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November 2015 Part 1
At the excellent technique seminar with high priestesses Cecilia Piccinni and Cecilia Berra today, we were working with ideas of density and heaviness (which is not the same as resistance). It's a personal obsession of Pretty Salony Boy's -- that I feel too light -- even though he is a waif-like slip of a thing and I am zaftig and probably outweigh him in actual number of kilos.
"Let the man discover exactly how much you really weigh," la Picci repeated several times. No wonder I find this counterintuitive. I've spent my entire life trying to stop men from discovering exactly how much I really weigh.
"Your embrace," Cecilia Berra said today, "is your calling card."
When you're working on technique, you can lose sight of this, at moments. And it's very important to be reminded. In fact, I think we cannot be reminded often enough that the embrace has to begin from a real hug. At the risk of sounding like a hippie, you have to access a sincere feeling. Yes, you have to find an embrace which works technically, which allows for a comfortable posture. But your partner also needs to feel *you*, how much you are willing to commit to the hug, to the dance. -- with Cecilia Piccinni and Cecilia Berra
At the excellent technique seminar with high priestesses Cecilia Piccinni and Cecilia Berra today, we were working with ideas of density and heaviness (which is not the same as resistance). It's a personal obsession of Pretty Salony Boy's -- that I feel too light -- even though he is a waif-like slip of a thing and I am zaftig and probably outweigh him in actual number of kilos.
"Let the man discover exactly how much you really weigh," la Picci repeated several times. No wonder I find this counterintuitive. I've spent my entire life trying to stop men from discovering exactly how much I really weigh.
November 2015 Part 2
Quote of the day, from Cecilia Piccinni, in class (I'm quoting from memory, the exact wording may have been slightly different):
"Sometimes you really need to forget about aesthetics. It's a question of priorities. When I take a back step [*demonstrates*], my priority is to move through space securely. To go to my axis [which she earlier defined as "my safe space where I feel completely on balance without effort"]. To have my bones correctly aligned. First the movement needs to work, comfortably, securely. Then you can worry about how you shape your free leg, whether you move the free foot by tracing a line with your heel or point your toes. Then you can add shape and form. But -- I can't emphasise this enough -- first the movement needs to work, the bones, joints, muscles (in that order) need to be functioning properly. Then you can think about aesthetics."
I couldn't agree more. Whenever teachers or partners *begin* with aesthetics, whenever the instruction is to "make your legs look x or y way" or "make yourself look more like dancer So-and-so" or "make your movements look more fluid" I am lost. You can add a concern with aesthetic details or choices later, sure. But, for me at least, you always have to begin with functional movement.
Because tango isn't some superficial costume you put on from outside. It's not like choosing a set of clothes and laying the outfit out on the bed to see if it looks good and if so you will slip it on. I'm not making a sketch or taking a photo. I'm inside this body, I'm operating this thing from the inside. I've got to start from here.
Abrazos, Terpsi xoxo
Quote of the day, from Cecilia Piccinni, in class (I'm quoting from memory, the exact wording may have been slightly different):
"Sometimes you really need to forget about aesthetics. It's a question of priorities. When I take a back step [*demonstrates*], my priority is to move through space securely. To go to my axis [which she earlier defined as "my safe space where I feel completely on balance without effort"]. To have my bones correctly aligned. First the movement needs to work, comfortably, securely. Then you can worry about how you shape your free leg, whether you move the free foot by tracing a line with your heel or point your toes. Then you can add shape and form. But -- I can't emphasise this enough -- first the movement needs to work, the bones, joints, muscles (in that order) need to be functioning properly. Then you can think about aesthetics."
I couldn't agree more. Whenever teachers or partners *begin* with aesthetics, whenever the instruction is to "make your legs look x or y way" or "make yourself look more like dancer So-and-so" or "make your movements look more fluid" I am lost. You can add a concern with aesthetic details or choices later, sure. But, for me at least, you always have to begin with functional movement.
Because tango isn't some superficial costume you put on from outside. It's not like choosing a set of clothes and laying the outfit out on the bed to see if it looks good and if so you will slip it on. I'm not making a sketch or taking a photo. I'm inside this body, I'm operating this thing from the inside. I've got to start from here.
Abrazos, Terpsi xoxo
"Your embrace," Cecilia Berra said today, "is your calling card."
