In this exercise we return to an idea we started in video 2.  In this case we are going to focus on slow forward walking.  As you work with these videos it is a good idea to go back periodically and review the first two exercises.  In this video we are going to work on something much closer to our walking in tango.  It is not all that different from our natural walking but even at tango tempo it is still slower than we usually walk.  The slower tempo explains most of the difference between walking on the street and walking in tango.  In the end with more dance experience it gets stylized and more distinct, but the foundations of our dancing are in simple body movement.

We start as usual with side to side weight change to make sure we are getting weight completely over one foot.  If you can’t reliably get your weight over one foot then you are not going to have an easy time walking really slowly.  You need to be able to take as long as you want to place your foot, and you can only take that much time if you aren’t falling over.  So placing all your weight over one foot is still the game we are playing.  This exercise is good for followers as well as leaders.  It is easier to work on this walking forward because walking forward is so much easier than walking backward, especially when we slow things down this much.  We will eventually work on walking backward.

In this video I focus on the movement of the free leg from the beginning of the step until the free foot is placed on the floor.  Once the foot is placed it isn’t all that hard to transfer your weight and arrive over the foot.  It is harder to just move the leg and place the foot without moving the rest of your body.  Don’t worry about taking a long step here, keep the steps short enough that you can place your foot on the floor without immediately placing weight on it.  You can take longer steps later but at some point you will have to be transferring your weight as you place your foot.  If you internalize the feeling of this walking with normal length steps your body will find a way to keep the feeling of this even when you are taking longer steps, and your movement will still be as smooth, and you don’t have to develop some distinct new thing.

I mention again the use of your own video camera to be able to watch yourself.  Take a video and see what you are actually doing.  This is an important feedback, and better than using a mirror, when you watch the mirror you will not be able to focus on your movement in the same way.  Let the video camera do the watching and you can focus on the feeling of the movement, then you can watch later and just watch.

The control you learn from this kind of slow walking exercise is very nice for your feet.  When you can place your feet quietly, you can dance longer before your feet are tired, and harder surfaces like marble aren’t as punishing to dance on.

Incidentally my roommates used to comment that they could never hear me moving around the house.  I think my tango dancing has changed how I walk normally; I land quite softly in my every day walking.  So I started trying to walk in tango like I walk on the street, and ended up changing how I walk on the street to be more like I dance tango.