Yesterday, I gave in to this obsession I have about improving my dancing and took two private classes with local teachers I had never seen before.
Which was somewhat risky, but I like learning from different people; every teacher has a different approach to tango and his/her own way of teaching it, which I find is good. I have never really had a single regular teacher – I believe that it is good to have one in the beginning, but once you have some basics it is better to change, learn from others as well, consider everything and try it out – and then choose what to accept and integrate into your tango and what to reject as unhelpful or nonsense (mind you, it did take me some time to learn THAT; in the beginning one tends to take the teacher´s words as God´s truth:) – and that´s precisely why one should experiment with different teachers).
That´s just to say I am fairly open to other perceptions of tango and have often reassessed my tango in the light of new discoveries. But I try to think for myself.
The first class I took turned out to be a bit of a drag – the teachers were very nice people, and pretty good dancers, but they just kept on stating the obvious, reciting the basic theories I already know by heart; I walked out of there feeling I hadn´t learned a thing. However, one controversial point came up during the lesson that I´ll still need to reflect upon – the ´toe first vs. heel first´ issue. Oh yes. From what I´ve been seeing on the net, it is something that suscitates many debates, and the question whether, when dancing tango, one ought to walk toe first or heel first remains unsettled. I walk toe first. The female teacher´s reaction to that was that this was not at all good, that I should walk naturally – heel first, that is –, that all the great dancers in Bs As walk heel first (do they, now?) and that walking heel first would give me a greater freedom of movement, thus improving my dancing... Then she added, for clarity´s sake, I imagine, that when walking backwards, you should walk toe first. Now, that´s reassuring, isn´t it? :)))
It just didn´t sound very convincing to me. Especially the ´greater freedom of movement´ thing – in my opinion, walking heel first totally blocks your step; by stepping on the heel you nail you foot to the spot and there is no way you can later adjust that step.
But to be fair, I have been trying it out, just to see what effect it would have. I find I can do it in some steps (like in the media luna for example) but not in others; in certain steps it even appears to be counterproductive (like in front ochos). I do find it quite hard, seeing as I´ve been walking toe first throughout my tango existence, but I would like to experiment with it a bit. Nevertheless, walking ONLY heel first doesn´t make sense to me. A combination of the two, pourquoi pas, but on the whole I think there is more to be said for the ´toe first´ theory than for the ´heel first´ one.
Anyway, the second lesson was a blast – body movement and walking technique (yes!), adornos (yes! yes! yes!), not only very illuminating, but great fun into the bargain! The bloke was, or else looked, incredibly young, maybe my age, and has danced tango for 15 years – when did he start, I wonder – in primary school? I wish I had had to good sense to start dancing tango as an adolescent... But then he had learned from Gavito and from Javier.. and it so shows...
8 comments:
From what I experienced with a lot of different teachers Heel or Toe is a question of style.
Organic Nuevo tango prefers the natural walk dynamic (heel first waking ahead, and toe first walking back) whereas more classical style prefers the toe before neareer from classic ballet dance and gives more a "cat-look" to the walk.
I recently had a lesson with Pablo and Dana (Heel first style) where they explained that the way you choose to put your foot changes the dynamic : When heel first the trajectory of your balance center goes up first whereas with the toes it goes down first. It brings a difference of dynamic that could be use for guidance and to give a specific look to the dance.
I guess we should always make the difference between the style and the other part of dancing, it is not necessary to learn how to walk each time you change teacher...;-)
And of course it make sense to mix it according the music and the mood.
"that all the great dancers in Bs As walk heel first (do they, now?)"
Actually - yeah. When the follower walks backwards - it's toe first - rolling back onto the heel - when walking forward, it's heel first then as you shift your weight over your knee - rolling onto your toes but still keeping your heel planted firmly on the floor.
Had a couple of private lessons - the teachers really emphasized the importance of placing weight on the heel - it helps the milonguero feel your position better in close embrace.
You know what - you should check this out: http://tangoandchaos.org/chapt_3search/16women.htm
To be sure, just yesterday I ask this question to whom I consider one of the finest teachers, dancers and milongueras in Buenos Aires (I take classes with her).
She told me that actually depends of the speed. Usually she step heal first, because is more comfortable and secure. But sometimes, if the music is slow, and she want to make some embellishment and give to her dance a more "feline" look, she would use the toe first, for example in the ochos.
For the record, she looks extremely good, and sensual when she dance, and her steps are very clear, so I think you can safely follow her advice ;-)
Lots of opinions on this subject. Honestly, do what feels right and comfortable and natural and yet graceful to you. that's probably the best advice there is.
Wow - thanks everyone for giving it all this thought! even checking with teachers:)
Caroline, thanks for the link! The articles are very interesting; however, the one you link to doesn´t really relate to the toe/heel first theory:
´Generally, tango dancers step “into” the floor. That is, the heel of the foot THAT BEARS THE WEIGHT is normally down on the floor. ...generally, most milongueras keep the weight bearing heel on the floor, most of the time. This is both aesthetic (because tango is danced “down into” the floor), and practical—a heel down position is normally more stable. Look again at this sequence of the feet of the Maestras from the previous page. Most of them keep the weighted heel on the floor.´
- I never questioned the fact that the WEIGHT-BEARING HEEL should be kept on the floor, as that certainly gives more stability; but it doesn´t necessarily mean you have to STEP heel first.
What Patadura says seems to make very good sense to me - it looks more like a question of style and dynamic of the dance. I have been watching some videos and it seems to me that many dancers tend to combine the two, depending on the kind of step and their style..
One of my favorite teachers said that after a while you must stop taking classes because it will kill your dance. I think he meant that you can study too much and then the dance becomes more of a clinical experiment than an expression of yourself.
I think would have to agree with what anonymous said, do what feels natural and right depending on circumstance.
This is the kind of stuff that drove me absolutely crazy when I was first learning: one teacher says heel, another says toe, one says there should be no tension in your arms, the other says you need a strong embrace to receive the lead, one says give plenty of resistance, another says give no resistance but proactively place yourself where the leader asks as soon as you sense the lead.
It was about a year before I started to realise that this was sometimes like the blind men and the elephant - different ways of describing the same thing - and genuine disagreement and I was allowed to form my own opinions.
Being a neuvo girl, I mostly walk as organically as possibly, because that allows me the greatest freedom of movement, and that means toe first backwards and heel first forwards. But there are exceptions - in little forward ochos, for example, I don't put my heel down because there isn't time when you're pivoting in such quick succession. But on the other hand, in a great big front cross stride if I didn't put my heel down first it would place my muscles under far too much strain, because our legs don't naturally move that way.
Anyway, these differences are endlessly fascinating to me. I see it as being like language - two people can be speaking English, but still have very different accents, grammar and vocabulary.
I have been considering this very issue, as I have been taught different ways by different teachers. I am trying to experiment with both styles. However I would say that if you watch any videos of Osvaldo Zotto, you will see he tends to toe step, and the result looks a great deal more elegant than heel stepping. I agree with the comments about the advantages of toe stepping for forward ochos too. The advantage of heel stepping seems to be stability and making it easier to maintain balance, heel stepping leaders also tend to turn the feet outwards (like charlie chaplin walking) and this also adds to stability. However for elegance you can't beat toe stepping, just watch Osvaldo Zotto dance to see what I mean e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEGTx1M8Vyk
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