Every week, you’ll find on our blog class notes and a summary video from our Wednesday and Sunday tango group classes.
These video and notes are meant to help our students remember what they’ve done in class.
Dimension: Interactions - Theme: Arrastre
Arrastres (foot sweep) are a tango classic. They're sensual, musical and ideal to add an element of surprise to your dancing. In this class, we saw a couple of variants, including a very nice arrastre from the forward ocho and another more challenging example from the giro.
Summary video
Beginners & improvers: Arrastre in line
Top tips
- Leaders: After placing your foot in between the follower’s, you’ll need to gently pivot on the right leg. This will create the right position for you to sweep with your quad muscles.
- Followers: In this move, you need to bend your leg slightly when coming to neutral position.
Intermediates: Arrastre from forward ocho
Top tips
- Leaders: Make sure you catch your partner half way through her transfer her weight to produce the rebound / arrastre.
- Followers: Remember that on the beat, you should always be with your weight on both feet, and not with your weight completely on your new supporting leg. If you transfer your weight too quickly, it will be really difficult for the leader to produce any arrastre.
Intermediates: Arrastre from giro
Top tips
- Leaders: You need to dissociate and send your hips ahead of your torso to be in the right position for the arrastre.
- Followers: Try and keep your pace steady throughout the giro and your steps always the same length.
Homework
Top tips
- Both: Arrastres are slightly strange steps and if not executed correctly, they can make you look like Frankenstein! Practise any or all of these arrastres on your own, practising the details, e.g. foot pointed, leg straight at the beginning, then bent, then straight again. Do not keep your leg straight all the time or you will end up looking like you’re limping.
See you soon on the dancefloor,
Nati y Bruno
