Tango Pret in Temenos: A tanguera is born!! - by Annelien van der Colff
Tango dag 2.
Ek slaap met musiek en danspassies in my wese. So nuwe ervaring vul mens met energie, maar o aarde, beginners luck is iets van die verlede. Die passies word al hoe ingewikkelder en ek en Corrie verstaan mekaar nie lekker nie.
Hy lei en ek moet volg, my eie keuse en ek dink die geveg in my binneste raak hewiger. Sy rug protesteer en my brein wil,die heeltyd dink, dis moeiliker om te , surrender' as wat mens dink. Hoe minder ek van my self hou, hoe slegter beweeg ek. Die frustrasie neem oorhand en ek moet 'n paar trane stort om die drukkoker te ontlaai, Corrie wil sommer ophou en ry en dis alles behalwe wat ek wil hê, hierdie is my geveg, nie sy skuld nie. My kunstenaars en wiskunde breine veg verbete.
Ons leer nog nuwe beweging en die vloer word te klein vir al die bewegende, proberende lywe. Ons fokus net op onsself en is verbaas toe die groep in 'n sirkel gaan sit en vertel hoe hulle voel. Ek en die meisie met die pienk hare ervaar dieselfde frustrasie. Dis nie ons leiers se skuld, dis ons eie battle. Mense voel van balans af. My kreatiewe brein wil al die volgende bewegings uitwerk maar ek lei nie. Ai!!!!!
Na 'n lekker lang russie, kom oms almal agter dat ons nogals moeg is, maar ons hou aan en dans nog op ons eie 'n bietjie langer. Ons wil.
Vandag is ons laaste dag en dit was 'n wonderlike naweek. Kan nie wag om weer op die dansvloer te kom nie. Hierdie is net die begin om jouself en mense om jou beter te verstaan. Dis om die kleurwiel te leer maar ons moet nog oefen om die kleure te meng.
Wat 'n wonderlike manier om mense beter te leer ken. Ons sal dit van vandag af net stadiger vat, een treetjie op 'n slag, en oefen op die maat van musiek.
Juan en Lumia is gebore!
Tango dag 3.
Ons laaste dans dag na maande se uitsien breek aan. Ek word vroeg wakker en gaan sit onder die akkerboom en word heeltemal rustig. Wat 'n voorreg om op 'n plaas te bly.
Ons is gereed en ry weereens vol opgewondenheid na die eerste sessie van die dag. Ons deel ons ervarings, kuier om die koffie en tee koppies en die groepie begin gel. Dis heerlik. Almal het hulle battles en vreugdes en die selfvertroue word bietjie beter.
Ons leer nuwe passies en begin voel of ons dans, maar dis soos om 'n toonleer te speel, ons kan nog nie liedjies maak nie, maar ek weet mos, dit vat tyd en oefening.
Ons is geïnspireerd. Ek verstaan weer dat ons twee pilare is, en soms loop een voor en soms die ander een. Elkeen het sterk punte. Die tweetjies van Citrusdal se opmerking dat hulle baie geduld met mekaar het, maak 'n diep indruk op my. Dit help nie om aggressief te raak nie, erken dat jy gefrustreerd raak met jouself, dis menslik, jou maat doen sy of haar bes.
Ons luister die mooiste musiek, sien die instrukteurs dans en gaan só geïnspireerd huistoe. Dankie Rachel en Lizelle. Julle kan maar baie meer kom kuier, ons wil dans!.
Ons belowe om te oefen, die musiek is klaar gesoek en vanaand begin ons, min dinge het ons al so geïnspireer, beweging om die maat van die beeldskoonste musiek.
Shall we Dance Juan?
By Annalien van der Colff
Tango Beginners Programme Starting in March
Get Hooked on Tango on the Atlantic Seaboard
This is an intensive course consisting of 9 hours of teaching in 6 lessons.
Thursdays 9,16,23,30 March ,6, 13 April
Venue: Hellenic Club, Bay Road, Mouillepoint, Cape Town. free parking.
