it will make all the difference in your styling, balance and posture if your shoes are comfortable, flexible, and fit well. 

This last statement was made clear last class when we workshopped “Walking to the Cross” in the pattern “The Basic Eight.” I realize that some frown upon teaching patterns, and I respect their reason for doing so. However, properly used, the positions of the Basic Eight can serve as a language, a common ground for both teacher and student to begin working on steps like the “Ocho Cortado” or the “Molinete”.

At our workshop - luckily - everyone is willing to learn both the leader and the follower roles, regardless of their gender. Learning to dance both roles gives each dancer a greater understanding of how the dances happen, as well a greater empathy for their partner. 

The Gentleman leaders each had a follower to practice with as we practiced the principles of the Basic Eight again, and again, and again until some muscle memory began to happen. Teaching step at a time worked best. Those difficulties I had when I first started leading were easy to spot for the new leaders.  Important points we covered:

1. Invite your follower to take the step.
2. Wait for your follower to complete that step before leading another.
3. Allow your follower enough room to take her step (particularly at the cross.) 
4. Be aware of which foot your follower is weighted on. 
5. Maintain a comfortable embrace. 
6. Breathe!! (It is so easy to get lost in thinking about doing everything just right that breathing seems unnecessary!)

Because we were talking and working things out as a group, I feel that many basic principles of the dance were experienced (rather than heard) by those dancing. An awakening moment happened as well.  

I blog about it because I was very happy to share the moment, and bemused that I had not been able to convey a particular principle of the dance (although I thought I had repeated them often enough) to make the process of “crossing” clear. 

If you are now wondering what I am talking about, I will post links to videos that show these concepts at page end (presented by actually dance teachers).  Impatient? Please scroll down to enjoy the videos and come back.* 

The AhA happened when a male lead wanted to learn the followers part. I obliged. I did each step as I had shown him, and yet when I lead the cross, he did not follow my lead and cross one foot over the other at the ankles as should happen.

We tried again. Again I lead the cross, but nothing happened.  We adopted the practice hold so that I could see why he was not crossing his feet when lead to do so. 

We discovered that the reason was that the principle of walking backwards while stepping behind oneself had not yet registered. 

If you try to dance Argentine Tango and walk as you normally do, I am not sure it is possible. We practice the walk each week as well the vital movement of shifting weight in place. When showing how I learned to walk backwards as a follower (also by watching master followers dance) I learned that not only was I to step backwards, but that I was to step backward placing my stepping foot behind the weighted foot. Rather like walking a balance beam.

My new follower had not yet practiced the followers backward walk often enough to have a body memory of this. When he changed his style of walking so that he was stepping behind himself it was very easy for him to walk to the cross.

I am sure he will be a better lead as he know nows what the follower is feeling as well as how the follower is stepping to accomplish a lovely cross. Of course to teach it in its parts we have rather a choppy experience, but at the end of the workshop we danced several songs until the process became more facile. 

I suppose the short of it is that no matter how well I try to share with words…… body memory is the best teacher. 

Thanks to all who come out to dance Argentine Tango in Jacksonville, Florida. 

We have a very, very large floor, mirrors, barres and joyful people. Look for us at SDS Event Center, 5049 Normandy Blvd, Jacksonville, 32205.  All levels are welcome $10 floor fee pays the rent. 

Now as promised - links to useful videos. 

A favorite:

https://youtu.be/wvewX55VADs

Another look:

https://youtu.be/NLy-KHz-gJQ

It is important to know that the follower follows! These videos show the basic as a series of steps to an eight count. In Argentine Tango we dance to the music!. 

SOLA - Are We Ever Dancing Alone?

This past Tuesday evening most all the members of "Argentine Tango Dancers Jacksonville" sent notes to say they would not be dancing.  There are a few dancers who drop in and out, a couple that dances when able, and a few professional people who often work late, so I never know if they're coming out to dance or not. 

Our practica is listed on MeetUp and I am always as ready to be surprised by visiting dancers as I am to enjoy an hours practice on an open floor should no one come to join me. 

(I do find it incredible that in this very large town that I am often the only dancer willing to come out for  practica. I hear rumors of Argentine Tango dancers existing out there.........)

When I made the decision to hold an open floor every week for Argentine Tango in Jacksonville, Florida,  I knew that it was quite likely that there would be more than one evening where I would be the only dancer. 

