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