When we walk with a partner, we become a four-legged animal, with the accompanying gait possibilities.
Animal gaits are categorized according to how many beats the four footfalls make, four-beat (ambling), three-beat (canter and gallop), and two-beat (trot and pace).
Almost always in tango we want a clean two-beat walk, either pace-system (conventionally known as ‘parallel system’, deprecated) in which the mirrored feet move at the same time, or trot-system (conventionally known as ‘cross system’, deprecated) in which the feet move in diagonal pairs.
In tango, we don’t use the three beat gaits. Amble is used, rarely, as a dramatic and very special effect.
Ambling/4-beat gait
“Muybridge horse walking animated” by Eadweard Muybridge, Waugsberg. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Pacing or pace-system /2-beat gait (aka ‘parallel system’, deprecated)
“Muybridge horse pacing animated” by Eadweard Muybridge, Waugsberg. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Trotting or trot-system / 2-beat gait (aka ‘cross system’, deprecated)
“Trot animated” by Waugsberg. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
We arrange the gait geometry in the floor by walking on two, three, or four tracks.
