Libertango portal

I think the biggest surprise when working on this Libertango portal was the lack of ordinary tango performances! There is some but not in the numbers as for other tangos.

The second one was the fact that it is so appreciated  world wide, of different ages so you can find it in repertoirs of old musicians as well as the ones below 10 years. It is also suitable as background music for beauty contests and car races - amazing!

..

Please click here and enjoy this small selection!

There is different themas for playlists:

Moves us - dance and performances
Unusual instruments - never seen like them
Chicas - things from bellydancing to stage
Outdoors - all kind of activities under the skyes
Classics - the old ones and the next generation




PS. It seems there is some problems with the music, which is not allowed to be shown in all countries. Please send me a note if you can not see this. I will check what I can done for this...... 

Theremin portal

When working on an other portal I came across the Russina instrument theremin again but this time I got fascinated by it.

This portal shows that the instrument is still alive! Really popular in Japan where they have at least one orchestra with 100 musicians. There is also an iPhone app so you can play it everywhere!

Please enjoy!

Geraldine Rojas - Portal

I have seen Geraldine dance live only twice but I hardly remember anything about the dance but only her dresses. The first time was 2004 when she was dancing with Javier and her dress was red lace. I was a beginner then and could not see the magic in their dance, what a pity....

The second time was in Paris 2010 and her dance partner was Ezequiel Paludi; she in black lace. But it was not better: I could not relate to their dance. It was beautiful but nothing more for me. It was just now when I was working with this portal I started to appreciate their dance. I have watched huge number of videos, many of them several times when I suddenly noticed how musically they are dancing, how fresh the musical interpretations are and how professional they are.

But now to the palylists!

Geraldine Rojas
There is some difficulties with the spelling of her name. The early and most common verson is the one I have used here. On her home page she nowadays writes Geraldin Rojas.

When you make google seach you get several Geraldine Rojas and one of them is very look alike - a dancer from New York with long brown hair and the same name!

Mother and the extended family (click the title to start a playlist)
Geraldines mother is Maria del Carmen, an appreciated dancer of Villa Urquiza style. She is married to Jorge Dispari and Geraldine is grown up in this family together with Samantha Dispari, her sister.

In one of the interviews on Geraldines homepage she tells how unmusical her father was and how this caused the separation of parents. (On other pages Jorge Dispari was stated as her father but I think it is uncorrect)

Childhood performances
I did know she had performed as child but now when reviewing these videos I was still surpriced! What an opportunity to develope her own talent with all these talented leaders.

Young professional
Here we have some of the performances and films she has contributed to.

Dancing with different partners
Pay attention to her ability to adapt to different partners.
I have collected clips I like, watch and enjoy!

Bologna
These videos are from Bologna festival where she was dancing with Javier Rodriguez. It is interesting how these performances have maintained the power to attract us, still after so many years.

with Paludi
After splitting up from Javier, Geraldine has danced with Ezequiel Paludi. This gives her possibility to combine the professional life with family life!

It is obvious that she is talented and she had possibility to develope that talent with great dancers. I am sure that her early training to perform on stage makes the performing situation more comfortable for her, compared to dancers with later start.

But she has also worked on her own training. There are stories about how she as a child danced alone for hours; training steps to different music, alone, early in the morning.

Please enjoy the portal!

In the text section (bilow the video window on Youtube page) you find the liks to Geraldines and Ezequiels homepage as well as to one dance analysis. (the link was removed ...)

G. Potter at tango practica!

Harry Potter's cousin G.Potter has started to go to practica! Some times it goes well and he with partner are disappearing to the other worlds. När difficulties accumulates the whole world is shaking!

But notice! they both have their broom ready for fast escape!

The most interesting thing with this kind of video effect is the fact that the camera holder will be part of the video. Here the lady got upset before you can hear G. Potter start to explain, her camera hand is shaking and the whole room shakes. In ordinary film you don't see it.
(He explained nicely but was frustrated!)

Whos fault IS it?

Sometimes, when you are leading, you find unexpected effects. It is difficult to analyze the source for the phenomenon or find the way to correct it. Here you have our story, how we did analyze the situation and found the solution!

For our small group the caminata is an important part of the technical training and we have it on the schedule every time! At one of the very first times I noticed that my main partner Ms. B was walking in a slight, but definite turning circle to the left, I needed to work a lot to keep her in a stright forward caminata. When we talked about it she said she felt the lead to that slight curve promenade, I told her that there was no lead for that turn ......

