Tango have so much in common that it often becomes difficult to separate them. Besides concentration, coordination, and control, in Tango the pelvis always remains in a neutral position, not daring to move an inch. Tango requires such a balanced posture and a concentration of the mind such that it is not uncommon to see partners move though the dance floor with their eyes closed.
Tango is not like any other dance.
A Mind, Body and Soul Dance
Tango encourages controlled movements. In Tango there is no such a thing as out-of-control, jerky movements. And thank God for that. This way you will never make a fool of yourself in front of everybody, shaking and jumping all over the place. Oh, no. Not with Tango, you won’t.
When you Tango you use very controlled and precise movements, movements that have been already designed for you to use. They give you a sense of self-confidence and elegance. You no longer engage in spontaneous body expressions, as you are now perfectly capable of coordinating your movements and matching them to those of your companion.
Rigid the Core, Only the Legs Move!
During my first three months of Tango classes, I used to walk around the room with my tango teacher. Just walked. Raul (that was his name), told me that it was the best way to get in the mood, the right attitude, the posture and the style. He told me that I should first learn how to stand and how to walk and only afterwards I would start learning the steps. During those long hours of walking, I kept hearing from him, “Keep the core still. Move only the legs!”. Years later, I became the C.E.O of the largest chain of Pilates Studios in the world. One day, I stumbled over a phrase that apparently Joseph Pilates used to say to his students in his basic English: “Rigid The Core, only the Legs Move”!
It was then that I decided to start Tangolates. What do you know? The twists and turns of life…
Spontaneity Versus Coordination
Simply because Tango does not call for jerky, uncontrolled movements of the legs does not mean that it is rigid. Again. The fact that Tango does not mean jerky movements of the hips (please do not move your hips!) does not mean there is no room for creative dancing and improvisation. Tango requires precise and controlled movements in which the hips, the legs and the trunk do not move loosely, but that does not mean that there is no freedom of action, or that you cannot express yourself naturally and creatively. O.K.?
I just want to make this point clear so that you don’t get scared. On the contrary, the fun of Tango is precisely that there is plenty of room for creativity. It is fun and it is easy, much easier than you ever imagined!
A Neutral Pelvis for Tango
Good. So we understand that there are no free or jerky steps in Tango, but rather elegant and controlled movements. Remember, the three key words in tango are Concentration, Control, and Coordination.
Once you remember these three words, you can add two more: Balance and Posture, and you are almost done. So, with the BP (Balance and Posture), we have:
Concentration
Coordination
Control
Balance
Posture
What is left? Just two more things: Core and a Neutral Pelvis. All of them together, then:
Concentration
Coordination
Control
Balance
Posture
Core
Neutral Pelvis
Voila! You’ve got Tango…
You are The Star of the Party
When you Tango, you engage your “core” in coordinated and concentrated movements that require a basic balanced posture and strengthened pelvic muscles. This is Tango all right. Any resemblance with Pilates is not mere coincidence!
What Rudolph Valentino didn’t Know
What can you expect from combining these two giants, Tango ? The answer is simple. From the combination of these two giants you get …Tangolates!
Tangolates is a perfect, explosive and irresistible fusion of Tango and Pilates.
In doing Tangolates you will achieve a natural balance and improve your posture; you will learn to hold your “center” and grow tall. You will also learn to move with a sensuous cadence. You will engage in a concentrated bodily expression through coordinated movements that will make you look and feel so sexy you will not believe it!
With Tangolates not only will you gain concentration and coordination, you will also gain total control of your body and self-confidence. Tangolates will teach you how to stand proud, to look elegant in the flow of the motion, and to feel sexy while you move around the room with natural sensuality. This is what Tangolates will do for you, and this is what this book will teach you in the following pages.
With every Tangolates exercise you will enhance your:
Elegance
Savoir-fare
Sensuality
Charm
Poise
Grace
Yours Truly, In Total Control
Recently, Kathy M. stopped by one of my Studios. A nice and intelligent woman, mother of two children and a former cheerleader in her college years, she implored, “ I feel horrible. I registered in a gym class and what do I get? A million eyes staring at clumsy, overweight me! I want to be the slender person I used to be. What can I do to make myself look better without making a fool of myself?”
Did you hear yourself talking? It’s not a coincidence. Like Kathy, you probably feel embarrassed in a gym class, or a body expression, or modern dance class where they are invariably asked to “improvise”, to “be herself”, and to “let go”. As she put it, “ I don’t want to be “creative”, I don’t want to improvise; I feel silly improvising while everybody is staring at me!”
If you are like my friend Kathy, you probably feel a bit embarrassed having to perform in front of people. Well, don’t worry. The best thing about Tangolates is that you don’t have to do the effort to be ingenious, creative, original, or anything you were not born to be.
When you Tangolates you feel supported and protected by a routine that is there for you to feel and look great without having to think much. Tangolates makes you feel you are doing the right thing at the right time and with the right rhythm. Isn’t that great?
Exercise Your Way to Success
By learning the simple Tangolates exercises explained in this book, you will feel you’ve done something with your life, something that makes you feel and look different. You will become special to yourself and to others. You will be able to do away with your insecurities and assert yourself as the important person you are. You will feel more elegant and in complete control of your body. Hey, you already feel better just thinking of it, right?
It’s a Matter of Time
Tango has been around for a long, long time. By the beginning of the last century, Tango had already gained a reputation as “Número Uno”, the most sensuous, sultry and smoldering body expression ever.
A relatively newer phenomenon. It goes back to the 1920’s when a man named Joseph P. designed a machine, some kind of apparatus which looked horrible, but helped wounded soldiers in an English labor camp, during WWI (1914-1918).
O. K., it doesn’t have the same charm, but it is still worth our attention. Let’s see…
This machine was made originally by adding different pieces to a hospital bed, like leather straps, springs, adjustable bars, a wooden box and a sliding floor, or carriage, that he borrowed from a piano and that helps you move backwards and forwards as you exercise.
Pilates called that machine, The Universal Reformer because all exercises could be done on it, without need of any extra or accessory machines.
A Man Named Joe
Joseph Hubertus P. was a young German citizen who lived in London at the time the First World War broke out. Nobody knows for sure, but apparently, this young German had worked at a circus, as a boxer, and at various other unusual jobs, until he was taken to a detention camp for German citizens.
Once there, he was asked his occupation, and when he said he worked as a body builder at a circus, they asked him, “You are a body builder? You do physical training work, don’t you? Well, then, old chap, you are going to work with wounded soldiers and see if you can help them recover their bodily strength”.
Young Joseph protested because he had no tools to work with. “If you do not have the tools, you make them!” was the official answer.
The Making of The Reformer
Scared, young Joseph looked around for tools to help him work with those soldiers who were prostrate in bed. What did he find? Well, for starters, he found a piano, and from its lid he made a sliding floor. Then he opened a mattress (at that time mattresses had springs inside) and took out the springs, which he would later use as weighs. He then completed his work with loops, leather straps, adjustable bars, and later on, a wooden box, a jumping board, and other crazy things until he realized he had made a rehabilitation bed. Well… sort of.
Young Joseph did not have the education that entitled him to rehabilitate anyone, much less wounded soldiers. In fact, he probably never studied anything. Resourceful as he was, he did not let this minor detail stand in his way. Joseph started working with those soldiers until one day he realized he had something going. Indeed, he had something going, and that something was not bad at all.
Just as he called the machine Der Reformer; the exercises to do on it he called Contrology, or The Art of Control.