When you're working on technique, you can lose sight of this, at moments. And it's very important to be reminded. In fact, I think we cannot be reminded often enough that the embrace has to begin from a real hug. At the risk of sounding like a hippie, you have to access a sincere feeling. Yes, you have to find an embrace which works technically, which allows for a comfortable posture. But your partner also needs to feel *you*, how much you are willing to commit to the hug, to the dance. -- with Cecilia Piccinni and Cecilia Berra
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January 13th 2015
The thing about Ceci is that she is marvellously adaptable as a partner (I've seen her dancing socially with many very different leaders and always looking utterly harmoniously connected to them). And yet she is always recognisably herself, always the same, always Ceci.
January 24th 2015
Grumpy Status Update
There's a very easy shortcut to making people believe that you are an extraordinarily gifted dancer. Just go to one of those blogs or websites where they post photos or videos of famous dancers and write a detailed critique of their dancing. When you write "The way Alicia Pons embraces, with her shoulder out of alignment like that, is going to lead to neuropathy" people will think "Wow! Mr Boaconstrictor Long-Term-Beginner from Wamalamadingdong must be an incredibly perceptive person with a deep knowledge of anatomy and physiology -- I would *love* to take classes from him." If you put "Noelia Hurtado really should learn to keep her fingers together on Carlitos's back. He must be in agonies dancing with her! Clearly, she is putting a great deal of pressure on his spine and it's obviously because she can hardly hold herself upright" everyone will draw the conclusion that you, Ms Wobbly Stilettoes from Buxtehude, must be an even better dancer than Noelia, and your embrace must be the dreamiest, most sensual, most delicious experience any leader could hope for. If you write, "When guys say they like dancing with Cecilia Piccinni, they are just pretending. She must feel horrible to dance with. Look at the precise angle of her head in this photo. It's two degrees off the perfect vertical line," well then everyone will be impressed by your deep wisdom and discernment. They will be queuing up to take you into their arms, as, obviously, if you can find fault even with Ceci, dancing with you must be utter nirvana.
That's how it works, isn't it? The mark of a great dancer is that they don't bother practising or working on their own dance. They just dedicate their time to making unsolicited, nitpicking, petty criticisms of any professional who seems especially successful or popular. You don't even need to look at video to judge because everyone knows that the whole purpose of tango is to look as beautiful as possible in photos. And everyone knows that the way to tell if someone is a good dancer or not is to get out a compass and protactors and measure the exact angles of their elbows and the distance in millimetres between their fingers, when they are in close embrace. Yes, that's definitely how it works. Just keep doing what you're doing, people. It's a recipe for success.
The thing about Ceci is that she is marvellously adaptable as a partner (I've seen her dancing socially with many very different leaders and always looking utterly harmoniously connected to them). And yet she is always recognisably herself, always the same, always Ceci.
January 24th 2015
Grumpy Status Update
There's a very easy shortcut to making people believe that you are an extraordinarily gifted dancer. Just go to one of those blogs or websites where they post photos or videos of famous dancers and write a detailed critique of their dancing. When you write "The way Alicia Pons embraces, with her shoulder out of alignment like that, is going to lead to neuropathy" people will think "Wow! Mr Boaconstrictor Long-Term-Beginner from Wamalamadingdong must be an incredibly perceptive person with a deep knowledge of anatomy and physiology -- I would *love* to take classes from him." If you put "Noelia Hurtado really should learn to keep her fingers together on Carlitos's back. He must be in agonies dancing with her! Clearly, she is putting a great deal of pressure on his spine and it's obviously because she can hardly hold herself upright" everyone will draw the conclusion that you, Ms Wobbly Stilettoes from Buxtehude, must be an even better dancer than Noelia, and your embrace must be the dreamiest, most sensual, most delicious experience any leader could hope for. If you write, "When guys say they like dancing with Cecilia Piccinni, they are just pretending. She must feel horrible to dance with. Look at the precise angle of her head in this photo. It's two degrees off the perfect vertical line," well then everyone will be impressed by your deep wisdom and discernment. They will be queuing up to take you into their arms, as, obviously, if you can find fault even with Ceci, dancing with you must be utter nirvana.
That's how it works, isn't it? The mark of a great dancer is that they don't bother practising or working on their own dance. They just dedicate their time to making unsolicited, nitpicking, petty criticisms of any professional who seems especially successful or popular. You don't even need to look at video to judge because everyone knows that the whole purpose of tango is to look as beautiful as possible in photos. And everyone knows that the way to tell if someone is a good dancer or not is to get out a compass and protactors and measure the exact angles of their elbows and the distance in millimetres between their fingers, when they are in close embrace. Yes, that's definitely how it works. Just keep doing what you're doing, people. It's a recipe for success.
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