Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Northampton, MA
October 22, 2011
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Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in Northampton, MA
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Tango Body
The Feet (All Levels)
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Workshop 1 – Int/Adv – The Legs
Workshop 2 – Int/Adv – The Hips
Premilonga Lesson: Floorcraft, Navigation and Etiquette
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Workshop 3 – Int/Adv – The Upper Body
Workshop 4 – Int/Adv – The Embrace
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Premilonga Lesson on Navigation, Floor Craft and Etiquette
It was noted that sometimes people who should be here the most, are not.
We began with a warm-up dance made in an artificially smaller space, the goal of which was to touch all four corners of the space at which chairs were placed.
GAME 1: MONSTER WALK
Walk across the dance floor, in a random direction, either across or diagonally, but not counterclockwise or in the line of dance, to get to the other side of the dance floor. Do not run. First, walk slow. Then go faster. Then faster. The point of this game is:
(1) to watch where you are going
(2) to make adjustments
(3) to increase your sense of awareness and vision
On the milonga dance floor, it is OK to dance in the middle or outside, but do not weave or zig zag between couples.
GAME 2: TOUCH THE CORNERS
In partnership, we danced in the line of dance, specifically touching the four corners of the dance floor with one foot of the Follower, where chairs were set up to clearly delineate what the corners were. We were to try to touch the chairs with the Follower’s feet to make sure we actually went all the way to the four corners. The point of this game is:
(1) to be aware of how much space we have behind us and in front of us
(2) to keep the line of dance moving (do not slow it down or speed it up)
(3) increase our sense of awareness (to ourselves, to our partner, to the music, and to surroundings)
GAME 3: BLIND TANGO
We built on Game 2, Touch the Corners, with the eyes of both the Leader and Follower closed. We were to dance with our eyes closed, in the line of dance, and touching the four corners with the Follower’s foot. We were to do simple things, small movements, and nothing complicated. The point of this game is:
(1) to sense other people around us
(2) to keep the line of dance moving
What helped us? Lots of people, so that we could hear and feel them. No hard elbows, so no one got hurt even if there were little bumps. The bumps, if any, were soft. Soft bumps/taps are important. We need each other on the dance floor and can use each other as markers. For any bumps, they should be soft love bumps. No elbows up, no defensive arms/tactics. Use all of your senses to be aware of where you are on the dance floor, and where others are. Allow touch to be a nice part of the dance (not a bad one).
The song for this exercise was Tom Waits’s Blind Love.
GAME 4: CHAOTIC MOLECULES
There are three types of molecules that make the milonga dance floor chaotic:
(1) Random/Rogue Molecule
(2) Space Hog: Leaving lots of space in front of you and backing up everyone else behind you
(3) Space Jammer: A tailgater, dancing right up to the couple in front of you
Three couples were assigned the molecule roles and were to dance to disrupt the milonga dance floor. All other couples were to dance in the line of dance and not cut each other, but remain in line and flowing with the rest. We were to try to dance this way anyway, even with the Rogue Molecule, Space Jammer, and Space Hog. Our goal was to try to make things work no matter what.
Next, the concept of the Tango Train was introduced
GAME 5: CHAOTIC MOLECULES AND TANGO TRAINS
All dance couples were formed into dance trains of 3 couples, each train having one couple as the front engine, one as the back caboose, and one in the middle. The goal of the engine is to keep going and not let the line get jammed up into the train in front of them. The goal of the caboose is to keep the train moving, protecting the middle segment. The goal of the middle is to keep with the engine. Our goal was to keep the line of dance moving, but not move too fast or too slow. If we move too fast, we end up jamming the people in front of us. If we move too slow, we end up being a space hog.
To our trains, the Rogue Molecule couple was let loose with its goal to try to break into a train.
The trains’ goal was to not let the Rogue Molecule break any train. How was this done? By closing the space so that the Rogue Molecule could not get in.
How to form a train: This is a tool the Follower can implement, and you do not have to know another couple to make a train. When coming into the dance floor, make eye contact with the couples on the dance floor. The one who acknowledges you and lets you in makes it a tacit agreement to take care of each other. If there is no eye contact and they do not acknowledge you, you should not enter there. Eye contact with another couple suggests “You take care of me and I will take care of you.”
CABACEO ETIQUETTE
For the Etiquette portion of our class focused on the cabaceo.
Follower should sit upright and attentively, looking ready and enthusiastic to dance. She is presenting herself, and should not sit back and slouch. She should look like she is ready to dance.
Leaders and Followers look at each other, make eye contact, nod to each other. Leader walks to Follower (the Walk of Pride), then verbally asks to confirm/verify the cabaceo.
When entering line of dance, make eye contact with the couple you are going in front of.
After the dance, the Leader should walk the Follower off the dance floor and back to where he got her.
There was no didactic demo due to the nature of the class.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Song: Anibal Troilo by Julio De Caro
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 16, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
2.30pm: Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Since this was an advanced, exploration class, it went very quickly with Maestros demonstrating the colgada, and then the students trying to replicate it or just play with it and explore it to see how to Lead/Follower it and get used to the muscle memory, physical feeling of executing it.
Two new Back Step-Over Colgadas were introduced:
1) Left-Left-Left: Leader’s Left Foot traps Follower’s back cross Left foot and they turn to the Left with She Goes, He Goes exit
2) Right-Right-Right: Leader’s Right foot traps Follower’s back cross Right foot and they turn to the Right with Spin exit
LEFT-LEFT-LEFT
The Leader’s left foot traps the Follower’s left foot back cross step of the turn (molinete), and she steps over behind. He should not put weight on his left foot, until he intentionally transfers it, which will get the colgada.
The Leader’s right foot traps the Follower’s right foot back cross step of the turn (molinete), and she steps over behind.
SHE GOES, HE GOES EXIT
We worked on a She Goes, He Goes colgada to the left, where the Leader leads a full turn first, then catches her left foot back cross step, and as she goes out in her back step-over colgada, he pivots a little, and steps through with his right foot, while she does a long side step simultaneously with his right foot step through.
On the Left-Left-Left Back Step-Over Colgada, if the Leader’s thigh is too high, the Follower may do a gancho. He can close the space by keeping the thigh low and his weight on his right leg.
Contact in the thighs/leg would lead to a gancho/wrap and start and stop energy.
We can add a barrida after on the left foot back step-over colgada. The Leader needs to gently lead the Follower through by rotating his torso and providing continuous energy.
We also tried boy ganchos after his step through, he can pivot a little to do a gancho.
In the Left-Left-Left back step-over colgada, the Follower step-over is her right foot up and collected back down, then her right leg goes down and out to the side.
RIGHT-RIGHT-RIGHT
On the Right-Right-Right back step-over colgada, there is a spin exit where the Follower pivots on her right foot and the Leader goes around her as much as he wants, knowing as always that he should keep it in the line of dance.
COLGADA WRAPS
In our work with the functional use of colgadas, we did the 8CB to 5 (cross), then the Leader places his left foot or right foot next to the Follower’s left foot, sends her back in the line of power, and then brings her back in to wrap around either his left or right leg. This is more of a linear wrap, not a circular one. This works if the Follower knows how to do a wrap/gancho. The Leader stops the Follower as she is over her axis to do the gancho/wrap. If she is off axis, this will be a volcada.
