2nd category – embellishments above the grount
Csilla, our guest-author has given many useful tips for girls lost in the jungle of tango embellishments. As a dancer and teacher of men’s technique I find her articles very useful.
- In the first article we reviewed embellishments where the free leg – the one doing adornments – stays on the ground.
- In this article we are focusing on embellishments where the free leg is not touching the ground. We do these decorations above ground, touching our partner
An important thing to remember here is to stay within your frame. Check the videos!
Caricias – Caresses: a caressing move made with feet or legs on the body of the partner – his legs, sometimes his back. This can be beautiful as a decoration, but should not go above a horizontal line. The most spectacular body-caress I’ve seen is from Geraldine – and it continues to take my breath away up to the present day.
In order to highlight what exactly is happening and to focus on the embellishments of the video, I analyzed it. (Allow -+ 1 sec difference).
01:25 – a soft caress with the leg
01:57 – a brief caress with the leg at the hip of the partner (thighs & leg remain horizontal) followed by a knee-height cross (the leg remains below the horizontal line, the knee can slightly raise above this for more comfort)
02:03 – a very short touch than a boleo
02:20 – circles drawn on the floor with the free leg
02:50 – light stamping on the floor
I only analyzed so much in order to bring attention to the decorations.
Do you want to practice? Jennifer Bratt has excellent videos!
Here you can se an other beautiful caress:
Doubled:
Unfortunately the voice channels of youtube videos are protected by copyright, which can result in some silent videos – the videos remain visible but the sound is muted. In this case, keep counting in yourself…1-2-3-4… or use a metronome.
As a dancer understanding the music is essential, and we always start learning new figures by counting. Always count to yourself if you are too shy to do it loud.
More to come! But until than, enjoy practicing!
