The Tangosynthesis Blog
with Graham and Nathalie
The Tango Walk
27 Sep 2024 - by Graham (from Newsletter)
The tango walk is a notoriously difficult thing to get right and there are stories of tango masters not letting their students progress for years until they have perfected it. But what is so difficult about “the walk”? Don’t we walk everywhere all the time? In normal everyday walking our natural action is to sway gently in the direction we want to go, then as gravity starts to get involved our free leg moves roughly to where we want to end up. We don’t think about it of course as it is all instinctive, but normal walking is a largely passive activity. Tango walking however is far more active. Whether you are a leader or a follower your walk does not just have to move you from A to B but it also has to impart some energy to your partner. You are moving two people with every [read more...]
Leading and Following
20 Sep 2024 - by Graham (from newsletter)
Tango is usually described as a “led” dance, with the leader determining what happens next, and the follower just… well… following. This is certainly one way of thinking about it, although it implies that the follower’s role is passive and that the leader does all the work. The reality though should be very different with both roles active and involved in shaping the dance. But to get there may require a shift in perception as to what we mean by a “strong lead”. The simplified view of leading – and the one usually taught to beginners - is that the leader moves the follower from one position to another and the follower simply does what they are told. We teach this early on as it is easier and generates something that looks a lot like tango, but the resulting dance is very one-sided and lacks dynamism. Instead think [read more...]
Back from Summer - Important Information
04 Sep 2024 - by Graham
It is the start of September and the summer season is drawing to a close, so it must be time to get back to tango! Both of our regular class venues were closed for some or all of the summer period, with Sevenoaks shutting on the 1st August and South Norwood shutting on the 28th August (that was initially planned to only be for one week, but it extended into a second week because life got complicated), but next week they both re-open. So it is time to find your dancing shoes and see what you remember. We all like the format of the classes so most things will carry on exactly as they were before, but there will be a few changes born of necessity: Five-for-Four Entry price is £12pp, but to keep the costs down we offer a "five classes for the price of four" [read more...]
Private Classes
18 May 2024 - by Graham
Group classes are an excellent way to progress your tango and learn new techniques, but when you want to focus on something specific or just need a bit more time with the teacher to understand something or iron out bad habits there is nothing better than a private one-to-one session. Until now we have only been able to offer these at a local village hall on Monday afternoons, but now with the opening of Graham's studio we are a lot more flexible. The studio is in Biggin Hill, and one-to-one sessions are available throughout the week. The cost is £35 per hour, and is the same whether you come on your own or with a partner (assuming you dance together). Bookings now available from the 28th May onwards. Please visit the Private Classes page for more information, and the Hawthorn Studios page for where to find us. [read more...]
X/Tango - Alternative and Neotango
06 May 2024 - by Graham
On the 19th April we had our first X/Tango event in four years, and it was everything we hoped it would be! A good number of people came from all over the area - South Norwood, Croydon, Sevenoaks, Borough Green, East Grinstead, Canterbury, and much more - and we had a good balance of leaders and followers. So absolutely we will be doing it again. But what is X/Tango? What is the difference between an X/Tango event and a milonga you may have attended that was run by a more 'traditional' tango school than us? From the first moment I discovered tango and began to learn this amazing and intricate dance style I knew that I did not want it to be constrained by one type of music. Tango was bigger than that, and it confused me that so many places seemed to be saying that if you [read more...]
