Re: [TANGO-L] Tai Chi & Tango

[Tom English <tom @TANGONOW.COM>]

Patricia,

That's pretty interesting and insiteful.  I tell beginners
that they must learn to dance without the connection to
their parnter, first.  They must find their own balance in
each move.  Then, we can add the connection.  I mean, they
can be touching their partner, but not relying on them.

Their reaction is always the same.  After focusing on
finding their own balance, they find that their partner
connection is more pure.

My way of stating this seems so terse compared with your
writing.  I will definitely have to visit your website.

I remember a teacher telling me that I was supporting a
specific bad habit of a new dancer with whom I was dancing.
 Say, for example, her right hand was pressing down on my
left hand.  That was a big lesson for me.  I noticed, in my
teaching, that if I don't support someone's bad habit, and
I don't say that I am taking that support away from them,
then, they automatically fix their problem.  I will tell
the student, later, what I did.  But, the point is that
that person would correct his or her own balance and,
therefore, the partner connection would improve.  I guess
that could be considered as a micro case of Tai Chi.

Thank you,
Tom



On Fri, 3 Jan 2003 11:23:26 +0100
 Ki Aikido Kidojo <kiaikido @KIDOJO.IT> wrote:
> Dear Tom and listeros,
>
> if somebody is doing T'ai Chi Chuan also for a long time,
> even this one has to learn the basic tecnics of Tango. At
> least this happened to me (my name is patricia muller, i
> am living in florence-italy, practising T'ai chi since
> the 70ies and teaching it since the end of the 80ies).
> My personal opinion is that manhood -in the end-
> discovers always the same principles (because of gravity,
> of the human body, of the longing to be one -excuse me
> the strong word- with the universe and with a partner,
> and so on).
>
> Maybe T'ai Chi Chuan has the advantage that You have to
> be strong and centered, to be conscious of the
> surrounding and you own body, but also to be gentle to
> permit you own energy and the universal energy to
> exchange, to flow and expand, to return, to live.
> Practised alone or in a group (and not with a partner)
> there is no nessecity to fight somebody. After several
> years of learning and teaching also Tango (milonguero) I
> came to realise this point as the most important of the
> combination T'ai Chi Chuan and Tango: you come to feel
> your partner as a part of yourself (or of your own
> energy) - like all the older argentine dancers do - and
> you don't fight this part of yours (I mean the partner).
> Beeing one with your partner, you will experience a
> spiritual connexion (an already discussed theme here in
> the e-list - novembre 2002).
>
> So in the end -at least for me - T'ai Chi Chuan helps my
> Tango to be not aggressive and not to be used to show up,
> but just to feel energy, warmth and a social way to
> meditate (together).
>
> patricia muller
>
>
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--
Tom English, Founder
TangoNow!
Boston's very own Argentine Tango
www.tangonow.com
tom @tangonow.com
617-783-5478

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