We made some videos that time and after several months there was time to analyze it. These are the facts I have found so far!

Ms. B is walking very balanced backwards. Her heels are placed on one line and the toepart is pointing out in an angle she is able to keep constant / stable. The rectangle formed by her hips and shoulders is fine, working balanced and steady. I think this is one of the reasons she is so good follower. Her response is clear without unbalance, 'noice'.  

 You will see the walk first in slow motion and then the normal pace.

She is moving in such a beautiful manner, isn't she?

We go on to se what happens with the leader in black! Please look again how the steps are placed and how the shoulder/hips rectangular looks like. You get the slowmotion version first and then in normal speed. If you choose whole screen in Youtube, it will be easier to se!

 

 

Here we have some things happening, don't we?

It is quite obvious that the shoulder/hips rectangle has collapsed; the right shoulder is lower and left hips goes out more than the right one. There is also differences in steps.

The left foot step seems quite ok, the foot is moving on its own line forward and even the shoulder line is acceptable.

It is different for the right foot step! The right shoulder is lower and left hip goes out. Right foot is also going slightly diagonally forward. And here we have the lead, enough for a sensitive follower! If the leader would make the step a little bit longer and keep left shoulder some more away, then we would have a clear lead for a left side turn!

This time the cause for this diverging from the forward caminata was the leaders (my) unclear / unbalanced back and feet movements.

Nowadays when i feel that a follower is turning without my intentional lead to the left I do not lead / turn her back but I start to control my left hip and keep my right foot in line instead.

I have a scoliosis in my back, It makes the back movements more unbalanced and unstable. Usually I do not mind that but some sensitive followers are able to perceive it and act on it.

.... and one more thing. When I was following the reason for unbalance, anyhow to some extent, was on the follower / me! My scoliosis is working in both roles! ;)

Why I didn't ask you for a dance?

When I started to lead, I soon noticed how much circumstances decided my partner for next tanda and I relaxed. It can go like this when i look for a follower for next tanda .....

I promised my next milonga for her, but when the milonga started I just could not spot her! Where is she? Looking around but no: I could not find her! According to her I was looking into her eyes but just turned around and asked another lady. Later I noticed that her djungle printed dress made ​​her invisible for me, she just disappeared! (We are friends again;)) I need a dress / detail to spot you ...

I had seen her at one of the tables, but when the next tanda came she was not there anymore. What a rush to find someone else for this wonderful tanda! When dancing around I spotted her on the other side of the pista. Please, keep the same place for some cortinas and then change if you prefer to be somewhere else .... I need to find you somehow!

That night I was not totally ok and wanted to dance with the most nearest followers

I really want to dance with you but not during THIS  tanda. I want to have something more inspiring for us ...

Yes, I want to dance with you but I want to dance with one of my regular partners first. She has been sitting for a while ...

Yes, I am not dancing now but I am still occupied. I want to ask someone to dance with me and I need to concentrate and focus before it! Waiting for the right tanda too.

I have been dancing for a long time and know lot of people at our ordinary milongas. There can be 50 up to 70 followers I know but only 4 (!) tandas per hour to dance. Can this be the reason when a follower wonders - He is dancing with me on Fridays but not on Sundays, what's wrong with me on Sundays? ... and another one asks: what's wrong with me on Fridays?

I do maintain two reasons to refuse a dance with a specific follower.

The dangerous and painful one is when the lady uses walking technique with high heels up, parallel with the floor - That heel will regularly visit the inside of the shoe for the leader in front of us ......

The other reason is her attitude. If an unknown follower comes by and says: I want to test you! or .... if someone is rude for a more quiet sister and stepping over her to a leader!

Followers backstep

Isn't it quite interesting how you can block out information just at a skin layer away. During the last years my concentration has totally been on leader's steps but I thought I knew the follower's steps. Actually the question of knowing or not knowing did not occurred to me! But when I tried to explain the steps to the two followers in our training group my knowledge was like a puzzle in a pocket! .... unsorted and with great risk for missing pieces!

So I have now recalled the information fragments from my follower days and reviewed my video collection. I hope you get a picture about the different aspects of the footwork easy to understand and oppose, if you disagree! Please let me know! A step is a phenomenon of moving and I think that's the reason I ended up using vocabulary for trips: departure, traveling and arrival.

