Usually we see Tango technique classes being offered separately from musicality classes and that is not a bad approach, on the contrary, as long as it is not the ONLY approach.

Sometimes you need to put the 2 together..!

Musicality OR Technique– Put your hands together!
Remember the last video we did on Ochos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD1hVuY8x9A&t=15s

There we were being very technical, focused on finding the proper alignment for our heads.
We were going slow, giving ourselves time to notice what we are missing, what we know and how the details are feeling. Because this is indeed part of how we learn.

At the same time though you need to put things into perspective.
Why are we doing all this?
To enjoy our dance more!

How is that going to happen?
If we manage to put this new technique element into our dance!

Is this difficult to do?
Yes, most of the times it is. Anything new takes some time to sync in… To make the process faster you need to practice THAT new element with… MUSIC

And so with no further ado, here is your video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCrycscvG1I&t=38s

Have a prism- based practice
The cool thing about this, is that you have more than one options on how to execute it.

You can keep your focus on both musicality and technique–like I am doing in the video, or move closer towards one end or the other.
If want to work more on musicality, using the same drills, you can change songs and notice which option best matches the song you are listening to each time
Whereas, if you want to focus more on technique then you can choose ONE song that you know well, and that is NOT too fast, and possibly spend more time going slower than faster to give yourself time to work out the technical details.

And of course you can mix and match. You can go through the same drill a couple of times, shifting your focus accordingly, keeping your practice fresh and interesting!  Making something like a Tango cross- training system!  Haha

What to do after every practice, for better results
This is something most dancers, miss… Tracking their progress..!

Whether you are working on musicality or technique or improvisation or partnering or anything else for that matter you need to find a suitable way to track your progress.

After every practice take a few minutes to think how, what you just did, can help you in your very next milonga.
Take a few moments to think of how it made you feel, to recognize your emotional, psychological and physical state before and after your practice. And lastly try to notice if you did better than last time…!

There is really NO point going through different drills without tracking whether you are in fact getting better and feeling better–that is a vital part of an artistic practice– and  without making the connection with real-time dancing.
If you are practicing and you are getting more overwhelmed, more frustrated, more unaware, more unable to put those things in your dance… Then what is the point?

Keep it real, keep it interesting, keep it fresh and keep it fun!

Chrisa

P.S: Want more on musicality? Visit: https://bautanz.com/argentine-tango-technique/musicality/