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An Intro to Technique - Honoring Axis
If you take your time, and you hold on to a counter (or a ballet bar), then it is usually not too difficult to get over the ball of your foot. If you're in a milonga (tango dance) and you take a step in the middle of a combination and suddenly need to stop, it's usually pretty hard. So really, the trick is learning that place in a Really clear way so that you can do this faster and more automatically.
Learning this means practicing it first extremely slowly, then slowly, then as you step until you can be more natural.
- 00:07
- So as I go around, this is all about honoring axis.
- 00:13
- And so why can she be so easy,
so gliding as if she were on ball bearings? - 00:18
- D: And that's because -
N: Was I? - 00:19
- D: Yes, you were.
N: How cool. - 00:20
- And that’s because
she had very good technique... - 00:23
- ..and that gives us all this ease
and magic. - 00:28
- So for example,
when you can do that... - 00:30
- ..you can do lots of cool stuff right?
we'll have combinations. - 00:32
- Sometimes it’s for the guy right,
we’ll be here... - 00:35
- and he has this moments of “Ah”
and then going through. - 00:39
- Sometimes it’s for the girl
and maybe she’ll have. - 00:51
- So those beautiful pivots where you’re just here
and you go “Ah” and then you go on. - 00:59
- Some technical things to enable this
for the followers and for the leaders actually... - 01:04
- ..for both people, I want you to be aware
that when you step... - 01:07
- ..especially for the followers...
- 01:09
- ..it steps all the way over
to the ball of the foot. - 01:11
- So if I’m the girl -
- 01:12
- It’s not going to work unless
you’re on the ball of your foot. - 01:15
- If I do this; and someone says,
"Am I on the ball of my foot?" - 01:19
- I may say yes.
- 01:20
- A lot of people say,
“Yes I’m on the ball of my foot." - 01:21
- "Look see I’m forward.”
- 01:23
- But I don’t want you just to be there.
I want you be here. - 01:27
- So if you pick up your free leg
and then you pick up the other leg’s heel... - 01:33
- ..then you’re on the ball of your foot.
- 01:34
- And then you can lower the foot,
lower the other foot. - 01:36
- But keep your weight that far forward.
- 01:40
- So even if we step side, I’m there.
- 01:45
- And now there are technical things we can do
to help as well... - 01:47
- Right?..so the follower;
you can pull in and down just a little bit... - 01:50
- ..and that little bit
helps a lot with balance. - 01:51
- For example...
- 01:52
- ..if I try to balance on one foot,
that’s a very hard way to balance. - 01:56
- But if I just, even one finger,
all of a sudden it becomes much more stable. - 02:01
- So you guys can try that,
even with a counter in the kitchen. - 02:04
- Just put one finger on the counter.
- 02:06
- It makes a huge difference.
- 02:07
- Good point.
- 02:10
- Now for the leaders,
what I want you to do... - 02:13
- ..here, let me get one of our couples
from the previous chapter. - 02:17
- And I want you to say,
“Well, how can I tell where the follower’s axis is?" - 02:21
- "How can I help her be on her axis
and not throw her off?” - 02:24
- And one way to tell is the pressure.
- 02:26
- So for example if this chair is a follower
and I’m holding it right here... - 02:31
- I feel the weight going a little bit
that way. - 02:35
- And that means
the chair’s axis is this way right? - 02:39
- So I have to pull it away from
that point of pressure... - 02:42
- ..and you keep looking around until
you can find this point of perfect balance. - 02:45
- Or almost perfect.
- 02:47
- And the truth is, and that’s pretty close right,
it takes a while to drop. - 02:52
- And so I’m doing the same thing with the follower.
- 02:54
- She can do this with me.
- 02:55
- So for example if I’m the follower and
I’m on one foot... - 03:00
- ..and she moves it right here,
guess what? - 03:02
- She’s going to feel pressure...
- 03:04
- N: A lot of pressure.
D: ..that way. - 03:06
- And so if you feel pressure that way...
- 03:07
- ..then take the follower the opposite way
and there’s no pressure. - 03:11
- And then if I start going this way
and you feel pressure that way... - 03:13
- ..guess what that means,
it means the follower is leaning back. - 03:15
- That’s why she’s pulling on you.
- 03:17
- So pull her back onto the ball of her foot.
- 03:18
- And it’s not only for the guys;
it’s for the girls too. - 03:20
- Girls, if you’re like this
don’t just stay here and make him suffer. - 03:25
- Right if you’re like this and you're like
"Oh I'm losing my balance,"... - 03:26
- you can push with your arms to find your balance,
right yourself up. - 03:30
- This is for both people.
- 03:33
- And when you saw us do this,
these beautiful turning steps... - 03:38
- ..we have maybe an overturn media vuelta
and you look at him and you say... - 03:45
- “Oh, that’s so beautiful.”
Why is that so beautiful? - 03:46
- Well it’s about the gliding ease.
But why can you have this gliding ease? - 03:51
- And the answer is
the ease comes from the balance. - 03:57
- And the balance comes because
you honor axis. - 04:00
- And I don’t want you to think that balance is this thing
that’s mystical... - 04:04
- ..and you either have it or you don’t.
- 04:05
- It’s the collection of techniques.
- 04:06
- Finding where the ball of your foot is,
is one technique. - 04:08
- Using the one finger to balance,
soft pressure downward is a technique. - 04:16
- Learning where the axis is and
adjusting the arms is another technique. - 04:20
- So you accumulate these techniques
and eventually... - 04:22
- ..these techniques are elevated
to this sort of mystical beauty. - 04:25
- And that’s really fun.
