Focus

Each week we learn steps, and in order to successfully execute and retain these steps, we must repeat them. I've noticed that I get so accustomed to doing the steps repetitively that I begin to anticipate what the leader will do next. A few partners have suddenly switched up what they were doing to see if I would be responsive, and I haven't always been. This really made me realize that I wasn't in the moment, I was actually just repeating steps in their prescribed order. Because of this tendency to get in a routine, tango has been an exercise in listening, focus, and a reminder of the fact that things won't always continue the way you assume they will. Overall, I tend to struggle with focus which, as much as I hate to admit it, sometimes makes me a terrible listener. Tango has challenged me to focus and reject my tendency to daydream while simply going through the motions. Anyway, going through the motions is not conducive to capturing the passionate and unexpected essence of tango. Nor is it any way to go about life.

Tango and relationships

I think a great deal of knowledge about relationships in life can be gleaned from knowledge of tango. Lately I've been thinking about the role of leader and follower, and although there's not necessarily a prescribed leader and follower in an given relationship, I think the things I've learned about tango have really reiterated the importance of empathy within relationships, both romantic and platonic. Sometimes we forget the other person's needs in the midst of focusing our own ever changing needs, and this can be extremely detrimental, both in tango and relationships. Failure to communicate can cause a variety of missteps. Whether they are minor or significant, clear communication and recognition of how your actions affect the other are crucial. Personally, I tend to over think things in relationships and jump to conclusions are make assumptions, much the way I have a tendency to anticipate the actions of the follower when I tango. I really related to Sally in The Tango Lesson because she struggles constantly with trying to follow. Relinquishing control and trusting another person to guide you and make positive choices is terrifying to me, and I don't think I'm alone in this fear. The importance of trust and letting go is crucial, and I hope by having to be aware of this in the context of tango, I will allow myself to be led in relationships of all sorts, whether they be professional, romantic, or platonic.

Tango getting complicated

Last week marked the half way point for our course. I finally realized how much we have learned in the last month or so, as we added back ochos and a variety of other moves to our repertoire in the tango portion of our lesson. Although I felt like I struggled adding the new moves, it made me realize how much I have progressed with respect to 'the walk', intention, and other basic steps that we learned at the beginning of the course. I look forward to the point where the back ochos and other more complicated steps become second nature, and have more confidence than ever that, with practice, I will get to that point of competency soon!

Having a variety of steps!

Last week in Tango Club, we learned another new step. I don't remember what it was called but it was basically a half turn. It was like the sandwich in that we had to get to it by starting from the back ochos, but then I bring my foot on the other side of the woman's, pivot, side step, and pivot again. I really liked this turn and I thought it was a lot of fun! Now, I feel like we know a decent amount of steps. I don't have to keep doing the same thing over and over again. I still feel however, that I am not so great about staying in the line of dance, and I have to side step quite a bit to be able to keep to the right. So I'll have to definitely work on that!

Leading is hard.

I must say, I give props to the men in our class. As a follower, I've noticed IMMENSE increases in everyone's ability to lead. We have begun to understand and exhibit the firmness required for the leaders to lead. Dancing during Weeks 1 and 2 were difficult solely due to the lack of direction in the leaders, myself included. In Week 5, our most recent class, I was thrilled by the intention that has begun to emerge in our leadering. Having danced with all the men in our class periodically since the beginning, I've experienced their noticeable improvement firsthand, along with my own ability as a follower to detect changes in their intention and react accordingly. The innovation behind their moves and the readiness behind my own has begun to show more as we're all becoming more confident in our steps, or in our reaction to another's intention with their steps.

Reiteration

Only having this class once a week makes it difficult to remember some of the steps we've learned. Thus, I've found that reiteration by continual practicing throughout the week before the next class has helped ingrain them into my memory. During week 1 and 2, I had some difficulty recalling what Professor Dobyns had taught us. As the quarter has progressed and we perform the basics over and over, recall has become much easier. I understand why Professor Dobyns encourages us to participate in weekly tango activities outside of class, such as the DU Tango Club on Thursday evenings (I've yet to attend but I'm making it a mission to do so), to encourage and enhance our fundamental understanding of the steps. Practice makes perfect. The lack of practice breeds clunky and hesitant steps.

From a dancer's background.

