Stay in Your Lane: essential navigation skills for tango dancers | Tango Simplified #50

[@tangonautsnyc]

Great video, as always! In my experience, there is an often unexplained transition that needs to be made between the way student leaders are taught how to dance, and proper navigation concepts. When we first learn to dance it’s important to learn basic straight-line f/s/b directions and angles/pivot points, and line-of-dance (LofD) direction. However, once leaders start getting on the floor they are immediately challenged by not having space to step backwards to start a phrase, walk-to-cross sequences that constantly drift to the leader’s left that take them out of their lane, and turns, especially to the right, that go to their back, against the LofD. To not collide with other parters, leaders need to NOT be facing the LofD much of the time, often even in the opposite direction of the LofD in a turn, and to makes curved/circular steps rather than straight ones. In summary: the two main challenges, in my experience, are 1) confusion about what to do in the Ronda - dancing in place or always moving forward in the line of dance? Why do we need to constantly move forward in the line of dance? This can lead to a ‘traffic jam’ feel, when constant advance is really not necessary; and 2) the idea of right/clockwise turns from a facing LofD position for the leader, which contradicts forward progression in the ronda. The best solution that I have found is for the leader to face the outside of the dance floor and sort of ‘crab-walk’ sideways along the line of dance, or in a very crowded space, try to dance inside of a 3 x 3 ft square with minimal progression in the LofD. The tango teacher who can successfully ‘circle the square’ so to speak, for leaders, will have my eternal gratitude 🙏

[@YPY832]

I think you’re born to teach, Yelizeveta! Your explanations are always crystal clear and your analogies useful. I have this theory that good drivers make good tango dancers…. Because both require good spatial intelligence, consideration for others and most of all, skilled management of energy flow.

[@TatianaPrescott]

What a wonderful review 👏 I agree and support every word

[@imsotango]

Awe thank you so much! I just love hearing when things make sense for people. I so appreciate your feedback.

[@georgesoong4149]

First of all, I feel that “floor craft” to me is defined as “being able to navigate in complicated traffic conditions regardless of the situation. This means being aware of everything around you instead of just the “line”, and maneuver accordingly. People complaining is just an indication of their limited capacity to do this. Normally I will observe the dance floor to see what the majority of dancers are doing, and adapt to the local customs. I believe that the concept of the Ronda evolved after it was danced in Europe, so this concept really would not have originated in Argentine due to the people whom had started this dance. I once danced with a partner that was acting as a back seat driver, so I never danced with her again. If one wants to experience the grassroots of the dance, I would propose to not get too carried away by “rules” and go with the flow. People do not have emotion in the dance anymore with all those so called “rules”.

[@imsotango]

Yes, the line is there as a reference point to help you orient. Like when you drive you have to be aware of the lane that you are in AND the surrounding environment. Perhaps what I am describing here would more specifically be called "navigation," but to me those are kind of synonymous because one cannot exist without the other.

[@georgesoong4149]

@ Driving is a bit different. More importantly, the lanes assist in avoiding traffic getting jammed, and there are many different types of lane separation lines to do so to enhance safety. On race tracks, the lanes help maintain less variation in racing distance. In airport traffic, there is a regulated lane of circling which only one can use on one side of the rectangle and the tower controls when the turns are made due to life or death concerns. At most large milongas where multiple lanes can exist, there is lots of lane switching and passing as necessary, and the center allows for different ways of dancing, just my observation. People say that more experienced dancers will be in the out most lane which is supposed to move faster, but I have never seen such happen at milongas. If I can see a video that shows everyone going by “rules”, it would be a new thing for me. If anyone finds any, please post.

[@georgesoong4149]

Second, I think that teaching the dance using sequences is like training a “line worker” on the production line. This takes the emotion out of dancing and we lose that capability. At a local practica, sometimes I will see a newcomer and invite to practice, just starting out they danced quite nicely and I could lead some dynamic moves depending on what I feel. But after a few weeks of lessons, I could not lead the same person anymore. So this kind of training really kills the dance in people and is one reason why I dance less at milongas. I look into their eyes and see no excitement, desire, or confidence. For me, seeing such in a cabeceo is important. Even the cabeceo is becoming a formality. Some nice dancers stopped dancing tango and for two reasons: 1. They did not want to wait to be invited. 2. Some have eyesight issues and could not clearly distinguish whether they were being invited or not. Additionally, what would the visually impaired persons do? We had one in a class, but later he discovered the Blues group was more dancer friendly.

[@imsotango]

definitely hear you on this, what do you think would be a better way to teach tango if not using sequences? I have my own ideas, but I'm curious what you think

[@georgesoong4149]

@ I have just finished an experimental class, not that I like to or want to teach, but experimenting with the concept of letting students know how to appreciating the music and their bodies as well as how to interact with the partner whatever happens. My primary teacher YuTan taught me using “connection” which she would demonstrate by leading me, then I would try to recreate the feel. Being an audiophile, I can appreciate the music, so most obstacles were how do I control my body to do what I want it to do, a part which I had to explore various training and stretching methods to observe the results. YuTan could help me feel changes, and I could also feel changes in my solos practices. The solo practices also serve the purpose of how I wish to express the music in the process of also feeling what my body can do. In group classes, she takes the approach to introduce maybe a segment of four steps or less, but introduces a series of possibilities through the class. Most of the time I act as a follower in the class because there are more guys than girls. Just last night at a New Year milonga, a leader from one of the group class asked to lead me since he has also led me in classes, but this time he just went with the music to tried everything that came to mind, I was connected enough to play around with his leads, to it was kind of fun. At the end of the tanda, he said I was the best follower he had danced with🤣. Make the learning progress a fun process like kids learning things naturally is my take. Students need to know for themselves what learning method is best for themselves.