The Follower compresses.
The Leader has forward-oriented Captain Morgan legwork, so he opens up his thighs and knees, with a little bit of weight on it, forward orientation, so that the Follower has space to wrap around his leg and is mentally comfortable to do so.
The exit is simple and elegant: The Leader goes a little to the right so that she does a right foot tight back cross against her left foot. This can also be done from the ocho cortado, especially during fun rhythmic tandas (Rodriguez, D’Arienzo).
As always, we should try to be aesthetic, musical, and creatively based in our dance, and to have graceful exits.
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Julio De Caro’s Anibal Troilo
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 16, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
2.30pm: Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Since this was an advanced, exploration class, it went very quickly with Maestros demonstrating the colgada, and then the students trying to replicate it or just play with it and explore it to see how to Lead/Follower it and get used to the muscle memory, physical feeling of executing it.
Two new Back Step-Over Colgadas were introduced:
1) Left-Left-Left: Leader’s Left Foot traps Follower’s back cross Left foot and they turn to the Left with She Goes, He Goes exit
2) Right-Right-Right: Leader’s Right foot traps Follower’s back cross Right foot and they turn to the Right with Spin exit
LEFT-LEFT-LEFT
The Leader’s left foot traps the Follower’s left foot back cross step of the turn (molinete), and she steps over behind. He should not put weight on his left foot, until he intentionally transfers it, which will get the colgada.
The Leader’s right foot traps the Follower’s right foot back cross step of the turn (molinete), and she steps over behind.
SHE GOES, HE GOES EXIT
We worked on a She Goes, He Goes colgada to the left, where the Leader leads a full turn first, then catches her left foot back cross step, and as she goes out in her back step-over colgada, he pivots a little, and steps through with his right foot, while she does a long side step simultaneously with his right foot step through.
On the Left-Left-Left Back Step-Over Colgada, if the Leader’s thigh is too high, the Follower may do a gancho. He can close the space by keeping the thigh low and his weight on his right leg.
Contact in the thighs/leg would lead to a gancho/wrap and start and stop energy.
We can add a barrida after on the left foot back step-over colgada. The Leader needs to gently lead the Follower through by rotating his torso and providing continuous energy.
We also tried boy ganchos after his step through, he can pivot a little to do a gancho.
In the Left-Left-Left back step-over colgada, the Follower step-over is her right foot up and collected back down, then her right leg goes down and out to the side.
RIGHT-RIGHT-RIGHT
On the Right-Right-Right back step-over colgada, there is a spin exit where the Follower pivots on her right foot and the Leader goes around her as much as he wants, knowing as always that he should keep it in the line of dance.
COLGADA WRAPS
In our work with the functional use of colgadas, we did the 8CB to 5 (cross), then the Leader places his left foot or right foot next to the Follower’s left foot, sends her back in the line of power, and then brings her back in to wrap around either his left or right leg. This is more of a linear wrap, not a circular one. This works if the Follower knows how to do a wrap/gancho. The Leader stops the Follower as she is over her axis to do the gancho/wrap. If she is off axis, this will be a volcada.
The Follower compresses.
The Leader has forward-oriented Captain Morgan legwork, so he opens up his thighs and knees, with a little bit of weight on it, forward orientation, so that the Follower has space to wrap around his leg and is mentally comfortable to do so.
The exit is simple and elegant: The Leader goes a little to the right so that she does a right foot tight back cross against her left foot. This can also be done from the ocho cortado, especially during fun rhythmic tandas (Rodriguez, D’Arienzo).
As always, we should try to be aesthetic, musical, and creatively based in our dance, and to have graceful exits.
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Julio De Caro’s Anibal Troilo
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Song: La Capilla Blanca by Francisco Canaro
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 16, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
2.30pm: Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Our music for the class was DiSarli with Podesta on vocals.
We began the class immediately with Maestros showing us the step, and then us trying to replicate it.
From the rock step, the Leader steps left foot side step to trap the Follower’s right foot side step, sending her out, and then she steps over with her left foot out and around the Leader counterclockwise.
For the Leader to keep this in the line of dance, he can keep turning the Follower.
After we drilled this for a little while, we went on to clean up the technical details of the step.
For the Leader rock step, in the middle he can pivot 90 degrees on his right foot, so that his left foot trap of Follower's right foot is not in the Line of Dance when he traps the Follower’s right foot (Leader puts weight on his right foot). This pivot will enable the Follower to make a long step around him. Leader sends her out. Leader puts his weight on his left foot at the same time Follower transfers her weight to her right foot to send her out. Leader does right foot cheat step up to a quarter turn around Follower (Leader can be on his heel to do this) to provide support as she hangs and steps around with her left foot Leader and Follower both keep their chests up. Follower steps long and around Leader as she goes over in her colgada, and as she passes through, the Leader puts his weight on his left foot, then changes his weight to the right foot, to then walk off with his left foot.
For the Follower, the beginning right foot rock step back is not weighted. She need to pivot 90 degrees on her right foot so that it makes it easier for her to make a long, reaching left foot front cross step around the Leader. Note that her step is unweighted (weight is on her standing, supporting right leg). As the Leader leads the transfer of weight to his right is where the colgada starts and she is sent out off axis. After the Follower’s side step around the Leader, she pivots on her left foot and they walk out (she with her right foot back step).
After drilling this for a while, we then went on to some deeper concepts:
1) Understanding initiation: when, how?
To get an idea, we did the step-over colgada in teapot embrace with the Leader’s right hand at the small of his back and elbows out (the handle), and left arm up (the proper angle of the left arm is to measure with his right hand where the thumb and pinky fingers go from his bicep to his wrist). His left arm remains fixed (as a teapot’s spout would be). The Follower embraces the Leader at his spout and handle, engaging both her left and right arms/hands so that she can hang on to the Leader. The Follower should have equal stability on both sides of her embrace/arm tone. Both dancers need to be connected to their cores so that the whole body is behind their arms. In the teapot embrace, the Leader’s right hand is taken away so that he doesn’t overuse it and so that the Follower uses both sides of her embrace to hang onto the Leader.
THE LINE OF POWER: The "Line of Power" was introduced. Two points of the Leader’s feet are in a line in the direction of where the Follower's hips are going to go. The Follower's hips go out straight: that's the line of power.
A more advanced level of this is to do it in Sugar Bowl embrace where the Follower needs to hang onto both sides of the Leader with her hands/arms only and he does not hold onto her at all, but only lead with his chest/torso rotation and is tested to see if he can lead any Colgada.
In this same step-over colgada, we drilled in Sugar Bowl embrace to work on timing, using the floor, the line of power, having more finesse, and being comfortable with throwing our weight around. The Sugar Bowl embrace also makes the Follower smarter and responsive about the embrace and hanging onto the Leader and using his body as a wall.
Next, we went on to a foundational drill to develop trust in a playful way.
TRUST EXERCISE: LEADER KNOCKS FOLLOWER OFF AXIS
Here, the Follower has her feet hip-width apart. The Leader walks into her, knocking her off axis. The Leader enters her space, displacing the Follower. Then he/she/they catch each other.
Level 1: Both catch each other
Level 2: Leader catches Follower
Level 3: Follower catches Leader
Next, we went onto a social colgada posture/counterbalance exercise.
