We dance what we call “extreme tango”. We take the movements of the 1940s to their physical and improvisation limit, and when we perform we do not know the music in advance, so we take improvisation to the extreme. In order to touch his maximum creativity, the mark needs two things: {1} he needs to give up the idea of perfect control and be willing to risk, to fail, to fall. {2] he needs a partner he can rely on. If you are dealing with a baby or your grandmother, or someone who is interrupting you all the time, it’s not possible to be creative. A partner is someone who is paying attention, who knows what’s going, and who is ready to support you in an intelligent way.
Instead of trusting the mark to be in control, both partners put their trust in tango.
We rely on three tango tools for connection and communication.
Tool 1: What is tango?
The mark relies on the revel to know what is tango, and in the case of confusion, or
change of embrace, she will continue on a pathway who is tango (not salsa, rock n roll, contact improv, disco… )
1: Crisis exercise: While dancing, we call out “crisis”. The mark drops the
embrace, and the revel continues dancing *in single time* on one of three pathways: circle/
giro, side to side/
ochos, or staying on a point,
voleos. She keeps her movements predictable so the mark knows where she will be and what she can do next. She should not stop moving, anticipating his readiness. This breaks the flow of predictability.
Tool 2: We are always ready to support the partner physically
2: Falling exercise: One partner falls (a little, not abruptly, showing the direction). The receiving partner puts their ass on the line. Both partners move their hands as necessary to get support.
3. Dancing exercise: While dancing, we call out “revel falls” or “mark falls”. The named dancer can fall toward or away from their partner. After establishing support, stabilize, and then take your time to work through the weight to the next movement.
Tool 3: Tango touch
There are many kinds of touch. Tango touch is very specific. With tango touch, the revel stabilizes her
base leg and
arch, and sends her
free leg projecting in the direction the mark indicates. This can be done with any physical contact on any part of the body.
4. Stationary exercise. The partners establish an unconventional embrace. Now the mark explores which directions it’s possible to show with this form of contact.
5. Dancing exercise. We call out “revel changes the embrace” or “mark changes the embrace”. From each new position, the mark feels out what is possible to communicate. The revel gives attention to the next projection in this direction.
When we use these three tools, the embrace becomes free for expressing feelings and the music.