I grew up with dance incorporated into my daily life. Having been born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, I had the opportunity to learn and dance hula from an early age, up through middle school, until I finally had to stop upon coming to DU. (Denver doesn't have the hula culture of Hawaii.) The composition of the dance is immensely different from tango. In class when we're practicing, I have been working hard to control my "horse feet," a self-proclaimed dance move exhibited by lifting my feet and knees during certain steps rather than keeping my toes kissed to the ground.

Hula is a dance of power and dramatics. Many of the motions we do include lifting our feet, heavy stepping, or stomping to enhance the rhythm of the dance. For example, the step we call the 'uehe utilizes feet and knee lifts, along with heel raises and knee flourishes. The video below of the kumu (teacher) demonstrates this movement.

Learning the tango has given me the challenge of keeping my hula feet controlled and solid on the floor. Tango is so different from any dances I've come in contact with in the past, which gives me something that I want to become more proficient in. Professor Dobyns really helped me by working with my form last class (April 25th, 2014). I'm excited for class next week, when I demonstrate my increased ability and mindfulness with my feet while dancing tango.

Randomness

Today I found myself trying to teach some of the basic moves we learned in the early classes to my friend! I though to myself what am I doing trying to teach someone when I can hardly to it myself, but then I realized it was actually pretty helpful for myself as well. As I was walking her through the steps I found my self trying to explain it to her without being to abstract. this turned out to really help me understand how to move as well. It felt really free to dance with someone who didn't really know Tango, I felt like no one would judge me or laugh if I messed a step up :). It was also really cool to see that my body communication was getting better and I was able to lead her to do things with out telling her much, just simply letting my chest do the talking. In a way this is me experiencing some of the cultural wealth that I am getting from Tango, teaching others, even if it is basic steps, or just the fact that you can dance Tango, is seen as a valuable skill in the social world.

Semana Cinco

The movie we watched in class today was amazing! This is one of the main reasons why I wanted to take this course I am really glad we got the opportunity to talk about the African roots of Tango. I found it so fascinating that the one researcher predicted that the entire Buenos Aires' population was black from 1920 to 1930! It is even harder to believe that almost all of the black population left or was forced out of Buenos Aires and it is difficult to find many black folks there today. Listening to some of the music really helped see the black influence. I found the readings really interesting as well. All of the readings addressed issues of gender, class, and race that exist in Tango, all of them which with I agree with. I find myself in an interesting love and hate relationship with Tango. I really enjoy the dancing and the intimate moments you experience with other people, but I also have a hard time ignoring the politics behind it and the history of tango with adds a lot of context and in my opinion, learning about the history and culture is an important part of learning Tango. It was sad to see other Argentinians who were not aware of the black influence, one man who was interviewed even said black didn't deserve any of the credit for the Argentinian Tango. This bothered so much, it seemed hypocritical from a culture which is all about respect and honoring the old traditions, to  disregard the black influence and erase everything black from their history. But complex is a better word. Watching the film and the class discussion on the readings really opened my eyes to see how complex and multi-layered the Tango culture really is.

Today's Class

I thought today's class was an interesting one in the sense that we worked a lot more on moves without music playing, rather than learning, getting in line then moving on. I like this way better. I felt I got a bunch of solid repetitions on the moves, and didn't feel restricted to the timing of the music.

Remembering Steps

I can see now why it is so important to practice the tango very regularly. I truly want to remember the steps and to master them, but I simply don't have enough time. Thus, when I come to class, it is the only time I am learning during the week. It is funny, because I will forget some steps from the previous weeks, and when I dig through my memory to get them down, I sometimes do steps we have learned, but the wrong ones. Also, just a side note, I am still confused whether I can do whatever steps I want during the Milonga, or if it is stricter than that.

gaze

The Gaze:
What I find interesting about the gaze is that it isn't something that we need to practice. While the tango is surely filled with certain etiquette points, it seems to me that the gaze comes naturally for everyone. This being said, while dancing the tango is physically difficult - the gaze seems to be one of the most nerve wrecking aspects. It is funny though, because while I feel uncomfortable looking for a dance partner through eye contact, the second contact is made it seems natural and fitting. I suppose this is because everyone feels a bit nervous. I am curious as to how the tango might be if there was no gaze, and rather just oral interaction. I don't think it would be as exciting.  