SOCIAL COLGADA POSTURE/COUNTERBALANCE EXERCISE
Holding at the wrists, we were in hip under position, with our hips lined up with our rib cages. The Leader's feet, which can be in a "V" position, were outside the Follower's feet, sandwiching them. Elbows have 90 degree bend to them. We were to squeeze our transverse muscles, using our center mass in our backs and cores, keeping our chest open, and pushing our shoulder blades down. We were to hang from the hips and counterbalance each other. We were not to crunch our shoulders. We could move our belly out back a little. We were not to use our upper backs, but just use our mid/lower backs and power of our hips/legs and our core muscles. Our back and leg muscles are engaged. Our backsides were such that there is a high bar back stool behind us and we were reaching back to get up into to the chair (so it is not sitting down on a low chair).
Leader initiates the send out and controls how far the Follower goes out. The Leaders tried with different Followers to feel the height and weight differences, and how he had to change his counterbalancing efforts depending on the Follower's height and weight. This exercise was the most important five minutes of class so that we could understand the concept of counterbalancing each other.
Next, after these drills, the goals of which were to improve our Colgada technique, we went back to doing the step-over Colgada in Sugar Bowl Embrace. Only this time, the Leader sends her out and then freezes, and then sends her over, pulling her through with his left shoulder rotation counterclockwise.
Note that during the Colgada the Follower’s hips are almost perpendicular to the Leader’s.
In the freeze, the Follower starts stepping over when the Leader starts turning. The Follower’s colgada ends when she steps down and touches the floor and transfers weight.
The Follower's embrace becomes elastic first, stretching first and then start engaging it when the movement starts. The Leader’s left arm should remain fixed and stable at all times, and not telescope out or forward.
The challenge portion of the class was to work on the back step-over colgada. Or to control the timing (fast or slow) of the regular step-over colgada.
In doing the Colgada it is important for the Follower not to do any height changes because that adds another level of complexity to all that the Leader has to think about (on top of counterbalancing her weight, sending her out, and leading the turn).
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Canaro’s La Capilla Blanca.
During our half-hour break, Maestros generously gave us the option of using that time as a guided practica, which most students enthusiastically took advantage of.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 16, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
2.30pm: Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: Exploring Stylistic and Functional Use of Colgadas (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
Building One Social Dance Step-Over Colgada (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Our music for the class was DiSarli with Podesta on vocals.
We began the class immediately with Maestros showing us the step, and then us trying to replicate it.
From the rock step, the Leader steps left foot side step to trap the Follower’s right foot side step, sending her out, and then she steps over with her left foot out and around the Leader counterclockwise.
For the Leader to keep this in the line of dance, he can keep turning the Follower.
After we drilled this for a little while, we went on to clean up the technical details of the step.
For the Leader rock step, in the middle he can pivot 90 degrees on his right foot, so that his left foot trap of Follower's right foot is not in the Line of Dance when he traps the Follower’s right foot (Leader puts weight on his right foot). This pivot will enable the Follower to make a long step around him. Leader sends her out. Leader puts his weight on his left foot at the same time Follower transfers her weight to her right foot to send her out. Leader does right foot cheat step up to a quarter turn around Follower (Leader can be on his heel to do this) to provide support as she hangs and steps around with her left foot Leader and Follower both keep their chests up. Follower steps long and around Leader as she goes over in her colgada, and as she passes through, the Leader puts his weight on his left foot, then changes his weight to the right foot, to then walk off with his left foot.
For the Follower, the beginning right foot rock step back is not weighted. She need to pivot 90 degrees on her right foot so that it makes it easier for her to make a long, reaching left foot front cross step around the Leader. Note that her step is unweighted (weight is on her standing, supporting right leg). As the Leader leads the transfer of weight to his right is where the colgada starts and she is sent out off axis. After the Follower’s side step around the Leader, she pivots on her left foot and they walk out (she with her right foot back step).
After drilling this for a while, we then went on to some deeper concepts:
1) Understanding initiation: when, how?
To get an idea, we did the step-over colgada in teapot embrace with the Leader’s right hand at the small of his back and elbows out (the handle), and left arm up (the proper angle of the left arm is to measure with his right hand where the thumb and pinky fingers go from his bicep to his wrist). His left arm remains fixed (as a teapot’s spout would be). The Follower embraces the Leader at his spout and handle, engaging both her left and right arms/hands so that she can hang on to the Leader. The Follower should have equal stability on both sides of her embrace/arm tone. Both dancers need to be connected to their cores so that the whole body is behind their arms. In the teapot embrace, the Leader’s right hand is taken away so that he doesn’t overuse it and so that the Follower uses both sides of her embrace to hang onto the Leader.
THE LINE OF POWER: The "Line of Power" was introduced. Two points of the Leader’s feet are in a line in the direction of where the Follower's hips are going to go. The Follower's hips go out straight: that's the line of power.
A more advanced level of this is to do it in Sugar Bowl embrace where the Follower needs to hang onto both sides of the Leader with her hands/arms only and he does not hold onto her at all, but only lead with his chest/torso rotation and is tested to see if he can lead any Colgada.
In this same step-over colgada, we drilled in Sugar Bowl embrace to work on timing, using the floor, the line of power, having more finesse, and being comfortable with throwing our weight around. The Sugar Bowl embrace also makes the Follower smarter and responsive about the embrace and hanging onto the Leader and using his body as a wall.
Next, we went on to a foundational drill to develop trust in a playful way.
TRUST EXERCISE: LEADER KNOCKS FOLLOWER OFF AXIS
Here, the Follower has her feet hip-width apart. The Leader walks into her, knocking her off axis. The Leader enters her space, displacing the Follower. Then he/she/they catch each other.
Level 1: Both catch each other
Level 2: Leader catches Follower
Level 3: Follower catches Leader
Next, we went onto a social colgada posture/counterbalance exercise.
SOCIAL COLGADA POSTURE/COUNTERBALANCE EXERCISE
Holding at the wrists, we were in hip under position, with our hips lined up with our rib cages. The Leader's feet, which can be in a "V" position, were outside the Follower's feet, sandwiching them. Elbows have 90 degree bend to them. We were to squeeze our transverse muscles, using our center mass in our backs and cores, keeping our chest open, and pushing our shoulder blades down. We were to hang from the hips and counterbalance each other. We were not to crunch our shoulders. We could move our belly out back a little. We were not to use our upper backs, but just use our mid/lower backs and power of our hips/legs and our core muscles. Our back and leg muscles are engaged. Our backsides were such that there is a high bar back stool behind us and we were reaching back to get up into to the chair (so it is not sitting down on a low chair).
Leader initiates the send out and controls how far the Follower goes out. The Leaders tried with different Followers to feel the height and weight differences, and how he had to change his counterbalancing efforts depending on the Follower's height and weight. This exercise was the most important five minutes of class so that we could understand the concept of counterbalancing each other.
Next, after these drills, the goals of which were to improve our Colgada technique, we went back to doing the step-over Colgada in Sugar Bowl Embrace. Only this time, the Leader sends her out and then freezes, and then sends her over, pulling her through with his left shoulder rotation counterclockwise.
Note that during the Colgada the Follower’s hips are almost perpendicular to the Leader’s.