I will go through the normal, ordinary caminata where the follower is walking backwards with normal, comfortable steps. There is another technique for the long steps. The moving energy for steps is coming from the leader and I would like to use expression – follower is placing the step – you are not taking the step but receiving the leaders forward movement and placing your step. Don't you think this idea could make followers balance stronger? 

Just concentrate to PLACE the step!

Departure

Here you stand with one foot in front of you and you start to feel how leader is advancing; so your foot needs to leave its place in front of you and then start to travel backwards!

Many times ladies let the heel have the last contact to the floor and this makes the toes to jump up - a nice decoration but it should not be part of an ordinary step. With other words: When you feel leader's forward movement it is time to leave, lift your heel a tiny bit, keep the ball of the foot on the floor but without delay let leaders movement have impact on your foot - let it move. Please remember your ball of the foot is the last thing leaving the place!

This lady has a fantastic classical style! Though I prefer lower heels – should always be directed towards the floor!

(Please do NOT follow the advice to tilt the feets – there is risk for injuries!)

Decoration

Skip to 30s

Travelling

The most common recommendation is to step on one line but there is also many appreciated teachers talking for two lines; so both your feet have the luxury of own line! You can let the ball of the foot move on the floor or just above; it's a choice of your taste! Let the foot touch the other one when passing by and then KEEP THE HEEL still DOWNwards. It is more safety and it helps you to keep the foot, knee and hip line beautifully stretched.

When you watch the experienced followers you find how they keep the heels vertical/ towards the floor. The ones who have the stileto parallell with the floor are dangerous - it's like a piraya longing for nearby heels! There is ladies I do not dance with because of that or I change the line when having her behind me.

Another way to travel backwards is by letting your big toe to brush the floor. After passing your supporting leg keep your heel downwards and let your foot go straight backwards.

This is Jennifer Bratt, You find her video in the end of this posting. In the left picture she is placing her left foot, it is a little bitt toooo much toe and you can see how high the end of the heel is in the ear. Think how it would look like if ball of the foot could be used more here!  On the right she has some of the weight on the left foot. The right heel is slightly in the air but ball/toes still on to the floor.

Arriving

Your landing moment comes with the leader's step but your landing style is your choice! Please touch the floor with the whole ball of the foot, anyhow with as big part of it as you can do comfortably. (If only your toes meets the floor I think your heel is too high!) Let your leader then do the rest of the job and roll you to your heel.

Let me know what you think!  Missing some parts?

Jennifer Bratt - Low back boleos

At the end The main aspects!

Keep your ball of the foot towards the floor (heel towards the floor)

Receive the movement from leader, relaxed but with extended lines; heel – knee – hips

Placing your foot at every part of the step

Statistics for the sequences

When we were working regularly for a long time we lost the control over all the steps we had been working on. We lost sometimes parts of the sequences as well as the youtube video address we had been using. Frustrating!

Therefore I wanted to create a tool giving us easily
- an overview for the sequences we had been working on,
- pick up certain group of sequences - e.g boleos or volgadas
- what did we work on a certain occasion
- access to right video
- channel to share all this with my team

I have created this tool in LibreOffice (earlier OpenOffice) and I recommend the participants to have a Gmail account so the sharing will go easily.

The first column shows a name or description for the sequence, so we can recall it.

Next column gives the category so you can use the filter above and search all the rows for e.g. volgadas you have been working on.

Video column gives you the youtube or dropbox address specified for this video. When you load this file to Google documents the link is activated so you can click the video address and it will show up in a new window.
 

All the steps you did work on During the meeting are marked by number 1. Remember also the possibility to create notes for every cell if more specific information is needed.

The summary column at right gives you then the number of accumulated training occasions. If you want to repeat those having a low number and needing a fresh up, press the filter triangle and choose the level. If you choose to look at the ones you worked on only two times choose two during the filter and only those rows will show up. Believe me, this is handy when you have 50 sequences to take care of! ... or need to check up what the sequences were on a course 6 months ago!

NOTICE: When you have used the filter you will find a small square reminding you to go back to the filter trinagle and choose all again, to get access to all.

Via Google documents with reading rights to others you can share the information with your training partners very easily! You can keep this also as a private document to keep track for your teaching hours / weekends so you know what issues you have done at a certain occasion.

If you will load a start file from my Dropbox you find the addresses here. After loading into Google Documents you Should be able to watch the videos in the video column.

