By Stanley McCalla, a former US amateur champion in Latin, Standard and 10 dances; 4 times US representative to World Championships; Fred Astaire National Dance Board Member and Adjudicator; Fred Astaire Dance Board Examiner; Fred Astaire Smooth Undefeated Champion. Stanley can be reached at jsmccalla@mindspring.com or 845-304-9028.Hello and welcome back to Tip of the Week. In my last two articles, I mentioned how important it is to practice certain techniques that will improve your dancing. I introduced the Forward Walk exercise and the Back Walk exercise in the Smooth & Standard dances. Today, I’ll tell you about the forward walk in Tango.
Stand with the knees slightly more relaxed than in the other Smooth dances with weight on the R.F. Pick up the L.F slightly from the floor and place it in (CBMP) i.e. in front and in line of the R.F with a crisp action. The weight should be taken on the L. edge of the foot first, then the whole foot. At this point, pick up the R.F from the floor with a slight delayed action and place it forward on its own track with a crisp action, also with the L. edge of the foot and with a right shoulder lead. Repeat these two steps slowly making sure that you maintain your center balanced over the middle of your supporting foot.
The Tango is a different animal and a beautiful dance. It takes understanding and practice in order to capture its full characteristic. Next time I will introduce the backward walk of Tango.
Until then make sure that you practice your exercise. You will only get better.
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