Bronze Tango Class

Choreography and technique pages have been updated on the web site.

Posture

As we have heard before, elongate the body between the hips and the ribs in the front. Man also extends through his right side. The knees are soft, but the torso is elongated. While the lady does look left, the man does not. He extends his right side, in order to shape to the left, but his head always faces the same way as his spine. He also has a "strong" left side, to keep the lady to his right.

Footwork

Slow steps are "stalking" steps, and quick steps are "attacking". The slow steps should take the length of the beat to complete. If you are saying the time aloud, you begin the step when you say "slow", but don't change weight until after you have said it. Otherwise, you will have stepped, and then have to weight for the beat to complete before the next step, so it just looks like a quick with a hesitation. The other way of counting it out would be to used numbers, e.g., "1, 2, 3, 4". If the first step is slow, start the step on 1, but don't land and change weight until 2.

Left Foot Rock

Maintain the body position, rotate only on the man's back steps.

Outside Reverse Turn, Lady Inside

For the lady, this is the Tango equivalent of a heel turn on the first two steps.

• All heel turns are characterized by early rise. On step 1, the man uses body rise at the end of the step to signal that a heel turn is coming. The rise should induce the lady to straighten her knees, which in turns signals her to bring her feet together.
• The man steps across the lady on step 2. In contrast to the outside partner version, where step 2 is oriented BDW, this step should end backing LOD.
• The man keeps his weight forward on step 2. When he places his right foot, it should be on the ball of the foot. If the man were to stop on step 2, he would be pushing off the ball of his right foot. If his weight carries too much too quickly to his heel, he will pull the lady off her balance, and prevent her from executing the heel turn.
• The man stays on his side (the left) on step 2, lest he knock the lady over on his right.
• The lady keeps her head left and back on steps 1 and 2. If she does not, she will not be able to bring the feet together beneath her on step 2, she will need to step to the side to maintain balance.
• In contrast to the swing dances, the lady does not drag her left heel, she places it. That means that at the end of step 2, her feet will be turned out, the right foot pointing DW, and the left foot facing LOD