Rich Ariza’s Music Heats Up Firehouse Dance Floor!

Thanks to the efforts of our good friend, Richard Ariza, we enjoyed an evening of musical bliss last Thursday at the Firehouse. With Sue Dallon away for the week, Terri Lopez and Steve Turi hosted festivities with well-seasoned expertise. And, of course, Richard kept us happily dancing up a storm all night long. Sue returns this week as we kick up yet another spectacular evening of Tango. Why don’t you grab your dance shoes, and join us for all the fun!

The Turi Report

Nina, Pearl, Barbara, Tsipoyra and, of course, Terri were the angels who

magically kept the Firehouse glow burning brightly — and neatly — all evening long. Their quiet but efficient efforts insured that it was a great time for all of us. Thank you ladies!

—   Steve

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. During our last two Tango Tips, we’ve been discussing the question of how large or small an individual social Tango step should be. This, of course, is one of the most frequently asked questions among students at every skill level.

Last week, I described an exercise, which I usually refer to as the “step and slide” technique. Just to recap, this technique involves each of the two partners extending their working legs along the dance floor as they move their upper bodies through space, using what I call a “natural extension” — which means one that is comfortable without stretching too far. At the end of this extension, the upper bodies of each partner continue to move, as they slide their feet along the floor a few inches more before committing their weight in order to finish the step in balance.

You’ll remember that we listed four distinct moments in the dance, during which this technique can be used:

·      Side steps

·      Forward steps

·      Backward steps

·      Forward and backward ochos

In our last Tip, we talked about how this technique can be brought to bear during side steps. Today, I’m going to focus on the way our step-and-slide technique can be used by both the leader and the follower, when executing forward steps.

Today, we’ll discuss the way to move forward by yourself. (This description will apply to both leaders and followers.) Let’s start with a forward movement, using your left foot. As with moving to the side, you’re going to begin by initiating the movement with your upper body and your leg at the same time. As you begin to move, don’t pick your foot up off the floor. Instead, gently slide the ball of your left foot forward along the floor until you reach the end of what we’ll call your “natural” extension. At this point, continue your upper body moving forward, and slide another two to three inches before ultimately allowing yourself to commit the weight of your foot to the floor. After committing your weight, close your right foot to your left very slowly, bringing yourself into quiet balance.

This will be the conclusion of your forward step. As with learning to move to the side, it’s very important to practice this alone before attempting it with a partner. If you remember my recommendation about practicing your side step, 500 times should do the trick — assuming, of course, that you execute the movement under the expert guidance of your teacher. Trying this on your own can be very risky in that it’s quite easy to develop bad habits, which, once formed, can often be very difficult to break.

Next week, we’ll talk about how to move, using the back step. Essentially, your technique will be the same as it was for the forward step — with a couple of significant exceptions.

Stay tuned.

Recognizing that people have lots of things they want to do during the summer, we’ve responded to your needs with our special Summer Schedule! We’ve now combined our two Tango classes into one for Mondays, and the same for our American Social Dance classes, which will now move to Monday as well.

Bottom line: Monday is now your night to enjoy a fun-filled evening of dance with us at our New York teaching location, Studios 353, 353 West 48th Street (between 8^th and Ninth Avenues), 2^nd floor, in Manhattan. Tango starts at 7:30 p.m., followed immediately by American Social Dance at 8:30 pm. There’s always plenty of room for parking during these early evening hours, so come join us, and get ready to have a ball!