TANGO TURNS, Inc. (Tangomilonga.biz)
| Does the Argentine Tango have a structure? The Argentine Tango has a definite structure. It can be articulated with exact, unambiguous choice of words and clearly-defined concepts and ideas. Is there a way to bring the different parts of the dance together and approach it as a whole? The answer is yes. Technique, musicality, navigation, partner connection, ... they all become integrated through the understanding of the structure and understanding the imperatives and the alternatives that the structure reveals about the dance. What is the benefit of a structural approach "rooted in the system of turns" to learning tango? Learning and advancing in tango becomes easier, independent of styles. You will learn how your dance can become more refined, and more enjoyable, with more partners who also know the structure. You will learn anything from anyone, easier and faster. You can explain your own or other dancer's combinations unambiguously in a way that facilitates dissemination of tango knowledge. Partners will advance in their dance together, faster, and easier. You will see the logic, not the mystery or magic that underlies the technique. You will see how technique and fundamental musicality are intimately related. You will be on your way to improvise better, and gradually do away with the ever-present problem of "... I can't remember that step I learned last week!" This list goes on and on. |
| In the encyclopedic approach to learning tango, things are learned largely disjointed, with no clear connection between all of the parts. Tango then presents itself full of mysteries and secrets. There are occasionally some meaningful connections between the parts, and that is always well-received by the students, especially the beginners, because people appreciate things that make sense, especially when they have an open mind and no misplaced investments to lose. But this is generally the exception, not the rule. The reality is that by far the vast majority of tango classes, no matter who is teaching, is fashioned according to the encyclopedic approach. The encyclopedic approach to learning tango lacks an underlying structure; there is no reliable, solid backbone; no first principles to go to, in order to understand why something does not work, and how it may be modified to work better, musically, technically, and structurally. In the encyclopedic approach, there is no blueprint to judge if one explanation of something is more meaningful than another, or even logical, but there are a lot of so-called secrets. There is no map, no organized way for moving forward and advancing in the dance by building upon what we already know, but without having to unlearn some things we learned previously. Assessing progress becomes haphazard and meaningless, reduced to the completely useless classification of students into the "intermediate" and "advanced" groups who elsewhere may be considered less skillful even than beginners! These are some of the reasons why the tango has got a reputation as a difficult dance to learn. The encyclopedic approach has resulted in a lot of dancers spending an inordinate amount of time, energy, and money, to progress some, but not as much as they had hoped; often, not nearly as much as they had hoped. Inevitably, a lot of people come to think of the tango as a very difficult dance to learn. It is a difficult dance, yes, but it has become more, much more difficult than it really is, and the encyclopedic approach to learning tango bears a big part of the blame for the high attrition rate among tango dancers, the ones that sooner or later give up. The encyclopedic approach to learning tango brings with it more confusion than progress. Many dancers think, for example, that the fast steps in the giro (or the turn) are the "back step" and the "side step" that follows it. They are not. (Actually, many dancers usually do not think about this kind of thing, because they are never asked to.) In fact, calling the steps of the giro as "front", "side", and "back" is itself one of the biggest impediments to UNDERSTANDING Argentine tango! But those kinds of things are relatively minor when we compare them to this one: That many dancers still learn and come to believe that the fundamentals of the tango are associated with different "styles" of tango. This one is not a simple issue; it IS the biggest obstacle to the tango growing better and faster than it has. So, we have talented people who want to, but cannot dance with each other, because they do not speak the same language, the unified language of the tango. They classify themselves and others as "close-embrace dancers", or "open-embrace dancers", or "nuevo dancers", etc. There is in fact only one tango, and the fundamentals are not style-dependent. This golden principle has been articulated in one form or another by none other than Gustavo Naviera, Julio Balmaceda, Alberto Paz, Hugo Patyn, the late Carlos Gavito, Miriam Larici, and numerous other seasoned, accomplished professionals at the peak of their tango careers. |
| A developed language has a structure. The letters make up the words; the words the phrases; and the phrases the sentences. In the encyclopedic approach, we learn words or sentences and line them up and make some sense, or not. But we cannot speak the language fluently, or appreciate poetry in that language. In a structured language, even when it is spoken simply, the sentences make up the paragraphs, and the paragraphs are usually connected in some meaningful way. Everything, from bottom up, is composed according to some grammatical rules (structure). I can speak one sentence in French with what I am told is an impeccable Parisian accent. So good is my imitation that the Parisians start speaking with me as if I were one of them! That's all, I tell them: no more French from me! I learned that one sentence completely out of context. But if I understood the structure of the language, and within this structure the possibilities for making up sentences that rhyme (musicality), then maybe I can write a poem once a while, and even recite it well if my accent (technique) is good enough. |