Week four post

I took a lot from the last class. I really enjoyed working with Will on leading. He was extremely helpful and patient. The discussion was very rich that class. It was very interesting listening to the women in our class share their opinions about the strong gender roles that exist in Tango. I feel very conflicted with the gender roles, it is hard for me to morally accept them sometimes. Listening to some of the comments in class helped me understand that it is not always an oppressive action, it can also be a moment of trust, and even empowerment. I find my self struggling with some of the steps like the Milanga squares and the eight count, just because i have a hard time remembering the steps before getting home. I find myself trying to practice at home and making up a complete new step. I really enjoyed the end of class Milanga session! Even though most of us in class know each other and it is a different experience to actually go out into the city and experience a Milanga, it was great practice. The experience of actually asking someone to dance is difficult for me. I am very shy when it comes to asking and its something I need to work on. I also need to improve my eye contact, yet i wonder if this is even necessary since a closer embrace may prevent eye contact, or make it difficult for the leader to keep an eye on the rest of the dance floor?

week 5 post

This is my first post due to the fact that I have not been able to post up to this point.  Due to this fact I am going to go over my progression throughout the course and how the course is going thus far.  Coming into the course I knew very little about both the actual dance of the tango and the culture.  Due to this fact everything has been very new.  When I first started to dance it was coming very difficult to me and I didn't know what I was doing.  As I started to learn more and more about the dance and the culture of tango I started to realize what I had been missing the entire time, my attitude and mindset was all wrong.
As I have become more and more entrenched in tango I have started to realize that the mindset going into the dance is just as important if not more important then actually learning the steps.  To be successful you need to understand each of the roles that the partners need to play.  The man for the most part, and traditionally needs to lead, and his creativity must lead the women as she follows.  She must surrender herself to his lead.  This must be understood and applied in the dance as the two partners move through the music.  The common 8 steps should be applied while dancing and the room and different dancers move in a circle around the room.  Another very important part of dancing the tango is how to move through the room without effecting anyone else.  There is no passing no matter how slow someone is moving in front of you, and the man must have control of the womens body so that they do not let her step on anyone else, and that no one else runs into them.
Having an understanding of these different rules is very important, and once you understand them you can then start to add your own style and ability to the dance.  The key really is about understanding and having a great feel for your role.  Once you can completely immerse into your role and also the space you are dancing with, then you are starting to make improvements of dancing the tango.

Week #4

Since I last posted I have had a number of new experiences with Tango that have increased both my interest and skill in the dance. First off I have now been to Tango club a couple times as well as a number of lessons, Practicas, and Milongas outside of DU. Tango club is always very interesting. Both times I have gone I have met people from around the community whom have gladly shared their knowledge with me and have had a good time practicing. 

The experience with the community outside of DU has been even more fascinating though. My first lesson was two Fridays ago. It was interesting going into the lesson as most people there still had a lot more experience than me even though it was classified as a beginners class. However I was able to at least somewhat apply what we had learned in class and learn a new move. The more interesting part was watching the Milonga after. Will, someone whom I had met through Tango Club and then had also had the privilege of talking to before and after the lesson, gratefully showed me how exactly the Milonga worked (in a bit more detail than we had learned in class) and how exactly to identify a good dancer on the dance floor. While the lessons, both this one and after, had made it seem that people only seem to follow certain moves and that Tango is relatively strict, the Milonga proved the opposite. Everyone not only had their own sequences they tried and tested but each person had their own clear style that they called their own. While one man may have walked strictly only stopping every once in awhile to do an ocho or two, another man might be going in circles the entire time. The same went for the women, some of whom focused on perfecting each and every step, while others were more free flowing and added a number of embellishments to every move. While neither one nor the other was necessarily better, it certainly provided a contrast. Its worth noting that my third lesson was almost identical to this experience.

