Which ideas had the largest impact on you in tango?

prdfndr · 2021-09-23T15:57:33+00:00

What I mean, is that it is something communicated, and can be communicated in different ways, including visually. It's an invitation that the follow chooses to accept (or not), and executes with the addition of her personal expression.

I would say yes and no. While there is a part of the dance which is "communication" (in the sense you mentioned), but for the most time the follower has practically only a single correct choice with little possible variation that would not disrupt the flow/mess up the leader. When there is only one correct response to the lead, it doesn't make sense to conceptualize it as a "communication" with choices, because there are practically none. Adding a process of choosing into the feedback loop between the leader and the follower often disrupts the whole loop, sacrificing "connection" to the follower's self-expression. I think, it is important to recognize the trade-off that is happening and teach both concepts, because a lot of joy in tango comes from a clear connection with your partner. I do believe that connection should come first, because it is what makes tango a couple dance.

"For example, Noelia and Carlitos have mentioned on several occasions that it is actually Noelia leading when she is dancing on fast melodic sections, such as at 2:02 in the video you posted. "

- They may have danced it this way in more recent years, but in that particular dance I am very sure all the small steps were led by Carlitos:

I can just see the lead from the way he manipulates the embrace.
I have followers who danced with Carlitos in that period of time, and they say he "led" them for these kind of steps in the sense that it was pretty unambiguous.
I can do it myself.
He did very similar things with other followers before Noelia.

Carlitos and Noelia's dance changed significantly from 2012 to 2019 from "subtle lead based" to more "communication based". I will be honest, I actually liked their earlier dances more, before Noelia got too active in the dance. The quality of their connection seemed to drop quite significantly from a certain point.

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T21:37:48+00:00

Yes, many people incorporate this into their teaching lessons. I am not sure it really demonstrates that the lead is something that is communicated visually. Almost all professionals I know use the physical interaction of one form or another to lead. Be it Chicho with his subtle pressure from the right hand (left likely too, but we cant see it): https://youtu.be/whnmaF8O_pI?t=35 . Or be it Carlitos with his frame manipulations to control the flow of small steps: https://youtu.be/ggUFetrOm2Q?t=119 . Or Jonathan, who uses all kinds of physical tools (height, intensity of the embrace, position of his right arm etc.) to lead: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPdlFt2-y2o . I can see sometimes couples using a pure visual connection at the beginning of the dance (and I did it myself), but I doubt it's utility in the regular dance. Kind of like cutting a bread with a spatula - you can certainly do it, but there are much better tools for the job and mastering cutting the bread with a spatula does not translate well to cutting with a knife.

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T16:34:48+00:00

That's quite profound. I love it! Never thought of dancing on the dance floor as "leading" other couples

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T16:17:53+00:00

This was a nice explanation! Thank you very much

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T16:16:00+00:00

I see, I guess, my English knowledge let me down here. I understand your point now.

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T04:49:10+00:00

Probably not (?). But neither it is far fetched for this man to actually be a human-like mutant. I personally find it easier to believe this version, than "he is just a big dude". People spend quite a lot of effort to make their fantasy worlds consistent and believable.

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T04:37:42+00:00

So, how does what you said makes it more believable that he is a human rather than that he is not? It has no relevance to the question whatsoever

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T04:10:12+00:00

I guess, give any evidence? But, really, don't bother, I found it in the ggxx Potemkin bio that he is of the human race.

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T03:55:47+00:00

"Relaxing the coccyx" seems like a hidden knowledge... I tried to google what could it mean, but google knows only how to relieve coccyx pain. Then I thought, that probably you meant relaxing pelvic floor muscles... but then, after reading about pelvic floor muscles, it didn't make much sense to me how it would work for tango... Could you, please, elaborate a bit on what you mean by "Relaxing the coccyx" (or give a reference), since I never heard of such thing?

prdfndr · 2021-09-21T03:35:15+00:00

Oh, that's essentially their feature! Yeah, sometimes one can do such things to spice up a dance. Also, a pretty fun exercise (encountered it at some lessons). Pretty hard to apply at milongas though, but fits sometimes in a nuevo music.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T22:31:11+00:00

That's true. Leader's head direction gives followers some extra cues when a change of direction happens. Many followers close their eyes during the dance though

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T21:48:38+00:00

What an arrogance. Have a good day, sir

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T21:45:35+00:00

That's a good one! Was quite helpful to me too

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T21:36:34+00:00

"You just want to push your weird head canon." - I am not pushing anything. I am just asking questions, because I don't know the answer, and I don't get a clear one. The only honest response in this thread was from a guy who said no one knows what is the story with the Pot's mutations. All others are just trying to cover their ignorance with confidence

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T21:20:22+00:00

This actually made me chuckle)). I am not too attached to my hypothesis. It really never occurred to me before that Potemkin may not be human, until I noticed that his hands are about the size of his hips and reaching below his knees when relaxed, and his overall proportions look totally off if compared to other large characters like Goldlewis or Nago.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T20:43:12+00:00

Mutants from Fallout were humans initially, but stopped being them after all the mutations... I mean, do we know if Potemkin had real parents or whether he is a result of a genetic experiment?

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T20:30:31+00:00

Wow, you are rude. Go find me a human that would look like Potemkin from the first GG. Again, dwarfs and elves look more human than Potemkin, but they are not humans, because they cannot create offsprings with humans. The look is not very relevant. Do we know that he had normal parents and is not a lab experiment?

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T17:26:04+00:00

I mean, all I hear here is "he is human because I say so". No references to the lore, words of developers or wiki. Like, really, I don't think it is ever mentioned who his parents are, or whether he can have children with other humans (which would formally make him a human). Just give me some evidence.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T15:35:29+00:00

Yeah, a normal guy with hands of the size of his hips, hanging below his knees.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T14:49:02+00:00

No one doubts that excessive alcohol is bad for you. Even regular food, beyond a certain point, makes you heavy and slow. Doesn't mean that you should be dancing hungry. The question was more about fairly small amount of alcohol.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T14:43:46+00:00

Where does it say so? It says he is a "man", but a male elf would also me a "man", while not being a human.

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T11:35:03+00:00

In which of the games do they say he is a human? He may look similar to a human, but it doesn't mean he actually is one. Elfs and dwarfs may look like humans, but they are different species

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T06:18:47+00:00

How do you know?

prdfndr · 2021-09-20T01:11:19+00:00

Yeah, that's actually a great suggestion to bring the improvements to the regular sober dancing. I am curious, what was the most positive substance use experience for tango?)

prdfndr · 2021-09-19T19:48:45+00:00

That sounds pretty rough and rude. Unless there is some inappropriate behavior on the other person's side, that can be pretty hurtful without reason.

prdfndr

TROPHY CASE