Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org/
England International Tango Festival
May 25, 2015, Ardingly College, England
Video courtesy of Ken Blake (placeholder)
In this class we will explore two families of volcadas and then merge them.
We started with Funny
Volcada, with Maestros first showing us what it looks like.
On the close side of the embrace, the Follower is on her
outside right foot and her inside left foot is free and embellishing. This move can be made small or big depending
on how far way the Leader steps around the Follower.
The entrance/setup is getting into cross step
immediately. The Leader settles the
Follower on her right when he is on his right.
Leader's footwork
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Follower's footwork
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Left foot forward on close side
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Left foot back
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Right foot back
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Right foot back straight
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Turn partner in calesita keeping her on axis
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Remain on right foot as Leader walks backward
around
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Walk backward around Follower
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Left foot is embellishing
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Keep this in the line of dance when going in and coming out.
Leader: Do not squeeze too much in the calesita.
TIPS:
Leader: Do not take a side step to get into cross
system. If you can’t do this, you need
to practice getting into cross system just by shifting weight. It is important to know how to get into cross
system without a side step because a lot of times you don’t have room for a
side step. So practice just shifting,
and creating suspension to get into cross system.
Follower: Completely arrive on your right foot back step
with confidence. Be on axis when you
arrive, so you are standing strong and stable.
Follower: As you pivot, do not go up or be on the ball of
your foot. Be sure you have control of
your spine. You can flex through the
ankle so you don’t have to be so high, because it becomes more difficult to
manage your spine. Don’t lift the heel
too high; it can just caress the floor.
There is no need to be on your toes, and it will make this more
difficult. Do not pivot on your toes;
pivot on the ball of your foot.
In the Funny Volcada, the dancers are at right angle,
perpendicular to each other. The Leader
walks around the Follower’s right foot.
The Leader’s step needs to be near the Follower’s right back
foot so that he can be close enough to walk around her without making her/them
compromise their posture.
If you are able to do this and are getting bored, try this
on the other side. The open side is the
hard side and the Leader needs to have a more flexible embrace. It is small and challenging on this
side. Follower will be on her left foot
and her right leg/foot is free and embellishing.
Adding the Volcada
Lean:
The gym had several different patterns of lines and circles
on the floor since it is used for various games, but lucky for us there were
two circles in the middle: (1) a smaller yellow circle and (2) a larger green
circle exactly around it. Maestro
demonstrated that in our calesita work, the Leader would be walking around
backward in the smaller yellow circle. But in the Funny Volcada, he would be
walking halfway toward the green circle (since it was quite a bit away), taking
the Follower off axis and getting the Volcada lean.
In stepping around the Follower, the Leader should start by
making 3 back steps around the Follower starting with his left foot, then
getting out with a side step right to exit.
He could add more steps as he walks around the Follower, but the needed
to be odd numbered (5, 7, 9, etc.), and always respecting the line of dance.
So his three (or any odd number) back steps and exit are:
Back Left
Back Right
Back Left
Side Step Right
To exit (Follower pivots)
The preparation for the Volcada is in the embrace, where the
Leader hugs and lifts, and the Follower compresses as if getting out of a
swimming pool (pressing down to push up).
We drilled the Calesita versus Volcada, starting with making
the smallest Volcada we can.
The Leader’s step needs to be near the Follower’s standing
foot.
The Follower’s body needs to be straight (not bent in a
weird way).
The unwinding of the movement should be dynamic and is a
Follower back ocho pivot when the Leader does his side step, bringing the
Follower back to axis.
Follower: How are you falling in this volcada? Completely sideways. She needs to have a very strong line across
her body from her right leg to her left shoulder, and again using the swimming
pool compression: pressing down to push up.
During the volcada/calesita, the Follower’s free
embellishing foot should always collect at the conclusion so that she doesn’t
hit the Leader’s foot.
We drilled this with the Leader making a sustained number of
steps around the Follower (11, 13, 15, etc.), giving time to the Follower to
practice her embellishments and even play on the other/dark side (front to
behind and back again).
We were to talk to each other during our drilling, with
Leaders asking if he is lifting her too much and Follower asking if she is not
lifting enough (pressing down to push up).
Funny Volcada tip:
Leader is leaning slightly toward the Follower and does not go down.
Chapter 2: Extended
or Sustained Volcada
This more advanced concept gets away from the standard idea
of the volcada. This is the volcada
where the Follower is at split weight and her legs go out in an inverted V and
Leader drives Follower across the floor.
The Follower is tilted toward the Leader, who is up.
Leader goes down, and does not lean toward Follower. Leader
uses power of his legs to maintain weight. The Follower moves through space
easier this way. Follower goes into split movement and is not completely on the
floor. Her body is in an inverted Y
position.
We drilled this going from the Funny Volcada on the close
side, into the Follower’s split linear Volcada (Sustained/Extended Volcada).
The Follower collects before going out. As the Leader comes up, that is the signal
for the Follower to collect.
Follower: There are 2
activations.
The right leg, then the right leg and left leg are both
activated in the split. All inner leg
muscles and core muscles are turned on.
She should press against the floor to create a zipping up sensation.
The Leader transitions from a circular (during the Funny
Volcada) to linear (in the Sustained/Extended Volcada), as he is first walking
around the Follower, and then walking away from the Follower. That’s when she does her split. So the Leader is walking circularly, and
then tangent to the circle in a line.
The Follower transfers from her foot in front to the foot
behind.
The Leader’s height goes down as he walks in a tangent, and
when he exits, he goes back up.
In all volcadas, the Follower’s technique should be that she
presses down to lift herself up.
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Jason
Walker’s Down.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
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