Your First Dance - Front Ochos | Learn to Dance Tango

Your First Dance - Front Ochos

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To emphasize: For leaders, give her all the time she needs and she'll give you everything you need. (In this context, that really means, wait for her to finish pivoting before asking her to step forward).
To emphasize: For followers, wait for him to pivot you and to step you - it is by listening that we become profoundly together.

Artist Name:: Anibal Troilo
Song Title:: A Fuego Lento
Album Title:: A Fuego Lento

Anibal Troilo had a somewhat more lyrical style, and is of the "Golden Age" of tango music ( mid 1930s to mid 1950s). One of the more common people to hear played in Milongas.

00:05: Front Ochos; looks like this...
00:16: Different angle.
00:25: So, we'll break it down.
00:27: It begins with a side step and then a weight change,
for the guy.
00:31: And ladies you just step side and stay there.
00:33: And we wait... just like that.
00:40: There's the side step.
Here's his weight change.
00:43: And the way that she knows not to take a weight change;
00:45: If you look at my right arm,
I'll step side.
00:49: Now when I take my weight change,
my arm doesn't move.
00:52: If I go side like this and then I move my arms,
she'll weight change with me.
00:57: So I have to make sure
the forearm doesn't move.
00:58: That's the beginning; side,
he changes weight.
01:04: After that, we have a pivot rotating through his abs,
she's on the ball of her foot and a step.
01:09: A pivot and a step.
01:14: We'll do three of them for now.
In practice you can do any odd number.
01:17: Between two and four.
01:19: Ladies, when you step side, I want you to think that
you stay very long and tall, on your right side.
01:25: So you have this length here and then he pivots you
and then you go.
01:29: And when you go make sure you shift all the way,
to the ball of the foot.
01:34: All the way over and then you pivot again.
01:35: So for the ladies you have, side,
he changes, she doesn't.
01:40: We have this pivot. She's on the ball of her foot.
01:42: She steps forward all the way over
and then pivots.
01:49: Oh and I pivot a lot.
01:52: And at the very end, I'll pull her to face me.
01:54: She thinks not of pivoting, but of standing still
and then he'll motivate the pivot
01:58: and create this turn through the rotation of his midsection.
02:16: There are also a few things that
we don't want you to do.
02:18: D: So moving to a new topic
N: Oh
02:20: Yeah, the bad ones.
02:21: I'm not going to like this part.
02:23: So for the guys, when you're leading,
you don't want to think you're steering a ship.
02:28: So it's not - it's not like this.
02:29: This isn't how you get her to do Ochos.
02:31: This is you, steering into the Rocky Shores
and the ship disintegrates.
02:38: Mom's like "Bad imagery."
02:40: So if I do the bad, let's see what's
a good angle for you.
02:44: I'll step side and to pivot her, if I do this,
she's not turning.
02:49: You want to think of a beautiful jewel
- a wonderfully valuable top.
02:53: And so it's about going around her axis like this.
02:59: So as I step side here, after I change weight,
I pivot her by going around her and we step.
03:06: And then here, once again I pivot her by
going around and stepping.
03:11: So it's not this motion, but rather this motion.
03:16: And for the followers what happens is, when you step forward,
you don't get all the way.
03:21: So if I'm being the girl and she is the guy -
03:25: N: I could do a good bad
D: I know you can, you just wouldn't like it.
03:28: So if I don't get all the way over the foot
and then I try to pivot...
03:32: It doesn't look so good and then we pivot again.
03:35: And that's because I'm pivoting,
not being on my weight.
03:38: So if you shift all the way over
and then you pivot,
03:42: You shift all the way over
and then you pivot,
03:44: Then you know it's vastly better.
03:48: So think all the way.
03:50: So the Front Ochos can lead to a lot of cool things.
03:53: So, for example.
04:01: I was going to say, we taught this one in class but,
we didn't teach those in class.
04:09: So we taught that last one in class today.
04:12: And then also - well here,
a few more.
04:14: I'll do some with a ballet bar
and I want you to imagine -
04:17: You can do this with a counter as well.
04:19: I'll talk more about that shortly.
04:21: However - so you can imagine
that you step over.
04:35: And you can do stuff.
04:36: But the point is that, you can use this like
your kitchen counter too.
04:46: But there's a right way to practice
using your kitchen counter.
04:48: And if you use your kitchen counter,
here I'll show you on the other side
04:53: If you leave your hand right here
and then you do your Ochos,
04:57: Do you see how the hands
pull me off balance there?
05:00: So you want to think you let your hands
slide with you.
05:02: So you can practice at home. But make sure the hands slide
and they don't distort your body.
05:10: So, on that note.

Series:: Your First Dance
Tags:: Ocho, Beginner, Core Vocabulary, Front Ocho