Open Office

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39527050/OpenOffice_Satatistic.ods 
LibreOffice
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39527050/LibreOffice_Statistics.ods 


You find the used calculation software at www.libreoffice.org

Robust skill is growing

Your level and explanation .....

You can not lead the steps at all  - I am not interested about that figure ...
You can fix it with the teacher - It is your partners mistake if it is not working
You can perform it with peers - Everyone can do this! It's simple!
You can lead the steps with a beginner. - Wow she is a really good follower!

In the beginning of the line you do consume compensation and in the other end you give compensation!

The level two is an unfair and painful one for the followers :(

Coping with cancer

Breast cancer v2.0

In the early days when studying social anthropology we came across a story about a tribe in South East Asia working systematically with their dreams. Every morning they came together and reviewed the dreams during the night before; discussing and analyzing. Very early in their lives children were trained to meet their nightmares in a constructive way. When a nightmare monster was chasing them they were asked to stop, turn around and stare at the creature and ASK for a GIFT!

This idea of asking for a gift when I meet the monsters of my life became one of the important principles giving me strength and positive outcomes in difficult situations.

The Breast cancer v1.0 occured in September 1999 (surgery, radiation) and I requested for more focus on things I love, on ideas I appreciate and activities making me feel more alive! The change was great during the years! But it is still my responsibility to keep this request active, make new choices so the attitude keeps on growing and stabilized within me.

This time I want more connection to the people around me!

(This sharp eyed and analytical hedgehog needs softer needles!)

But the Breast cancer v2.0 (more surgery, chemotherapy) has already given me gifts ...

My doctor recomended me to cut my hair before I lose it by the treatment. It was a surprice how powerful I felt with my new bald head look. I am visible again; at the shops I can pay when I want - earlier I was chasing the cashiers .......

It has also made my life even more leader like! I do actually some shaving before a milonga ;)

My normal life goes on and I am working 75% ; going not so often to milongas but working with dance at home, meeting my non-tango friends and catching up the things at home since last autum!

Cancer message can come with a lot of power; It lifts you from your everyday track and makes changes possible; It shows what is important in your life and it gives a lot of possibilities to meet, really meet people who have accepted the realities in their life. I am greatful too!

Was music or dance first?

This post is a responce to TANGO-BEATS posting The Psychology of Musicality part 3 and to his question if it was music or dance created first.

After reading this post several times my mind started to generate pictures about african work situations and I noticed that for me the evolutin of music and dance starts there, at work! ... and I found me quite near Oliver Sacks who says that music starts "at the beat".

If you need to do repetitive work for a long time you need to find ways to strengthen the works rythm and one way is to start make sounds to reinforce the work pattern. The need to organize the movements is even more urgent when a group of people needs to work together.

This is a Finnish midsummer competion and the way to organize the power of teams by voices is easy to understand. Here we are very far from the music, very far from the dance! 

But at another beach they have refined the methods! They sing and use instruments to organize the working pattern. Movements have also got some level of abstraction so I could call it for dance.

I usually learn only about things which are important for me and for same reason I think the repetitive work made people pay attention to rhythms and the effects of rhythms.

Work_rhythm could be the first connection between movement and music and as such a primitive form of dance.

Movement_beat is the abstraction of the pair of words above and that gives us all the variations of dance_music of today.

So I see the repetitive work as the base for dance and music!

Work movements => voice => song => instrument

Work movements => abstract movements

What do you think about this? 

                        Please share here or via mailing address in my profile!

A follower exercise

When I was following I didn't have a clear picture of my impact to the dance, not even tried to understand it. Instead I was mostly concerned about how well I picked up the lead. Today I think followers need to grow their skill to understand the lead but they need parallell to grow to understand what their strong sides and favorite dance situations are. How would I like to do my movements during this dance/ with this leader? The timing and step comes from the lead, HOW is the follower choice but not the only way to have impact!

It has been a amazing journey for me to watch videos with leaders who has changed their partners. How new elements come in and the athmosphere is changing for the perfomances.

Here is one of may favorite leaders with three different followers.

Before running trough these, please pick up some ideas you want to check. Some suggestions - intensity between the dancers / playfullness - is there differences between Diego & Co? Technical level /choice of music/ different steps/ how fast the dance goes?

Deside what you want to follow up here!

Diego & Maria Belén

Diego & Mecha

Diego & Mariana

Have you a favorite serie of your own?  Please share!

