My Relationship With The Floor • Becoming a Better Leader

It is my experience that I am always learning something new with every dance, every partner, every song and every class or lesson in Argentine Tango. 

I had the good fortune to join a group lesson at the University of Florida in Gainesville a few Sundays ago. My instructor Irene danced lead and taught both lead and follow. 

I have been taking classes in leading for at least a year, perhaps more, and dancing as a follower for several years at most all of the milongas I attend. 

I have heard it said that it takes a year to learn to follow and three to learn to lead.  I agree! Perfecting style, adornos, technique, grace and posture are my tangible joys on the journey that is Argentine Tango. 

As is often the case when I am learning, words get in the way. I have listened to every teacher attentively, and when listening to lessons on leading I have heard again and again that the energy of leading is sent from the sternum. 

I have heard that the upper body of the leader, the shoulders of the leader and the chest of the leader are what a follower senses and follows in a tango.  

When leading I also followed that lesson, however I was blessed with a gentle critique after two hours of dancing lead in Gainesville. The instructor asked if she might offer me a suggestion. I gladly accepted. 

She was a very skillful and subtle leader…. I watched to see just how she invited her partner to certain moves, but could not quite see how she actually lead the step. 

I have had this same difficulty when watching Maestros of the dance. They seem to be able to lead (invite) their partner to take eloquent and sometimes complex steps without any real movement of their torsos at all.

I have puzzled over videos, playing them again and again, but I could not see what actually was not there. 

To my critique: The instructor suggested that I was leading with my torso. I agreed. She then pointed out that I would be a more effective leader if I were more grounded. She suggested that I use the floor, the energy from the floor to lead.   

I realized I was not grounded as a leader. I understood at once. My relationship with the floor had been first learned as a follower. 

After the first year of learning to dance in heels, finding the right heel height and perfecting my axis as a follower, I had accidentally become light. 

I had been focusing on responding to my leader, yet I was not “in the floor."  I am sure that in Salon embrace it was hard for many leaders to know just where I was in the dance.

As a leader, I find it very easy to dance with a partner who commits to each step. When I feel her land, I am more confident that I am able to lead the next step successfully because I know where she is! 

Now I will learn to lead from the ground up. 

Returning from Gainesville I opened the floor here in my town, Jacksonville, Florida and was able to practice my new awareness, my new lead with a true dancer. 

She is very well trained in other traditions and very comfortable dancing with me as we both discover what is really at the heart of Argentine Tango. 

I told her about my trip, my awakenings, and my new “style” of leading. I was glad to receive her feedback on my new use of the floor. 

So we danced.  The first part of the first dance I lead as I had in the past. Then I shifted to my first real effort in leading from the floor. 

I could sense a difference right away. I was more confident. I was able to lead using less upper body motion. I was able to clearly send her backward by pressing against the floor, somehow gaining strength or gentle power to clearly lead her back step. 

I felt far more connected to her than I had in previous dances. (There is not too much of me to follow. I am 5’ 2” and at my right weight tip the scales at 120 pounds.) 

She reported that she felt my lead clearly. We danced the hour away, and indeed after one Tango she said “That was fun.” As a leader, if I can create a dance with her (or him) that they really enjoy dancing, I feel successful. 

Sending my energy from the floor through the center of the chest before I even take a step sends my partner in the proper direction and empowers me to hear her. 

This style of leading, which my instructor told me was a reflection of the style of the people who dance Tango in Argentina, will take time to perfect of course. 

However in practicing leading at home…… I am a new woman. 

I was also very glad to watch another woman teach Argentine Tango. Each instructor has their own style or process. She had a full floor of eager young students! 

Here in Jacksonville a full floor is four! A good floor is two. I am coming to understand that not everyone wants a challenge. 

I understand that some people are reluctant to make a mistake in public. Some new dancers think so much about what they are doing that they think themselves right out of the moment and so miss the connection that makes for the magic. 

I have fallen in love with the experience...... bumbling moments and all (rest assured I bumble still) and will continue to hold space for all who want an hour of Tango here. 

Abrazos

Buying Tango Shoes • How D'Rasa Changed Everything for the Better!

When I first started to study Argentine Tango I was not willing to invest in high dollar dance shoes. I really wasn't sure this was the dance for me. 

Feeling prudent, I bought the least expensive dance style shoe I could find. (Did you guess?) I bought the “Character Shoe” which seems to be a Broadway staple. 

