Recently Sweetie and I started taking dance lessons. We are now a month into learning how to do the Argentina Tango. When you get a moment, do a search on the dance, the videos are amazing! I have seen some videos where the dance is very emotional, and others where it is almost fluid!
The Argentine Tango is danced in an embrace that can vary from very open, in which leader and follower connect at arms length, to very closed, in which the connection is chest-to-chest, or anywhere in between.
Tango dance is essentially walking with a partner and the music. The more I see and experience of the dance, it has the capability of being emotional and can vary in speed. I am learning to take cues from Sweeties frame as to which way I step and how I step. We are learning a new way to communicate!
Let's take a side step together here! Sweetie is very in tune with the beat, and has fun improvising. Me? Ha! I am so determined that I do it exactly right that I tend to not live in the moment, but am anxious over the step at the time, and the upcoming steps that I don't experience the joy he does. I'm working on this. Some nights are better than others! I know in my mind that it takes awhile to learn to dance, and with lots of practice and time, it will give me the experience to do well. But my heart wants to do it perfectly the first time!
Okay, back to it! I looked up the etiquette of the dance and this is what I found thanks to our awesome dance teacher, and some help from Wikipedia!
"Argentine tango is danced counterclockwise around the outside of the dance floor (the "line of dance") and dance "traffic" often segregates into a number of "lanes"; cutting across the middle of the floor is frowned upon. In general, the middle of the floor is where one finds either beginners who lack floor navigation skills or people who are performing "showy" figures or patterns that take up more dance floor space. It is acceptable to stop briefly in the line of dance to perform stationary figures, as long as the other dancers are not unduly impeded. The school of thought about this is, if there is open space in front, there are likely people waiting behind. Dancers are expected to respect the other couples on the floor; colliding or even crowding another couple, or stepping on others' feet is to be avoided strenuously. It is considered rude; in addition to possible physical harm rendered, it can be disruptive to a couple's musicality."
This is very true as our class is a mix of beginners and experienced dancers. When we change partners a whole new line of communication begins! Do any of you dance? What is your favorite style?
Sweetie and I are not amazing- yet! But one day hope to grace the dance floor with style!
No comments:
Post a Comment