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: Embrace - Theme: Building a flexible embrace

The embrace is not a fixed position we take and never move from. On the opposite, the embrace is alive - opening, closing, changing shape. In this class, we focused on the americana position - how to get to the americana in as few steps as possible and exciting exits including a beautiful adornment, a change of lane or sacadas.

Summary video



 

Beginners/Improvers: Americana

Top tips

  • Leaders: To indicate the large pivot, you need to dissociate sharply to the right. In tango, the more you dissociate, the more your partner should pivot.
  • Follower: Try and pivot using dissociation, e.g. by turning first your torso and then your hips & feet together.

 

Intermediates & up: Americana and adornment

Top tips

  • Leaders: To suggest the adornment, you will need to bring your axis to the forward edge of your body.
  • Followers: For the adornment, send the right leg first until it gets in contact with the left leg and only then pivot with the two legs togehter.

 

Intermediates & up: Exit with high sacada

Top tips

  • Leaders: To create the high sacada, enter in the follower’s space with your right leg and take a normal step forward. Do not try and push the follower’s leg with your knee; you only need to step forward to create the high sacada.
  • Followers: This is a soft move, so only cross your leg. You might feel like you are sitting on a chair cross-legged (except there is no chair!).

 

Homework

Top tips

  • Beginners & improvers: Practice the lead and following of the americana in practice embrace (or even better what we call “tango wings” to make sure you have correctly understood the movement.
  • Intermediates & up: Practice the lead and following of the adornment at the americana. The adornment itself is not central to this month’s theme, however the lead and ability to move your axis forward and backward as needed is very important.