In the freeze, the Follower starts stepping over when the Leader starts turning. The Follower’s colgada ends when she steps down and touches the floor and transfers weight.
The Follower's embrace becomes elastic first, stretching first and then start engaging it when the movement starts. The Leader’s left arm should remain fixed and stable at all times, and not telescope out or forward.
The challenge portion of the class was to work on the back step-over colgada. Or to control the timing (fast or slow) of the regular step-over colgada.
In doing the Colgada it is important for the Follower not to do any height changes because that adds another level of complexity to all that the Leader has to think about (on top of counterbalancing her weight, sending her out, and leading the turn).
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Canaro’s La Capilla Blanca.
During our half-hour break, Maestros generously gave us the option of using that time as a guided practica, which most students enthusiastically took advantage of.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Song: El Rey de Bosque by Francisco Canaro
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 15, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
Saturday Theme: "Exploring the Body-Spiral"
2.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
This was an exploratory class that built on the first class.
We would work on two musical ideas:
Repeat the movement (i.e., doing double ganchos)
Change the speed (doing it really fast or really slow)
Communication is key.
We were to explore the mechanics of slow versus fast (slow can be more difficult) and repeating the movement. Here, the Leader has to lead the first gancho. The second gancho can be led by the Leader or stolen by the Follower.
Again, in the gancho it was reiterated that the Follower needs to really let her leg swing so that the Leader can know clearly where he needs to be. The Follower should not change height: she should stay tall whether she is short or tall. She should really go for the chicken thigh when she ganchos (don’t hold back or be timid about the gancho). In leading the double gancho, the movement is shorter, with a shorter movement in the Leader's torso.
NEW CONCEPT:
WHEREVER THERE IS A BACK SACADA (LEADER OR FOLLOWER), IT CAN ALSO BE A GANCHO (LEADER OR FOLLOWER).
Next, we worked on a very simple sequence of the Follower's back sacada.
The Leader's footwork: side step left, right foot forward, to pivot 90 degrees into a left foot side step continuing in the line of previous the right foot forward step.
Here, Follower does a right foot back sacada of the Leader's trailing right foot on his left foot side step.
For the Leader, it is important that he continuously moves his torso so that the Follower does a 100% pivot/spiral with her legs/feet collected before stepping back in a back sacada.
Since the Follower needs to pivot so much (100%), she needs to wake up her ocho factory (her hips).
We worked on this concept by going from close embrace to open embrace, while waking up and firing up the Follower's ocho factory. For the Follower, there should be fire in her hips, but ice in her back/back ocho step as if there was an egg underneath her heel. She should transfer the weight nice and easy, as if letting the air out of a tire.
We began with close embrace no-pivot ochos, to close embrace pivoted ochos, to open embrace pivoted ochos, with the sacada from the open embrace back ocho transition.
Are exploratory phase of the class also included experimenting with leading Follower's gancho or Follower's back sacada using the footwork above. The difference in the two came from the spiral energy and the lead energy. For the back sacada, the rotation has to be continuous to finish before transferring the weight or stepping. Regarding the Leader's footwork, on the last step, if the Leader makes his left foot side step closer to the Follower, he leads a gancho. If his left foot side step is in line or slightly away from the Follower, it is a sacada.
The secret for the Leader helping the Follower get more out of her ocho factory (hip momentum and foot pivot), is that he attacks the floor with his foot to tap into the Follower's spiral energy to get her to pivot more dynamically. Here, she will feel more connection and energy. This is called impulse leading (or impulse ochos). The Leader should not and cannot force the Follower to do more pivoting.
To work on getting more pivot and spiral, the Follower can work on her ochos at home against the wall. In partnership, she can do forward ochos and back ochos in open hand in hand embrace with no leader and follower role, twisting her upper body and make the disassociation more extreme so that she can coax 100% spiral.
After the class review, Maestros demo'd the material.
Nocturne Milonga @ Dancesport, with premilonga lesson taught by Homer & Cristina Ladas.
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Our lesson focused on primarily fun and something you could do at the milonga that night. We would work on the fundamental concepts. Our music for the evening was Canaro.
First, Maestros showed us a pattern to see how we would deal with it. It is a nice tango surprise that can be done in close embrace.
In close embrace, rock step of Leader’s left foot forward (Follower’s right step back), to his right foot cross behind, to catch the Follower’s right foot forward outside step with his left foot front cross foot to the right side of his right foot.
So the Leader steps left foot forward into her, his right foot crosses behind, the weight goes to his right foot, he pivots on his right foot, the left foot is the trap foot that stretches a little across the front of his right foot to catch her right foot, (he can pivot a little to catch her more easily) to left foot exit, collect and go out.
For the Follower, her right foot goes back without weight during the rock step. As the Leader pivots, her right foot extends and reaches in a right foot front cross step to the outside of the close side of the embrace, reaching around the Leader with no weight on her foot so he can drag her foot to a side step, and then pivot. When she makes her right foot extension and reach it should be around the Leader, and it should be long and reaching, unweighted step.
To really test our leading with the chest ability, we did this simple sequence in Sugar Bowl Embrace, to get in touch with how the Leader uses his body to lead the turn. He needs to open up his hips/shoulders/chest. This embrace helps to develop the Leader’s body lead.
The Leader should also pay attention to his footwork, making it as pretty as possible with no sickling feet.
The Leader should not tilt, but keep things straight and horizontal as he rotates counterclockwise.
The fundamental technique behind the lead for this sequence is the turn (molinete).
We worked on matching the timing of this step to the QQS rhythm, and taking the Follower out on the next strong beat.
Maestros concluded with a demo to Canaro’s El Rey de Bosque
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 15, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
Saturday Theme: "Exploring the Body-Spiral"
2.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
This was an exploratory class that built on the first class.
We would work on two musical ideas:
Repeat the movement (i.e., doing double ganchos)
Change the speed (doing it really fast or really slow)
Communication is key.
We were to explore the mechanics of slow versus fast (slow can be more difficult) and repeating the movement. Here, the Leader has to lead the first gancho. The second gancho can be led by the Leader or stolen by the Follower.
Again, in the gancho it was reiterated that the Follower needs to really let her leg swing so that the Leader can know clearly where he needs to be. The Follower should not change height: she should stay tall whether she is short or tall. She should really go for the chicken thigh when she ganchos (don’t hold back or be timid about the gancho). In leading the double gancho, the movement is shorter, with a shorter movement in the Leader's torso.
NEW CONCEPT:
WHEREVER THERE IS A BACK SACADA (LEADER OR FOLLOWER), IT CAN ALSO BE A GANCHO (LEADER OR FOLLOWER).
Next, we worked on a very simple sequence of the Follower's back sacada.
The Leader's footwork: side step left, right foot forward, to pivot 90 degrees into a left foot side step continuing in the line of previous the right foot forward step.
Here, Follower does a right foot back sacada of the Leader's trailing right foot on his left foot side step.
For the Leader, it is important that he continuously moves his torso so that the Follower does a 100% pivot/spiral with her legs/feet collected before stepping back in a back sacada.
Since the Follower needs to pivot so much (100%), she needs to wake up her ocho factory (her hips).
