Today I noticed a listing for an upcoming workshop in a non-tango studio, given by a tango dancer who I’ve never seen or heard of, about initiating movement from the pelvis.
…what?
This is not a criticism, it’s just that I’m a little confused here - maybe it’s the milonguera in me. I’m having trouble understanding why one would want to dance tango from the pelvis. All these years spent working on forward energy, and the CHEST, combined with one or two bad experiences with leaders who indeed used their pelvises, make me a little leery of such a workshop. I don’t know what it would do for people’s tango. I do not enjoy dancing with people who lead with their pelvises. I prefer to dance with someone who “gives good chest”. Tango is not a pelvic dance, as far as I’m concerned.
That said, maybe there is something I don’t know. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what this person is trying to sell. Maybe it has nothing to do with Tango and it’s just an interesting class. Can anyone explain why the pelvis would help one’s tango dancing? I just can’t see it. If the instructor of that course happens to read this blog, perhaps she might kindly comment? Really, I’m genuinely interested in knowing. And very, very curious.
As someone who has dabbled in Belly Dancing for a few years, I DO see how such a workshop could help a belly dancer, and may refer some of my belly dancing friends to take it. As a belly dancer, the center of energy is more in that area…well, the uterus and ovaries. (Many languages translate belly dance to mean… dance of the womb…so there ya go.)
But Tango? Pelvis? Scratching my head…
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uh…pelvis and tango? Er…is it supposed to be like tantric tango or sumpin’? Not getting good visuals here.
hola tina,
i also don’t know this lady and wasn’t aware of this class until i learned about it from your blog.
i’ve just read the class description and i don’t think she’s saying that tango should be danced from pelvis; she mentions that the movement should be initiated from it. the way i understand this pelvis business is in the light of strengthening an important part of our core muscles. my personal experience from yoga is that pelvis plays an important role in grounding, maintaining a good posture and allowing the chest to expand without putting any pressure on the lower back. also, especially in the standing poses (which in my opinion are very relevant to the dance — well unless your lead is constantly doing something crazy so you always have your legs up in the air
properly tilting the pelvic bowl and positioning your hips makes your legs very strong and rooted while your chest is free to breathe and expand. this same action also allows the upper and lower body to disassociate in order to allow twists which makes turning easier. i would imagine this idea of the body “alignment” to be what she refers to as an initiation of the movement with pelvis being an important part of it. after all, everything in our body has to work together to keep us upright.
i think the classes from dancers and people with lots of experience in body movement in general could be a good opportunity to learn and become more aware of our own bodies. but ultimately, finding what works for us is a highly personal journey of exploration.
for me, the pelvic bowl is very important in the dance because on the exhalation it is a place where the energy of the earth i get through my legs meets the energy of the breath that expanded the chest; and then on the inhalation these 2 coils connected in the pelvic bowl expand — one upward towards the chest and the shoulders and the other downward to the legs.
of course i write this as i actually think about it — when i dance as soon as i find that sweet spot in the embrace my brain shuts down
we need a lot of help from the rest of the body, pelvis included. in general, i think that awareness and strengthening all of our core muscles will make us more balanced, flexible, and rooted — which will then enable us to give more to the dance with our bodies.
i do agree with you that the large part of the connection comes from the chest. and to give a good chest (very well said on your part
Thank you Radmila!
I never thought about it in those lights at all. See? I’m glad I wrote this blog entry.
If you visualize your pelvis as a bowl, is it tilted up or down/back when you dance? What feels better, gives more dynamic and what makes you stiff?
Do you occasionally feel stiff while dancing? What position does your pelvis have then?
Radmila is correct in this, everything we do starts from the core. When we work the core properly which to me includes breathe, everything else is effortless…legs, arms.
So many people do not have any body awareness what so ever, as you may have observed taking classes especially in the beginning, but it is sure fun watching their progress, when they do start to get intouch with themselves!
Leading from the pelvis does sound obscene! But Radmila makes a good point about movement coming from the core.
I guess I would have to know if the instructor is a skilled tango dancer. Core strength benefits the dance when applied to tango movement.
Franz - I have absolutely no idea. I hope Radmila responds again.
Here’s the problem though, if the follow is leading from the pelvis and the lead is leading from the chest….you get the idea. Was this an only-female class or was she implying that BOTH dancers should lead from the pelvis.
Either way, I went out salsa dancing last night and let me tell you, everyone leads with their pelvis (and something else) during the merrengue and it’s just gross. I have now learned to sit those dances out.
fluvial, if someone is leading with their pelvis in salsa or merengue they are taking advantage of you or do not know how to dance. I will push someone away quite firmly if they try to make contact in the nether regions. There is certainly a lot of pelvic movement, but the pelvis should not come into contact with one’s partner. The lead in salsa comes from the hands/arms (which should radiate out from one’s core). At most, there may be some knee-to-knee contact.
That’s a good point. I was completely disgusted but felt obligated the finish the song. I think I’ll sit those out until I figure out how to actually dance them and will be better to tell what’s dancing and what’s not.
Thanks for the advice!
ok, i just stood in front of a mirror and analyzed what i think i do when i dance: i move my pelvis a little forward until i feel the back of my thighs pressing down into my heels. then i bring my body forward until i feel the balls of my feet pressing into the ground. and then i bend my knees so the pelvis and hips are lower and my shoulders are very close to being in the same line as my hips.
of course what i really do varies and i don’t really think about it as long as it feels good.
i have stiffness when someone leads a volcada and for one reason or another my lower back takes the hit. i imagine when this happens my pelvis is way back. or sometimes if i dance with leads who are a bit taller than me (and there aren’t many of them :)) and i feel lazy or tired, i tend to stick my butt out so i am poorly supported with my pelvis and my poor back carries most of the weight.
Last night at practica I was thinking about my pelvis and what it was doing. I can’t say exactly what, but I could definitely tell that it is engaged, even when I dance “apilado”.
The human body is amazing!
fluvial, I know the feeling. Leaving a dance in the middle of the song is an extreme act! Firmly enforcing the open frame, even repeatedly, usually works and sends a message. I have been known to slap men (for some reason it’s never taken as an offense, must have to do with the “hot passion” associated with salsa). Just follow your instincts. I think a lot of guys who come out for merengue don’t really know how to dance because the steps are so easy.
Maria & Fluvial - yeah it’s extreme but hey - respect is respect. And if you feel you’re not getting it, it’s good to remove yourself from the situation.
This is an idea I’ve encountered a lot, perhaps because I take more classes with ‘nuevo’ teachers than ‘traditional’, if you’ll excuse the clumsy distinction. The first time I heard it my reponse was also ‘What?’, having been told before that tango starts at the chest to chest connection. But now it’s an idea that I find really helpful, and which keeps me on my axis.
The idea is not that the pelvis moves around on its own, nor that the lead is in the pelvis - the lead is indeed in the chest. The idea is that the centre / centre of gravity is in the pelvis area, and if so you move that, everything else goes with it. Pablo Inza talks about imagining this point as a little tennis ball inside your pelvis. So you think about moving your centre, and the rest of you naturally goes too - the legs move naturally underneath to just the right point, so you never over or undershoot, and the upper body moves on top of the centre, so is never tilted forward or backwards. Actually, he talks about there being two centres, one in the pelvis and one in the chest, one on top of the other. He also talks about loosening and opening the hip joints, letting the lower centre drop so that you are grounded, while keeping the upper centre’s dynamic upwards.
Anyway, my recap hasn’t done the theory justice at all, but I thought I’d thrown in my twopennorth!
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