Here's something great to practice to D'Arienzo, and then, apply it to any faster music .... One day, I was commenting, to my partner, that Lorena, of The Osvaldo Zotto & Lorena instructional tapes, was such a phenominal dancer. She said, "Oh, no, no! Go back and look closer. It is him!" So, I did and here is the most incredible thing that I learned and still use to this day: Osvaldo stops Lorena's back ochos in three places. Say she is doing a back ocho, pivoting on her right foot. He stops her (1) with her left side facing him, (2) with Lorena directly facing him and (3) with her right side facing him. Okay, the third one is easy. That is part of the back boleo. However, it can also be part of just an abrupt stop. Or, it can be a slow stop. Or, you can lower her body so that her left leg stretches out straight behind her. Or, you can stop her and lean her toward you!!!!!! How about when the music is just so darn fast and ochos are difficult or rushed? Feel the beat? Is it there during one of the first two positions? Good! Great! Use them! Do we HAVE to do things the same all the time? When I realized that there are three places to stop the follower, in her back ocho, my musicality had a new-found freedom! And, it is powerful! Back to the embellishments ... I always preferred that my partner teach embellishments. It is not my place. But, note this (and, please, expand on it!). When you stop your follower at the entrance to the back ocho, in this case, with her left shoulder facing you, you can lead her foot to hook in front of her knee. You can lead her foot to have time to do a small embellishment, in place, tapping, for example. You can settle her and raise her hand, signalling her to raise her knee. You can leave her room to do a linear boleo behind her and to your right. When you stop your follower facing you, IT IS JUST PLANE FUN! There she is, face-to-face with you. I get goose-bumps just writing about it. She KNOWS your mind is going. She knows that you know that she is a little shocked. "Ooh! THIS is different!" Especially when you do it stacado! From there, what are the embellishments, women? Little shimmies can indicate for her to bring her foot forward, between your legs, or straight back. Maybe, someone out there can teach us through how to stop her, like this, do a little wiggle, and have her end up in the cross! Aaah! I'm awake, now! D'Arienzo! D'Arienzo provided us with crisp music with which to be staccado with our ochos (and more). D'Arienzo provided us with that same crisp music where we can plainly see new places to stop and wait while our followers experiment with three different sets of embellishments! Thank you D'Arienzo! And, thank you Osvaldo Zotto & Lorena!!! By the way, they are both phenominal dancers!!! But, I am so glad that I had the presence of mind to listen to my partner. I think that is when I learned that I was spending too much of my time being mesmerized by the beauty of the woman when I should be concentrating on the subtleties of the leader.
Janis Kenyon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Article by Pedro Ochoa http://www.10tango.com/interior/detalle_nota.php Nobody likes to follow rules. It is much better to break them. But there is one thing that tops breaking rules: making them. D'Arienzo was a rule maker. In 1935 he invented the orchestra for tango dancing. Just at a time when it was needed. And he kept his success for forty years. The details of what Juancito's process of discovery of his identity was like are lost in the mists of time. It is certain that D'Arienzo would have preferred this loss of memories of this transition, so that his orchestra would be forever remembered as an expression of an eternal essence that does not change or evolve. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
