Just another night in Tango heaven!

We did it again, folks! Last Thursday was another packed house at Firehouse Tango. With Sue Dallon away for the week on her trip, we enjoyed an evening of spectacular music courtesy of Felix Pacheco. A big thank you goes out to Terri Lopez and Steve Turi for running the show, and keeping everybody as happy as, well, Tango dancers! Speaking of which, the dancing was great; the food, wine, and good fellowship were at their peak; we had quite a few newcomers joining the festivities. And we welcomed Tibor back from his vacation. What could be better? Come on by next week and join the fun. For one week only, we’ll be getting together at the Twin Door Tavern (formerly the Maywood Inn). We’d love to see you there.

The Turi Report

Firehouse helpers- Yay team!

First of all thanks to you for clearing your dishes and glasses. That goes a long way to make our weekly affair work so well. Once again the indispensable team, led by Terri,

leapt into action and left the hall spiffy and sparkling!

Thanks and praise go to:

Steve M

Edna N

Jessie B

Rafael

Hilda

Barbara L

Tsipoyra

and, of course, our new guy,

Herb K

Maybe they were inspired by Felix’s wonderful tandas. Maybe they were energized by Flo’s delicious and irresistible trifle. Either way they cleaned up with zest and elan.

Thank you all for all you do.

n  Steve

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Today, we're going to continue talking about checklists. Have you been trying to incorporate the two checklists I've offered so far to help you prepare to dance Tango? "Me at rest," and "Me in motion"? Remember that these checklists are designed to offer you a clear-cut, practical mind set in getting ready to dance -- as opposed to a largely unconscious state of "who-am-I-and-what-am-I-doing-here."

In both social and what we'll call "stage" Tango, a couple attempt to execute often highly complex movements and sequences. This process is relatively easy -- or at least straightforward -- in choreographed dancing, where the focus is on consummate athleticism plus the ability to remember what one is supposed to be doing from one element to the next. In the social dance, however, the couple is challenged to accomplish this in a completelyimprovised way. The leader actually makes it all up as he goes along, using nothing more than the lead/follow mechanism in order to accurately and comfortably convey his intentions to the follower through the dance embrace.

With this in mind, we're now going talk about our third checklist, which I call "Us at rest." In this checklist, we bring leader and follower together, concentrating on el abrazo del tango (the Tango embrace). This is what is often referred to as the dance connection, the crucial vehicle through which the leader and follower interact, when dancing Tango. A well-formed embrace provides the foundation for a dance, which enhances the partnership, offering the best chance that things will go well. A badly formed embrace virtually ensures the fact that the dance will be fraught with difficulty from start to finish.

What, then, are the components of an appropriate embrace for social Tango? I'm going to break them down into three areas of concentration:

1.     Posture

2.     Balance

3.     Lightness

Posture

In our very first checklist, we talked about developing the conscious habit of creating good, upright posture by oneself. Now, as leader and follower bring themselves together, this becomes more important than ever. Posture is an essential component of balance (which we'll talk about momentarily). The ability to stand on our own -- chest elevated, feet together at the heels, legs relaxed at the knees, shoulders comfortably back and down -- sets the stage for a successful dance. Compromised posture, on the other hand, makes things very difficult, if not impossible.

Balance

If a follower forms her half of the Tango embrace by leaning on me in any way, I know in advance that our dance is going to be extremely uncomfortable, if not a complete disaster. There was a time, when I'd say to myself, "Oh well, what the hell, I'll do the best I can with this unwanted weight attached to my body." Not anymore. These days, I release the embrace, and ask politely whether my partner might consider balancing on her own. I'm willing to claim advanced age, infirmity, weakness, fear of intimacy -- whatever it takes to unload the unwanted baggage. If she tells me something like "This is the way you're supposed to dance Tango," or "All the really good dancers create the connection this way," I feign illness -- apoplexy works well -- and excuse myself from further entanglement.

Leaning inappropriately on one's partner has become chronic -- sort of like the black plague -- among well meaning, but largely uninformed -- dancers today. It seems to have started out as a misinterpretation of what competent teachers sometimes refer to as "forward poise." This is a conscious decision in which both leader and follower shift their weight slightly forward toward the balls of their feet -- rather than parking themselves clumsily back on their heels. Unfortunately, the impression this may convey to the unschooled eye is that people are supposed to form the dance connection in Tango by thrusting their chests upon one another, with the follower wrapping her left arm heavily around the leader's neck and hanging on for dear life.

I teach my students very specifically not to engage in this kind of behavior. If they pick up the habit elsewhere (and there's plenty of opportunity to do so), I beg them (often on my hands and knees) not to do it while they're in my class. I know all their friends do it: I know all their peers are constantly pushing them to do it; I know I'm swimming upstream against today's very prevalent tide -- but, but, but .... Oh well, you get the idea, right?

Lightness

If I'm able to get my students to stand up straight, if I'm able to convince them not to pile themselves up on top of one another, when forming the embrace, they're almost ready to start dancing. What remains is to create the actual hands-on connection. I'm not going to get into the details of the embrace right now -- I put my hands here, you put your hands there. These individual details are of great importance, of course, and I've discussed them at great length elsewhere during our Tango Tips. What I want to draw your attention to today is the more general idea of infusing the physical connection with an overall sense of gentleness.

As a leader, it's very important that you avoid subjecting your follower to the harshness of a vice-like grip -- as if she were some kind of wild animal you had to control. Try to keep in mind that it's not your arms that do the leading, it's the movement of your torso. Think of your arms encircling her as window dressing for the cameras. By the same token, as a follower, try not to grab your partner's hand tightly for stability or balance. Your individual balance is a function of your own inner core. And don't plant your left arm heavily on his arm, shoulder, or neck. This will undoubtedly compromise his ability to lead you properly, and at the same time maintain his own balance.

Next week, we're going to take a look at our fourth and final checklist, "Us in motion." This will be where we put everything we've discussed to date into a cohesive game plan, which will enable us to interact with a partner on the dance floor in a highly conscious, very precise, a very comfortable way. See you then.

Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dardo Galletto Studios

Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street (between 6^th and 7^th Avenues), 11^th floor; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) Pat and I will both be on hand to answer any questions you may have about your dancing, and to help you with material you're working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” tango move each week! If you’d like a private lesson, you can visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com Join us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/franchesleighllc

Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street (between 6^th and 7^th Avenues), 11^th floor; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) Pat and I will both be on hand to answer any questions you may have about your dancing, and to help you with material you're working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” tango move each week! If you’d like a private lesson, you can visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com Join us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/franchesleighllc