This will be the curriculum followed at Jewel Lab under the supervision of Assistant TangoSmith Nick during my trip to Europe. (Read about every dance and pastry.)
If you still need to register for the Winter 2014 Practice, to get your KnowledgeBase Pass, click here.
No partner is required for Jewel Lab Tuesdays 7:15- at The Colombian Hotel, 117 Oxford at Crown. If you can’t make it there, you might organize to practice this same curriculum by arrangement with another TangoForge student.
Some general notes:
- Some of you have assigned practice partners. Be sure to prioritize time for each other, and dance with others as well. Please make sure you have one another’s contact details so that you can communicate and make arrangements to practice at some milongas as well!
- In every dance, with every person, both partners should be active in investigating improvisational possibilities. If the mark seems stuck, revels should make suggestions.
- The curriculum below does not include technique. There is no point practicing with bad technique. Where is it? In the KnowledgeBase.
- Nick will not be teaching. You are responsible for reviewing the technique in the KnowledgeBase beforehand (or during the session on a mobile device or on Nick’s computer which will be set up for this). Nick is just there to help when you get stuck and to remind you to keep on track.
- Because this is a practice session, you do not need to arrive on time, however please do communicate with any assigned practice partners about your intentions for the night.
- General three song warm-up for every dancer in every session:
- Walking front, back, and side, checking to be sure you are moving with the correct procedure: flexion, intention/projection, extension of the old base leg through the transfer.
- Walking three directions + changes of foot: both partners together, mark sneakily, mark the revel to change feet without accompanying her.
- All of that in close embrace.
- Revel tech: Point your free leg’s toes and be vigilant that your toes are in contact with the floor throughout your projections. The contact point is the inside edge of your big toe except for the final moment of front extension when your little toes are touching instead.
8 July: Ochos and Giros
- Rectalinear walking in mirror system, mark the revel to change feet, front or back ochos, mark changes foot, rectalinear walking in mirror system.
- Rectalinear walking in mirror system, mark the revel to change feet, ochos, no change of foot, rectalinear walking in threeleg system, ochos!
- Rectalinear walking in mirror system, T-marked single axis giro, walk out onto the rectalinear grid in any system. Repeat.
- Rectalinear walking in any system, ochos, rectalinear walking, giro, rectalinear walking. Repeat.
- Rectalinear walking in any system, ochos, giro, rectalinear walking in any system.
15 July: Voleos Circular (and Linear for those who have studied)
- Rectalinear walking, pause, voleo (just one), rectalinear walking. Repeat.
- Rectalinear walking, ochos, voleo (just one), rectalinear walking. Repeat.
- Rectalinear walking, giro, end with voleo (just one), rectalinear walking. Repeat.
- If you have been using only With voleos, repeat using some contra ones.
- If you have been marking the voleos only with open steps, use crossed steps.
- If you know voleo-linears, alternate between circular and linear ones. Revels pay attention that you are not automatically pivoting after ochos and giros, which will make it impossible to mark a voleo-linear.
22 July: Sacadas and Rebotes
- Play the sacada game. (No embrace.)
- Dance the sacada game (in the embrace, marked). Make every single step a sacada for a whole song.
- Repeat ex. 2, but before some of the sacadas make the same position with a rebote and then make the sacada.
- Repeat ex. 3, but after the rebote, make a different sacada.
- Rectalinear walking + contra rebotes.
- Rectalinear walking, contra rebotes followed by sacadas.
- Rectalinear walking, sacada, voleo (immediately with the next mark’s step after the sacada). Repeat.
29 July: Crosses
- Rectalinear walking with front and back crosses from front and back steps, in mirror and threeleg systems.
- If you have learned crosses from side step, add these. Don’t forget to do them with and without 90 degree pivot.
- Rectalinear walking, ochos, one rectalinear step, cross. Repeat.
- Rectalinear walking, cross, directly into T-marked giro, rectalinear walking.
- Rectalinear walking with ochos, giros, and crosses.
- Rectalinear walking, cross, gancho. Repeat.
5 August: Paradas and Ganchos
- Rectalinear walking with smooth and gentle stops mid-way through any step. Exit continuing in the original direction sometimes and reverse sometimes.
- Rectalinear walking and ochos with smooth and gentle paradas in any step.
- Walking, paradas + sandwichito (practice both mark’s and revel’s sandwich, feet parallel and feet crossed).
- Walking, parada + barrida with both sides of the mark’s foot.
- Waking, parada + a gancho (8 possibilities for the Revel without changing feet…)
12 August: Soltadas
- Rectalinear walking, ochos, soltada Revel’s giro with one-handed or no embrace.
- Rectalinear walking, ochos, soltada from Revel’s front or back ocho.
- Rectalinear walking, sacadas, soltada from sacada, sacada to reestablish embrace.
19 August: Pulpoismos
- Walking with ochos, parada, revel’s front gancho, pass her over for a second one, good connection into walking.
- Walking with ochos, parada, revel’s gancho, mark passes over her leg (may require soltada), good connection into walking.
- Walking with ochos, parada, revel’s gancho, mark moves around her to create a second gancho, good connection into walking.
- Walking with ochos, parada to revel’s front or back ocho, mark octopus-barridas one of her legs to side step (may require soltada).
- Walking with ochos, parada, mark picks up one of her feet into a gancho + #1, 2, or 3…
26 August: Combinations
- Crosses into voleos
- Voleos into sacadas
- Sacadas into ganchos…
- Crosses into sacadas…
- …