Moving right along with my tiny tango post series, here's another sequence from F. Leslie Clendenen's two editions of Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914). This one is simply called "Tango" and was provided by T. Victor Zebley, a Washington, D.C., dancing master. It isn't really a "tiny" tango; it's a full thirty-two measures, which is enough for a full-fledged sequence dance.
Zebley's tango is very straightforward to reconstruct and, provided one remembers the full sequence, easy to dance, with three points where the dancers can make some minor choices of their own. I give my preferences, but also describe the other options in the performance notes below.
The starting position is normal closed hold, opened outward so that both dancers face the line of dance with joined hands extended forward. The gentleman starts with the left foot, the lady with the right. The feet given below are the gentleman's; the lady dances opposite.
Note that it moves against line of dance twice (the third and fourth measures of the first segment and the third and fourth measures of the third segments), so unless the entire ballroom is dancing in unison, the dancers should try to stay out of the main traffic pattern lest they create problems for other dancers.
Zebley's Tango (thirty-two measures/sixty-four counts)
2b Walk forward four steps (LRLR)
(turn to face against line of dance, swinging left foot to cross over right)
2b Walk forward "over elbows", against line of dance, four steps (LRLR)
2b Point left foot forward towards center then back towards wall, holding each point for two beats; lady points right foot back then forward
2b Grapevine along line of dance (LRLR) (see performance notes)
2b Draw step: left to the side, close right, rise on balls of feet, sink onto heels
2b Grapevine along line of dance (LRLR)
4b Repeat draw step and grapevine
2b Step left, cross right in front, point left, draw left back to close with weight
2b Repeat to the right
(note: lady also crosses in front on these measures)
4b Walk eight steps backward along line of dance (LRLR LRLR)
(see performance notes for options on the transition to the next segment)
4b Walk eight steps forward along line of dance (LRLR LRLR)
4b Point left to side along line of dance (1), shift weight to left and close right (2) (repeat three times more) (see performance notes)
Performance Notes
1. The grapevines. These can be performed any of the four ways: regular grapevine with the gentleman's first cross in front and the lady's behind, regular grapevine with the crosses reversed, mirror grapevine with both crossing in front to start, or mirror grapevine with both crossing behind. My general preference is for the first of these, but there is no problem fitting any of them into the sequence, or mixing and matching, if one prefers.
2. The change from backward to forward walks between the third and fourth segment of the sequence. The change can be made in either a natural (clockwise) or reverse (counter-clockwise) direction; the instructions don't specify. The reverse turn uses a pivot step on the first turn of the forward steps -- the gentleman guides the lady around on the outside as he steps forward between her feet. This is most accurate to the instructions, but doesn't feel as easy or graceful as the natural (clockwise) turn. For the natural turn, the dancers must "cheat" on the last step of the gentleman's backward/lady's forward walks; the gentleman should instead step forward toward the center of the room, guiding the lady around him. This is my and my partner's personal preference, but the other way works and is technically closer to the instructions.
3. The final series of point-shift-close-times-four. These are not quite the same as standard draw steps, which shift weight onto the leading foot on one and onto the trailing foot on two. For these steps, the weight stays on the trailing foot at first, then switches quickly to the lead foot just in time for the trailing foot to close up. This gives it a more undulating feel, especially if the weight stays on the leading foot just a touch longer before shifting to the trailing foot; this could be counted as: point lead foot (1), shift weight to lead foot (&), close trailing foot without weight (2), shift weight to trailing foot (&)
Music
There are no music notes; one can use any tango.
Special thanks to Christina for her patient partnering and pivot opinions!
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