for my dear tangobaby {and all other interested parties} i'd like to share the summary of lessons learned last night. jennifer bratt is in town so she added her beauty & charm to ney's class, always a nice bonus. ney has been teaching us fancy milonga rhythm steps for the last couple weeks and last night was the most advanced & intense so far. we learned not only 3-beat but also 5- and 7- beat versions of some fast & fun footwork. however, far and away the most valuable lesson from the night came when ney & jennifer were talking to us about the proper embrace. this is a frequent topic in ney's class, but last night's discussion took it further than usual. he spoke about placements of hands, heads, torsos ~ the wheres and whys. did you know the lady is like a fishbowl between the man's palms? he must keep it steady & balanced, lead clearly with all of his hand, lift & lower as needed but never tip it over. and did you know the lady must lead too? but in a different way altogether. we must lead with our hearts! as ney was describing how the man should present his rib cage & lead with his chest more {he even showed examples of leading the complicated milonga steps without using his hands at all} jennifer chimed in to say, actually for the ladies we should be leading with our hearts ~ present our hearts to the lead and keep them out there no matter what comes. if we always return to this our dance will be elevated.
how beautiful is that?
speaking of beauty, all these gorgeous tango photos are from alex.tango.fuego.he has a website, a blog, and a flickr account. he's talented, he's cute and he's charming. and head's up ladies ~ he's single.
also ~ as long as i'm blogging about tango, i must say i am just entirely too giddy about going to seattle this weekend for tango workshops with ney & jennifer, to meet the seattle tango community at milongas, and to see old friends {and meet new baby james!}. i'll also get to be tour guide to tangobaby since she's never been ~ i can't wait to swoon her with all the lovelies seattle has to offer.
long live leading with our hearts!
7 comments:
You girls bring some warm clothes, it is a bit chilly until you get warmed up. See you at the Century Ballroom. E
What a gorgeous, touching recap of the class. Ney and Jennifer teach in a way that is so special. I'm glad we're on our tango journey together.
And I agree with you 100% about Alex. (Are his ears burning?)
Thank you for taking good care of me in Seattle. We're not even there yet and I already love it. See you soon, Elizabeth!
Race you to the car! ;-)
A beautiful post. There is something so magnificent about this style of dance. Enjoy your weekend trip, dancing your hearts out!
hi elizabeth ~ i've got layers packed & am so excited to peel them off at the century ballroom. looking very forward to meeting you!
oh tangobaby you're in for a real treat. if only we could leave now. the sweet anticipation is killin' me. ;o)
thanks, tara, i'll be sure to share photos from our adventures with you!
Hi there, it seems you're in good hands ladies! That is pure tango!
and he's flattered...
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