Hi All,
Over the years, I've heard - from multiple independent sources - that the
tango dancers in Portland dance at a higher level than Seattle dancers.
Although I think the Seattle scene is warmer, friendlier, and has a lot to
offer in the way of talent, I'm inclined to agree with the praises of the skill
level of the Portland milongueros and milongueras.
One notable difference is that advanced Portland dancers have regained
thefourth dimension in their dancing. By this I mean they not only move
smoothly forwards and backwards, with side-steps, and in time with the
music, but they ALSO make appropriate use of up and down motion in
tango.
What's that you say, Max? Up and down motion in tango?!? Is that
even allowed!?! But I thought....
When we begin to dance tango, we are told to remove the bounce from
our step, to take out extraneous hip movements, and to walk smoothly
but naturally, keeping our head and shoulders at the same level. This
is an important stage in learning, but also limits one's tango repertoire
to linear and circular movements that are flat. Once we have learned to
control our walking and pivoting movements so that we are no longer
accidentally raising or lowering our frame, we can begin to add the
vertical dimension back into our dance in an intentional way.
For the next three weeks, the theme for the Source/Kepler Saturday
Practica will be "Adding the Fourth Dimension Back into your Tango."
Saturday, June 19th - Unusual turns and resolutions. Weight-splitting
in traditional and nuevo tango.
Saturday, June 26th - Follower suspension - When and How to Use it to
the advantage of both partners.
Saturday, July 3rd - Adding Cadencia to the Caminita - Using phrasing,
elasticity, and styling to make your walk talk the talk.
Come to dance, experiment, share, and learn. Together we can raise
the level of dancing in our community to make Seattle the new tango
capital for the west coast. :)
Saturdays, 4-7 PM
Civetta Dance Center
124 N 103rd St, Seattle
4-5 PM Special topics lab or Intro series
(This week is Week 2 of Fundamentals of Tango)
5-7 PM Open practica with Tango Games appropriate for the theme
of the week.
$12/class or lab, includes the practica.
$8 practica only.
Visit http://dancekepler.com/practica/tango.html for more info.
I look forward to seeing you on Saturday,
*Max*
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DanceKepler Productions
425-522-2481
http://www.dancekepler.com
queerseattletango.com