Tango: the Walk (with thanks to TangoCorazon)

It's almost time for me to gather up my shirts, shoes, and socks and head out the door to the little salon where I learn about tango and milonga. But first I had to check my email. And there it was, an invitation by my professora de tango, to read the blog she's started at TangoCorazon.wordpress.com

What's cool is that she's letting us know what she's going to focus on, and why. Here's a quote that she's taken from somewhere to describe why we're going to be "walking" tonight...

“Tango is like writing a letter, it has a beginning, periods, commas, stops and an end. If you are doing figures and gyros (turns) all the time, people don’t see anything and that is why there is the walk- the invention of the people. In this dance of the people, which is what tango is, all the famous couples have used the walk, and they use it constantly. The tango is on the ground, It is caressing the floor. It is the ball of the foot supporting the weight of the body, right on the axis and each person on his/her own axis. If you make pupils walk at the beginning, they get bored and want to learn steps and more steps – to show off at the dance hall. So you need to have the luck of meeting a teacher who tells you: No. Look. You must walk. First walk.“ Tango Corazon, Oct 2009

I guess we're lucky, eh? To walk. Instead of being distracted by all the many (too many!) steps that often keep good dancers from becoming great dancers.

And now, to find those shoes, socks, and shirts (I need a few 'cause dancing – even a slow, meditative dance like tango – is hot stuff, hot and sweaty stuff, for me.)

Hasta luego muchachos.... hpm


ps. for more information on Argentine tango on Vancouver Island.... www.vancouverislandtango.com on Twitter at @TangoCorazon, and on Facebook