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Argentine Tango
Tango Notation |
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Tango Notation was originally published in: Argentine Tango Class Companion
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Within the Tango book 'Argentine Tango- Class Companion'
by Thomas Rasche there is a chapter is about dance notation, a kinetographic script, designed by Thomas, to enable you to write down and remember your Tango steps. Extracts of the contents of that chapter are included on this web page (see below). As this is the official website for Rasche Notation, any adopted developments (beyond the contents of the book) will be noted on this web page. You can also discuss and learn more about the Notation at Notation E-group, (or follow the link at the bottom of this page). Furthermore, you can find out more about this Tango book, as well as viewing the publisher's book information page, which includes a preview of the book. Write down and remember your Tango steps ! Review: "...The author [of the Argentine Tango-Class Companion book] has...endeavoured to find a way to write down the dance of tango; with astonishment and happiness I can say that he has achieve it well: described with clarity at the end of the book, a system of notation to read-and-write which is usable with a bit of practice..." Damián Esell (www.damianynancy.com)
Notation
After taking lessons, it is often difficult to remember the steps that were
taught. If videoing the steps is not possible, then writing the steps down
afterwards is the best alternative. Having tried to do this, I designed a
couple of kinetographic scripts, with mixed results. With hindsight, the
best method is to write the steps down in shorthand. I hope the following
might assist you writing your own steps down. I have also used this notation
to illustrate some principles. Here are some convenient abbreviations:
Subject:
M,
W
Man/ Man’s, Woman/ Woman’s. Both: ‘MW’
L,
R,
Left (leg/foot), Right (leg/foot).
Φ
Axis, Centre of Gravity, weight or balance.
Verb: Π, ∩ Weight transfer (in part, or completely ).
T
Torsion, turn of the upper body, i.e. twist.
C+,
C-
Clockwise, Anticlockwise (hips, couple etc).
!,
?
Movement, either ahead of time, or delayed.
__
Underline, taken as a longer or bigger step.
Destination:
@
To, towards, at, around to or via.
#
Close. [free
leg]...moves to standing leg.
1…12
Directions are written 1 to 12, corresponding to
a clock face; relative to the direction of the
hip.
Movement is described geometrically in terms of where steps are placed, but
without the quality of movement, step length or timing. The syntax is ‘what,
goes where’, or ‘subject-verb-destination’. So, if the man’s left leg goes
forwards: ‘what’ is man’s left leg (ML), which goes ‘where’ forwards
(direction 12), is notated ‘ML12’.
Walking, starting with the man’s left foot, can be written:
Pos
A
B
A
B ...
M
L12 R12
L12 R12
W
R6 L6
R6
L6
Normal walking is synchronised, i.e. in sync. This means that when the man’s
left leg goes forwards, the woman’s right goes back, and vice versa. There
are three geometries when walking in sync:
I) Walking, man and woman straight in front of each other.
II) Walking, each dancer in the couple is aligned left of the other. The
man’s right leg, when stepping forward, passes to the left (outside) of the
woman’s right leg.
The step position marked as ‘BL’
indicates this.
III) Walking, each dancer in the couple is aligned right of the other. The
man’s left leg, when stepping forward, passes the right (outside) of the
woman’s left leg.
Step position ‘AR’ indicates
this.
Walking type (II) can be written:
Pos (i) ...
A
BL
A
BL
...
M (T2)
... L12
R12 L12
R12
W (T2)
... R6
L6
R6
L6
Walking type (III) can be written:
Pos (i) ...
AR
B
AR
B ...
M (T10)...
L12 R12
L12
R12
W (T10)...
R6
L6
R6
L6
‘Pos’, or ‘Position’ is the absolute position the man and woman are in.
These positions are arrangements of the feet that recur in different step
combinations and so enable quick writing/reading and as a link between steps
when learning and improvising.
Torsion is required to maintain this comfortably, indicated in the brackets.
‘T2’ is an upper body twist to the right. ‘i’ indicates in sync.
Walking out of sync, also referred to as crossed walking, has two
geometries:
IV) Walking, the man is aligned to the left of the woman. The man’s right
leg steps forwards, in line with the woman’s right leg which steps back. His
right leg is to the left of her left leg.
V) Walking, the man is aligned to the right of the woman. The man’s left leg
steps forwards, in line with the woman’s left leg which steps back. His
right left is to the right of her right leg.
Walking type (IV) can be written:
Pos (o) ...
CL
DL
CL
DL ...
M (T2)
... L12
R12 L12
R12
W (T2)
... L6
R6
L6
R6
Torsion is required to maintain this comfortably, indicated in the brackets.