Cost: R600 per person, includes one FREE tango social
Tango Retreat at Temenos: An Exercise in Mindfulness and Empathy
Can't wait for this wonderful retreat at beautiful Temenos in McGregor 7-9 April 2017. Please see details here:
The embrace is the most important element of the Argentine tango which creates its unique sensation. A comfortable hug that can adapt to delicious movements and changes in speed. We need to learn to soften and elasticize our embrace to provide the most pleasure for our partner.
I will be hosting a workshop with Wikus on Sunday on Flexibility of the Embrace for Dynamic Movement including Turns. Managing flexibility in the closed embrace and being able to create a comfortable embrace for for disassociated and rotational movements is essential for the agile tango dancer, as is being able to comfortably shift your embrace between open and closed. Tango movement is a dynamic conversation between two bodies and souls and our embrace needs to embody that, with relaxation and balance. Please book with me via sms as I will be away from email this week on 0822557829.
Venue: Hellenic Club of Cape Town, 24 Bay Road Mouillepoint
Our new beginners course started last week and I continue to host regular intermediate lessons on Wednesday evening. We have space for one more couple in the group. After many years teaching at the Observatory Community Centre I have moved to the Hellenic Club in Mouillepoint. Private lessons are offered on a Monday evening or daytimes during the week in Seapoint.
At our Tango Goddess Workshop on Saturday we did a lot of work strengthening our axis and practised a cute adornment for the dance floor. There are so many interesting skills to learn as a follower and I encourage all followers to explore solo work. The next workshop will be on 28th January (venue to be confirmed)
Milonga Africana We will be going into our sixth year at iKhaya Lodge and once again, I would like to thank Ruth and all the staff for their ongoing hospitality and warmth that the tango community has received.
Time: 7:30 - 8:30pm Premilonga lesson
8:30 - 11 pm milonga
Venue: iKhaya Lodge Dunkly Square
Steamilonga: Every Tuesday from 6:30 pm, TRE Steampunk Club, Buitengracht Street, R20, hosted by Wikus
Milonga Nina, Saturday 21st January, 8 - 12:30 am, 1001 Mutual Heights, 14 Darling Street (private apartment) R50 BYOB. Ask for tango at reception.
Tango Dancing and Trust
Written by Luis Monasterios, www.tangoyvida.com
Translated from Spanish by Rachael Glaser www.libertango.co.za
The original article in Spanish can be found at http://www.tangoyvida.com/el-baile-de-tango-y-la-confianza/#.VcHHLPknLRo
Thank you to Luis Monasterios for allowing my to publish his article here. This article provides valuable insights into how trust and mindfulness are an integral part of the Argentine tango.
In the tango and in the life of a couple trust is one of the most important and delicate issues. When we dance tango we generate a close relationship of confidence and intimacy which, based on trust, can lead to an unforgettable and distinct experience in every dance, within every couple.
Trust within the tango dance and in life is constructed and nurtured with every detail. To dance tango the leader must trust his own abilities and in the dance of the follower. The follower must in turn trust in the direction and movements that the leader indicates. Frequently, when the leader leads movements that risk the security of other dancers on the dance floor, or leads the follower like bumper cars at the fair, bumping and stumbling into every dancer like an obstacle on the dance floor, the dance is dramatically affected and slowly the follower loses trust in the leader and stops following his lead.
With the understanding that within the tango as in life the roles of leader and follower are dynamic, both members of the couple are responsible in generating trust within the dance. Often in attempting to take the leading role, the person who is normally following makes adornments and figures that are dangerous for the rest of the dancers and dance partner, affecting his physical and emotional balance.
How to I create and maintain trust in my partner in tango and in life?
In order to understand the means to construct, generate and maintain trust, firstly I will explain what I consider types of behaviours relating to trust.
Trusting Behaviour: The type of behavior of that allows you to give all your trust when you get to know someone - within which it is necessary to offer a person opportunities which demonstrate their goodwill and good intentions . In one’s actions and heart, one offers complete trust from the beginning. At the same time, one also generates expectations about the person that you are getting to know so there is a tendency to be very demanding.
