Cross Explored (Intermediate)

Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org/
Tucson Tango Festival
April 21, 2024

 

We began with a warm-up dance that included crosses.

Our lesson would focus on walking to the cross (in the context of the 8-count basic).

 

Individual Exercise (which we were encouraged to do once a week):

Cross behind to walk forward.  Lift our heel by bending our knee to get past the other knee. Do not change height or bop up and down, and imagine that we are holding a giant fishbowl in our embrace and the fish are sleeping and we don’t want to disturb them. 

We also did this exercise the opposite way: Cross in front to walk back. 

 

Parts of our body need to be engaged, but not our whole body.  There’s softness in the body, but we need to squeeze our upper thigs and articulate the metatarsal.

 

We can lead the cross in three ways:

(1)   Diagonally (how we are all taught as beginners; this tends to drift if doing consecutively)

(2)   In a J

(3)   The subject of our class.

 

In partnership in open embrace, we were to walk in parallel system, with the Leader trying to touch the side Follower’s opposite weighted foot (not the one that is moving simultaneously with his) with the side of his stepping foot.  Then we would gradually close the embrace, and the Leader would walk farther in, his stepping foot aiming to step farther in, closer toward her ankle.  The embrace would close even more so that the Leader would aim to step beyond the Follower’s foot.

 

The Follower should squeeze the top of her inner thigh to help create a straight line, controlling the metatarsal as her back heel goes down.

 

Exercise in partnership:

Walk to the cross, but eliminate the unnecessary steps, which we did by the Leader doing a weight change.

Leader right foot steps forward to the open side / Follower left foot steps back.

Leader left foot steps forward / Follower right foot steps back

Leader right foot collects / Follower’s left foot crosses in front of her left foot

Out to resolution

 

Moving on…

The Leader starts in front.

In his first right foot step outside partner, he rotates a little as he steps but faces toward her. On his next step, his left foot forward step, he rotates even more.  On the next step, they settle and square up as the Follower is in cross.

 

This is the diagonal way of getting into the cross.

 

The Leader’s step before the cross needs to be close to the Follower and not drift.  To be more stable and have more balance in his step, the Leader should have a little turn out in his forward steps, just like the Follower has even turnout in both feet in her back steps.

 

Follower: On her right foot back step, before the cross, she needs to have control with a strong standing left leg to push the floor as she transfers weight to her right foot, and her right foot should be solidly connected to the floor.

 

NEXT

The close embrace method of getting to the cross

We can do a series of crosses so you get a sawtooth shape.

 

The Leader does a sneak attach weight change to be on his right foot.  His left foot forward step touches the Follower’s thigh. He steps right foot forward outside, twisting from his abdomen to get the Follower into cross.  He collects with his left foot to square off in front of the Follower.

 

For both dancers, we can engage our embrace and be intentional in our breath to communicate with each other better in leading and following the cross.

 

Maestros concluded with a video class summary and demo to El Aeroplano by Cuarteto Guardia Vieja

 

Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com