Class Notes: 20th September 2009 (Week 3)

21st September 2009

(Week 1 Notes | Week 2 Notes | Week 3 Notes | Week 4 Notes )

Introduction

We quickly reviewed last week's topics:

  • Posture
  • The Hold ("Embrace") - open and close
  • Dissociation
  • Ochos again

Giros (Turns)

A "Giro" (pronounced "Hero") is a turn. Typically, the leader stands in place, and the follower is led to walk in a circular path around the leader (either clockwise or anticlockwise).

Grapevine

We did a grapevine exercise - walking in a straight line, for both leaders and followers:
Forward -> pivot -> Side -> pivot -> Back -> pivot -> Forward -> etc.

Key points:

  • Step then pivot - as with ochos, these are two distinct movements. Don't try to do both at the same time.
  • Dissociation - keep shoulders facing the same direction. Mirrors help!
  • Collect at each step - always collect at the end of every step

Followers: "chair walk" exercise

We then grabbed some weights, and used the "walk around a chair" exercise, to practice doing these movements in a circular pattern.
Forward -> pivot (90 degrees) -> Side -> pivot (270 degrees) -> Back -> Side -> Forward -> etc.

Key points:

  • Dissociation - keep facing the centre of the point you're walking around.
  • Again, collect your legs in between every step.

Leaders: rotation exercise

For leaders, we practiced rotating our upper bodies continuously in a circle, in a particular direction.

Key points:

  • It's a smooth and continuous motion, not a step-stop-step-stop movement.
  • There's no mandatory footwork - feel free to simply shuffle around - but don't move your feet too much, as you want to try to keep a single rotation point for your follower to walk around.
  • To lead the rotation, open up the shoulders whilst rotating - keep the chest moving ahead of the feet.
  • Keep upright - balls of the feet.

Partnering and giro-ing

We then partnered-up and worked on the giro in couples.

The lead is to start rotating around. This can be done from any point, in either direction.

Key points:

  • Everything previously said!
  • Followers, don't overtake leaders - take your time on the walks
  • Leaders, wait for the pivot to be done, before leading the step. Don't try to lead both at the same time.
  • Followers, as always, follow each step as it is led. Don't try to anticipate the next step.

Chops and Changes: Ochos and giros, mixing and matching

We briefly discussed using giros in combination with other steps, mixing and matching.

Key points:

  • Giros can be done in either direction - simply by rotating in that direction. Typically, clockwise might feel more difficult than anti-clockwise because of the nature of the embrace.
  • Giros don't have to be full 360-degree, 4-step patterns - it's perfectly OK to just lead a few steps.
  • You can reverse a giro from a pivot step - turning that pivot into an ocho movement, then reversing the rotation direction.
  • Followers, please don't anticipate that the next step will be part of the giro pattern - it may not be.

More

Ganchos (Hooks)

We briefly covered ganchos, leading them from a forward ocho step (to the leader's right), then reversing for a gancho.

Key points:

  • Leaders: the lead for a gancho is a twist, not a push - if you push, followers may think you're trying to dip them.
  • Followers: dissociation during the forward ocho makes it work - if you turn your upper body to face your partner, it gives him the space to twist you. If there's no dissociation, there's no easy way to twist.

Note: Ganchos are not a fundamental part of Tango dancing in the same way as walking, giros, and ochos are, so it's not vital if you don't get them. But they're fun.

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- David Bailey, 20th July 2009