Progressively Trusting Behaviour: One offers a certain amount of trust in the beginning with the hope that the rest will develop during the experience. This type of behaviour is less demanding than the “trusting behaviour” considering the demands and expectations are small from the beginning and grow with the course of time.
Behaviour of Progressive Distrust: If you have at times offered a percentage of trust from the beginning but seem to be always expecting a mistake, you will be familiar with this type of behavior. It is difficult to explain but there are people who are always waiting for a mistake, never trust completely and are always on the defensive, waiting for a mistake to continue to lose trust.
Untrusting Behaviour: You simply don’t trust. Even though you try to trust, your previous experiences, traumas and fears make it impossible for you to trust.
It is noteworthy to point out that in every relationship, each one of us develops some type of behaiour relating to trust. This means, for example, that with some people we are “trusting” while with others we may be “progressively untrusting”. These types of behavior relate to the perceptions and image we have of other people and that we give to ourselves. It also has much to do with the experience that we offer to every person that we relate to. In the same way it is useful to recognize those types of behaviours of people that we relate to, to understand their expectations and manage these relationships in the most effective way.
The great secret to generate trust is to work with yourself, with your self-image, with your emotional balance, your behaviours, your manners and the experience you give those who relate to you. Trust is a natural consequence of personal growth and self-improvement.
Trust (confidence) to Dance Tango
We already know that the secret of trust in life is personal growth. In tango and in life my proposal is to always look inside yourself and seek personal growth.
In the tango the embrace is one of the principal tools for transmitting trust. Being embraced, without taking a step, you are already generating a vision of yourself in the other person, who you are as a dancer and as a person. In any moment you may generate an expectation or disappoint. In the tango, the embrace is the tool that influences your dance partner’s behavior in relation to trust. To improve your embrace you have to improve yourself. You need firstly to have trust (confidence) in yourself to have a an embrace that is at once firm, gentle and precise.
After the embrace, in the development of the dance one needs to continue with an active consciousness in the present moment. This means, to dance tango the mind must be muted and one only needs to feel. When you guide, or allow yourself to be guided, the active state of consciousness in the present means that one should not be distracted by ones surroundings. On the contrary, when the consciousness is active in the present moment and you are able to feel and not think, automatically all of your senses are alert to the surroundings and for this reason you are able to concentrate more on what is happening around you. Imagine your body in a situation of extreme danger: what happens in this moment is that the mind disconnects from the body and feelings start to govern your actions. It is for this reason that under situations of real threat, a persona may achieve incredible things and be very alert to what is happening in his surroundings. I propose for you to achieve something similar but in a conscious manner so that your senses govern your dance and you may transmit this security to your partner.
How many times have you danced with a person when you find yourself thinking of other activities? Thinking of your activities for the morning, the way in which other people are watching the dancing, the next figure you are planning, in the new figure you learned in class, that you are dancing with one person but you prefer someone else, in the shoes, in the outfits, the comments, the miradas (gazes), who is arriving, who is leaving? All of these thoughts are some of the natural sabotages that the mind has to ruin a moment. Active conscience in the present means forgetting all these thoughts and dedicating oneself to enjoy the tango that one is dancing with the partner that you have chosen to dance with (without worrying about the level at which they dance).
But if the other person does not inspire trust, how can I enjoy the dance? How will I have active consciousness in the present if I don’t trust? The answer to these questions is very simple. You cannot control what others are doing. You can only control what depends on you. You cannot avoid feeling what you feel but you can decide what attitude you take before you feel. Now you know, every time you feel mistrust you need to decide on your attitude in this situation and what the ingredients are to improve it. My suggestion, as a chef of relationships is to always choose the best ingredients. Everything I have said here is valid for not only tango, but in day to day relationships.
Improve your embrace and your dance from a technical and personal development perspective, grow your confidence, dance in a state of active consciousness in the present and nurture those ingredients that contribute to your relationships and your dance. With these, you will be able to engender trust in almost everyone who dances with you and in general, in almost every person you relate to. But above all, in addition to generating trust, honor and stay true to this trust that others have put in you. Don’t deceive yourself or others because in life, as in the tango, trust is always based on meeting the expectations that you generate.
Until the next tanda!
- Luis Monasterios