Opposite Tension: Demystifying Tango’s Silent Signals

👉This episode is about three realisations that helped me understand:
1) how we communicate our free-leg position,
2) how elegant lines are created and
3) how we connect different body parts so that our partner can get ‘access’ to them during the dance.

 

For more tango, check this: thecurioustanguero.com/argentinetango 

👉A huge 'Thank you' to Sara Grdan and Ivan Terrazas for teaching me most of the things you are about to read or hear. They deserve all credit for whatever makes sense. Everything that doesn't make sense, comes from my own misunderstanding.

 

Transcription:

Many times, when in classes, I heard the following phrases from teachers:

‘You have to communicate to your partner where your free leg is.’

‘You have to stop controlling your free leg, and let your partner control it.’

‘Straighten your back leg, you let it always relax and pointing in the wrong direction.’

‘I can’t feel where your body is.’

 

And many more, around similar topics.

 

When I hear statements like these that sound like instructions, I try to understand if they are actually instructions or they just ask for a final result without providing a way to get there.

 

Well, for me, all the above are NOT instructions on what to do, but on what result they expect.

 

This email is about three realisations that helped me understand:

1) how we communicate our free-leg position,
2) how elegant lines are created and
3) how we connect different body parts so that our partner can get ‘access’ to them during the dance.

 

Let’s start with the third one:

 

Connecting different parts of our body to allow our partner to either understand or control them.

 

Most people believe that dissociation is the tool we use to stay in front of our partners.

We rotate our chest so that we can continue looking at our partner during a giro, even though our feet might move toward different directions for example.

But for me, this is not the most important function of dissociation.

When you rotate your upper body in respect to the lower body, a set of muscles and tendons are engaged.

This engagement creates a stronger connection between two different parts of your body.

This muscle tension, where two different parts of your body seem to be pushing toward a different direction is a tool to connect those two parts.

And once that connection is achieved, you partner can use one part of your body to communicate to the other.

 

If you start thinking of dissociation not only in terms of ‘opposite rotation’ but in terms of ‘opposite direction that creates tension’ you might start noticing that it exists everywhere:

 

When your teachers tell you that the bottom part of the body needs to push toward the earth while the upper part goes to the sky? 

…You are creating this tension that connects the two parts of the body.

 

When your teachers tell you to push down your shoulderblades while you elongate your neck toward the sky?

…You are creating this tension that connects the two parts of the body.

 

‘Opposite’ tension creates connection.

 

I have come to perceive all these ways to create tension by expanding toward opposite directions as ‘dissociation’.

 

Whenever I want to create a clear connection between two parts of my body, a create that tension.

 

To sum up:

Dissociation is a way to create tension, and that tension connects two parts of your body.

Starting considering using dissociation not in a limited way (communicating a pivot, staying in front of my partner) but as a connector of different body parts.

 

Alright, second point:

 

Communicating where the free leg is

 

With some followers (or leaders) it is incredibly easy to understand where their free leg is and how to control it. Let’s call the ‘A’ dancers.

And that allows advanced dancers to stop a movement in the middle, to create elegant shapes and adornos, to control the size of a step, etc.

But with some other dancers this seems simply impossible.

For me, the main difference is this:

The ‘A’ dancers create the motion of the free leg by pushing from the base leg.

If you don’t know how to do that in side, back, forward, side rotated, back rotated, and forward rotated steps, I highly advise you to find someone who can teach you.

To give you a simple example, try to take a side step to the left.

If you start the movement of the left free leg by engaging the left leg’s muscles, then you are not pushing from the base leg.

A functional push from the right leg would work something like this:

1. Move your weight on the outside part of the right foot (your base) having clear contact on the whole surface of the foot, from toes to heel. That moves your axis to the opposite direction than the one you want to step towards.
2. Transfer your weight to the inside part of the right foot and start pushing the floor toward the right.
3. This will move your axis toward the left.
4. Your free left leg will move relaxed under your axis to step on the left, right under your axis, so that you arrive in a position of balance.

Now, there are a lot of things that need to be explained for such a movement, but we won’t get into that here.

What’s important is to understand this:

The action of pushing with the base leg the floor has the goal to move your axis.

The free leg only moves as a natural consequence of it being under your axis.

If you are able to do that, then your partner will know exactly where your free leg is, because they can feel where your axis is moving.

Now they know where your free leg is.

 

The above analysis will give you a clear understanding on why some times it is easy to understand where a follower’s leg is and sometimes not: 

It’s because of their ability to create movement from their base leg.

If you have a practice buddy, I highly recommend practising pushing with the base leg and seeing how that affects your communication.

 

And since we are at the topic of pushing with the base leg:

 

The origin of elegant lines.

When you start focusing on pushing with your base leg, you are forced to articulate your ankle.

If you have a mirror try this:

Do the side step and focus on pushing with your base leg for as much as possible, till the very last moment. 

You might notice that your base leg creates a beautiful line and looks longer.

This is why most of the professional dancers look elegant:

NOT because they try to do nice long steps.

But because they focus on pushing with the base leg, articulating the ankle.

 

Summary:

To create a connection between two different body parts, create a dissociation, an opposition.

To create clarity on where your free leg is, push your axis with your base leg, and let the free leg’s movement be a consequence of the axis movement.

To create elegant lines, focus on pushing with your base leg.

 

If you enjoyed what you learned in this episode, don’t keep it to yourself. The best thing you can do is to share it with your friends. That’s what social media and messaging apps are for. You’ll be helping them and me.

The second best thing you can do is to visit thecurioustanguero.com/argentinetango There you’ll find a list of free and paid resources to help you improve and enjoy your tango. I am updating that webpage often with new stuff so make sure to re-visit it every once in a while. thecurioustanguero.com/argentinetango