Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
It takes two
...and good balance
FOREVER TANGO
By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-BulletinIF your body is kind of middle-aged and creaky, you should approach the tango with caution. OK, you should approach any kind of movement with caution, but since the tango is so cool-looking and trendy, you're more likely to be sucked into trying it over, say, bungee jumping.
How could something so smooth and classy ever hurt you?
It is painful to admit, but after a mere 45 minutes of tango lessons, during which our group of eight basically did the same eight steps over and over and over, I emerged with a stabbing crimp in the back, due -- I am certain about this -- to the "fan," a move that involves pointing your foot in one direction while turning your body in another.
But the pain passed, and I'd do it again, because nobody stepped on my feet, so it seems there is hope.
The point of this exercise (which is what it would've been, exercise, if we could've gotten past Step 8 without stopping), was to see what it's like to actually tango, rather than just watch it.
WHERE TO LEARN
Dance studios: Arthur Murray Dance Studio (941-5007), Hawaii Dance Centre (529-8885) and others (check the yellow pages) offer private and group lessons. Call for lesson times and rates.
The job fell to me because I have a marriage and dance partner with whom I have journeyed through the realms of swing and cha-cha. Also because everyone else shrieked when approached with the idea. Sometimes when your editor tries to make eye contact you should run quickly for the door.
So anyway, there we were, in the cliche-of-all-cliches -- an Arthur Murray dance class. Three other couples joined us in this introductory phase of tango, guided by our instructor, Ron Okubo.
It is useless to try and describe dance steps in words -- this is what I wrote in my notebook: "Slow, slow, quick, quick, fan, turn, brake" -- so what I am going to go with here are general impressions.
First, it is not that hard. Hard in the sense of physically demanding or complicated, at least in the early stages. Richard Murphy, owner of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, says the mambo or bolero would be lots more difficult. Perfecting the tango moves would be exacting work, of course, and it goes without saying that show dancing, as in "Forever Tango," would be quite demanding.As far as slow-slow-quick-quick, etc., went, our group mastered it soon enough, although we looked like barely animated mannequins. I'd say we were about a decade from looking as good as Niles and Daphne in that tango episode from "Frasier."
My favorite part was the dip, sort of an alternative to the fan, where you end your eight steps with foot pointed behind and your upper body twisted in that general direction.
"Look at the price tag under your shoe," Instructor Ron told us.As for my pain in the back -- that should not be blamed on the stress of the dance, but on the likelihood that I wasn't doing it right.
A large part of learning to tango is learning how not to hurt yourself: balancing naturally, correctly pulling off the twists and turns, stepping perfectly (and not on your partner). Because the tango is done in such close quarters -- body-to-body, actually -- timing and sensitivity to your partner are crucial.
The others in our class said they were drawn to the tango because it is showy, sexy and dramatic, although Mike Mudgett said it would be awhile before he could live up to those qualities. "I'm very confident in normal life. Dancing -- I have no idea what I'm doing."
A few days later, I got to watch real tango dancers, up close in a private studio. Almost every day, Felix Chavez and Mariko Lyons practice their routine for the ongoing "Mardi Gras Follies 2000."
Whereas we were dancing stiffly about 12 inches apart, Chavez and Lyons move pressed together, smoothly in sync. They move so tightly, it seems a miracle that he doesn't smash her feet.
"This dance has sometimes been called the battle of the legs," Chavez said.
Their routine is vigorous, and in the final moments, she ends up basically upside-down. Our pitiful little class is about a century away from looking like them.
Chavez, a professional dancer, choreographer and instructor who specializes in tango, calls the dance "a partnership of hearts ... a little silent romance without, really, the romance."
It requires the complete focus of the two dancers, a total pairing of motion.
"The character, the passion, the emotions you portray ... tango brings that more to the forefront than anything else."
Click for online
calendars and events.
