My plan
I
started leading as a nuevo dancer with open hold and large,
space-consuming steps. That developed by the years to a close embrace
dance with enquentros as my home events. However, I still felt that the
more dynamic, figure-rich dance was calling me to come back home. Not to
nuevo anymore but to tango salong.
My early hopeful idea was to squeeze down the large nuevo movements to salong size and via this short cut to reach my goal fast. But no; it did not go that easy!
I know that in March 2018 one of my followers and I were working on a number of figures from Torres and some other teachers keeping our eyes on the tango salong goal. By practica hours we managed to learn figures but then there was a clear halt. A few obstacles which I had not anticipated at the beginning, turned up!
My early hopeful idea was to squeeze down the large nuevo movements to salong size and via this short cut to reach my goal fast. But no; it did not go that easy!
I know that in March 2018 one of my followers and I were working on a number of figures from Torres and some other teachers keeping our eyes on the tango salong goal. By practica hours we managed to learn figures but then there was a clear halt. A few obstacles which I had not anticipated at the beginning, turned up!
Challenges
One of the challenges
was the power of rewards the old style of dancing could bring us. When a
wonderful tanda started how could we continue training with no reward
in sight compared to the bliss the old way could take us to for sure!
Another challenge was the routine followers and I had developed during the years - we had our best abrazo which we fell into so naturally. It felt nasty to - even if done in the most gentle way - to push her slightly away to a more salong type of abrazo. It was my project and my responsibility but it was hard and I failed often.
There was also fear of losing something during the change process. A renovation or rebuild of one room has often an impact on how happy you are with the rest of your house. It could be some delicate change in my musicality, or some other valuable aspect quietly disappearing forever.
Another challenge was the routine followers and I had developed during the years - we had our best abrazo which we fell into so naturally. It felt nasty to - even if done in the most gentle way - to push her slightly away to a more salong type of abrazo. It was my project and my responsibility but it was hard and I failed often.
There was also fear of losing something during the change process. A renovation or rebuild of one room has often an impact on how happy you are with the rest of your house. It could be some delicate change in my musicality, or some other valuable aspect quietly disappearing forever.
Thoughts in solitude
My goal was and is to maintain the old way of dancing with all its positive aspects and add the new salong to it. The new questions my mind is elaborating on now are about how to choose the style for a tanda? Should I choose the style according to the music or prioritize the follower's style? Shall I fit the Milonga or to the mood of the night? If followers see me dancing differently with others do they have some interest to return my cabeceo or will they avoid me? At the end of the day, I don't think there will be real problems to place the new dance but these are some of the questions my brain is tumbling around during this year of isolation.
Inspiration!
History
The renovation of Tango House I wrote about in 2019 has taken this form now!
Here are my thoughts back then!
No comments:
Post a Comment