Tag Archives: feet

Our Feet, Tango, Injuries and… the Weather!

See that title..? haha
From feet to Tango, to injuries and all the way to weather… Things that might appear unrelated, sometimes interestingly enough they do connect in this vast network we call the human body. 

Our body responds to everything, in some way… it might be an obvious response or it might be a very subtle one. Leading and following in Tango is actually based on responding…not only from the follower but also from the leader.

Injuries and how to prevent them

After sharing the video above, that was on feet as the foundation of our walk, I received a set of interesting questions/ thoughts. They were around ankle stability and injury and how we can prevent them or be able to live with and dance through them.

To prevent them we need to increase our knowledge and awareness of the human body, so we can make healthier movement choices. Tango allows us to explore that because it is based on walking. Discovering how we were built to walk will help our Tango but will also give us the tools we need to prevent injury, to the extent possible of course.

Accidents do happen though… so what do we do then..?

How can we get to a point where we feel safe and secure in our bodies after being injured? 
Injury may actually be a second chance to learn more about our body. If you need a brace for example learn what it does, and which part of your ankle is it supporting/ replacing. Then explore that area with tenderness and care. You will see that slowly your mind will start creating a map of that joint area. The injury tore the map to pieces and now carefully with massage and subtle movement you can put the pieces of the map together. 
Will that bring the joint back to its initial state?
Well, that depends on the injury of course, it may or it may not. But what it will certainly do is give you the awareness you need to move on that foot; for example give you a clear picture of the range of motion around all axes or of the necessary alignment. You can then make better choices as you are moving/ dancing.

Again, Tango at its bare bones is such a caring dance! You can take it really slow if you like and notice where and when you need to make adjustments as you take a step. And if you have a good partner along with you, you can have immediate feedback on how any of the choices affect your posture, or even your energy/ tension/ connection.

Social Tango or maybe we can say Tango Salon, is not really a dance with special requirements, like for example ballet, unless of course we go into specific Tango styles that focus on creating a specific image. That makes Tango ideal for all ages to enjoy and for everyone of us to become a bit wiser on body mechanics.

Now you probably wonder how is the weather related to feet, injury or Tango..!

Noticing how the weather affects you, is the first step to awareness. Every day can not be the same, so why are so shocked when we actually notice that. If you are feeling stiff because it is cold, then give yourself a bit of time to warm up before you start going about your day. Or if you wake up and you are low in energy and your tone is low, then give yourself some time to bring that tone up. In both examples by the way gentle shaking helps..!

The idea overall is, spend time becoming more aware of YOU..! And to get started you don’t need to do anything else but to notice how your body feels when you wake up every day. Then as your awareness increases you will be able to capture more and more feedback, as you move and as you dance.

Maybe this video on feet and weight transfer trajectory can be the second step…

Enjoy and join us for more by subscribing to our Bautanz community

Chrisa

P.S: If you are wearing heels when you are dancing, check this article out

Proper Alignment and Improper Alignment

It all started from this short video on Improper Alignment:

Ido Portal, the importance of improper alignment

As Ido Portal says in the video, “improper alignment is a certainty not a possibility.”
Practising therefore for those moments of improper alignment is crucial for our progress but also for our understanding of our body.

Managing the weight transfer

As you can tell from the video when I first introduced this exercise, it was the first step towards better alignment.

Here though I want to invite you to change your focus…instead of looking for the perfect communication path between the different parts of the body, focus on feeling every little tiny bit of your foot; even to the expense of that communication.

For example, see how far out you can take your heels out before you drop to the floor. Notice how that improper alignment makes you feel. Or the reverse how far in you can bring your heels…and again notice how that makes you feel.

Don’t try to fix it! 
Only exaggerate as much as possible without, of course, causing harm to yourselves, and notice, make mental notes of the experience.

A yummy practice for our feet

In this video, we are exploring the limits of our base of our feet. We are creating and playing with improper alignment.

Because if you don’t know where the edge is, what improper alignment feels like. How will you find the centre, a safe place where you can just be without any tension or uncertainty?

And as Ido Portal says there is no proper alignment, but proper preparation… for misalignment.
We can get off balance any second of the day… lets prepare for THAT!

Feet: Alignment and Misalignment

This third video explores transitioning; changing our level, shifting our weight, and moving in space.
Personally, I don’t believe that standing on one leg or doing calf raises endlessly will make your steps steadier, smoother or more powerful and secure.
Becoming aware of the how your feet manage the transition from the right to the left and the front to the back, definitely will though.

Does that mean, that you don’t need to ever to do balance drills again..?
NOPE!
haha
It means that you will have to include them in a more holistic practice, one that focuses on the transition and not solely on the drill itself. One that focuses on improper alignment as a certainty. One that explores the edges and the limits as much as the centre

From Flats to Heels–Exercises for Happy Feet

happy feet
Cuba, Varadero

We have been talking about heels and ochos and practicing…at all but coming back from this I am tanned, energized, and sooo ready to fly back! haha
I loved Cuba! I guess it is rather obvious when you check my recent Instagram posts…

Salsa party in Cuba  and the Havana and The real people of Cuba
And guess what I have more…haha
But what I realized while I was there, was how my walk was different walking on sandy beach.

Yes that was usually before the mojitos..!

Happy Feet can be happy in heels

What happens when we walk on a rather unstable surface, like a sandy beach?
Our feet adjust and almost reform to hug around the surface. On the sand specifically, if you don’t run or wear flip-flops of course, you will notice your whole foot attempts to hug the sand, from the outside edge to the baby toe and towards the big toe. The ball of the foot active but not straining and all toes spreading.

https://www.playea.es/7-estrategias-infalibles-para-enfrentarse-al-cooono-como-quema-la-arena/

Aka…Happy Feet!
Walking on the sand therefore not only made my feet happy at that moment but it made me rethink my walk in general, as this is a more efficient way of walking.

I send my mind consciously to my feet, examining not only the shape of them on the sand but also the way my walk had adjusted.
Coming back to Toronto I just couldn’t wait to apply the details of that experience to my tango in heels…

And YES! Happy feet can be happy in heels too!

So next time you are on a sandy beach walk on it with a conscious mind, preferably before any mojito consumption, and you will start to notice that your feeling of relaxation is not coming only by the fact that you are in an amazing warm place or not having to go to work, but also from your feet being happy again.

How can all this be applied to prepare us for our Tango heels

If you can’t be on beach right now you can instead do this: From flats to heels video

Going up to a “releve” as ballet dancers call it, will not only strengthen your legs but it will also make you aware how the weight when transferred forward changes the form of your foot.

As you will in the video, there are two common mistakes that can really throw you off balance and cause strain in your body. Work against but at the same time, feel that every time you are lifting your heels off the floor, the ball of your foot in massaging the floor instead of pressing into it. Like you would do on a sandy beach.
If you have no sandy beach experience, cute kitten paws can do the job:

happy feet in heels
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/210050770092350474/

Have fun you all!

Chrisa

P.S: See the two previous videos and tips here: Tango heels… Own them don’t just wear them and Intelligent tango–5min practice on rotation (ocho focused)