Connect to la ronda

Our other dance partners are the couples dancing ahead of us and behind us in la ronda.

What and why

La ronda (En. “the round”) names the one or more concentric ovals of dancers moving in a racetrack fashion, counterclockwise around the edges of the dance floor. But unlike a race, in tango we keep our place on our “track” between the couple ahead of us and the couple behind us.

Video and transcript

English transcript

- Hola, friends, please join us as we explore connecting to La Ronda, Espanol for the round. And that's what we refer to the dancers, dancing around the dance floor in line of dance. Think like a athletic race, like a foot race, where the lanes are clearly marked and all of the runners stay in their lanes. Now you have an idea of how we conduct ourselves on the dance floor.

- And in the dance, we're not only dancing with our partner, but also the couple that's ahead of us, and the couple that's behind us. The space that they provide for us is what we have to move in. Now we do wanna be careful, not going backwards against the line of dance and possibly stepping on the couple behind us. We also want to avoid tailgating because we don't want to cut off the couple ahead, their space. Likewise, we don't want to be dawdling, doing something continuously, staying in one spot, while traffic backs up behind us. Because we can actually affect the whole la ronda, stacking up behind us. Now, the music can also influence what we're doing as we're going around. Oftentimes, when the singer comes on, it'll have a marching feeling to it. And so we'll want to be walking. We'll have that walking feeling. Other times, we'll hear a flow in the music, and it'll feel like we want to do things around each other. The important thing, however, is to go with the flow of the ronda at large.

- So just like we want to leave space in front of us and we wanna leave space behind us, we also wanna leave space on our hand side of the embrace as well as our arm side of the embrace. Because of these lanes traveling next to each other, we wanna respect the fact that the person and couple in the next lane want to have the space and the room to be rotational and circular with their movements as well as continuing to travel forward. So by giving yourself almost a bubble of personal space all the way around you and your partner, you are respecting space for your dance as well as everyone else's dance.

- So say if the line of dance is toward the camera, and both Tina and I were leading a couple, this would be about right. So each of our partners would have space to move around us. And speaking of those lanes too, there's a particular usage. If we're in the outside lane, it's the lane to see and be seen.

- Uh hmm, uh hmm.

- Of course we would typically not be, some will be looking for the next partner. We don't recommend that. We like that connection with our current partner. That's the important thing. It is the place where, if we're confident in our dance, we can be seen. And then we move into inner lanes. If it's very crowded venue, it can be helpful to go ahead and go to those inner lanes and fill in from the inside out to make it easier for people to come in because it can be very challenging to mirada and cabeceo, the oncoming leader, and find your space in that lane. The very center of the room is often reserved for beginners or people who don't feel as confident about their dance and moving with the traffic, as well as, nuevo dancers, who wanna do all kinds of things on a spot.

- So when you're ready, circle around, and click that Next button, and we will see you on the next exploration.

- Until then,

- abrazos.

- Abrazos.

Transcripción en español

- Hola amigos, únanse a nosotros mientras exploramos conectando a La Ronda, en español para “the round”. A eso nos referimos los bailarines, bailar alrededor de la pista de baile en línea de baile. Piénsalo como una carrera atlética, como una carrera a pie, en donde los carriles están claramente marcados y todos los corredores permanecen en sus carriles. Ahora tienes una idea de cómo nos comportamos en la pista de baile.

- Y en el baile, no solo bailamos con nuestra pareja, sino que también con la pareja que está delante y la que está detrás de nosotros. El espacio que nos brindan es lo que tenemos para movernos. Debemos tener cuidado, no retroceder hacia la línea de baile y pisar sin querer a la pareja que está detrás de nosotros. También debemos evitar seguirlos muy de cerca, porque no queremos interrumpir la pareja que esté delante, su espacio. Asimismo, no debemos perder el tiempo haciendo algo de manera repetida o permanecer en un lugar mientras las parejas retroceden detrás de nosotros porque en realidad podríamos afectar a toda la ronda, ya que las parejas se juntarán detrás de nosotros. La música también puede influir en lo que hacemos mientras vamos dando vueltas. A menudo, cuando aparece el cantante, tendrás una sensación de marcha, y entonces debemos camniar. Tendremos esa sensación de caminar. Otras veces, escucharemos música fluida y sentiremos como que queremos hacer cosas alrededor del otro. Lo importante, sin embargo, es ir con el flujo de la ronda en general.

- Al igual que debemos dejar espacio frente y detrás de nosotros, también debemos dejar espacio a nuestro lado de la mano con la que tomamos al otro y a nuestro lado de la mano con la que abrazamos al otro. Debido a que estos carriles están uno junto al otro, debemos respetar el hecho de que la persona y la pareja en el carril de al lado quiera tener el espacio para poder girar y circular con sus movimientos así como seguir moviéndose hacia adelante. Entonces, permítete una burbuja de espacio personal alrededor de ti y de tu pareja estarás respetando el espacio para tu baile y el baile de todos los demás.

- Entonces, supongamos que la línea de baile va hacia la cámara, y tanto Tina como yo lleváramos una pareja, esto sería correcto. Nuestros compañeros tendrán espacio para moverse a nuestro alrededor. Y hablando de esos carriles, también hay un uso particular. Si estamos en el carril exterior, es el carril para ver y ser visto.

- Ah, jam.

- Por supuesto que normalmente no lo haríamos, algunos estarán buscando al próximo compañero. No recomendamos eso. Nos gusta esa conexión con nuestra pareja actual. Eso es lo importante. Es el lugar en donde, si tenemos confianza en nuestro baile, podemos ser vistos. Y luego pasamos a los carriles interiores. Si es un lugar muy concurrido, puede ser útil ir a esos carriles interiores y rellenarlo de adentro hacia afuera para que sea más fácil que la gente entre, porque puede ser muy desafiante para la mirada y el cabeceo, el líder que se aproxima y encontrar tu espacio en ese carril. El centro de la sala a menudo se reserva para principiantes o personas que no se sienten tan seguras con su baile y moverse junto con las demás parejas, así como nuevos bailarines, que quieren hacer todo tipo de cosas en un lugar.

- Así que cuando estés listo, da la vuelta, y has clic en el botón Siguiente, nos vemos en la próxima exploración.

- Hasta entonces.

- Abrazos. - Abrazos.

How

All the dancers on the floor at any time will have a certain ebb and flow. Sometimes the dancers in a round will move across the floor along the track when the music feels like it is marching. At other times the dancers perhaps stay on a spot to express a swirling feeling in the music.
Typically, it is said that when we pass any spot on the floor, we give that space over to the couple behind us.
We do not want to crowd, travel too close to the couple ahead, even crowding ourselves! We'd like to give them at least as much space as if there was a couple between us.
We want a dance vocabulary that includes walking across the floor and moving over a single spot.

At a crowded milonga:

Go with the flow, neither tailgating nor road hogging.
Generally make your home orientation diagonal wall toward the line of dance.
When stepping in any closed-off direction (such as against the line of dance), we can always step underneath our own body.
Share a look and a nod with the oncoming leader before entering the dance floor.
Get comfortable moving with a partner around each other on a spot.
Explore the creativity possible with simple and interrupted weight changes (cunita, rebote, traspie).
Maintain our lane. If we must pass, do so only on the left.

The Game of Argentine Tango

Everything is a range of possibilities

Connect to la ronda

What and why

Video and transcript

How