Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Dancing With Javier (event)
A couple of weeks ago I went to tango club while Javier was teaching. He is a very funny Argentine man and his excitement for the tango is apparent. Javier also has a method of teaching that really makes sense. Most of the class we spent on technique rather than steps and I think this really helped my understanding of the basic structure of the dance. He placed a heavy focus on the embrace, specifically how to lean into one another and dance in a close embrace without losing balance. Also, his explanations on how to follow enhanced my understanding of the role. He explained that followers should place some resistance on the leader so that the follower does not go until the leader asks her to. This also makes the leader pay better attention to his signals, ensuring that he gives clear intention before making a move. The final thing that Javier focused on was how to keep your partner from changing feet so that you can walk outside of her during the basic eight count. His explanation of slightly lifting the woman while you change feet to go outside of her helped me to again better understand full intention. Though I was hardly able to dance in a close embrace, this class really helped my understanding of the dance.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
On Tuesday May 27, I visited the Turnverein: took a class, stayed for a milonga, and left and the way back I was considering what king of post to write. Upon passing the church close to my apartment, I was reminded of the tango club class I went to and so I've decided to write a compare contrast between the two experiences. In three points I will try to sum up my impressions of the two.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would have to say that going to the Turnverein was an exciting experience as going to a location with a whole host of unfamiliar dancers gives an air close to the way a real milonga would be given the usual unfamiliarity of the situation.
Second, however, that same unfamiliarity created a feeling of dread; especially in trying new moves as the fear of messing up with people who are more experienced gives a feeling of being judged.
Finally, though, I would say that both situations provided a unique experience I will not forget.
As my last comment for the blog, I've decided to provide my thoughts on the film that we watched. Sauro's Tango, I feel truly is one of the most interesting tango films we've watched given the surreal and very meta-textual way it presents the unfolding of events. Indeed, not just the way direct references to scenes playing out in front of us are read and discussed by the "director," but in more subtler means especially in the conclusion of the film. In fact, I find the ending to be truly perplexing as the scene plays out as a murder, then unfolds as staged event that could possibly reveal the romance between the director and the actress, but that to is twisted as we see that even the envious mob boss was part of the act as well. In a way this scene, as well as the frequent use of mirrors and cameras tries to show us the artificial nature of not only the dance but of life that surrounds it.
ReplyDelete