An Intro to Close Embrace - Walking Forward In Close Embrace
We may have said this before but we think it's worth saying again. Walking in close embrace is hard, especially because the arms can't be used as shock absorbers so, even being off by 1/2 inch feels uncomfortable. Remember not to take it too seriously and to have fun.
- Artist Name:
- Mandragora Tango
- Song Title:
- Tango Triste
- Album Title:
- Live 2007
- Artist Website:
- http://www.mandragoratango.com
From website: Mandrágora Tango is a tango band headed by bandoneonist Bob Barnes and guitarist Scott Mateo Davies, 2 Minneapolis-based musicians who are wildly passionate about tango. We have been playing tango for dancing and listening since 2001 and we are still going strong. We've played in over 40 cities all over the United States.
- 00:19
- And so, as we dance in close embrace, one thing that I'm very conscious of, and that I'd like you to be very conscious of,
- 00:25
- is that if we're here, the reason that she knows where it goes is because my body moves.
- 00:29
- And so if I stick my leg out - bang, I just kicked her, I just kicked her, why didn't she know how to move?
- 00:33
- Because it's just recorded move
- 00:35
- And on another hand, if I go with my body, saying: And we're going to... And she starts to move
- 00:39
- So when you walk, for the leader, showing open, I want you to say
- 00:46
- And.. I'm.. going.. to.. go
- 00:49
- And then all this telegraphic tells her how to step.
- 00:52
- And for the followers, as you do this,
- 00:54
- Have fun, prepare to a lot of attention.
- 00:57
- Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry for the suffering you're about to endure
- 01:03
- It's not really suffering, it's just listening a lot.
- 01:07
- So really, I want you to think that you really correlate your leg with your body
- 01:11
- So... let me put my glasses back on
- 01:15
- Interrupting briefly, quick story, when I was young in my tango, my tango efficiency, I took a class, and my teacher said:
- 01:21
- Why is it that you dance like this - here's the follower, and here's David,
- 01:27
- And I'm, like, "Dance like what?" And he's like, "Take of your glasses, look to your right"
- 01:31
- "Oh, I did hit her", right, so I always hit my partner with my glasses, I've must've hit my partner with my glasses a few times
- 01:38
- And because of that I've gotten in to this habit of looking to my left
- 01:41
- Both leaders and followers, if you're going to dance close, take off your glasses, so that your head is free.
- 01:45
- Anyway, going back, for the followers
- 01:49
- Right now, I'm on the ball of my foot. And as I'm on the ball of my foot, as I go to my heel, I want the leg to extend back.
- 01:56
- When you're on your heel, you leg should extend a 100% back, how far can you extend
- 02:00
- When you go to the ball, you should be collected, if you go to the hyperball - it should extend forward.
- 02:04
- And the extents, well, what does that mean
- 02:08
- That means if you go half back, so here I'm on a ball, if I go half way back,my leg goes half way back
- 02:13
- If I go all the way to the heel - my foot goes all the way back, so you want to make sure you really get the reach,
- 02:18
- and then you get the half, and then you get the collected
- 02:21
- So you can follow what the leader does, when he goes forward
- 02:24
- so that as he moves your center of gravity, your leg and then your body, you can go across, minding distance
- 02:30
- That's important, because if you're a quarter of an inch wrong, it's going to pull your partner off, either one of you, and the result...
- 02:37
- Did that happen?
- 02:39
- And the result is that it stops being fun
- 02:42
- Unless it is
- 02:43
- That was a little bit fun, but really, when you're walking, and it's working perfectly and there are no glitches, it's very fun.