We worked on this concept by going from close embrace to open embrace, while waking up and firing up the Follower's ocho factory. For the Follower, there should be fire in her hips, but ice in her back/back ocho step as if there was an egg underneath her heel. She should transfer the weight nice and easy, as if letting the air out of a tire.
We began with close embrace no-pivot ochos, to close embrace pivoted ochos, to open embrace pivoted ochos, with the sacada from the open embrace back ocho transition.
Are exploratory phase of the class also included experimenting with leading Follower's gancho or Follower's back sacada using the footwork above. The difference in the two came from the spiral energy and the lead energy. For the back sacada, the rotation has to be continuous to finish before transferring the weight or stepping. Regarding the Leader's footwork, on the last step, if the Leader makes his left foot side step closer to the Follower, he leads a gancho. If his left foot side step is in line or slightly away from the Follower, it is a sacada.
The secret for the Leader helping the Follower get more out of her ocho factory (hip momentum and foot pivot), is that he attacks the floor with his foot to tap into the Follower's spiral energy to get her to pivot more dynamically. Here, she will feel more connection and energy. This is called impulse leading (or impulse ochos). The Leader should not and cannot force the Follower to do more pivoting.
To work on getting more pivot and spiral, the Follower can work on her ochos at home against the wall. In partnership, she can do forward ochos and back ochos in open hand in hand embrace with no leader and follower role, twisting her upper body and make the disassociation more extreme so that she can coax 100% spiral.
After the class review, Maestros demo'd the material.
Nocturne Milonga @ Dancesport, with premilonga lesson taught by Homer & Cristina Ladas.
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
Our lesson focused on primarily fun and something you could do at the milonga that night. We would work on the fundamental concepts. Our music for the evening was Canaro.
First, Maestros showed us a pattern to see how we would deal with it. It is a nice tango surprise that can be done in close embrace.
In close embrace, rock step of Leader’s left foot forward (Follower’s right step back), to his right foot cross behind, to catch the Follower’s right foot forward outside step with his left foot front cross foot to the right side of his right foot.
So the Leader steps left foot forward into her, his right foot crosses behind, the weight goes to his right foot, he pivots on his right foot, the left foot is the trap foot that stretches a little across the front of his right foot to catch her right foot, (he can pivot a little to catch her more easily) to left foot exit, collect and go out.
For the Follower, her right foot goes back without weight during the rock step. As the Leader pivots, her right foot extends and reaches in a right foot front cross step to the outside of the close side of the embrace, reaching around the Leader with no weight on her foot so he can drag her foot to a side step, and then pivot. When she makes her right foot extension and reach it should be around the Leader, and it should be long and reaching, unweighted step.
To really test our leading with the chest ability, we did this simple sequence in Sugar Bowl Embrace, to get in touch with how the Leader uses his body to lead the turn. He needs to open up his hips/shoulders/chest. This embrace helps to develop the Leader’s body lead.
The Leader should also pay attention to his footwork, making it as pretty as possible with no sickling feet.
The Leader should not tilt, but keep things straight and horizontal as he rotates counterclockwise.
The fundamental technique behind the lead for this sequence is the turn (molinete).
We worked on matching the timing of this step to the QQS rhythm, and taking the Follower out on the next strong beat.
Maestros concluded with a demo to Canaro’s El Rey de Bosque
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Song: Patotero Sentimental by Carlos Di Sarli
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 15, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
Saturday Theme: "Exploring the Body-Spiral"
2.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
The purpose of this class was for the Leader and Follower to get in touch with our inner spiral. The music for our class was DiSarli with Rufino on vocals.
It began with Maestros showing us a simple pattern, and then breaking down each element. The simple pattern was the 8CB to 5 (Follower's cross), to a Follower's big clockwise pivot on her left foot, to do a Follower right leg back gancho through the Leader's legs.
GETTING TO THE CROSS
Our work first involved cleaning up the lines of the Leader leading the Follower to the cross. We should be very compact in the space when walking forward, on two tracks or one.
Leader: should not drift when leading the Follower into the cross. He should be close to the Follower, perhaps with his thighs touching hers as he walks forward. From the close embrace, on the Leader's left foot forward step, his thigh can touch the Follower's thigh and he walks forward on one track, one foot in front of the other.
Follower: when she does her back steps, one foot should be behind the other foot.
The Leader's side step is a straight step to the side, not slightly diagonally forward, as some Leaders were doing.
The Leader leads the cross by a little bit of twisting in his torso, with his left shoulder going forward clockwise on the Follower's right foot back step (4 of the 8CB). Here, the Follower needs to be attentive to have spiral and if the Leader is really leading the weight change after the cross.
For the Leader and Follower, as they both arrive to the cross, the Leader releases his right arm so that the Follower can return to axis as she completes the cross. The Follower returns to axis as she arrives to the cross, and is completely on axis when the cross is completed.
GETTING TO THE GANCHO
The Leader needs to give good energy for the Follower pivot, and a good block for the Follower to do a good gancho.
The Follower might not get enough disassociation and her left shoulder and arm might get in the way and block the range of motion, so she needs to soften her left shoulder a bit and allow it to open up.
At the point of the gancho after the big pivot, her belly button faces away from the Leader while she tries to maintain connection to him at the top of her body. She should not tilt forward or bend over to create range for the ganchoing leg.
The Leader puts his own energy in the gancho, but it's up to the Follower to answer, even though the Leader proposes. The Follower, when she ganchos, should move such that her leg starts at the top of her hip bone. She should not do a “knee gancho”, where only the calf of the leg goes back.
PENDULUM EXERCISE
Level 1: Follower and Leader eyes are open
Level 2: Follower closes eyes
Level 3: Leader and Follower close eyes to develop Leader's sense of feeling.
The Follower should imagine that the four corners of her right foot are connected to the floor. Her leg is like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. She should keep her chest up, and have her leg swing start from the top of her hip. Her arms and hands should be such that they are holding an imaginary large fish bowl filled with sleeping fish. Again, it was emphasized that the movement is not done from just the knee, but starts at the top of the hip joint and involves the entire leg.
In partnership, we did the pendulum Exercise, and the Follower’s goal was to be consistent in the speed and motion of her leg swing so that the Leader could predict where he needs to put his leg to receive her gancho leg (swinging pendulum leg). He had the option of placing his gancho’d leg’s foot in front of or behind her standing, supporting foot to set up the gancho so that she comes through the center of his legs.
The Leader assumes the Captain Morgan (of rum fame) position, with heel off the ground and ball of foot in the ground. His hip opens up, and he offers the fleshy part of the thigh (chicken leg), so that the Follower can wrap around it. The other standing, supporting leg is the elevator leg, which by bending the knee, the Leader can change the elevation and length of the space should he need to for a taller or shorter Follower. The Leader needs to be perfect in timing and movement of getting into the Captain Morgan stance.
The Follower should watch the shape of her foot, and not sickle or twist it, and not flex the angle. She should have the intention to have a little bit of turnout and not pronate or twist the foot in. She should point the toe at the end of the pendulum leg swing.
The Follower should keep her pelvic floor equal in the gancho. She should not go down, or to the side, or look for the gancho.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The details are where it's at because these foundational elements appear in many places over and over.
