Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau

Teaching at Phoenix Desert Tango Weekend,
La Posada Doubletree Resort, Phoenix, Arizona, January 2003

A Windows CD is available.
It can be played on computer, not on a DVD player.
$20 Plus $3 shipping and handling.
Part of profit goes to Gloria and Eduardo.
Details below.
To order, e-mail Igor Polk, webmaster@virtuar.com

Gloria & Eduardo are teaching Argentine tango in a close embrace style called milonguero style, apilado style, confiteria, or club style, whatever you prefer.

Their style is very close, rhythmic, sharp, and very fun. Gloria and Eduardo are great masters of Argentine tango. They danced and performed with the best old tango orchestras since 1950-th. Their lessons contain the very essence of tango the way it was danced in Buenos Aires. Every movement is ideal in its simplicity and perfection. Their teaching of lead and follow is a must for everyone. For everyone!

With a professional camera I have videotaped some of materials and made a CD. Now I can watch it and learn in comfortable for me pace. Especially good are Tango-Milonga dances. Unfortunately, the record can not convey the aura of the lessons. Gloria and Eduardo radiate the huge flow of positive energy. They enjoy the dance and generously give enjoyment to others. Well, this is one more reason to attend their class.

Below you will find the list of dances Gloria and Eduardo gave after the lessons. They include elements taught at classes. Most materials are at beginner's and intermediate level, but everyone will find it useful. Gloria and Eduardo do not make mistakes. They show elements in simple and cristal clear manner with perfect lead, movement of legs, arms and bodies. They do it with a smile. If I would only have this record when I started ! It should save me 100 classes at least.

The list of dances on the CD

Intermediate Tango lesson 1
Advanced Tango lesson 1
Introduction to Tango
Fundamentals of the club style
Fundamentals of Tango-Milonga and Canyengue. Two dances
Introduction to Milonga
Advanced Tango lesson 2. Dance 1
Advanced Tango lesson 2. Dance 2
Performance

Preview CD label

There are no lessons recorded. Only dances. In dances they show much more than they were able to explain during lessons, it makes the CD good not only for beginners and intermediates, but also for advanced dancers. These are educational dances, so every element is shown many times and very clear. If you play it with your DVD-player ( on a computer only ! ) you can be in complete control of every frame. Much easier to learn than with a tape. It is enough material here for whole year of learning. If you think they do not do something perfect - it does not matter, it does not have to be perfect. What matters, they do perfectly. Always. There is no any mistake. Gloria footwork is amazing. Dance like them and you are a royal dancer. I myself still refer to this recordings a lot. I my opinion, this is absolutely the best visual material to start to dance tango.

Some photos

Close embrace Molinete back step start The embrace Fifth position Step 4 Tango-Milonga and Canyengue Canyengue forward run Energetic milonga forward ocho Milonga step 3 Planeo finish Boleo Molinete forward step start Molinete forward step weight transfer Planeo Molinete side step Planeo Cadencia

Many thanks to Linda Valentino organized the wonderful event at La Posada.

To know more about the teachers visit Gloria y Eduardo own site
To learn more about Argentine Tango visit ToDoTango.

Lead and follow in Argentine Tango by Gloria and Eduardo

I feel responsibility to convey what I have learned from Gloria and Eduardo regarding lead and follow. This is most important and most difficult since in my view most teachers do not teach it or teach it wrong. Here is how Gloria and Eduardo explain the basics. I am trying to be as close as possible to their original teaching.

Lead and follow is the most important thing in tango dance. The man must lead and the woman must follow. For the right lead and follow both partners must do it right.
Lead is transmitted in the point of contact. In open embrace the man with his left hand holds the woman's right hand. A point of contact is in the hand. The woman's left arm ( somewhere between her elbow and her shoulder ) rests on the man's arm. This is another point of contact. When the man moves, he slightly pushes the woman in the points of contact. Force is directed horizontally. The woman feels the force and moves in response. The force is preserved as long as the man moves. When the man wants to slow down or stop, he decreases or eliminates completely this pushing force.
The woman must create resistance to the pushing force. This is very important. Without resistance the man can not lead right. What is resistance. In response to the man's push, the woman creates an opposite force in all points of contact, and then moves. The woman preserves this anti-pushing force as long as the man preserves his. The woman's anti-pushing force must be the same like man's pushing one, it means that hands do not move in relation to bodies. ( Igor: It reveals to me the source of the most common mistake, when a man is "steering" with his arms. This may be a woman's fault! She does not create the opposite force, therefore provoking the inexperienced man to push more.)
The man's right hand supports woman's back. Sometimes it must accompany woman's back like in back ochos and especially forward ochos. ( Igor: I am not sure, is there any force. Gloria told me when we practiced forward ochos, that it should be "La Marca" with my right hand. And when I did it right, rather subconsciously, oh, I have found how Eduardo feels ! ) Sometimes, the man's hand may relax.

All this provoked a lot of thoughts of my own about the frame and the lead in open embrace.

Is cross lead?: Cross can be lead, but it is not necessary. General rule: if a man passes a woman on the right side in relation to the woman, the woman must cross. It is dictated by the fundamental woman's tango movement: step back, side, forward. Cross is a form of the forward step. ( Igor: Lead to cross starts at the end of step 2. Watch Eduardo on steps 3, 4, and 5 very closely.)
Who is responsible for molinetes?: Mostly a woman. She steps in the basic order: back, side, forward, side, back, and so on. She has to do it with the right timing. Overall, she defines the rhythmic structure of molinetes. She must preserve the distance stepping around the leading man, not moving away.

I hope this page was useful for you. Figures are not most important in Tango Argentino. Lead and follow, that what creates the internal conversation in the movements and is most enjoyable. If there is no lead and follow, there is no tango dance. No matter what. See you at milongas!