Enrosques and pivots

When talking about enrosques I have been focusing only in how legs and feets are moving. It is quite natural because the most spectacular things are happening there. Lately my thoughts have turned to the movements of the center of the body and I think the core of enrosque is actullay to be found there! Here you find my first try about this!

In the leaders enrosque you isolate the turning movements of the uper and lower body . Enrosques are performed mostly when the follower is doing the molinete around the leader especially if you want to do several of them. Leader keeps her going by turning his shoulders steadily but his hips are rotating back and forth unconnected to the shoulders.

In pivot all the movements are turning to the same direction even if the different layers, legs-hips-upperbody, are delayed compared to each other.

What do you think?

Engines:

Pivot - one of these shoulders/ hips/ foot is driving the turn

Enrosq - shoulders are drivning the couples turn and hips/feet is driving the enrosque movements.

Turn directions:

Pivot - all layers of body are turning to same direction

Enrosq - shoulders turning to the molinetes direction but hips/ leg are turning back and forth

Twist source:

Pivot – one of shoulders/ hips/ foot is turning and rest are late creating the twist; leaders hips are facing the follower most of the time

Enrosque – hips/ foot are streching to opposite directions compared to shoulders; leaders hips are turned away from her hips, left or right, most of the time.

(turning is happening in different leyers  legs-hips-shoulders)

So far today .....

Feedback is deeply appreciated here or by mail!

No thoughts for follower feets

When I am going to sit down I occasionally fall the last bit. Do you also know the feeling?

This mistake of my automatic calculator for distances reveals how much experience is loaded and used for all these everyday movements. I just decide to go somewhere and my body is analyzing the surroundings and adapting my movements along the way. I never could do this with total awareness of every detail and when my walking is proceeding as planned even the feedback impulses are blocked out from my awareness.

One year ago the technically (my opinion) best teacher told me that it was time to forget the followers feet and start to place her. I didn't understand so much about that but during these months I have noticed some changes in my thinking.

I don't feel the individual steps anymore but there is some kind of light awareness so I know that the step has been taken. It is partly a follower skill to take this kind of silent steps but I think I have stopped to report some signals to my awareness too. Just like when walking ....

I have even a strange feeling of that followers do not have legs at all! In the same time followers tell me how easily, without hesitation their feet find the way now and how her body is floating in music during our dance.

I think this is not a single skill. I think a bunch of skills must reach a required level and then you are mature for a new way to lead.

Hats off for a skilled teacher knowing the signs!

May God save the leader who's not knowing better....

Dear leader friend when you see a bored or frustrated follower don't feel pity for her and do not, not even in your thoughts plan to rescue her!   Read this and be strong!

This experience hit me just after midnight as black surprices use to do. Some steps in the second song she whispered in my ear: Try me!

                                        ...... warning......

I tried to press my tired body to volgadas and some extra ganchos but I understood it wasn't enough. Shiiiiiit! During the last song she then got mad and exploded in activity. I could not see anything of the happenings in front of me, but just felt the pulling and pushing on my arms. When the situation was calm again I found her clinging on my left hip while I was turning aimlessly around my axis as a wheel after an accident.

When in Berlin my leader friend found a lady sitting with her elbow on the table and resting her chin on the palm.

                                         ...... warning.....

He is tall, quite strong and had never had problems before! But she got mad from the beginning..... CANCHOS en mass and then BOLEOS of all kinds with stilettos out. No leading needed there! He consentrated to save the surroundings, placing her towards the corners and leading fast steps to the next corner. He is a gentleman and danced the tanda but he was resting at the bar the following two!

Musicality Book Club, (10)

In the last chapter (10) Mathieu summarizes his goals for his book in this way: "My primary purpose in this bok has been to point out a more direct path to clear listening. This has been motivated partly by my pleasure in sharing aural delight .... Another purpose has been to point out how sound in general and music in particular connect humans to humans and humanity to the cosmos." (p. 245)

He presents music in roles I never had thought before: Music as Body, as Mind, as Heart. Above this his explanations were always deviated from the ordinary thinking. When I tried to follow his reasoning I started to think my university friends. When they were studying theoretical physics one or two of the exam items were impossibly to solve; this forced them to think as far as they could and professor got an idea about students' level of knowledge and creativity.

This book attracted me to a similar effort and I must say that it has been intellectually rewarding; very rewarding!

