Adorno
An adorno is an adornment of a movement, like a decoration, made with the free leg. Both Marks and Revels adorn their movements. Revels’ adornos include a large range of gestures, many of which can be marked. But we will use the term adorno for what is more precisely an “unmarked adorno”. Since your free […]
Cross
Disambiguation Cross-system is deprecated in favor of trot-system. Some people use the term ‘front cross’ to refer to a front ocho or other situations where a front step presents crossed legs to the partner (and likewise ‘back cross’). To avoid confusion, we use ocho and describe crossed steps without pivot according to gait and track. We reserve […]
Free leg
I have danced with many revels who have beautiful feet but feel like bricks or are inattentive, and this is why I treat the free leg’s aesthetic as the final refinement of an active dancing body. The revel’s beauty comes from her arc. Her free leg belongs to the mark. Refining the aesthetic of the […]
Intention
Intention is always the very first part of the next movement. To create intention we prepare our bodies for a new direction and communicate about that with the partner, without going there yet! The relation with the partner, through the arch of connection, helps us to sense and make micro adjustments during this moment. If […]
Ocho cortado
Ocho cortado is a popular cross from side step with a distinctive 90-degree pivot. Procedure The partners pause momentarily in any side step. Then the Mark repositions the arch to trot-system, meaning that he transfers his weight to one foot and, instead of bringing the Revel with him to the mirrored foot, he directs the […]
Project
To create a movement, we make two sequential operations: First, the mark shows intention toward a direction, and the revel prepares her body by [1] adjusting her arc and [2] beginning to extend her free leg in accord. This dual preparation is called projection. Second, the movement is completed. If the movement is a step, the mark moves […]
Sacada
Sacadas are a beautiful and dynamic tango movement. Your next step can always be a sacada and you can dance a whole song in which every step is a sacada and it could be wonderful. Sacada is a displacement. One dancer enters the other’s step, arriving to the place their partner just departed. Most sacadas are […]
Second projection
Normal steps have two projections, one at the beginning, and the second one at the end of the step. Once the old base leg has fully extended, it will be free of weight, it will become the new free leg and it will extend toward its former position. This is the second projection. The newly-freed old base […]
Voleo Circular
A voleo is a special effect in which the Revel’s projection is maximized into the air. Voleo = projection + power. If it’s a front projection, you get a front circular voleo. If it’s a back projection, you get a back circular voleo. The power comes from co-contraction. The mark creates co-contraction and the revel’s body mirrors it. The […]
Voleo Linear
Linear voleos maximize the extension of the revel’s projection without pivot, creating an arc in the vertical plane, but not the horizontal plane (voleo circular). There are only two circular voleos (front and back) but there are three linear voleos (front, back, and side) Voleo lineal back is an arc that returns. Front and side voleo […]
Walk
This entry discusses continuous motion/consecutive steps in one direction. Be sure to check steps for all the technique needed to make just one step in the various directions. Argentine Tango is, famously, a “walking dance”. Walking is highly refined, and more subtle and demanding than showy moves. Proper execution of a gancho can be taught […]
Wrap
A wrap (deprecated) is a front gancho.