The Leader’s Captain Morgan leg is weightless, except if the Follower is off balance. Then he might need to have a little bit of weight on the Captain Morgan leg. We did a muscle memory Captain Morgan footwork exercise where we stepped with our left foot forward, transferred the weight and pivoted and rotated our chests clockwise, with our right foot going into the Captain Morgan position. The Captain Morgan leg position is key for the Leader giving the Follower enough space to do the gancho. The Leader can flex his standing supporting anchoring leg or move his whole leg if she needs the room.
MOVING ON
The Follower’s back pivot is more than a back ocho. She needs to keep her feet together until the last moment of when the gancho is beginning. She needs to wait for the Leader's blocking energy so that he actually leads the gancho (instead of her doing it on her own).
For the Follower, she needs to let her hand/arm slide to let her left shoulder open up so that she can pivot more and gancho more fully and easily.
The Leader's right hand should not squeeze and hold the Follower. If he does, he would not be helping her. He can keep the Follower on axis by not doing too much. Here, less is more. If he has a problem with his right arm clenching her or pressing her into him, he should practice leading this in the teapot embrace, where his right arm his behind his back like the handle, and his left arm is up and wrist is fixed like the spout. He should then lead our simple gancho pattern in this embrace.
The Leader should not unwind the Follower from the cross because then it will take more work for her to do the gancho. At the point of the gancho, the Leader can exaggerate the opening of the embrace to let her know that's what he wants.
We also tried double ganchos.
SINCE CLASS SPACE WAS TIGHT, IT WAS EMPHASIZED THAT WE WORK COOPERATIVELY, JUST LIKE ON THE SOCIAL DANCE FLOOR.
We also tried to do ganchos from a circular ocho cortado.
OVERTURNED GANCHOS VERSUS BACK SACADAS
Then we tried mixing them up, overturned ganchos versus back sacadas. The difference between the two are that axis (center of the circle) is the key. In the overturned gancho, the Follower is the axis (center of the circle). In the Follower's back sacada the Leader is the axis (center of the circle).
In receiving the Follower back sacada, the Leader lets his right leg go and can kick the heel around to pivot without any spiral in the body as the Follower does her clockwise molinete around him. His goal is to have a smooth and continuous energy and she goes around him.
After the class review, Maestros demo'd the material to DiSarli's Patotero Sentimental.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
New York City
October 15, 2011
----------------
Homer & Cristina Ladas Workshops in New York City:
Weekend Theme: The Body-Spiral and Body-Axis
Saturday Theme: "Exploring the Body-Spiral"
2.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
4.30pm: The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Odyssey (Advanced "Exploration" Class)
----------------
The Overturned Gancho/Sacada Experience Made Easy (Intermediate "Foundation" Class)
Video Courtesy of Luis Campos
The purpose of this class was for the Leader and Follower to get in touch with our inner spiral. The music for our class was DiSarli with Rufino on vocals.
It began with Maestros showing us a simple pattern, and then breaking down each element. The simple pattern was the 8CB to 5 (Follower's cross), to a Follower's big clockwise pivot on her left foot, to do a Follower right leg back gancho through the Leader's legs.
GETTING TO THE CROSS
Our work first involved cleaning up the lines of the Leader leading the Follower to the cross. We should be very compact in the space when walking forward, on two tracks or one.
Leader: should not drift when leading the Follower into the cross. He should be close to the Follower, perhaps with his thighs touching hers as he walks forward. From the close embrace, on the Leader's left foot forward step, his thigh can touch the Follower's thigh and he walks forward on one track, one foot in front of the other.
Follower: when she does her back steps, one foot should be behind the other foot.
The Leader's side step is a straight step to the side, not slightly diagonally forward, as some Leaders were doing.
The Leader leads the cross by a little bit of twisting in his torso, with his left shoulder going forward clockwise on the Follower's right foot back step (4 of the 8CB). Here, the Follower needs to be attentive to have spiral and if the Leader is really leading the weight change after the cross.
For the Leader and Follower, as they both arrive to the cross, the Leader releases his right arm so that the Follower can return to axis as she completes the cross. The Follower returns to axis as she arrives to the cross, and is completely on axis when the cross is completed.
GETTING TO THE GANCHO
The Leader needs to give good energy for the Follower pivot, and a good block for the Follower to do a good gancho.
The Follower might not get enough disassociation and her left shoulder and arm might get in the way and block the range of motion, so she needs to soften her left shoulder a bit and allow it to open up.
At the point of the gancho after the big pivot, her belly button faces away from the Leader while she tries to maintain connection to him at the top of her body. She should not tilt forward or bend over to create range for the ganchoing leg.
The Leader puts his own energy in the gancho, but it's up to the Follower to answer, even though the Leader proposes. The Follower, when she ganchos, should move such that her leg starts at the top of her hip bone. She should not do a “knee gancho”, where only the calf of the leg goes back.
PENDULUM EXERCISE
Level 1: Follower and Leader eyes are open
Level 2: Follower closes eyes
Level 3: Leader and Follower close eyes to develop Leader's sense of feeling.
The Follower should imagine that the four corners of her right foot are connected to the floor. Her leg is like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. She should keep her chest up, and have her leg swing start from the top of her hip. Her arms and hands should be such that they are holding an imaginary large fish bowl filled with sleeping fish. Again, it was emphasized that the movement is not done from just the knee, but starts at the top of the hip joint and involves the entire leg.
In partnership, we did the pendulum Exercise, and the Follower’s goal was to be consistent in the speed and motion of her leg swing so that the Leader could predict where he needs to put his leg to receive her gancho leg (swinging pendulum leg). He had the option of placing his gancho’d leg’s foot in front of or behind her standing, supporting foot to set up the gancho so that she comes through the center of his legs.
The Leader assumes the Captain Morgan (of rum fame) position, with heel off the ground and ball of foot in the ground. His hip opens up, and he offers the fleshy part of the thigh (chicken leg), so that the Follower can wrap around it. The other standing, supporting leg is the elevator leg, which by bending the knee, the Leader can change the elevation and length of the space should he need to for a taller or shorter Follower. The Leader needs to be perfect in timing and movement of getting into the Captain Morgan stance.
The Follower should watch the shape of her foot, and not sickle or twist it, and not flex the angle. She should have the intention to have a little bit of turnout and not pronate or twist the foot in. She should point the toe at the end of the pendulum leg swing.
The Follower should keep her pelvic floor equal in the gancho. She should not go down, or to the side, or look for the gancho.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The details are where it's at because these foundational elements appear in many places over and over.
The Leader’s Captain Morgan leg is weightless, except if the Follower is off balance. Then he might need to have a little bit of weight on the Captain Morgan leg. We did a muscle memory Captain Morgan footwork exercise where we stepped with our left foot forward, transferred the weight and pivoted and rotated our chests clockwise, with our right foot going into the Captain Morgan position. The Captain Morgan leg position is key for the Leader giving the Follower enough space to do the gancho. The Leader can flex his standing supporting anchoring leg or move his whole leg if she needs the room.
MOVING ON
The Follower’s back pivot is more than a back ocho. She needs to keep her feet together until the last moment of when the gancho is beginning. She needs to wait for the Leader's blocking energy so that he actually leads the gancho (instead of her doing it on her own).
For the Follower, she needs to let her hand/arm slide to let her left shoulder open up so that she can pivot more and gancho more fully and easily.
