Skip to main content

Intercropping Disciplines

Doing the recent lessons made me realize something which I've already voiced out. Tango does not give you the inherent tools to be good at Tango. It really doesn't. Showing me a nice ocho and no matter how many times I practice that Ocho, it will never be nice if I do not have good posture and balance. Also, on musicality, I am superbly thankful for a musical background so I can pick out a full beat from a half beat. Just saying.

This was inspired of course by the practice in which we had to stay on our tiptoes and continuously flick our free foot back and forth. Short of being a ballerina or a yoga master, I would be unable to do that for long without flailing all around the place. Which is why I say, you need more than Tango, to be GOOD at Tango. Of course people disagree with the concept, and that the fault lies with the fact tha the dance has just turned into yet another 'showy' discipline, that true milonguero essence is giving way to stage moves and broken embraces. I'm of the camp that thinks that this dance will evolve no matter how much people want it to remain the same as 'the good old days', and would be equally happy switching between music, steps and embraces if it makes me happy when I'm doing it.

What I have found is that doing more sports and strenghthening the core will be the only way I can hold my posture better and keep my stamina up for the dance. It's about being actively conscious of your body. Or maybe we should just screw it all and do what makes us happy, whether or not we actually look disastrous executing the move.

"Don't care about them, they're too worried about themselves anyway." JB~on being self conscious dancing during a milonga

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2020

Ah 2020. You have been upended in the most ridiculous way possible by a virus that has destroyed every single activity we do for fun, leisure, pleasure, necessity, survival. Because, humans. Was so looking forward to a year of dancing starting with the Taiwan Valentine's Tango Marathon, leading into STM v5, London, Portugal and maybe BA by the end of the year. Guess what! ALL GONE, DESTROYED. It has been a year since I went to a marathon/event. I am probably the saddest I have been when it comes to the dance front. 11 years ago I made it such a part of my identity that it has accompanied me through the years of visiting different cities for work, for holiday, for weddings, for connections, for reunions with exes, for meeting new interests. Shaped my 20's like nothing else has and only grows stronger year after year. 2020 was the reset required. Mentally, emotionally. This relationship with Tango remains my strongest and most developed of my many relationships with many a...

Malaysia Prelims & Tango Festival - Musings

Off the back of a weekend that required me to leave work early and sleep cray hours to finally get back into a semi-human mode of work and sleep. Thoughts? When I first started tango, I jumped straight into a Fire & Ice festival in Ann Arbor January of 2010. That was my first taste of a tango festival which was relatively social and a good scene in hindsight. Coming back to Malaysia I've participated in the KL Festival every single year, Singapore festival twice, Taiwan festival once (24 hour on a whim - fuck it all flight), Shanghai festival once. Other than that the flavour of the day nowadays is definitely geared more toward marathons/encuentros, and for a good reason. Festivals in this part of the world are seriously so tipped toward a certain "type" that it is far more worth my money and sanity to go for the social dancing rather than the festival format. Granted, lessons were good, always learning, picking up new things. Competition was, so-so for me, was...

2019

Goals for this Tango year: - Continue to improve leading - Get deeper into the movements and music - Starting again with foundations (feet placement, weight, balance, transfers) Always and forever a noob. Training for the first ASEAN Tango Championships, more about process than outcome really but have always been a competitive spirit so part of me really wants to make an impact. We definitely are not at the stage of winning but if improvement continues then it'll at least make a dent in the social dancing. Training. Why is it that Tango doesn't inspire the same practice spirit that a lot of other activities require (tennis, swimming, basketball, piano..heck anything I've ever picked up, or been dragged into, in my life so far)? Maybe it's the fact and core of what makes it so appealing, that we rest on our laurels because we depend so much on what the partner is giving (50-50) hence...we think that if we give 50 and the other person gives 25 then we might a...