October 2004 |
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They say in Argentina the women are not afraid to put their chest on the man. Which means, they never collapse inside themselves. Always keep your lower ribs lifted when you dance. You might feel like you're sticking your bosom out too much at first if you're not used to it, but that's good tango posture (and good posture for life too!). Don't let your shoulders slouch forward - roll them back and down so your chest is open. If you're really busty your face may not touch your partner's face; that's fine, don't round forward to make face contact. Having a large chest won't affect your ability to dance, but your connection might feel a little different that it does for the less-endowed ladies. You can practice your posture by going up to a wall and standing facing it, with your toes 3-4 inches away. Bring your weight forward over the balls of your feet so your chest comes in contact with the wall. Make sure your chest is lifted so your bust is against the wall and the lower ribs either touch the wall or at least are towards the wall. Relax here, relax your lower back muscles so your butt isn't sticking out. Turn your head to the left so your face is not smooshed into the wall and your neck is relaxed. Relax your shoulders back and down. Keep your stomach strong so you don't collapse your belly into the wall. As for comfort level, I think everyone is a little self-conscious of their body as they get used to dancing pressed against someone else, regardless of their size or shape. The more you do it the less you think about it, and for better or worse, pretty soon you'll have no personal bubble left whatsoever... Have fun in Buenos Aires and for
god's sake don't try and hide them sister, they might get you extra
dances! * * *
Dear Maleva,
My question relates to the tango festival classes. I have noticed that in general the classes are divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced. Of course, some classes are broken down even more such as advanced beginner, intermediate-advanced, etc. How does one decide what level he/she should take? Is there a some kind of magic formula or reference guide most tango students can hang a tango shoe on? As you know, most students think they are better than they really are. So, they sign up one level higher than they should and they get frustrated. Others sign up at a lower level than their true skill level resulting in being bored. The number of years or months a student has been dancing or taking classes do not seem to help either. The quality and frequency of classes/milongas are too varied to really assess one's true skill level. Any concrete suggestions as to how to gauge one's true skill level especially for signing up for classes at tango festivals? Thank you. No, unfortunately there is no magic formula and yes, it is hard to know what level class to take sometimes, especially because 'intermediate' with one teacher may be much harder than 'intermediate' with another teacher. Finding your level I think is not so much a question of how long you've taken classes, but more how much you've been out dancing at milongas. The people who have been dancing for a year or less, but go out to milongas and practicas all the time are always much much better than people who've taken classes for years but never go out. If you are unsure then intermediate level is usually a pretty safe middle ground, and people of all levels can usually follow the material reasonably well and get something out of it. How long have you been dancing and is your community large? Do you get a chance to go out a lot? Regardless of what level you are however, I often find the most interesting classes with a teacher are actually the beginner/Adv. Beginner level ones. This is where they usually go over in depth the fundamental technique of their style and philosophy behind it. In more advanced classes the material is usually more step-oriented, which is great too if that's what you want to learn. But you may not be able to do the step well if you don't understand the basic technique they are using for their movement in the step, especially if it the teachers dance a different style of tango than what you are used to.
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There is one exercise that I personally really like for opening the hip joints and stretching them out: Stand on your left leg (either in bare feet or with flat shoes) and grasp the ankle of your right leg with your left hand. Place the right ankle across your left leg just above the knee. Your legs are now in the shape of a number four, like this: l\ Keep your left hand on your right ankle and put your right hand on the right knee that is sticking out at an angle. Slowly bend forward at the waist and at the time bend the left leg that you are standing on, as if you are about to sit in a chair. At this point you should begin to feel the stretch in the hip joint. Go as deep as you can, hold, and then repeat with the other leg. (This is also a great exercise for balance!) I hope this helps! |
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