Welcome. Congratulations. You are about to start on a fun and exciting adventure. We're going to do two things. First, we are going to include videos that will let you get up and start dancing really fast. Then, second, tango is a really broad subject which includes many different kinds of dancing and many different topics. We'll give you a selection of a few of the many different topics that are available. Probably, eventually, you'll also want to read some of our articles so you get an idea about what to expect at a tango dance and about the culture of tango.

Your First Dance - The Basic

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A woman visitor to the city entered a taxicab. No sooner was the door closed than the car leaped forward violently, and afterward went racing wildly along the street, narrowly missing collision with innumerable things. The passenger, naturally enough, was terrified. She thrust her head through the open window of the door, and shouted at the chauffeur:

"Please, be careful, sir! I'm nervous. This is the first time I ever rode in a taxi."

The driver yelled in reply, without turning his head:

"That's all right, ma'am. It's the first time I ever drove one!"

Musically: We don't talk much about when you should step in these very early chapters. For now, every step happens on the "slow" (2 counts of music). Later on, we'll have more videos about the music. One cool thing about tango is that, as long as you're on the beat, you can do whatever your heart desires musically.

Style: We typically dance slightly open but moving between bodies separated just a little and bodies touching (open and close). There are many different styles of tango.

About Classes: You shouldn't try to learn only from videos. Take class. We hope to provide awesome, detailed and comprehensive instruction, but you also need the experience of dancing with various partners. And the feedback of a tango teacher can be very useful.

About "The Basic": Also known as the "8-count" basic. Many people are very opinionated about how tango should or shouldn't be taught, if there's a "basic", etc. The basic is a pretty traditional first thing to learn in tango, but like all things, that's pretty controversial.

Artist Name:
Jaun Jose Mosalini et son Grand Orchestre de Tango
Song Title:
De Contrapunto
Album Title:
Tango En Vivo
Artist Website:
http://www.amazon.com/Juan-Jose-Mosalini/e/B000APYGJ6/digital/

A great bandoneonist who's been around for a while, has a very dramatic sound.

00:04
We are going to teach what we call the right foot basic in Tango,
which is the basic, basic, basic.
00:08
And we'll have other videos we've already filmed,
answering a lot of other questions that will come up
00:13
N: Such as: how do you hold your partner,
D: when do you move,... N: Right!
00:18
Okay, let's show it!
00:21
Here's the basic, beginning to end,
so that you get a sense for what you're about to learn.
00:34
Right when the music goes off of course...
00:39
The first step,
00:42
For the leaders, you want to step outside partner,
so you're going to go side,
00:46
So that your right foot can go past her's.
00:50
You do that by stepping side, and turning your chest
to your right, and then two steps. One, Two.
00:55
And then, she crosses left over right,
and changes weight immediately to her left foot.
00:59
And he changes weight.
01:00
And that for her, it takes about two months for the woman
to learn to change weight immediately.
01:06
So that's okay, be nice to yourself in the meantime,
when you forget it.
01:09
So one more time; he’ll step side to his left,
turning to his right.
01:14
One, two. He turns to his left,
to encourage her to cross and changes when she does.
01:27
And, so after she crosses we went forward, side, weight change.
01:31
Very slow weight change.
01:33
So if you just do the end with us we have, for him;
forward, for her; back, side, weight change.
01:41
And then, he steps back and she steps forward.
01:44
Now one thing that often happens is,
so this is a guy strolling down the street.
01:55
He sees a beautiful woman, “Oh.”
01:57
D: And then naturally he says, “Would you like to dance Tango?”
N: “Of course”
02:01
D: It happens to me all the time.
N: I beat (BET) it does actually.
02:04
And now, all of a sudden, he’s got this beautiful woman
in his arms and his feeling on his feet takes a definite turn.
02:13
And all of a sudden,
he forgets how to walk.
02:16
And you don’t notice it so much,
because there is a beautiful girl in front of him.
02:20
That instead of his beautiful, masculine stroll,
you have something that looks like this.
02:26
So first, there is the look of panic on the face.
02:29
And then after the look of panic,
you’ll see in his body.
02:38
D: He’s checking to make sure she crossed.
N: He’s afraid he’s going to step on her.
02:42
And so I want you to think, for the leaders but also ...
well we’ll get to the followers.
02:46
That you'll want to walk,
as naturally as you can.
02:49
So if I would walk down the street like this;
and if you watched it, that was side, forward, forward.
02:53
Then we can do - you can do side, forward, forward
and it’s the same. It’s equally natural.
03:00
And we’ll get out of your way.
You don’t have to worry.
03:02
Now for the followers unfortunately,
you don’t stroll down the street backwards.
03:05
And I say it’s unfortunate because you then don’t have,
"how would one stroll down the street backwards?"
03:15
I ask women, “Hey you’re pretty, would you like to dance Tango?”
This is in the supermarket, mind you.
03:21
So, I also wanted to (WANT YOU TO) go through the supermarket
like that for the ladies, right?
03:25
You grab the cart and you go through the cart backwards,
going through your hips.
03:29
Here’s the supermarket cart.
It helps balance you.
03:32
So anyway, we do that.
03:34
You’ll notice that we’re very natural, or at least he is very natural
and she is reaching from her hips.
03:39
When she crosses, I’ll give her a moment to get there.
I’ll say, “Aren’t you wonderful.” And then we’ll go on.
03:44
And then we’ll weight change together here
and I’ll say “Aren’t we wonderful.”
03:47
You know, it sort of escalates.
And then we go on.
03:51
D: Watch the chapter repeatedly.
N: Practice with us.
03:54
As you work through the chapters, you’ll find that things build
and so you’ll also get a chance to review.
Series:
Your First Dance
Tags:
Basic, Beginner, Cross, Core Vocabulary
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