Ms H asked me about the step I was trying to describe on 17 January. The video I was watching is an old teaching video which isn't on YouTube, and is no longer commercially available. But the step goes on, and it occurred to me that I've linked only one video of Tete and Silvia, and it isn't a particularly clear one. So here are two of the best. If these don't convince you that this is how tango should be danced, then... well go and try to dance like Pablo Veron. Have fun!
First, Gallo Ciego. Tete grew up listening to Pugliese live, knows every note of the music, and loves dancing to it. This actually begins with the step I was trying to describe but it has been cut clumsily. But look at 0.30 to 0.32, and at 1.09 to 1.11. Although it is part of a sequence of moves, you can see he leads a step with his chest, without taking a step himself.
& because vals is what they love best of all, I've got to include a vals. At 0.35 to 0.37 he leads a backstep with his chest, and follows through with his right foot, bringing Silvia to the cross. That's what I was trying to describe. There's also a wonderful moment where you see their affection for each other. It's great to see people enjoying dancing together!
Tete can seem quite forceful as a dancer: this is Tete at his lightest, and it also shows how light he can be on his feet. I love their interaction with the music in these two clips. I can watch them over and over.
2 comments:
Watching these two videos brought tears to my eyes, really. Thank you for sharing. Now if the men in London would start dancing like this then my dancing life would be complete. I love Pugliese and find his music romantic and danceable, unfortunately the men here don't know how to dance to it without adding fancy moves, which I abhore (my new word). Why don't some people understand that less is more?
Glad you enjoyed them! It's an added bonus that the video quality is reasonable too. I hope they will encourage people to dance a tango that is simpler and more musical.
Tete can dance like that to Pugliese because he knows the music so well. In effect he bypasses the problems of Pugliese that Ms H described recently. He knows exactly when the melodic line will become more complex because he has sixty years experience of it. So it's going to be a while before leaders in London start dancing like this! & of course the tango we see most of the time, our tango background, isn't like this.
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