Canaro 100... times!

Thanks to Joy in Motion I ended up to The Unlikely Salcero’s page and an article about the musical benefits of repetitive listening of a song (June 10,2007). To sing  ( hmm - to sound !) the music as you suggested will be helpfull to create some kind of pattern of music to my memory. I have thou added some more activities because of my personal capacities such as lack of musical memory*  and training.

I started to listen an old Canaro but after day or two I did split it to 3. Now I only have the first 1.15 to go over and over again. I ride bus to work and therefore I can do marks with feet or hands when I feel for that kind of aspects. I think my first priority will be to get the music to my body and therefore I test to have some movements to the music.

I have earlier noticed how some parts in music are bundled together and I can not  understand what is going on there. Therefore I run the song in Audacity where I can put the pace slower, maybe 66%. Having more time to recognize the instruments makes it easier to analyze and understand what is going on.

But for every slow run I listen it at fast level too; up to two times faster. It makes the musical ..patterns.. more clearly. Then also when coming back to the original song it feels slow and unstressed.

Sometimes I do follow the beats by fingers, sometimes I try to sketch by pen what I hear - here the most important thing is the concentration on listening I can create by these means.

Next week next minute!

*Lack of musical memory has been an advantage too! It has forced me to dance in …NOW... During many years I did not have any memories about how the music will go during next few seconds. So I was forced to be prepared to dance according to every surprise the music did offer me. It is actually as followers do - taking the steps the leader suggests!

Earthquake by adornos!

When you are walking your miles on pista you learn to take your steps so they give a pleasant echo in your upper body, full of information. Information about your position, way of the steps, which leg is working. ... This echo is also part of the music experience...

Leaders usually learn quite early even another technique. When I want my follower to stay in her position when I shift weight I block the shift information below my hips – it never reaches my upper body. I shift weight but my partner do not get information and stays in her position.

This information blocking could be valuable training for followers too!
When I have been on follower courses for adornos, the teaching was concentrated on feet movements; how fast small kicks are done. Adornos are presented as part of followers dance done between the leaded steps, never disturbing the dance flow.

But there are other aspects too:

When a learning follower was doing her double kicks between every step in a row – her back was trembling like an earthquake. The rhythmical walking pattern was hidden by all the extra movements in her back. I was totally lost and needed to do the "supporting leg test" all the time.

One of my partners is rhythmically talented and steps on beat without effort (I usually ask her how we are doing!). Suddenly I felt her step exactly off-beat; and again, and again! I stopped puzzled and understood how her free leg had been creating perfect circles and offbeat feeling. Her ordinary steps are very light so I can not feel them anymore but I know exactly where they are. These decorations were during learningperiod so heavy and did impact the music experience.

I wonder if there is teachers who put in their training this kind of extra aspects? Is someone talking about this phenomenon?

Blog reaction on Melinas Good news. Really.

I became lady leader 2004 and soon later I became a masculinist. Men/leaders do not have many ways to defend themselves when followers were frustrated!

There was time I saw men/leaders as dance slaves - even if we were dancing all the tandas it was never enough! You must dance with your partners - several tandas, friends, ask your friends friends, someone will test your dance, be kind to people who visit your town, take loving care of beginners and.. and …

The tandas are unevenly distributed also because of the followers - there are the followers who never go off the pista but asks on the floor for the next dance or uses other effective strategies. The result is that some more quiet, gentle followers are seldom getting up to the pista.

I wonder if there is differences between countries - in Nordics the followers are very active, asking for dances for example.

November 16th
http://melinas-two-cent.blogspot.com/2010/11/good-news-really.html

Chance to dance!

Most of the articles about the situation on pista are written from ladies perspective. Texts are telling about ladies hours to shape the body, get the tango training , fix the makeup, buy clothes and then not getting any dances but an evening in burning frustration. Then the other stories about leaders who make disgusting choices, not taking care of the looks, not training enough and taking a tanda off, not doing their duty.

But I think that followers chance to dance is totally a follower issue and followers need to cooperate here to get to their goals!

To me there is two main aspects: the need of corresponding number of leaders and the distribution of existing dances.

Could the ideas below be a starter for creating some suitable for a tango community?

How can a community attract new leaders?

