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: Size - Theme: Asynchronicity

Asynchronicity is when both partners are stepping at different times, let's say one on the beat and the other on the half beat. These is great to add some energy and a certain element of surprise to your dancing.

Summary video



 

Beginners & improvers: Salida cruzada

Top tips

  • Leaders: At the salida cruzada, you need to change weight at the side step and not at the follower’s cross like for the salida in parallel system. The idea is to create a soft cross, where you keep your feet apart and lead the cross with the torso. You don’t collect your feet at the cross, you just pass by neutral and then step as you lead your partner out of the cross.
  • Followers: This cross is harder to lead than the cross in parallel system so the lead might be softer than what you’re used to so you need to develop a 6th sense to detect the lead for the cross

 

Intermediates: “Chacha” adornment at the cross and the forward ocho

Top tips

  • Leaders: If you can make your partner cross at 6 or 7 so that she can hit the musical adornment at the end of the phrase with her adornment, she’ll probably love you forever for that! Try it! 🙂
  • Followers: For this adornment, you need to be really quick in your changes of weight, otherwise you might be caught on the wrong foot.

 

Intermediates: Forced cross to the left

Top tips

  • Leaders: To lead this step, you need to create a “domino” effect. Your left leg should back cross deep enough so that your front leg bends, hence pushing the follower’s leg and making her cross. This is a “high” sacada, e.g. at thigh level.
  • Followers: This is a rather wide cross, so please try and keep the big toe of your back leg on the floor!

 

Intermediates: Little “wriggle” step backwards

Top tips

  • Leaders: Keep opening your shoulder to the right to make the follower go forward.
  • Followers: Keep your knees together.

 

Homework

Top tips

  • Leaders: When we transfer our axis in tango, we need to make it as clear as possible so that our partner can feel the change of weight and react. When you start playing with asynchronicity, often you need to change of weight without your partner feeling that you are doing so so that she doesn’t change her weight with you. If you lift her with the embrace as you change your weight, it definitely helps. Another tip is, instead of using the normal technique, try and change of weight “under you”, keeping your axis in the middle.
  • Followers: Try and apply the technique described above to the adornment in the cross; this is the only way to change your weight fast enough and it is also better so that your partner doesn’t feel your changed of weight.

See you soon on the dancefloor,

Nati y Bruno