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Frequently Asked Questions |
We get occasional questions about the style of Tango
we dance. Below is a list of frequently asked questions and answers.
- What is Milonguero style?
Most Argentine's refer to the tango they do as
Salon, no matter what the differences in movement techniques are used because
they are only differentiating what they see as tango danced socially versus
stage tango- they aren't referring to technique differences.
In North America, it has become more common to refer to the style we dance (a
non rolling, parallel shoulder close embrace, with minimal use of disassociation)
as Milonguero style. It is purely our adopted name for it because it seems to be
the general consensus with others who dance this way. When the style is danced
more upright, some people call it plain 'ole "close embrace" or "Milonguero" and
when there is more shared weight between the partners creating an "A" shape, it
is often called Apilado. Both of these use a parallel connection rather than the
rolling and dissociating "V" shape usually used in what most North American's
refer to as "Salon" style.
I personally consider it a specific subset of
Salon style. We have spent time distilling out or adapting the movements that
would break the heart connection or embrace.
If you don't use disassociation, is it still tango?
Of course it is. All these movements are
encompassed within tango and we do use it a little, just not enough to break the
embrace. We adapt some of the common tango movements like ochos (8's) and giros (turns) so
they don't need to be opened or break the embrace, but we certainly still do
them. We tend to leave out most movements that would break the connection like a
lot of ganchos (leg hooks) or overturned sacadas (leg displacements). These
aren't very social movements anyway as most milongas are too crowded to make use
of them so we concentrate more on the rhythm, smaller leads and micro-movements
that make small space dancing interesting.
I've taken "x amount" of tango before. Where should I start in
your classes?
Our recommendation is to make sure you are
familiar with what we cover in the Introductory courses for this style of tango.
You can have a look at the syllabus
page to see if everything looks familiar and if not, please start with the Intro
courses. The movements we teach are used in the Intermediate classes and you
need to know them. Some of the concepts and movements may not have been taught
in our local area before and so you may not know them even if you have learned
some tango elsewhere. This is why we suggest the Intro classes as the place to
start.
I came with a partner, will I need to rotate partners during classes?
Yes.
Where did you learn to dance this way?
We have done most of our training in this style
in Portland and indeed, this is how most people dance at the (generally crowded)
milongas there. In turn, many of the teachers there spent lots of time learning
and dancing socially in Buenos Aires, and brought these ideas back with them to
Portland. The concepts we teach will work on the biggest and smallest floors-
how's that for useful?!
I can't come every week. Do you have a drop in rate?
Although we think it is more beneficial to try to
be at all the classes, we do have a drop in rate for
Austin classes at Aralyn's. At the Intermediate
level in our Austin classes, the drop in rate is $15 per class if you think you
can only make one or two classes. We really do prefer that if you are taking the
Intro classes, that you attend as many as you can because all the material is
new and each week is different. The rates in Georgetown for both classes are by
the month only for now because we are teaching from a community center which can't
process weekly rates.
I need practice music. Where can I get some?
The website
Todo
Tango is a great resource for discovering Argentine tango artists.
We tend to use a lot of Canaro, Di Sarli and D'Arienzo in the Intro classes.
See our play list page for
direct links to recommended CDs that you can purchase from Amazon.
Try to stay away from Piazolla or Pugliese at the beginning. It's quite
complicated for dancing though pleasant to listen to.
Also, you can also come to the
bi-weekly
practica at RunTex in Georgetown and get your tango dose.
How long does it take before I can go out and dance?
Everyone moves at their own pace and some people
are fine with jumping right in and going out to the milongas, while others
prefer to wait awhile to "get their feet wet". There's no rules about how and
when but we think the sooner you get out and start dancing somehow and
somewhere, the sooner the things you learn will get in to "muscle memory" and
make further learning easier. Attending practicas is also a good way to get some
dancing miles in. The setting is more relaxed and informal than a milonga and
makes a good starting point for a lot of people.
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