The Leader's right hand should not squeeze and hold the Follower. If he does, he would not be helping her. He can keep the Follower on axis by not doing too much. Here, less is more. If he has a problem with his right arm clenching her or pressing her into him, he should practice leading this in the teapot embrace, where his right arm his behind his back like the handle, and his left arm is up and wrist is fixed like the spout. He should then lead our simple gancho pattern in this embrace.
The Leader should not unwind the Follower from the cross because then it will take more work for her to do the gancho. At the point of the gancho, the Leader can exaggerate the opening of the embrace to let her know that's what he wants.
We also tried double ganchos.
SINCE CLASS SPACE WAS TIGHT, IT WAS EMPHASIZED THAT WE WORK COOPERATIVELY, JUST LIKE ON THE SOCIAL DANCE FLOOR.
We also tried to do ganchos from a circular ocho cortado.
OVERTURNED GANCHOS VERSUS BACK SACADAS
Then we tried mixing them up, overturned ganchos versus back sacadas. The difference between the two are that axis (center of the circle) is the key. In the overturned gancho, the Follower is the axis (center of the circle). In the Follower's back sacada the Leader is the axis (center of the circle).
In receiving the Follower back sacada, the Leader lets his right leg go and can kick the heel around to pivot without any spiral in the body as the Follower does her clockwise molinete around him. His goal is to have a smooth and continuous energy and she goes around him.
After the class review, Maestros demo'd the material to DiSarli's Patotero Sentimental.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Transition from Close Embrace Back Ochos to Open Embrace Back Ochos
Song: Din Don by Lucio Demare
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Dancesport, New York City
October 14, 2011
Video Courtesy of Florin Oprisa
This lesson would serve as a precursor/springboard lesson as a teaser for tomorrow's workshop topics, sacadas. The focus of the class is the transition from close embrace back ochos to open embrace back ochos. The sacada workshops are predicated upon going from open embrace back ochos into sacadas. Our orchestra for the evening was Demare.
Open Embrace No-Pivot Ochos
We began with working on open embrace no-pivot ochos.
Leader: Upper body remains stable and straight forward. He does not turn his ribcage or spine, and keeps his core engaged so that his upper body is quiet. His footwork is rollerblading footwork.
Follower: Does not pivot in her hips. She creates a long step by keeping the knees soft, connecting her feet to the floor, and pushing off the floor to create a long step. In making her step, she first opens hip, so that her leg can reach across behind herself with her foot slightly outturned so that her hips don’t pivot as she reaches. She should not change height in her steps. Her feet are icing on the cake. Her strength comes from her connection to the floor. She should be aware of how she is using her feet. She should not pigeon toe. Again, it was emphasized that her hip should open up, and then the foot follows this opening by being slightly outturned. The Follower squeezes thighs together to collect. Her hip and footwork are the same for both sides, left and right.
We began with a footwork exercise, with everyone in class in one large circle formation, and then we all did the Leader’s footwork of rollerblading into the middle of the dance floor, while keeping our upper bodies straight with no torsion.
When we got to the center of the circle, we did the Follower’s footwork on the way back out, whereby we open our hips, so that our leg could reach across behind ourselves with our feet slightly outturned so that our hips didn’t pivot as we reached with our legs, walking out to the outside of the circle and doing the same hip/footwork for both our left and right legs.
The Leader’s goal is to be symmetrical in his foot movements, with the angle and length of both his left and right steps being the same. He will notice that the right side is harder. He should also have a longer moment of collecting, really bringing his body weight over to one side or the other so that the Follower has time to collect as well and not rush through her collection.
The Follower needs to be consistent and maintain pressure/consistency in her embrace, and not allow bubbles or hiccups in the embrace. She should also not bounce, go down, or pull away.
Both Leader and Follower need to keep their chests up in the embrace.
Our homework is to practice doing this close embrace no-pivot ocho in single time and double time (QQS), all in close embrace.
Next, we moved to pivoted ochos with the embrace opening up.
Pivoted Ochos without Chest-to-Chest Fixed Position
Follower: She collects faster but reaches slower to get the thighs out of the way.
Leader: instead of his upper body remaining fixed as in the no-pivot ocho, he lets his chest go so that it can rotate contra body. He also releases the right hand of the embrace a little to let the Follower pivot and her body rotate inside the cradle of his arm. (It was emphasized that the Leader should not squeeze her and ask her to pivot as this annoys most Followers.) He can maintain his connection with her by remaining in contact with the back of her clothes, but he should not clamp down on her back or keep her fixed with his right hand. In the pivoted ocho, she needs to be able to slide while she is in the cradle (not coffin) of the Leader’s arm.
It is important to maintain good posture during our work, whether it is in close embrace or open embrace ochos. Here, Alexander Technique can help so that our necks are long and chests are up.
In the double time (QQS) pivoted ocho, the steps are shorter so that the Leader creates a clear perimeter and the Follower swivels her hips.
Next, we did a partnered exercise with no Leader and no Follower, both dancers hand to hand doing back ochos together. The goal was to stay close to each other with our hips. We needed to reach our back cross (back ocho) steps close to each other, and pivot enough (a lot). If we didn’t pivot enough, we would go away from each other. This exercise was a test in that the Leader needs to be comfortable with stepping back; that’s when he needs to have the Follower experience.
Slot Ochos
In Sugar Bowl Embrace (formerly known as the Tea Kettle Embrace), with Leader’s hands at the small of his back, elbows out to the side, and Follower’s hands on Leader’s triceps, Follower does back ochos. Leader rotates his chest 35-40 degrees on each side, being even. The Follower does back ochos in a slot in front of the Leader, so this exercise does not travel and is not floor-space intensive if done correctly. Leader can stand with just chest rotation, and Follower does slot ocho footwork in a straight line in front of the Leader. In her embrace, the Follower provides horizontal energy, not vertical, so she does not press down onto the Leader or force him into the ground.
From here, we were running out of class time, but did a little bit of work on the body spiral, starting in close embrace to transition to open embrace to lead the Follower to do a back sacada in the Leader’s Sugar Bowl embrace. The Leader’s legwork was such that he got into the Captain Morgan (Rum) leg position.
Maestros concluded with a demo to Demare’s Din…Don
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
Dancesport, New York City
October 14, 2011
Video Courtesy of Florin Oprisa
This lesson would serve as a precursor/springboard lesson as a teaser for tomorrow's workshop topics, sacadas. The focus of the class is the transition from close embrace back ochos to open embrace back ochos. The sacada workshops are predicated upon going from open embrace back ochos into sacadas. Our orchestra for the evening was Demare.
Open Embrace No-Pivot Ochos
We began with working on open embrace no-pivot ochos.
Leader: Upper body remains stable and straight forward. He does not turn his ribcage or spine, and keeps his core engaged so that his upper body is quiet. His footwork is rollerblading footwork.
Follower: Does not pivot in her hips. She creates a long step by keeping the knees soft, connecting her feet to the floor, and pushing off the floor to create a long step. In making her step, she first opens hip, so that her leg can reach across behind herself with her foot slightly outturned so that her hips don’t pivot as she reaches. She should not change height in her steps. Her feet are icing on the cake. Her strength comes from her connection to the floor. She should be aware of how she is using her feet. She should not pigeon toe. Again, it was emphasized that her hip should open up, and then the foot follows this opening by being slightly outturned. The Follower squeezes thighs together to collect. Her hip and footwork are the same for both sides, left and right.
