Additional Beginning Elements - Media Vuelta

For David, it probably took at least a year before media vuelta had some sort of profound logic to it.
For Nancy, this is one of the elements she most loves, especially the feeling of moving completely together with her leader in the pivot. Also, the oneness of that moment when the two of them step (her forward, him backward) completely together right after the pivot.
For those who have a background in movement, if it doesn't feel awesome, it's not right. But, over time, you can shape things, define them and add details. And most importantly, find the coordination and logic in your body and your partner's body.

Artist Name:: Aníbal Troilo
Song Title:: Pa' Que Bailen Los Muchachos
Album Title:: Como Yo Lo Siento
Artist Website:: http://www.troilo.com.ar/

(From Wikipedia): Anibal Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, arranger and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular with social dancers during the golden age of tango (1940-1955), but he changed to a concert sound by the late 1950s. Troilo's orchestra is best known for its instrumentals and also recorded with many vocalists.

00:06: In this chapter we’ll be teaching the Media Vuelta,
which is a step we love...
00:09: ..and it is so - the moment of pivot
is really special...
00:14: And so we’ll spend time on that.
00:16: Here’s a preview.
00:25: Or again.
00:35: If we break it down, it starts with -
the first two steps are like the basic;
00:38: Side and then forward for him or
side and back for her.
00:47: Different angle, same thing.
00:50: It starts side and then goes through your partner.
00:53: Now here after that,
00:54: I’m going to turn a little bit to my left and
she’ll step just barely around me.
00:57: I’ll turn a little bit more and
she’ll step around me again.
01:00: And for the followers as that happens...
01:02: ..I want you to imagine that
it’s almost as if you’re going from...
01:05: ..one side of his face to the other.
01:07: That if you’re here, you go from this side of his face
to the other side of his face.
01:11: And that means it’s a very small step.
01:15: So we have side, through,
she goes to the other side of my face.
01:20: I turn my body to my left, very little.
I turn again to my left.
01:24: She comes around me and then she stands static
as I pivot her.
01:32: Let’s do that again.
01:35: So it goes, side, through her, small turn...
01:38: ..she goes around me, turn...
01:43: ..and then we exit together,
which are the last two steps.
01:46: So on the last two steps, after that turn,
he goes back two times.
01:50: So showing you the whole thing.
01:58: And she does straight through me,
but on the outside.
02:03: Now there are two things that I want to call out,
as things that you would like to avoid.
02:07: One of them is for the follower to go
horribly away from the leader.
02:10: Well there are more than two actually.
02:12: Okay, so we’ll call out more than two things.
02:16: And all of a sudden, where did she go?
02:18: She went away.
And then she went further away.
02:21: I need a fog horn to talk with her.
02:23: "Hello out there."
02:24: There’s another thing the follower does,
that’s really not good which is...
02:27: ..because she thinks she need to take a small sidestep,
she throws it away.
02:32: But she doesn’t take sidesteps at all.
02:33: D: And so for the guy...
N: Aw.
02:37: ..what I really want to emphasize, is that this is about the rotation
of your hips and your chest.
02:41: That you’re here, the follower is here and then see
how this is about my body turning.
02:45: I’m not moving my arms. My arms move,
but not a ton.
02:47: Because the instinct is that you have the girl
and you step side, forward and then you say...
02:52: ..“Oh move here.”
And that’s all in your arms.
02:55: And so instead I want you to step side, forward.
I want you to say...
02:58: ..“Oh, why don’t you come here?
Why don’t you come here?"
03:00: "Why don’t you,”
and then we’ll turn together.
03:03: D: And you see that -
N: That’s why I said it was very little pivot to begin with...
03:06: ..to get the woman to step side and front.
03:08: Because you want to save most of your pivot
to do with her, which is the really cool part.
03:16: We want to do a close up.
03:19: Okay
03:21: I think I got us a close up actually.
03:24: Step a little more to your right.
03:35: So carrying on, the next thought that
I want you to have is...
03:37: ..that when you practice and when you dance in general,
it’s important to focus on having enough clarity.
03:43: What am I doing at this point in time?
03:45: So when you practice, don’t do it too fast.
03:47: So a lot of people practice like this.
They’ll do this.
03:53: And it’s sloppy.
03:55: Yes it’s sloppy,
all the steps run together.
03:57: Too fast.
03:58: And then they say, "Well, but I"ll" do it 100 times.”
04:01: And you don’t want to do the bad thing a 100 times.
04:03: It’s sort of like ingraining the bad more.
04:05: So instead think that you’ll take your time...
04:09: ..and you’ll make each movement clear
and then go on to the next.
04:15: There’s the side step, forward,
she goes around me, around me.
04:20: I’m turning her with my rotation of my torso
and more.
04:24: She goes through me, just barely outside
and then we take those two steps.
04:28: So we each know exactly how we’re going to step.
04:31: So when you practice this,
practice it mindfully and take your time.

Series:: Additional Beginning Elements
Tags:: Combination, Beginner, Core Vocabulary, Media Vuelta