This step is really intermediate in difficulty of learning and execution. But we have found that a tango dancer must be really confidant in his (or her) tango before being willing to add something so counter-intuitive and quirky to his dancing. We want to encourage you to try something fun and a little wacky. There is really much more freedom inside dancing tango than appears to people just beginning to learn "the steps".
Tango is not bound by "the steps" in the way that, perhaps, some social dances are. The basic steps we teach are meant to be used as building blocks rather than limitations.
From website: (Alex Krebs) Has been studying the bandoneon since May 2001, directed the tango band "Conjunto Berretin." (with 2 CD's recorded) from 2003-2008, and currently is arranging/directing a tango sextet and arranging/directing an Orquesta Tipica for the Portland Tango Festivals in Feb. and Oct.
00:21
We call this kookie crosses, like the rest of our steps...
00:24
..or many of our steps aren't kookie.
00:29
What happens is the leader
takes us into a back ocho...
00:32
..and then traps which is a normal thing to do.
00:35
But then from the trap,
he gets a really good hold on her left foot...
00:39
..and he actually lifts it over into a cross...
00:42
..which is not a really normal thing to do.
00:44
So for the leaders, here's the back ocho.
00:52
Now right here, instead of letting the pivot -
I let the pivot finish...
00:55
..but I stop her from going back all the way;...
00:57
..pulling this way with my left hand and
and likewise with my right arm being like an iron bar.
01:04
And as she goes back, I'll move my foot to touch.
01:07
Body to trap, both feet to trap.
01:10
And her, what is it, metatarsal is -
my instep is to her metatarsal.
01:15
And normally here, I'd go back and she'd go into a freno
01:19
Well, not me, but that's typical.
That's typical.
01:21
Instead, with my right foot,
I'm going to come on one side...
01:25
..and my left shin on the other,
and I'm going to use that to pick up her foot...
01:28
..move it up over, and cross it.
01:30
And then I'll shift her body
to the ball of that left foot.
01:33
For us, when he's doing something kookie like that,...
01:35
..we need to remember to press down from our back...
01:39
..which helps not only our balance but his balance.
01:42
And we need to let him move our leg like that...
01:45
..rather than deciding, oh we figured out
what he's going to do...
01:47
..and going and doing it.
01:49
So we keep the pressure against his shin,
so that he can lift us.
01:53
Can we show it in the foot camera?
01:55
What do we? - uh sure.
01:56
So after she steps back...
01:58
..I'll trap or actually touch, trap.
02:06
With my right foot, I come underneath her in step...
02:10
..and with my shin I come to the other side.
02:14
And between the two, lifts up over,
shifts down, shifts over.