Here you can hear when W.A. Mathieu improvises at his home studio. Impromptu No. 1

Musicality Book Club, (9)

The enlightened Listener

A musician trains his or her entire life to never not listen. - says Mathieu here (p.211) and on some other pages. To repeat and to phrase in this way shows how important this idea is for him - he avoids the easy way "always listens " to express it. This wording made me to think about it longer but there may be more to find. Can you see something more in this wording?

This training is not easy - True practice - when your listening is focused and your musical memory is awake - addresses the challenge of rewiring, or newly wiring, the brain. ... really learning them [sounds] until they live comfortably in you - is for the most of us very hard work. Even the most loving teachers often have to be tough cops and insist that students do their inner of work of hearing. (p. 240)

Somehow I had imagined that a musician is developing quietly, learning new things and changing accordingly. I was not aware of how the inner process is forcing her to change, against her will, fear or resistance.

Mathieu asks the reader to push her limits of concentration and do it repeatedly. After a series of these exercises her earlier music gets 'amazing transparency'.

There is also difficulties and dangers with all this music surrounding us today. To explain his standpoint he asks me to think about the music as kissing and hugging. (p.226) When I am taking a walk all unknowns are coming and just hugging me and I am supposed to accept and appreciate it. At a restaurant someone is kissing and hugging me continuously, yes sophisticated, but I can not ask him to go away. I just can ask the waiter to keep it at an appropriate level!

This music hugging us everywhere has given his ears a kind of chronic exhaustion, like aural jet lag. He uses the recorded music with great care, chooses acoustic music when there is a choice and he retreats to silence whenever he can.

Despite of all this he accepts the situation - as a characteristic of human life here on this planet at this time. (p. 227) He is also generous and open minded about the quality of the music for inner training ... any music in any style. There is no best music.

Here you can read what Joy-in-motin appreciated in this chapter. She is the intiator of this BookClub.

Leaders resources - should I feel quilty?

We have a small training team of four people; two lady followers, one male leader and me. 

We leaders provide nearly all the resources; cameras, projectors, music, training plan, training studio hours and so on. We two leaders are quite equal there. Followers make sandwiches and clean after the coffe. They feel that the sandwiches is their part of the resources and when they are cleaning we leaders prepare technique for the next training session.

When asked what we should work on followers say: Everything!

Leaders: We have a list or some videos as suggestions.

Earlier I have tried to share the work by asking my follower to film the course summary from another angle but she forgot her camera, the battery was empty or the memory card full. Now I speak to another leader to get a copy! (She actually had the resource but did not want to use it)

In the beginning I was quite upset and disturbed about all this, especially about the cleaning part. Today I/we just put up some pressure on the ladies to break down their Everything! to workable sections.

Do you hate FIGURE guys?

For many people the large movements following the most significant features in music is the only way to start dancing. It is like learning to read was for me - I was presented capital letters or words with LARGE ordinary letters. Little by little I learned to read different sizes, types of letters - even the small ones and started to forget the letters and consentrate on the MEANING these letters were mediating.

I started as a nuevotype of leader. My primary source of joy was large movements and fast moving forward. Most of the information was visual and I could only recognize relatively large changes. My focus was external but only up to my partner - then I got capacity problem!

During the following years I learned to regulate my movements - I got small steps when I planned and long ones when needed. I learned to lead all this stuff with different followers and life got easier. I started to see and appreciate smaller movements.

When the production of movements did not take that much of my capacity anymore I started to listen to music when dancing (!) as well as to my inner reactions. That time I noticed that a movements effect in my body can be as deeply joyful as a corresponding effect of music. When a follower is taking her step and clearly rising on her standing leg, the moment she reaches her highest position can be totally beautiful! It is not visuell, not auditive but a kinaesthetic experience!

Today my primary source of joy are small, precise movements and if they match perfectly the music, enormous joy is exploding inside me - So great that it can break down a dance and we stop to shake hands! When learning a new figure I need to dance with the teacher to get the movement right. On certain level there is not much visual signs but kinaesthetic needs to be tuned in.

It seems to me that the change of my dance is based on change in control of movements and on development of for me new sense - kinaesthetic. The work on musicality is there also!

There will always be people who just love the large steps and fast giros. We have them with us and we need to learn to cope with it!

But the others? Could it be that there is a common path the most people are walking in their tangolives? Starting with large and growing to smaller? If so how could we facilitate that development?