This Character Shoe is a closed toe Mary Jane style shoe with a very low heel. There are not many stores that have a wide selection of Tango shoes in my city and, as I said, I wasn’t sure at all about the dance. 

After one or two classes, I knew I had found a movement, an exercise, a challenge, a dance that was so much more than steps and patterns. I found a challenge of posture, and balance. I found a dance that called for the best of me in so many ways - and I was very, very happy. 

I began to notice the shoes that experienced dancers wore. Most all had the open toe style and most had a higher heel than I was wearing. Most all student dancers had shopped at the local “Dance” wear shoppes and some shopped on line. 

The teacher, a professional dancer and instructor, had top of the line leather Argentine Tango shoes which I shop if I could get to Clearwater, or Miami. As those were not options at the time, my second pair was a very nice shoe at $100 or so. It was an open toed, low heeled sandal style and I spent a year or more “falling off” them.  

What I did not understand at the time was this:

Tango shoes are like very fine tools. I needed the right tool for the joy of dancing Argentine Tango. Over the months, I tried on a variety of shoes - 2” heels (which were too low) then a 2 1/2” heel (again too low)  then a 3” heel and sadly, not the shoe but much closer! 

I was still not feeing balanced, fleet of foot, and I kept “losing” the connection with my partner. Partners really do not like the disconnect at all, regardless of role or gender. 

I did not realize that the pitch of my shoe had a good deal to do with my ability to maintain connection as a follower. 

Fortunately after a year or so I was able to go to a Milonga in Titusville, Florida. There were tables and tables of lovely hand made shoes in all styles and all heel sizes.  (In a street shoe, I wear a 6 and it has been my custom over the years to wear a flat shoe.) 

To my surprise, when presented with all the styles and heel sizes at this Milonga, I found out that what I had been missing was a lovely 4” stiletto in a size 5. My surprise! The shoes fit perfectly, my feet did not hurt at all, my posture was perfect and I was suddenly lightening fast!

I chose the D’Rasa brand and ordered the shoe with extra padding. All was custom, so I added a leather sole and a few special touches.  All my previous shoes had come from ballroom stores and a suede sole was really the only option presented to buy there.  A suede sole does give me “purchase” on the dance floor. 

Secretly, I had wondered how the dancers I saw on YouTube and in various videos were able to be lightening fast, to pivot on a dime, and to have such elegant footwork. Of course there is no discounting years of practice - but once I put on the leather soled shoes, my pivots improved immediately. 

In fact, my Tango posture improved as well for two reasons. The first is that the height of the heel - which many find amazing - helps align my body just right. My shoulders are over my hips which are over my knees and those over the metatarsus of my foot.

As well, the pitch of the shoe made it very, very easy to be forward - to connect with my partner. There was a great difference in the pitch of that hand made Colombian D’Rasa dance shoe vs. the pitch of the Latin dance shoes I had purchased and worn time and again.

Today, if I want to work on leading in heels, I will wear a suede sole. If I am going to dance as a follower, then I want all the speed and grace and perfect pivot that the well crafted leather soled shoe has to offer. 

Recently a new dancer who had been dancing in socks or in a worn rubber sole was able to borrow a high heeled shoe. I think the she may well have a 3 1/4” heel, but it is hard to tell as her first shoe is something of a platform sole. A good dance shoe will have a flexible leather sole. 

For gentlemen with nice leather Oxford style shoes - that sole is likely much too thick to help you “feel the floor” when you are dancing. The upper leather is often very stiff and restricts your movement so that you cannot have the same experience with Tango as you would in a proper gentleman’s Tango shoe. 

For followers, the platform is not at all helpful as this too disconnects you with your primary partner - the floor! Of course if that is what you have to bring, please come along! 

The dancer who experienced Argentine Tango while wearing a high heeled shoe for the first time was immediately a better dancer.  The heel height and the pitch of the shoe enabled her to be more present with her leader. 

If one must dance in a flat - I often wear a jazz shoe - it is necessary that as we elongate the spine, we come off the floor a bit. 

This is simply not a flat footed dance. (Remember now - this is my experience with Argentine Tango - yours may be quite different. You may have more experience, have been able to take more classes, or to attend weekend workshops. I often feel as if I am dancing in the desert here, so my observations may required a bit of watering - some nurturing.) 

