As you may already know, my favorite style of social tango is called "tango salon", and in particular the "Villa Urquiza" style of tango salon. Elegant and often sensual, with close embrace that sometimes opens, long gliding steps, sharp and clean embellishments, and precise musicality. It's the style I teach to my students. I've just started calling it "Rose-Vine Tango" because it works like this:
Think of a vine on which roses can grow. The vine, including its supple, intertwining branches and the leaves, represents the tango walk around the edge of the room , with its many variations (in both parallel and crossed systems) and embellishments ("drawing" to the music, mostly on the floor but sometimes in the air, with the man's or woman's free foot). The vine can also represent traveling figures (such as "cambio de frente", "base cruzada", and walking "ochos", and many more!).
Now think of a rose that appears on the vine. That's a stationary figure, one done within a square meter, (such as any giro (turn)/molinete (woman's turn around the man), forward ocho from the cross and parada/s, the sandwich, the ocho cortado, etc, etc, etc.). So the couple can be "walking the vine", and their tango suddenly erupts into a rose . . . or into a CLUSTER of roses, by which I mean an uninterrupted series of figures, or a combination of segments of figures, smoothly tied together. When the room is more crowded, a good dancer shortens the lengths of vine between the roses; when there's plenty of space, he makes the most of his walks, leaving long lengths of vine, and lets the "roses" be more sparse, each one very important.
What I do not like to experience or see is . . . a wreath, all roses packed tightly together, with no vine! That is, a tango packed with figure after figure after figure, with no walk and few pauses, leaving little breathing room for that intimate, delicious communication so many of us seek through the body-dialogue of tango!
Now I have an assignment for you! Please watch this video of Adrian and Amanda Costa, and see if you can identify where's the vine, and where are the roses!! Hint: the vine segments are linear and transitory, while the roses and rose clusters are circular and stationary!
Were you able to identify the roses and the segments of vine?
You can see more videos of "Rose Vine Tango" (my way of describing "Villa Urquiza style Tango) when you request my Free Report "Permission Seduction Secret #1" by typing your information in the yellow box on the upper right of this page. . . or by visiting my blog at http://helainetreitmantango.com!