Informing men around you about tango; start to talk everywhere about dance during your day,
Organizing introduction hours where men, fresh for tango, can test to dance tango with a group experienced followers with 2-10 years of dance in their feet,
Organizing a godmother program where experienced followers for a term/6 months are dancing certain evenings with newcoming leaders
Program where leaders who take classes are promoted by training with experienced followers on practica. I think it must be limited favor - as follower you should not be in charge all the time.


How can a community make the distribution of dances more fair?
Use cabeceo
After a tanda followers are going back to their place - not asking for/accepting next dance on the pista.
The popular ladies take pause when they need rest - put up an area for that (popular followers can be under a pressure to say Yes! when asked for a dance.
If you get involved in this kind of activities suitable for your community you can bet more acceptable situation in milonga. In my life frustration has been a good engine for many kind of changes!

Put your frustration to work for you!

Training week starting 27/9

At last we are on the way to train some Todaro figures. Actually we managed to put together the first sequence last week on practica. It needs to be repeated and then we can go on to the second one!

I have today scanned through some videos for vals figures for October. Need to test them this week at practica.

Training team is geting together and schedule is more acceptable now. Work is still too much ad hoc but geting more organized. Next time we will go on Caminata/pivot and ganchos as a new thing.
Now all of us have access to the shared document to be used to collect ideas for next time. It will also work as a memo to record new ideas and inventions after traning hours.

It seems not realistic to plan more even if music should be on my list as well as figure repetition. 

When do you turn to be a lady leader?

It seems easy to become a lady leader. Just change the abrazo and there you are.

For me it came later. When men stopp to hug and start to shake hands with me I knew I had come some steps further.

Training week starting 13/9

Last saturday we had the first training sesion, 3 hours together. Only two couples! It will be wonderfull to explore this learning path! The studio we use is fabulous with all handmade soundsystem, lamps and decorations!

For some reason volgadas (tiny ones for a crowded floors) are pushing me; wanting to be taken out to the floor and my follower is delighted! I will review my course videos for next weeks training.

Will check up some golgads as well.

Figure training will be Nuevos from 2004;

Music - simple steps; double steps chapter

Ladies Legs

In my early days when still following I was instructed to think the leg beginning from the middle of the ribcage. So my body was as a capital A where the triangle base was hips and the top placed in ribcage. I strived after to stretch my legs all the way when taking the steps. It created long lines in tango salong... if I was lucky.

Today there seems to be two more techniques to take the step and both styles have its favorite lady representants for me.

Andrea Misse has the straight leg beginning from hips. She does not collect so often but is moving the free leg around the supporting leg until there is time to take the next step. It requires the hip to be tilted forward. Anyhow for her it creates an elegant dance.

Adriana Naveira is dancing with flexed knees and they are very seldom stretched totally. It creates a fantastic calmness around her shoulder's and upper body. She is collecting more....

Have you noticed more options?

Training week starting 2/8

Steps
I have reviewed today all videoclips for training this week. It is usefull - even when I remember the steps there is still some missunderstandings to clear out. Ready for runing the whole serie tomorrow!

Music
It is much more fun to use Youtube clips for analysing the phrases. This way I start also to understand how different dancers are using music in their choreography. I managed today to do quite a lot more sets then before.

Choreography
Tuesday evening Ms B. will come and we can work together with some of the music analysis.
We will also decide how to work on learning a whole choreography.

Training

Training week starting 26/7

I go on with music training - the Phrase analysis of tangos, milongas and valzes. So many years I have been listening this music but never heard those phrases of 6, 7, 8 seconds.

Figures to work with will be just basics. This time with metronome - first round 60bps and second round 70bps.

Natural follower?

Natural follower?

I am still wondering if I am a natural follower inspite of my years as leader!

The GrandOpening of a tango is a sidestep. Nearly allways the leader is starting with a left foot sidestep and somewhere there I have got an idea that leaders pick the strong beats with the left leg and the followers are the right foot people.

This spring I have started to listen my iPod when walking to my office and have noticed that my right feet is allways taking the strong beats. I can start with my left foot but after a while I am back in pattern with right fot.

Why?

Is there an iclination on the street so I am actually limbing?
Could it be the fact my muscles are stronger on leftside ...
I am strongly righthanded and I maybe am rightfooted as well!

I wonder what kind of effekt a strong preference for right/left foot rythmic patterns has on a follower? a slight unclear feeling that something is not working or is working well?