Ganchos with Pablo Pugliese and Noel Strazza

Thanks to Young Kim

Yesterday (5/12/13) I attended a workshop on ganchos with Pablo Pugliese and Noel Strazza at Dance Manhattan. This was a second time that I took workshops with them, and this workshop only reinforced my initial positive impression. In fact this workshop was calmer and quieter than the first one, which worked well for me. These guys have a good understanding of movement and can articulate it well; they are relaxed, helpful and humorous. Meanwhile the student groups at DM consistently follow the law of Forrest Gump, that is, you never know what you're gonna get. This time the group reflected the typical broad distribution of skills and attitudes.

Pablo has the most illustrious tango pedigree as the son of Mingo and Esther Pugliese (tango - tango - milonga - vals - I intentionally selected videos showing them in their 70s), who were to a large degree responsible for the creation of the modern tango style in the 1940s and 50s and the revival of tango both in Argentina and abroad in the 1980s and 90s. So far I found the most literate and articulate account of their story in an interview with Mingo and Esther for the French magazine La Salida (No. 47, February-March 2006). A Russian translation of this interview, along with several other notable articles, is published on TangoSquare site in Kazakhstan (yes, people, there is tango in Almaty - look it up on the map). Pablo began dancing tango at the age of nine, performing on stage at eleven, and in his teens started teaching tango abroad with his mother, when Mingo was unable travel.

Tango dancers in the US love it when limbs are flailing in the air, so boleos and ganchos are frequently executed even in the most crowded conditions. I believe it was Homer Ladas who came up with the notion of “the Curse of the Unled Boleo”. Unlike boleos, ganchos are usually led, but only rarely are they led well.

For both boleo and gancho, the momentum is created by interrupting the movement of the follower. In boleo, this movement is an abruptly reversed ocho. According to Pablo and Noel, with gancho, it is a turn, such as a back step of the molinete, into which the follower is sent, but never allowed to go far. The momentum of the follower’s free leg, which sweeps back like a pendulum is stopped by the leader’s leg, in a happy case, the meaty part of the leader’s thigh.

The workshop focused on a few simple patterns with ganchos for both the follower and the leader. Combination 1 involved the follower’s forward ocho and outside gancho under the leader’s right leg (step with the right, interrupt, gancho with the right). This pattern highlighted the similarity of ergonomics required for executing a gancho and a sacada. The leader’s weight was on his left leg, with his right foot in a sacada position addressing the follower's left foot. When the weight of both dancers is fully placed on their supporting legs, the gancho can evolve into a free hook, popular with stage and nuevo dancers. During gancho, the contact between the leader’s free foot and the follower's supporting foot helps to have a point of reference for a more precise movement. The firm contact between the back of the follower's knee and the leader's thigh helps to prevent kicking various tender body parts.

The two important points for me were, first, the elasticity of the movement, which originates in the twisting of the leader’s upper body and the follower's matching torsion, and second, the complete commitment of the weight and maintaining one’s axis. If the leader leans while leading the gancho, the move can turn into an unanticipated colgada, with unpredictable results.

When I got to do this combination with Pablo, I thought that I was well on my axis, but he pointed out that I was releasing my upper body tension through pressing into my right/his left arm. Doing the same pattern mindfully, I was able to maintain only the lightest contact with the leader through the fingers of my right hand.

Combination 2 was a continuation of this pattern with a side step, another ocho and another gancho. Combination 3 was leader’s back salida and a short and slightly curved back step, followed by the leader’s gancho from outside the follower’s right leg.

Combination 3 led to a serendipitous discovery thanks to Pablo’s trademark extra-wide steps. When the leader makes such long steps, the extension of the follower’s legs and her timing become important. Again, when I did combination 3 with Pablo, he noted that I collect my knees too quickly and skittishly instead of unapologetically going through a full extension. This creates a problem for the leader’s sacadas and ganchos, because the leader has neither time nor space to execute them, and besides, it quite simply looks bad. As soon as I got Pablo’s idea, my form improved instantly. This discovery alone was worth the whole workshop, even if I did not learn anything else. 

See also: Homer & Cristina's gancho demonstration