The second lesson I attended was with a good family friend of mine. I had learned they started to do Tango awhile back and mentioned I had started it too. They invited me to join them in Morrison for a small practica. This was far different from the previous lesson. Fortunately the owners typically run this as a much smaller practica and although it was not necessarily one on one attention, I was able to get many more pointers on refining my technique and drills with which to continue to refine my skills. Afterwards I talked with the couple who led the practica and had a very interesting conversation. Initially we talked about the passion that is unique to Tango that seems to consume those who really commit to it. They seemed very similar in terms of their feelings about Tango to those exhibited in the films we have watched. To Them Tango was more than just a skill or a hobby, it was an intricate part of their lives. Perhaps the most interesting part of the conversation I thought was about who exactly was attracted to Tango. Apparently most everyone the male teacher knew who Tangoed intensely were involved heavily in the practical sciences (engineering and medicine). It seems interesting that such a dance is so attractive to men of these fields in particular to me.

Tango really has grabbed a hold of me. I have always wanted to dance and I am finally feeling a connection enough to a type of dance that I feel I can truly commit to it and learn it well. It provides a structure and order that I like while also allowing me free will. I cannot wait to see how much I have learned by the end of the quarter!

Week 4

This week I feel that my following improved a lot.  My leading improved some too, but not nearly as much as my following did.  With leading, I tried to focus more on the music than trying to remember specific steps.  It felt more natural this way, though I am still kind of at a lost when trying to fill in the gaps between movement (i.e. what do do when the dance floor is halted.)  

I also went to look for some better dance shoes.  I tried Nordstrom Rack and they didn't really have anything for me.  I'm going to look at Off Broadway and maybe Ross and TJ Max too next weekend.  For now I'll just have to use my socks. 

Week 4: Jared Bloomfield

Another week of tango, another week of improvement. This week, we learned the back steps, which were hard to learn, but once I got the hang of it, I started to feel pretty comfortable. That is the funny thing about learning a skill (schoolwork, tango, etc), the second one starts learning new skills, the building block skills that seemed hard a week ago just seem second nature in comparison. I love that Ann is pushing us, because I am definitely learning much more in four weeks than I thought was possible in ten. We danced in close embrace this week, which was definitely uncomfortable, but, just like everything else, will get more natural in time.

I missed the first few weeks of posting because I wasn't able to figure out the system, but now I got it down. I took the Tango Freshman seminar two years ago upon entering DU. I am a biology major, so I wanted to take a class on a topic completely unrelated to biology. Therefore, I choose to take Tango because I thought it would be a lot of fun and it would be a great way to meet people! I even went to Tango club on a few Thursday night and brought a few friends with me. I'd like to think that I learned the different steps pretty well when I was just starting out. But my schedule was too burdened so I could no longer find the time to keep coming to the class. Now I am in my third year here at DU, and I notice that there was an Advanced Seminar for Tango with Ann. I remembered how much fun I had as a first year, and thought it would be a great class to take. When I first came to class, I thought that it may be difficult to remember what I had learned two years ago. I feel that it is quite the opposite. After four classes, I am pretty sure that I remember how to do almost everything that I had learned how to do as a freshman. Right away, I remembered how to do the basic and the front ochos. With some help from Carmen and Maddie, I was able to remember the back ochos, the turning ochos, and the sandwhich. Coming back to the dance has been a lot of fun for me! One thing that was great about coming back to Tango was that I had to take the Dental Admissions Test last Friday. This test is basically the MCAT for dentists so it was really difficult and it was really important because it is a determining factor in my application to dental school. I was able to go to Tango club the night before the test, and it was able to help me keep my mind of the test so I could relax for the night. It was just really refreshing and I think really contributed to my lack of wordiness during the test. So its been great, and I am looking forward to keep learning tango the rest the class!

Third Tango Class

I really enjoyed learning the milianga steps.  I felt more on point our second session than this week’s third class. I was having trouble keeping my legs bent, and practiced the dance steps with my knees bent to improve my muscle memory of it.  By the end of the class I was happy to have such a productive day.  It was definitely helpful to get practice of reviewing the eight count, practicing body posture, and learning the new milianga steps.  I felt the connection between the leader and follower a lot more, although it is a little tough to know where the foot could go.

Third tango

My third time with the dance went well.  I think I had the most improvement on Friday that I have had thus far.  I finally understand the concept of heart to heart, crossing lanes, and how to lead the woman into a cross and a pivot.  Makayla also helped me with my leading by telling me to try to keep the same distance from your partner throughout the dance.  This helps your partner better understand your intensions and keeps them from falling off balance.  Overall it was a good week.  I should probably be practicing more than once a week and I am really going to make an effort to go to tango club.  Too bad it's not happening this week...

