Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. In Argentina, Tango is far more than simply a type of social dance that people do. The dance is circumscribed by a self-contained, highly complex culture, which exists within the overall Argentine society, maintaining its own very specific - some might say "entrenched" -- conventions and traditions. For the majority of people in the USA and throughout the world outside Argentina, our entry point into the culture of Tango is the dance. However, as many of us have discovered more and more about Tango over time, some have chosen to embrace not only the dance itself, but many -- if not all -- of the broader aspects of Tango culture.

With this in mind, over the next several Tango Tips, I'd like to discuss some well-established Tango traditions as they exist today among the milongueros of Argentina, and perhaps as they have become -- or in some case have not become -- valued and acceptable modes of behavior for us as well.

At the top of the list for most of us is the dance. When I personally became involved in Tango in 1986, I initially perceived it as an inherently beautiful way for a social dancer to move. I just had to learn this dance!

Tango seemed to me to be a welcome alternative to an American/European "ballroom" tradition, which I felt had lost its way. I felt that over the years, it had become codified, uncreative, and focused almost exclusively on putting money into dance teachers' pockets -- rather than introducing normal people to the joys of simple social dance.

My first exposure to actually learning how to dance Tango, however, was pretty much a disaster. The studio I was working for had hired some of the cast members of "Tango Argentino" -- the seminal Broadway show, which introduced so many people to the world of Tango -- to teach us all how to dance this newly discovered way to move. Because our teachers were themselves performers, they, of course, presented us with what we were used to -- choreographed patterns. I distinctly remember our very famous performer/teacher posing the question as I was trying to maintain a difficult position with my partner: "Was that last step Number 26 or 27?"

Help.

Eventually, I learned (through insightful teacher/practitioners such as Domingo Pugliese, Gustavo Naveira, Daniel Trenner, and Eric Jorrisen) that Tango was improvisational in nature. I also discovered that this unique dance incorporated what to Americans at the time was the alien concept of pure lead/follow rather than our then prevailing ballroom tradition of fixed step patterns. To me, this was -- and remains -- the key, which unlocks the door to Tango. If people take the time to become skilled leaders and followers, Tango opens itself up like a flower. Without lead and follow, it's just another memorized ballroom dance.

More about the dance next week, as I look at how Argentine and American teachers initially approached the teaching of Tango here in the USA during the 1980's and 1990's, and how things gradually changed from there.

See you next week.

 By mastering parada, paradita, and barrida

A special workshop with Fran Chesleigh and Pat Altman

Sunday, April 24, 2016

12:30 -- 3:30 p.m.

Pearl Studios

500 8th Avenue

(between 35th and 36th Streets)

12th Floor, Room 1201

All levels welcome

Parada -- A signature stop in the classic Tango repertoire, often accompanied by a caress of the foot, followed by a wealth of resolutions from simple to complex.

Paradita -- A "small stop" with a touch, a caress or entrada as she closes her feet.

Barrida -- A smooth, often dramatic sweep of the follower's foot.

Sharpen Your Tango Edge is a fast-paced, three-hour workshop, designed to spotlight three of the truly classic elements of the Tango repertoire, take your dance to a new dimension, and bring you closer to becoming a more complete social Tango dancer.

·      Discover the ideal entrances to a perfect parada

·      Build a unique vocabulary of adornments for the paradita

·      Create both static and dynamic barridas

·      Turn the tables with the follower's surprise barrida

With Fran and Pat's Sharpen Your Tango Edge you can now transform your social Tango into the polished, seriously authentic dance you've been working so hard to achieve.

Don’t miss it!

Register online: $35 per person at franchesleigh.com by Saturday, April 23rd

$40 per person at the door on Sunday, April 24^th

Checks and cash also accepted.  No refunds. No exchanges.

• Mary Pagano - Cookies
  
• Judy Assisi - Chocolate
  
• Chris Grapa - Italian Rum Cake
  

• Barbara Lombardi
  
• Mary Pagano
  
• Adrienne Burton
  
• George Ngo
  
• Bill Krukovsky
  
• Bob Brillo
  
• John Barous
  
• Edna Negron
  
• Cathy & Jesse