There are those who say that “in TANGO everything is already invented” and others who claim that “TANGO is infinite”.
I think it is necessary to answer another question before:
What is a Tango Step?
There may be several answers, the most common are:
- CHOREOGRAPHIC SEQUENCE sufficiently recognized to have a particular name *.
- COMBINATION OF MOVEMENTS between the two dancers that is sufficiently recognized to have a particular name *.
- MOVEMENT made by one of the two dancers that make up the Tango couple.
* The first and second cases are very similar, the difference is the amount of movements that each one involves.
CHOREOGRAPHIC SEQUENCE:
Usually includes two or more movements by the two people who are dancing, we could include “steps” such as:
- The basic or salida básica (crossed or parallel)
- The salida del 40
- The giro
- The medio giro
- The medialuna
- The calesita
- etc.
COMBINATION OF MOVEMENTS:
It usually includes a movement of one or both members of the couple, we could include “steps” such as:
- Sacada
- Parada
- Pasada
- Sanguchito, mordida
- Americana
- etc.
MOVEMENT:
It is a movement of only one of the two members, but the reference of the other member is needed to give it a name. For this case we only have 4 movements:
- Open Step
- Front Cross
- Back Cross
- Pivot
The 4 basic movements are the elements from which the combinations and choreographic sequences for dancing Tango are built.
With only 4 movements you might think that everything is already invented, but dance is not digital, it is analog.
There are many ways to make an open step, a cross or a pivot, playing with characteristics such as length, speed, direction, interruptions, densities, etc.
Then, how many tango steps are out there?
There are 4 basic movements, but the number of combinations, qualities and effects with which they can be danced are infinite.
For those who are just starting, do not worry, it is most likely that in the first Tango classes you will not start with long or advanced choreographic sequences, only with the simplest ones, generally they start in the order that I presented, simple choreography, combinations and finally movements.
It is similar to the process of sanding a wood, you start with the coarsest grain, and little by little you go to the finest.
You can find great teachers who choose a different order of teaching, they are few but if you find them, make the most of them since they are difficult to find and it is always good to add variety in the way of experience.
As social TANGO is an improvisational dance, we can find lot more choreography and combinations with no name than those that have it.
This is the case of the majority of sequences that we create to share on our YouTube channel: El pasito de los Miércoles where we explain each movement that we use at all times.
The sense of each movement is also detailed, taking into account that each movement is part of a turn, and this turn has a turning sense. Do you know the GIRO CODE?
For the details that make it possible to dance and enjoy the proposed sequences we have La Clase de El Pasito online via ZOOM.
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This article was intended to open discussion and share our ideas, experiences and research at the moment of writing it.
It’s a great exercise to write down ideas and thoughts, revisiting ideas, choosing the right words, keep it consistent and clear so everybody can understand and get something from it, even those ideas you think are totally “digested” already.
Will we continue to think the same in the future? We won’t know until that future arrives and we can compare it.
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