Third Tango Session

This week we began to start building on the early steps that we learned during the first few weeks of the course and learned more complicated steps. Ann introduced the Milonga during the second half of the class today, which is a faster dance sequence that I greatly enjoyed. Today, I noticed a significant improvement in my dancing, specifically with regards to the intention I was conveying to the follower. By pausing on one foot for about a second during the initial shifting of weight, and then shifting my weight to the front of my toes, I was able to lead more efficiently than I thought was possible for week three. Another aspect of the Tango that we have been talking about a lot over the past few weeks is how vulnerability in dancing brings people together, a key reason that people gravitate to Tango so rapidly. To be honest, I did not really feel that sense of bonding among my classmates until today, when we finally felt comfortable enough with each other to give real feedback and experiment with moves that we did not feel perfectly comfortable with. I felt myself making more mistakes today, because I was pushing myself much harder than I was during the first two sessions, since I was not afraid of looking stupid in front of my classmates due to the newfound comfortability that I felt. I look forward to feeling more comfortable with my dance partners as this class matures, which, based on today, is definitely crucial in improving at the Tango.

Tango número dos

Second week of tango down and I might be slightly improving.  I think this week my leading definitely improved.  It's still a bit awkward in half embrace, I think this puts me off balance more than a full embrace would.  It also seems that full embrace would make leading with your chest, rather than your arms, easier.  I would like to practice more than once a week but right now it just doesn't seem to be happening.  I'm going to try to make it to tango club during week four but with the way things have been going I can't really make any promises.  Tomorrow's a new day for tango.  I'm excited to see what we learn next!

Last week was the second course of the year. This time we began by dancing. I loved starting class with dancing because it really got me engaged and exited about the class, however it was a little difficult to remain engaged by the discussion near the end because I was exhausted from dancing. I really enjoy the combination of an academic course combined with a dance course, like most of the professional dancers who are interviewed say, tango must be lived not just danced, by dancing we are allowed to experience tango in the most genuine way. The discussions are always really rich. Most of my classmates are legitimately exited about the topic, therefore our discussions include topics such as race, gender, class, social capital, and performativity. I never imagined all of these topics would be covered in a Tango course.

Jose Guerrero
April 20th, 2014

Almost every day on Facebook, someone post something called tango truisms. Thought you all might like this one, from this morning.
Today's ‪#‎Tango‬ Truism 587: Tango can be fun! Just don't count on it being fun for very long. Other things will eventually creep into your experience. Not the least of which is an evil of human existence - comparison! You'll begin to compare yourself to what you see on the floor to what you're doing, after that, it stops being fun for a while or even a long while. What's happened is you have started to care, and really to invest your emotions in what you're doing, in how you look, in who you're dancing with and why. In a way it's as if adam has taken a bite from the tree of knowledge and has realized he's naked. After that there's going to be a lot of recriminations, realizations, doors that were previously unknown to you will magically appear, lots of education about the society that you're in and what you're doing and how you're doing it, an awakening of self, perceptions, musical tastes will change - radically from alternative to nuevo (piazzolla, late pugliese) to golden age to period specificity, partners will disappear almost instantly and new ones will take their place with the same speed, etc. Eventually, ... a very long eventually - years in fact, the pendulum will swing in the other direction and the dance will become fun again. You may consider (and actually do) throw in the towel a few times, you may walk away from it, you may come back to it, but in the end you'll come full circle...the dance will be fun, again. ©2014 Tango Truisms.

This week was the first ever time I tangoed. I had absolutely no experience dancing prior to this aside from one Salsa lesson in 9th grade in High School. As such it was refreshing to actually be able to connect with the dance a bit more than I though I was going to be able to the first week. Individually I really got into the footwork and was able to focus on keeping correct posture and shifting weight. Paired I was definitely a bit more sketchy, in particular with following. It seems like it would be easy but I am not very good at reading the little queues people seemed to use for getting people to follow. I'm going to go to Tango Club this week and see if I can really remember everything before I go to class. I've always wanted to learn a dance and as such I am thrilled at the chance to learn the basics of Tango in this class.

This is place for you to register your responses to or questions about this week's readings, films, class, or experiences dancing tango outside of class.  This is no set format or required length of response.