Tango Walk: Why So Much Attention?
In most partner dances, choreography is what makes the dance something to behold. This can often be observed through elegant steps or grand, sweeping movements of the body. Figures such as twists and turns or seemingly complicated steps are practiced over and over, giving a regular onlooker the impression that dancing is all about bombastic or sophisticated gestures.
Because of this, many believe that for one to dance effectively, one must be fit or athletic, with the ability to move differently on the dance floor than they do in everyday life. To some degree, this is true.
Yet, strangely enough, Argentine tango is so rooted in its humble beginnings that even the foundation of what is considered good tango dancing is the very thing one does every day: walk.
Walking Together
If one should attend a milonga in Buenos Aires, it is not uncommon for one to hear old milongueros say “Thank you for walking with me” after the tanda.
This is because older dancers of Argentine tango have regarded and still continue to regard walking — specifically walking in tango — as an important aspect of the quality of their dance.
As a post from Tango Principles explains: “The dancing of the older generation was markedly different from that of the younger people. Many people acknowledged it, but wrote it off to a difference in the years of experience. But I saw clearly that just years of practice could not explain the discrepancy. There was something else at work. I then discovered [...] that the old-timers naturally walked better than the younger generations, which was a big factor in the higher level of their dancing.”
However, it is important to understand that walking in tango is not entirely similar to how one would regularly walk from one point to the next, at least from a conscious perspective.
An article from Tanguito provides an explanation of how they are conceptually different: “The difference between walking and tango walk is conceptually quite straight-forward, although it might take a while to master in practice: in life, you walk on your own; in tango, you walk with someone ‘stuck’ to your chest.”
The tango walk, therefore, means that walking on the dance floor goes hand in hand with “communicating,” which happens through the chest connection both partners share as this is how invitations for the next step are made.
Further to the tango walk, it is also quite different from how other partner dances, such as ballroom, would approach steps and movements in general. As described by a post from AkroTango, “The hard step approach of the ballroom dancers (with a strong staccato in the footflick) is not much appreciated in Tango Argentino. The step approach should be rather soft and correspond to the weight transfer of the danced emotion.”
But how does one learn how to do a good tango walk?
Insights on the Tango Walk
A post from Tango Principles compiled some interesting quotes from older milongueros in Buenos Aires who offered some short but very insightful tips about the tango walk and tango dancing in general. Here are some of them:
● “To dance tango well, one has to learn to walk well.”- Learning the tango walk doesn’t necessarily mean learning any special kind of walk. What it suggests is for one to learn how to walk better in general. Standing and walking well means getting rid of unnatural patterns of movement, as well as fully discovering the proper coordination between the body’s musculoskeletal system.
● "One must walk the tango; the ‘steps’ are of least importance.”- This highlights the belief among older milongueros that the essence of tango is walking together.
Some purists in Buenos Aires would hazard to say that tango is simply musical walking in an embrace, and all the other figures are “impurities.”
A less extreme view suggests that tango is performed best when one walks simply, incorporating only a few complex figures by the end of the music.
● “Tango is on the floor.”- Another reference to tango as purely walking, which suggests that all the figures are simply combinations of weight transfers and foot placements.
● “Right now, they do not walk — they run or fall.”- This statement often refers to one’s inability to control weight transfers or slow down a step and stop in the middle of it.
Similarly, many other sources offer advice on tango walk techniques on a more technical level. Here is one from MIT Tango Class Notes, which shared tango class notes from instructor Gary Diggs:
● Brush through on each step. One’s knees and ankles should brush as one leg passes the other.
● Extend the leading leg and bend the supporting leg. Weight is approximately centered between where one’s feet are located so the body can move with the extending leg.
● Shift the weight from one leg to the other, bending the extended leg as it receives the weight and straightening it out when removing the weight from it.
● Minimize any up and down movement when practicing tango walking techniques.
Pablo and Anne from Tango Space also provide a helpful visual reference when learning about how to improve one’s tango walk, whether one takes on the role of the leader or follower.
The video explains that the walk is very important in tango, and it’s not just for beginners. Rather, it is something that one can keep improving in every station of one's tango journey to make their movements more elegant and more sophisticated. It is also one of the ways that experienced dancers can display the quality of their dancing.
Here are their quick tips for your reference:
● Push the floor. Use the floor when walking. Start the movement with the supporting leg, or the leg with the weight, not the free leg. Open the toes to feel the contact with the ground and use the floor. Push the floor to project the step.
● Add suspension in the walk. Think in three moments when it comes to the journey of a step: the moment one is in one's axis, the moment one is pushing the floor, and the moment one is transferring the axis again.
● Add power to the small steps. Don't regard small steps as passive, but regard them as active like with big steps. Keep the leg straight and active, pushing the floor towards one's partner.
● Control the landing. Landing is how one arrives at the next axis after the step. Land very softly and calmly despite exerting power into the step.
● Followers, don't land on one’s heels. The heel may be the place of stability off the dance floor, but this would disconnect one from one's partner on the dance floor. Instead, transfer most of the weight towards one's partner and not to the heel.
Tango Walk Tips for Leaders and Followers
While the tango walk techniques mentioned above work well for both leaders and followers, there are some specific tips that can help each role gain a more elegant tango walk. A post from Tanguito and Ellipsis-Music suggest similar tips, which are summarized below:
Tips for Leaders
● As a leader, one should be aware not only of one’s foot movements but also that of the follower’s. Thus, for an effective tango walk or caminata, leaders must ensure that all four legs are moving together. In this case, leaders must “walk” and “talk,” wherein the legs do the walking, and the torso does the talking, the latter being the way leaders exercise how to lead the walk and invite their followers to the next step.
● Proper weight distribution is important as one’s weight must mainly be on the balls of the feet, not the heels.
● One must work on their daily walk. Imagine the floor as a force of energy and the feet as springboards. For leaders to apply “projection” to their walk, they must let the supporting leg push them forward, thus signaling the follower to move backward.
Tips for Followers
● Tango walk for followers often involves walking backward, which can be more difficult than walking forward as it’s much less natural for most people. However, the same principle for leaders also applies to followers: one must find the source of energy in the floor, pushing the floor with their supporting leg.
● Bobbing happens when one reaches out too far with the free leg and makes the front leg bend unnecessarily. This disconnects both the leader and the follower from each other. Avoid bobbing as much as possible.
● To make the tango walk more effective, followers must feel the leader’s weight transfer onto them and vice versa.
Walk Your Miles
Argentinians have a saying that for one to learn the tango, one must first walk their miles. While this can be taken figuratively, there’s a bit of literal truth in this statement.
Achieving an effective and elegant tango walk means being able to simply walk better — and by the time one has accomplished this, it is more than likely that one truly has walked one’s miles.
As the essence of tango, the tango walk deserves so much more attention as it is the very foundation of the dance itself.
Without knowing how to do a good tango walk, one would have a difficult time executing all the other figures with ease and necessary grace.
So walk your miles and go the distance, one step at a time.
ALL IN ONE STEP: “IN SEARCH OF LIGHTNESS WITHIN THE TANGO EMBRACE”. THE BIOMECHANICS OF TANGO STEP - the book by Girgio Gaggotti is available on Amazon. Discover more at Tango Secrets Summit - ONLINE