Something else to consider is that in apilado, the feet 'follow the center', so it's a near certainty that the "center" will be as on the beat as the foot placement.
You've lost me Steve! Whatever you mean seems rather esoteric. Let's not unnecessarily complicate what is essentially a simple dance.
I meant that every teacher disperses information about how to do something, specific or general. Yes, but now we aren't talking about just walking but about what the music is compelling us to do.
Well, I think it's pretty simple, but that's just me having had numerous influences! Waaaayyyy too late.
Well, a forum for tango is the only way we can be tango'ing on the job without our bosses noticing. The re-design of the forum should have included a fake spreadsheet option for the look of the screen.
Maybe... http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/ I especially like the version with "singing about economics" - i would love to hear an attempt at a "Das Kapital" lullaby
Chest Lead For the man, this is the most commonly used lead while moving forwar in closed position inasmuch as the upper torso pushed forard to back the woman into the line of direction. Betty White's Ballroom Dancebook for Teachers 1962 page 23 I see this over and over again in books on partner dancing. There’s an old saying in dance, “Foot follows Frame.” “Centering” also refers to the center of your frame. Move your center first—not shoulders, hip or foot. Skippy Blair's Dance Blog 2012 When Robert Hauk, who has a reputation for being "milonguero style," kept trying to "correct" me because I was moving my "center" (aka center point of balance / torso, etc) first, and not my foot, I knew I would never take another lesson from him again. (This was years after I had taken lessons with him when I was first starting.)
The English ballroom books I have definitely don't state that, the nearest they get is that contact between the couple is from the hips to the diaphragm. Alex Moore in particular warns against chest contact at one point. Although his book solved some teacher inspired but unanswered questions there is much to criticise in its approach. Of course the obvious simplistic answer is you cannot learn to dance exclusively from books. Or in tango foot follows body (or your centre). I've heard it said in tango to women but never to men and it should apply to both. Sadly I've never heard it said or taught in other dance teaching. It would make learning the skill of leading so much easier if that and all the physical posture and tone requirements were taught from the very first.
Really? The concept is central to my teaching - and particularly for men, and not just in tango, but pretty much every style I'm involved in. Perhaps you have the wrong books? I don't particularly want to go off on a BR tangent, but you hardly have the background to criticise Moore. His Ballroom Dancing (first published in 1936) was a seminal work in its field, and it formed the basis of the 1948 Revised Technique, which has more-or-less survived to this day, without much change in the current standard texts of all the mainstream teaching societies. Chest contact would be a travesty in BR, but that just speaks to the point of contact: the principle of movement being led from the centre is absolutely fundamental to good BR dancing - it always was.
I'm very pleased to see that, whether it be tango or ballroom. It seems to be rare though, my ballroom experience is obviously more limited than yours but I never came across such teaching from many different teachers. As far as ballroom is concerned I was responding in the context of Steve Pastor's post, not aiming to start a ballroom topic. However good ballroom is a physically connected partner dance. Apart from the fact that you don't know how good or experienced a dancer I am just as I don't know about you, the difference is that I have not appointed myself as a teacher. As a non-teacher, I don't see what you have contributed here. Without wishing to prolong this, all I can say is that I have the evidence of Alex Moore in the 1986 (ninth) edition of his original 1936 book. If that is the basis of Revised Technique no wonder much ballroom teaching is so dire. I could give examples starting with the forward walk through leading and following and onto other matters. As for me not having the background, you are attempting to belittle my opinion. I once amended a quickstep pattern being taught because it worked better with my partner. Teacher asked me why I wasn't dancing what she taught and in response to my explanation she said "I'm teaching from the book"! Poor us, we were just trying to dance. And that's what I still do whether it's in a book of rules or not.
I don't dance AT...but, as a rule, in ballroom we are taught that the body is first when moving forward, and the leg is first when moving backward, which seems fairly logical for most types of dance
Yes, it's mostly flat-footed. I thought we were talking about straight forward walking (maybe not), which he does little of. I noticed a few times when he did reach out going forward his heel landed first.