This does not mean we dance on tip toe…. but if you watch fine dancers in heels or not - you will see the follower will “come up” off her heels and more onto the metatarsi of her foot to be able to be present wth the follower and to execute some of the more advanced steps with grace. 

You are welcome to come dancing with us in socks, sneakers, the finest dance shoes money can buy -  you are welcome.  

One value of the group I dance with is that all are welcome. We are too small for cliques, better than/lesser than dancers. 

Everyone dances - although some choose to dance alone to improve a step or to work on balance.

If you choose to join the class where I dance, we all take turns at leading and following and workshopping ocho cortados and adornos as we may. 

I am a week late in posting - and the good news for next blog is the list of a new gentleman dancer! 

Abrazos! 

That Ocho Cortado Class! Lessons Learned While Leading

In this very, very large small city/town where I live, there is, to my knowledge, only one drop in Tango floor in town. We are that floor! We are not a ballroom, there are no packages to buy. We dancers with a floor inviting all to come Tango with us.

It is lovely as we learn, practice and grow together. We workshop Argentine Tango. As I have had countless Argentine Tango beginners classes, love the dance, practice at home and come from a dance background - by default - I lead the workshops.

However I learn so much every class and every dance I remain a perpetual student. As such, I had the best experience/lesson in the art of “showing up” to dance last week I want to share it. 

In the Argentine Tango, the embrace is the foundation of communication. There are no other cues or clues. This is one reason this Tango is so exciting. Both dancers must be present, out of themselves, not thinking, not analyzing, not worrying about how they look or if they are “doing it right.”  Being present is the only way to accomplish all of the aforementioned concerns.

If both dancers are present and have learned the fundamental principles of movement, dancing happens. Argentine Tango happened because each person hears the music, feels the music, and either leads or follows to the music of Argentine Tango.

(Yes, you can dance to non traditional Tango music, and sometimes I like this very much! In fact I may share a video of that embodies one of the best follower walks I have seen and a seemingly effortless lead at blogs end.) 

Back to the story! We were workshopping the ocho cortado and realized that a new dancer had never seen the “Basic” or the “Basic Eight” pattern before. Many teachers do not want to teach the pattern, and some find it a very useful tool to help new students become familiar with the movements necessary to dance Argentine Tango. 

After a review of the Basic, the ocho cortado was next. I danced lead and a dancer (she is well trained as a dancer in other styles - a dancer to the bone kind of dancer) stepped into my embrace. 

I had opened my right arm to allow her to enter my space and presented my left hand as a support. Then the magic of connection happened. She placed her had in my hand with presence. I knew she was there, and ready to dance. 

How did I know I that? How did that connection happen?

There was just enough attention/tension and pressure as she placed her hand in mine that I was able to place my hand with hers with tension/pressure and the connection was made. I knew where she was. Further, as I gently wrapped my arm around her space - rather as a vase creates space for a flower - I let my right forearm and hand rest very, very gently on her upper back, just around the shoulder blade.

She could feel me, and as her posture was excellent, and she could feel my arm as a presence. That was all the embrace needed for her to hear me and for me to know where she was in the dance. Of course the dance was beginning. We had not yet taken a step!

It was from this connected embrace - salon style or open embrace  - that I learned to lead and she to follow the ocho cortado.  We choose to do the step with the leader offering a parada. It looks good, and as a beginning leader dancing with beginning dancers, we need a bit of flare when we can get it. 

The Ocho Cortado is a step that requires listening, leading, following, timing and for the follower the ability to “cross”  ( I may add two videos to this blog - one of my favorite ocho cortado video and the other of a fine dance.)  

Did I mention that I learned that I sometimes was dancing with “noodle arms?”. I did learn that. I could not have really internalized the lesson without having a fine embrace with a present follower. I had hear the critique in classes as a follower - but did not know quite how to fix it. I didn’t realize that noodle arms are a symptom of not willing to be in connection, or not knowing how. Perhaps not feeling invited in? 

For everyone reading, please know that in this dance there are leaders and followers. Men may dance with men, women with women, men with women…… it really doesn’t matter. What matters is Tango Argentina. So please feel welcome, should you be in Jacksonville Florida in a Tuesday night to look us up!! 

We have a  Facebook Page with far more members than dancers - so don’t worry! There is room for you. 

Abrazos, 

“Miss Ann”

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