We began with a footwork exercise, with everyone in class in one large circle formation, and then we all did the Leader’s footwork of rollerblading into the middle of the dance floor, while keeping our upper bodies straight with no torsion.
When we got to the center of the circle, we did the Follower’s footwork on the way back out, whereby we open our hips, so that our leg could reach across behind ourselves with our feet slightly outturned so that our hips didn’t pivot as we reached with our legs, walking out to the outside of the circle and doing the same hip/footwork for both our left and right legs.
The Leader’s goal is to be symmetrical in his foot movements, with the angle and length of both his left and right steps being the same. He will notice that the right side is harder. He should also have a longer moment of collecting, really bringing his body weight over to one side or the other so that the Follower has time to collect as well and not rush through her collection.
The Follower needs to be consistent and maintain pressure/consistency in her embrace, and not allow bubbles or hiccups in the embrace. She should also not bounce, go down, or pull away.
Both Leader and Follower need to keep their chests up in the embrace.
Our homework is to practice doing this close embrace no-pivot ocho in single time and double time (QQS), all in close embrace.
Next, we moved to pivoted ochos with the embrace opening up.
Pivoted Ochos without Chest-to-Chest Fixed Position
Follower: She collects faster but reaches slower to get the thighs out of the way.
Leader: instead of his upper body remaining fixed as in the no-pivot ocho, he lets his chest go so that it can rotate contra body. He also releases the right hand of the embrace a little to let the Follower pivot and her body rotate inside the cradle of his arm. (It was emphasized that the Leader should not squeeze her and ask her to pivot as this annoys most Followers.) He can maintain his connection with her by remaining in contact with the back of her clothes, but he should not clamp down on her back or keep her fixed with his right hand. In the pivoted ocho, she needs to be able to slide while she is in the cradle (not coffin) of the Leader’s arm.
It is important to maintain good posture during our work, whether it is in close embrace or open embrace ochos. Here, Alexander Technique can help so that our necks are long and chests are up.
In the double time (QQS) pivoted ocho, the steps are shorter so that the Leader creates a clear perimeter and the Follower swivels her hips.
Next, we did a partnered exercise with no Leader and no Follower, both dancers hand to hand doing back ochos together. The goal was to stay close to each other with our hips. We needed to reach our back cross (back ocho) steps close to each other, and pivot enough (a lot). If we didn’t pivot enough, we would go away from each other. This exercise was a test in that the Leader needs to be comfortable with stepping back; that’s when he needs to have the Follower experience.
Slot Ochos
In Sugar Bowl Embrace (formerly known as the Tea Kettle Embrace), with Leader’s hands at the small of his back, elbows out to the side, and Follower’s hands on Leader’s triceps, Follower does back ochos. Leader rotates his chest 35-40 degrees on each side, being even. The Follower does back ochos in a slot in front of the Leader, so this exercise does not travel and is not floor-space intensive if done correctly. Leader can stand with just chest rotation, and Follower does slot ocho footwork in a straight line in front of the Leader. In her embrace, the Follower provides horizontal energy, not vertical, so she does not press down onto the Leader or force him into the ground.
From here, we were running out of class time, but did a little bit of work on the body spiral, starting in close embrace to transition to open embrace to lead the Follower to do a back sacada in the Leader’s Sugar Bowl embrace. The Leader’s legwork was such that he got into the Captain Morgan (Rum) leg position.
Maestros concluded with a demo to Demare’s Din…Don
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Finding Your Style via Leg Wraps
Song: Pobre Yo by Carlos Di Sarli Y Su Sexteto Tipico
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
June 1, 2011, Cellspace, San Francisco
Homer and Cristina Ladas summarizing an intermediate tango lesson on
style and structure in tango.
0:23 - A little plug for http://theorganictangoschool.org/
0:39 - One important idea was the difference between style and
structure. Style can be something unique and personal, and alter the
appearance and the feel of the moves with the same structure.
0:48 - Another important idea was the importance of communication: any
application of style by the leader only works if the follower can
receive it properly. As an illustration, students were tossing little
objects to each other in groups, throwing with different levels of
creativity. At the end, there seemed to be a tentative tradeoff:
groups with extreme creativity caught the ball the least. Creativity
in tango works only if "the ball is caught".
1:06 - a pattern - leading the follower into a cross and then lead a wrap.
1:25 - the leader's structure - lead the follower into the cross while
keeping a straight line of walking, without height change, keep the
shoulders overturned while leading into the cross, extend the left
leg, touch the follower's thigh, and, while keeping the follower on
her axis, turn the spine and shoulders to lead a wrap.
1:48 - the follower's structure - keep with the leader at all times,
including the twisted position, keep own balance, and being able to
unwind into the wrap. Thigh contact is important.
2:22 - the style parameters - it is possible to alter many aspects of
the sequence without altering the structure - such as speed of the
wrap, the rhythm of going into the cross, height changes in different
places (including the wrap). Stylistic games are all fair, as long as
the partner "catches the ball" and the couple executes the cross and a
wrap as intended.
3:14 - four branches of tango awareness that Homer and Cristina try to
develop - awareness of self, partner, music, and surroundings.
4:22 - a little demo of the sequence with stylistic alterations by
Homer and Cristina.
As a kind of individual experiments, the students were also attempting
to lead multiple wraps after the cross.
Notes courtesy of Leo Landa
Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org
June 1, 2011, Cellspace, San Francisco
Homer and Cristina Ladas summarizing an intermediate tango lesson on
style and structure in tango.
0:23 - A little plug for http://theorganictangoschool.org/
0:39 - One important idea was the difference between style and
structure. Style can be something unique and personal, and alter the
appearance and the feel of the moves with the same structure.
0:48 - Another important idea was the importance of communication: any
application of style by the leader only works if the follower can
receive it properly. As an illustration, students were tossing little
objects to each other in groups, throwing with different levels of
creativity. At the end, there seemed to be a tentative tradeoff:
groups with extreme creativity caught the ball the least. Creativity
in tango works only if "the ball is caught".
1:06 - a pattern - leading the follower into a cross and then lead a wrap.
1:25 - the leader's structure - lead the follower into the cross while
keeping a straight line of walking, without height change, keep the
shoulders overturned while leading into the cross, extend the left
leg, touch the follower's thigh, and, while keeping the follower on
her axis, turn the spine and shoulders to lead a wrap.
1:48 - the follower's structure - keep with the leader at all times,
including the twisted position, keep own balance, and being able to
unwind into the wrap. Thigh contact is important.
2:22 - the style parameters - it is possible to alter many aspects of
the sequence without altering the structure - such as speed of the
wrap, the rhythm of going into the cross, height changes in different
places (including the wrap). Stylistic games are all fair, as long as
the partner "catches the ball" and the couple executes the cross and a
wrap as intended.
3:14 - four branches of tango awareness that Homer and Cristina try to
develop - awareness of self, partner, music, and surroundings.
4:22 - a little demo of the sequence with stylistic alterations by
Homer and Cristina.
As a kind of individual experiments, the students were also attempting
to lead multiple wraps after the cross.
Notes courtesy of Leo Landa
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