Generally, I try to shy away from technique related posts, because they are hard to verbalize on paper.
But, I figgered out something yesterday. I like to doing a little thing, it's kinda like a very tight cut ocho, not the ocho cortado tipico that we all know. It also has the qualities of a reverse volcada - to the leader's right (the easy side).
The leader does a very quick (left) "side together fwd left" step so he is in crossed feet and stepping forward with his left foot...then does a slight clockwise contra-body torsion and weight shift back to the right foot at the same time....essentially "popping" the follower's right foot into a reverse cross...
My point is...if you add a bit of uplead...so you are doing a contra-body clockwise torsion (ever so slight)...shifting your weight back to your right/trailing foot...and doing the uplead (ever so slightly) all at the same time...the effect is magnificent!
(it's the uplead part that came to me in an epiphany yesterday)
You will find yourself in ultimate control of her right foot...speed, intensity, trajectory, depth, energy...that "pop" will be amazing...
And, don't forget the subtle pause afterwards, allowing her to recover/resolve/uncross...and walk out...
Try it and let me know your thoughts...
Also, let me know if there is a name for this animal...I will try to upload a video of it tomorrow...
P.S. there might even be a small diagonal/side step with the right foot (by the lead) to get her axis over there so the right foot goes behind the left...
P.P.S. and, you can do only one, or chain together three or four in a row for effect...file this under "cool moves"...
10 comments:
This is a bit off-topic, but as newcomer to tango, it would be great if there was easy way that every time tango blogger mentioned specific step/movement, that there could be link to specific section of video that highlighted that step.
For example, tango dancers could start using video annotation tools such as Asterpix and Overlay.tv to tag sections of videos that demonstrated specific moves such as ochos and volcada.
Just a thought...
Thanks Doug, I will check into it...and these programs you mention...in the particular case of this post...I was going to video myself/partner dancing this specific move....and clip/edit as needed...so that only this move would be on the video...
I think I understand. What do you mean by an uplead? I'm imagining the little lift that tells me to stay on that foot and not change or take a step.
I'd be interested to see the video.
Yes, that's it...slight lift with my right arm...
I will work on getting the video in the next few days...
I like to hear about what it feels like from the other side. You explained it really nicely.
At 4:00am, it came to me. The uplead is like I am giving a ever so gentle stretch to her spine...an extension...
Yes that's it. A very little is enough if it's at the right angle.
The name for this step is enganche. It means hook.
Hola Anon...
I'm not so sure that it is actually an enganche. I can achieve the same result (the reverse "pop" into a cross) with an enganche on the close side. Although the "normal" cross is the followers left in front of right. This "reverse" cross is follower's right behind left.
Gustavo y Giselle do the same thing, but her left behind right, counter clockwise - what I call on the open side. This one is actually much harder to lead (for me). The taught this in a volcada class.
And, without the uplead and diagonal back step (with my right), she would actually just end up doing ochos.
So, it has elements of an enganche, a volcada, and a cut ocho.
I'm hoping to get video of it tonight, and then everyone can tell me what this animal is called once I post it.
I love all the feedback and commentary on this one! Thanks to everyone!
I took a look at the video on your subsequent post. Your description was very good. The video confirmed that it is exactly what I thought you meant.
But I used the wrong word. It isn't enganche, but rather enganchada. That's the word that means hook.
Check out Oscar Casas' video in which he teaches exactly the same step. He calls it enganchada.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YywylOBEWZA
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