| The Structural Approach integrates technique, fundamental musicality, navigation, and improvisation through the imperatives and alternatives that the structure provides. In the Structural Approach to Tango, a lot of the difficulty is removed, because many things start making sense. You learn you do not have to believe something for any other reason than that it makes sense, that "it is logical". All sorts of so-called secrets are demystified when the structure of the tango is understood, and the simplicity of it revealed. If you know the structure of the tango, you can learn the step combinations of other dancers and your favorite teachers easier and faster if that is what you like to do, because you can "read the dance" as Mary Fu put it. You can also create and refine your own combinations, if you like, with confidence and with a sense of intellectual satisfaction if that adds to your enjoyment of the dance. When you see how the structure and the technique are tied together in a logical, meaningful way, then you will start to find the answers to a lot of unanswered or half-answered questions. You'll also then be able to tell the difference between a dancer's individual, personal stylistic preference, and a fundamental requirement that is not tied to one dancer (or teacher) or another's personal way of dancing. You may also be able to appreciate the seemingly absurd expression that a lot of the best tango dancers utter from time to time: when it comes to the structure there are no styles of tango. There is only one tango. The Structural Approach to Tango is in part intended to help dancers understand what it is that they are doing, because when dancers understand what they are doing, they can do it better. Technique, derived from the structure, is very often intimately associated with musicality. As a simple example: If you don't already know it, you will know for example why the fast steps in the giro usually happen where they do happen, and you can use that knowledge to troubleshoot better, and to explore options for interpreting the syncopations in the rhythm of the music. |
"A Structural Approach to Argentine Tango Rooted in the System of Turns"
A systematic study of tango, integrating structure, technique, and fundamental musicality
An intellectually solid method, a skill set, for learning tango,
and learning how to learn more of tango.
Learn new material faster, easier, more thoroughly from any teacher by reading the dance. Discover useful details about what you have already learned. Articulate your dance to others who want to learn what you know, and to your partner so you can progress together faster.
The tango has an identifiable, transparent structure that we can articulate unambiguously with exact choice of words and concepts, and that we use to guide us in learning the dance. This structure is unified with fundamental technique and musicality in a logical way. When you learn these, you start seeing the tango is not a collection of thousands of step combinations and elements.
The results simply put:
Dance better. Enjoy dancing more, sooner. Deepen your understanding of tango. Dance confidently and more compatibly with different partners, and contribute to the growth of good tango dancing no matter where you dance, and regardless of your personal stylistic preferences.
| The global structure of the dance, rooted in a system of turns. The significance of the form of the starting embrace and alignment on the dancefloor as it relates to the global structure of movements in tango. The principle roles of the man and the woman. The only two kinds of steps in tango. The left-turn tendency of the dance. The necessary compensations (to the left-turn tendency) that make the dance more interesting, and more balanced. All illustrated in simple and complex combinations to suit the learning appetite of dancers in different levels of experience: simple giros (turns), turns with enrosques (corkscrews), sacadas (displacements) for man and woman, lapiz (pencil), capturas (captures) and pasadas (passing steps), boleos, ganchos ... Technique (and novel exercises developed by Fardad Michael Serry) as they relate to the global structure of the tango rooted in the system of turns. For men and women. The roles and the forms of hips, torsos, knees, feet, and head alignment. The fundamental musical feature embedded in the structure of the Tango. A direct consequence of the global structure of tango, rooted in a system of turns. This carries over to the entire dance; it is a robust, reliable, fundamental element of the dance to study it, no matter what combination is danced and what other elements are used. How to effect and use changes of the embrace. In contradistinction to "open-embrace" and "closed-embrace", or "traditional embrace" and "nuevo embrace", ... we propose "Changes of the Embrace." The form and orientation of the bodies (man and woman) change in the embrace to suit the fluidity, completeness, and freedom of movement for a more enjoyable, more dynamic way to dance the tango. These changes are logical, and make sense in the context of the global structure of tango rooted in a system of turns. Changes of turn direction. This is not about changing the direction that one faces on the dancefloor; (that is usually called "Change of Front"). We go through the traditional and modern changes of direction with some interesting examples. We explore one of them in some detail for dancing simple yet exhilarating traveling turns, as we do often in vals. How to simplify the learning of new combinations or make your own combinations. A blueprint, a recipe, created by Fardad Michael Serry, to identify the most salient features and transitions of any new combination in the context of the structure of the dance, rooted in a system of turns. Learn new combinations faster, from any teacher, or from other dancers. Create your own combinations within the structure of the tango rooted in the system of turns. Find out what works and what does not, and why. If it even makes sense to try some combinations, and if so, how to refine it so that you enjoy the dance more and so that it looks better. How to troubleshoot intelligently the difficulties and problem areas. The technique, musicality, and structure are intimately related in the structural approach rooted in the system of turns. You will not only develop a deeper understanding of tango, but also start developing a set of intellectual analysis skills you will use to refine and improve your dancing. You will learn to identify the root cause of difficulties and in many cases find the solution to the problems following a logical, organized approach to the different facets of the problem. You will learn how to use an exact, unambiguous language to articulate the steps of any combination in a way that will significantly facilitate exchange of ideas and rapid understanding of others who speak this language. |