‘T2’ is an upper body twist to the right. ‘o’ indicates these positions are
out of sync.
Walking type (V) can be written:
Pos (o) ...
CR
DR
CR
DR
...
M (T10)...
L12 R12
L12
R12
W (T10)...
R6
L6
R6
L6
Using this notation to illustrate step sequences, a few might be written as
follows:
The Salida, the basic step, can be
written:
Count
1
2
3
Pos
BL
Man
R6.
L9,T1. R12@(outside of WR foot).
Woman
L12. R3.
L6.
Count
4
5
6
7
8
Pos
A
‘X’
A
#
Man
L12.
T12. R#.
L12.
R3.
L#.
Woman R6.
L#3.
R6.
L9.
R#.
The step WL#3 means the woman’s left leg closes i.e. is placed next to the
standing (right) leg at position 3 (the legs are crossed, with little toes
touching).
The woman’s Ocho adelante the
forwards ocho, where the woman’s free foot moves toe first, can be written:
Pos from
‘X’
A
...
Man
T12,R#.
T2.
T12.
L12.
Woman L#3.
C-T2.R12. C+T10.
L12. T12.R#. R6.
Note: a Rotation step is written in terms of the Torsion that takes place.
For example, ‘T2’ rotates the shoulders (i.e. upper body) to face towards 2
o’clock, relative to the hips. However, because the embrace doesn’t change
its shape in Tango, and the partner remains in their place (at this point in
this step), then the turn from ‘T12’ to ‘T2’ actually means an anticlockwise
turn of the hips. A ‘C-‘ is included for clarity. How this is led is not in
the notation, as only the step positions are indicated. It is after all a
notation to help remember steps, rather than being a manual to learn from.
The woman’s Ocho atrás, the
backwards ocho, where the woman’s free foot moves heel first, can be
written:
Ct 2
(from Salida)
repeat 2, or...
Pos
(CL)
(DR)
(CL)
M
L9.R#,T10. L9.
T2.
∩R. T10.
∩L
W R3.
C-T2, L6.
C+T10,@R#,R6.
C-T2,@L#,L6.
Ct
...exit to...
Pos
DL
‘X’
M
C-T2.R12? T12.L#.
W R6.
T12.L#3.
Note: Normally, it is assumed that the balance point will move over the foot
that has been placed i.e. which has been given a new direction in the
notation. Torsion is assumed to continue after the T notation, until the
next indication of its change. If the following step is still the same
however, if the feet aren’t moving, the ‘∩R’ indicates where the balance
should go. In this example, the balance point of the man moves over his
right foot. Simultaneous movements are written above each other. ‘(CL)’
indicates a similarity to the step position ‘CL’.
The above assumes that the
man’s line of walk is in the same direction, or parallel, to the woman’s
line of walk. In other words, if the man takes a step in a particular
direction, she will also take a step in that direction. Her step will be
parallel, if not aligned. For example, if the man takes a side step, then
she will step in the same, parallel direction, though they are not aligned,
as they are in front of each other. Like a railway, there are two parallel
directions but next to each other.
The man or woman could
take a step that converges or diverges from the partner’s line of step. For
example, if the man steps towards the woman, placing his foot between the
woman’s feet, his line of step converges into her line of step.
Typically, this convergent
step is between her feet, as in a sacada, so this can be abbreviated as:
%
Step into partner’s line (between feet), towards...
‘ML%WR’ means that a man’s
line of dance converges on the woman’s line, so that his left foot is placed
between the woman’s feet, just ahead of her back right foot. ‘ML%’ would
simply mean that his left foot is placed half way between the woman’s feet.
Further abbreviations that
might be useful:
>,
< Step
on a convergent, divergent line (relative to
partner’s). Compare ‘%’ which indicates a special
case of convergent step: between partner’s feet.
f
Firulete, adornment.
=
Next to, against, or contact with...
₪,or
∂ Dynamic balance, effect or
support.
Θ
Centre of rotation.
↓,
↑
Lowering, or lifting (of the lead).
Ω
Bending, or flexion, of
the knee(s).
§
Shape of the
embrace changes to...
þ
Pressure / Presence within
couple changes to...
¥
Arm movement
. , Comma indicates part of the same movement and a full stop indicates its
completion.
(...)
For
clarity, long hand notes are in brackets.
Should any movement you would want to note not have an abbreviation, either
write it long hand, or make up a new symbol! Return to top |
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Your Symbols, Steps, etc.: If you have thoughts, comments or questions about notating the dance of Tango, you can discuss these with others on the website forum: Tango Notation Egroup. Alternatively, Thomas can be contacted at thomas@tangolincs.co.uk
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