Embedded Files
Teaching Argentine Tango was not something that was on my grand plan. I organise milongas such as Mayfair Milonga, Tango Shelter, Hyde Park Milonga and Osterley House Tango coming up in May 2020 and DJ at them and at other milongas such as Mi Refugio and Tango Bridge as a guest DJ. But I have taught an MBA course and also on wine tasting and spoken at and chaired conferences. And as a bit of entertainment to the Hispanic Societies I taught tango to a joint group of Eton College and St Mary’s Ascot.
Tango Shelter every year is raising an increasing amount of money and the Parish Priest at the London Jesuit Centre at Farm Street Church in London’s Mayfair asked me to deliver a beginners’ tango course to get people in the parish to participate. So I set up an intensive programme of two 3 hour sessions with an hour's practica at the end.
As a DJ I naturally highlighted The Music. I said it is far more important to interpret the music than to try and replicate off-the-shelf steps and sequences.
To get the audience of five women and one man amused and inspired I started off with this mash-up I created with music by Biagi and video of John Travolta.
For more inspiration and to show them a packed milonga of happy people featuring more lovely music I played this video of a Vals in Hyde Park’s Bandstand
OK then time to start moving. But this is a musicality based class. And as several of them had danced Salsa beforehand I began with a Milonga. Yes Milonga before Tango and Vals.
I asked then to line up around the pista in a single file and I asked them to just move to the music. Anything at all that the music suggested to them would be fine.
I played Morena by Esteban Morgado.
I then started with the very basics of posture, change of weight, side and forward steps, dissociation, leading and following and walking in Tango.
Far too many experienced tango dancers try and dance a Milonga as a fast tango and get hopelessly tied up. So I thought why not start with Milonga with no fear of them getting fixated on Tango steps.
Before the Milonga steps I showed them how ordinary people, not professionals, danced it and we went back to the cinema section of the dance hall and I played this video.
Now for some basic Milonga steps with Morena as the music. I kept repeating “Don’t try and replicate what I am doing. Just relax and do more or less what I am doing. It will be fine. Merengue without the hips.”
Still no leading or following while dancing the Milonga. Just dancing in lines from one end of the room to the other and back again.
Back to the cinema for watching Candombe-Milonga with music by Gavioli.
We went back to the dancing area had a go at dancing to one Candombe - Gavioli’s Tamboriles.
Next I showed Foxtrot on the screen with music by Rodriguez.
I said just throw in the Milonga steps I showed them and anything that fits the music.
“Don’t worry about copying me. I am not going to teach 8-step or 16-step sequences to memorise and replicate.”
We danced to a Foxtrot - La Colegiala by Rodriguez.
Now after Milonga, Candombe and Foxtrot we went back to Tango.
Back to single file all around the pista.
Just move to this Tango by Biagi.
Back to the cinema and I played a Biagi tanda from Mayfair Milonga to see what ordinary people make of this music.
So with some idea of what Tangueros do ... I went to the normal start of a beginners’ tango course with posture, balanceo, weight changes, side steps, forward and backward steps, solo walking and then leading and following.
Then the cross.
Then Forward Ochos, Backward Ochos and Travelling Ochos.
Then Giros in a straight line - I believe some call it a Grapevine but I am not sure about that.
Then Giros.
Back to the cinema and I played some segments from an excellent online course.
Here is one of the videos
They are good but inevitably structured around 8-steps sequences. I definitely did not play the video on the dreaded “Basic 8”.
That’s fine for Ballroom Tango but inappropriate for an improvised dance that Argentine Tango is.
Back to the dance floor and I played some Biagi to dance to in couples - bearing in mind that there were 5 women and 1 bloke.
Then I played a song by Salamanca for them to move to. Once again in single file around the pista. Just to express themselves as they see fit.
Bomboncito by Salamanca of course.
Followed by a showing of a Tanda of Salamanca including Bomboncito just played.
Back to the dance floor in couples to dance Tango to Bomboncito. Let’s get them hooked on it.
Time for a Vals. They had seen a video of Canaro’s Dolores in Hyde Park at the beginning of the course. So again single file and feel the music.
We didn’t do any Vals dancing.
But I showed them a video of a Vals Tanda by Canaro.
All through the course illustrated by the videos of tandas I talked about Cortinas, Mirada-Cabeceo, the line of dance and commented on what was going on.
I then wrapped the course showing them how to do the Parada, Sandwich and Arrastre.
I repeated on screen with the appropriate elements from the video course.
The course was followed by an hour’s practica. Inevtiably perhaps they wanted to be shown how to do Ganchos. And Calesitas. And Planeos ...
There were five women and one man on the course. The man will take another several months to be ready for a Milonga. He looked like a gawky disaster for the first hour. But he will achieve a basic level of functionality much quicker than me. It took me nearly a year to go to my second Milonga. Two of the women I dare say are Milonga ready.
It was fun.
Warren Edwardes, Tango Organiser, Host, Tango DJ .... and Teacher
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