It seemed last Tuesday evening would be one of those times - then the best of all possible things happened... Facebook dance friends I had not yet met wrote to say that they would be passing through town and asked if they might drop in for a practica or a lesson or a milonga!  

I have had most fortunate dances just like this! Someone passing through town, an experienced dancer from Miami stops in to check out the scene, or a sailor stationed for just a week or so finds us Facebook or MeetUp and walks on in ready to dance! 

I have shared some marvelous Tandas with these wandering dancers. They keep my hope alive! What hope? That there will be an Argentine Tango dance family here! That this city will host a monthly milonga! I need to believe that. 

Tuesday was a lovely night to walk down to the dance studio. Cool for Florida, just after a rain, magical and melancholy all at once. It was perfect for Tango and a fine night for meeting new friends. 

I miscalculated the time it took to walk down to the Studio and arrived just a bit early. Ever hopeful I waited to meet Ace & Paprika. 

I was setting up music when a lovely couple walked in ready to Tango. 

They were willing to take a lesson, and once I discovered that I might have a few more years floor time in Argentine Tango I was willing to share what I have been fortunate to learn. 

Muscle memory is critical in this dance for warm ups, for balance, for posture and collection and I was glad to have all mine on hand. 

So - what did we do? We do what all good dancers do, we warmed up. We workshopped. We shared how we danced and what we knew. 

I have no ballroom training, which is a fine advantage for Argentine Tango - an improvisational dance that is driven by the music, the emotions, and the energetic connection between dancers. 

All of us worked to establish connection, to perfect that energetic union by dancing without the embrace. I could go on to give a moment by moment account of the evening, but all the details would diminish what for me is the best part of becoming a Tanguera.

What is that? It is meeting and dancing and connecting with people who love the dance as much as I. Those who have practiced, who are familiar with steps and ready to share and move and explore all the explosions and pauses and embellishments that are Tango. 

Those of us who love this dance Must Dance this dance. It becomes as vital to well being as a good nights rest. Myself, I don’t like to go a day without practice, a week without a class an a month without a Milonga.

I send best wishes to the traveling members of my dance family everywhere!  

Abrazos, 

La bailarina de Tango solitaria esta noche

The last Tango at Midnight Sun

Today marks the end of a very important part of my journey in Argentine Tango. I am hosting the last gathering/class/practica/workshop at the lovely store with the lovely dance floor that gave me my start as a dance facilitator. 

A student of dance since childhood - I have been blessed to received excellent instruction in various forms of dance. I was introduced to Argentine Tango by a fine teacher in St. Augustine, Florida. The epitome of patience, she worked with me as I lost balance, had spatially dyslexic timeouts, and teaches me still, although now I focus on learning the leaders role.

Argentine Tango is a dance like no other. It is not choreographed! There is no step plan, no 1,2 3, 4 pattern to follow. It is absolutely new each dance with each partner. 

Body memory is key! Balance and posture are critical. Without regular practice it is hard for me to dance my best.  Midnight Sun has offered all of us who seek to learn this dance a gentle start. Taking only a percentage of the door I have been able to offer a guided Practica (translation - practice session) for well over a year now. 

It is important for me to share that I am able to help others learn the basics of the dance as I have taken countless beginners classes from many teachers. Further I have practiced the beginners role daily.  My teachers tell me I have made improvements and have given me the "go ahead" to host a practica. 

Those who come to dance have fun. They learn, as I did, to celebrate this fabulous dance... all the while facing the challenges it presents, failing, rising up, trying agin to integrate the seemingly simple concepts of movement into the fabric of our being.  

So at the end of one journey I begin another. A fine new dance floor is available to me. I am very pleased that there are dancers who want to come with...... to continue the journey.  I thank them. 

To take on the responsibility of renting a venue so that we may all gather to practice is exciting. As I am unable to drive due to a serious injury I am not able to attend many of the Argentine Tango events - the dances - the workshops with the masters - that I would love to attend. 

I do want to dance, and to do so I am willing to hold space - to open a floor  - so that others may join me. It is my hope that Argentine Tango students of other teachers will feel welcome to come and practice the hour or so the floor is open. 

It is my hope that those who want to being the journey will come and learn.  It is my hope that we will all travel to dance at parties when we may and so improve our skills. 

I will endeavor to post all the Argentine Tango events in North East Florida as a priority. I look forward to announcing the day & time we will being in our new location (Murray Hill, Jacksonville, Florida). 

Thank you for reading! 

More to come, 

Ann