Oscar Mandagaran y Georgina Vargas

Tonight I had the pleasure to take a couple group classes with Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas. They stopped in Eugene for a mini workshop, and I'm glad they did.

The first class was on Grapevines, turns and enrosques. It was billed as all levels, and I think the information was advanced beginner and up. If you had little tango background, it would have been difficult to get some of the nuances they shared.

• "aha moment": the role of the big toe. When I turn my foot out, the big toe is my stabilization point. Spreading the stabilization throughout my toes causes me to have to do a minute adjustment before my next step, but rolling the foot in and using my big toe as the balance point allows me more strength and flexibility. And, it keeps me more in line so that I am in more natural alignment with my axis.

• "aha moment": using the hips. When I move from my solar plexus and keep the energy moving upwards, and release my pelvis so it drops back (as opposed to tucked in), I get a lot more play in my hips without losing the connectedness in the embrace. Allows for some very nice swish. (The former bellydancer in me cooed in ecstasy! She's been complaining about hip neglect for ages now!)
  

The other class was a milonga traspie class (yay!). This was a challenging class for the leads, and I think that overall we would have benefited by starting at a more basic level. I loved the playful attitude, and the focus on simple concise movement.

One of the charming things about this class was Oscar's use of the word "worship" in reference to dance. ahhh, it is a worship to dance.

I will look for them for future classes.

Sorry, everyone, I looked for a good quality video but couldn't find one.