FIRST TANGO in Maui- 1997. Fabian Salas brought by Juan Jose Palladino

Thank you.

Hello. Hello.

Yeah, the Filipino guy. Hello. Three tango gals. Tango, tango. Tango moments. Tango, tango moments. Hi.

Shirley, Mimi, Lily. I’m just looking for Leia. She’s not here. She’s not here. I don’t know if she’s coming. I think you didn’t probably pick up the right shoes.

I’m coming out of the closet, so to speak. But not really the closet. Our artist, Hermine, is having her coming out party. Hi. Hi.

When is that? Well, I’m actually leaving for the Mainland Wednesday, but I’m just getting the portfolio made, the prints made, and, you know, running around shuffling the frames and art. Somebody at the frame store wants to buy one of the pieces. Well, we hope to have you on our show. We’ll be happy to show you stuff. Oh, that’d be great when I get back. That’d be great. Well, today you’re here to tango, huh? I’m here to tango. Today’s show is entitled First Tango in Maui.

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The Holy Innocent Church, huh? I see. Did you hear that one? Yes. The Holy Innocent Church, what a perfect place. Hello.

Ladies, what brought you to tango tango? The first tango in Maui, we call it.

But in yours, it’s the idea to fall into the world of mango. The mango of tangos. Well, we love having Lili and Arielle on our show. It’s great to have you guys back. Well, I understand that the tango is another path to enlightenment. That makes total sense to me.

Well, what a great place to have it, right here by the beautiful ocean, huh? And at the Holy Innocence Church. I love that. It’s very good. It’s very good. We’ll rock this Innocence Church. I think passion, which is what the tango really represents for me when I think of the tango, I think of passion.

As you say, that’s another road to enlightenment. And we have Fabian Salas, huh? Fabian, who √was so famous in the movie, The Tango Lesson, where he had very long hair.

He was the man, and here he is in our presence. Isn’t that fun? Thanks to our brother J.J. That’s right. Well, it brought out the passion in all you ladies. Yes, it chatted out our wildest, reddest clothes. We have quite a redness.

We have a great crowd here today, huh? We do. Oh, maybe this is the first of many. The first tango in Maui. Thanks for being here with us. Well, that’s what we’re planning. Yeah. So, y’all come. As my aunt used to say, y’all come back. First tango in Maui. Yeah, that’s it. Last tango in Paris. First tango in Maui. Oh, that was it.

Sure, I’m so relaxed. Sure, I’m so relaxed. And, let’s see, I like to dance, and it’s a great opportunity to dance. You’ve had great dance things at your place, huh? Yes, I love to dance, but this outdoor dance platform in the ocean really is it. This is a pretty incredible spot.

Well, thank you for being here for the first tango now. I couldn’t make it to the last tango in Paris, so I thought I’d try it. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Come on.

Isn’t this an exciting time we’re going to have here? Very exciting. It’s about time. Have you done tango before? Yes. Yeah, but long, long time ago. And what brings you out here? Just really exciting to have a lesson from someone so talented. For sure, for sure. Have a chance to learn tango again. Couldn’t find anywhere in Maui. Well, we hope to do this a lot and have fun.

I hope so too. Aloha. Aloha. My very big thanks to our host and hostess, Chuck. And to our wonderful features, Fabian Salas and Lisa Bartlett. Okay.

So, I’ll proceed to do the lay ceremony. Welcome. Aloha. Welcome. Thank you. So, this is a milonga. We’re in Buenos Aires. Welcome to the hood.

So, please, lead us. Those of you who are very tall, be careful of those branches that came down there. A little complex and it may be a little boring.

at the beginning but the results will be the best so i think that that’s where our heart is right here i think we all want to we have put our presence and our pocket in wanting to learn the tango in the best possible way we’re going to try to make it easy and fun but really argentine tango is a confidence and that’s why the beginning people do not have

uh much of a feeling for it until they really learn how to dance and that’s that’s why tango is not so popular yet because if you compare it with salsa where the music is happy and fast and everybody has fun for the very first meeting in argentine tango you cannot enjoy it until you really know what you’re doing and really know what you’re doing is

It’s a long way, but we’re going to try to make it happen so that you can enjoy today and we can enjoy also this wonderful new year. I mean, I never taught a class in this subject. Anyway, we’re going to dance one tango, and then we’re going to get going, okay? Come on.

. . .

Come here.

Oh, my God.

THE END

I’m sorry.

We’re just gonna walk from Argentine Town with the pedestrian dance, which means that the main part of the dance is walking.

It was put together by people that didn’t know anything about dancing. So it doesn’t have that much of a technique into the walk. Just the regular way you walk on the street. Trying to be a little bit more neat with your feet. So as you go, for one step to the other, going through the center and using your toes down. That’s all we need. Trying to make it natural. So don’t get any weird positions. Walk.

Don’t go up and down. You don’t need to bounce. Just being on our feet. One step, one beat walking front, okay? Five, six, ready, go.

It’s time to use the full space, so try to circle around the floor.

Go on, march at rest.

You’re gonna turn.

So we’re going to go actually what we call across foot, which is one step, turn, two, turn. So we go one, two. One center. One center. When we were walking, we were going through the center through your axis. Every time you take a step, you’re going one knee and one foot through your axis. So here, that’s where we turn. So one, two.

Three, four, this is what we’re gonna do. You’re going to the left, you’re using your right. One, feet together, turn. Three, feet together, turn. So here we go, we’re gonna use four beats, which is one, two, three, four.

If you want to start with your right, you’re going towards your left. Five, six, ready, go. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

There’s a boat full of Uruguayans watching us.

Now, this is what we need to do. We need to go, let’s say I’m going towards my left. So I’m using my right foot. One step, turn one foot off the floor. With my left, turn one foot off the floor. So this is what we’re trying to do. One step, turn, two, three.

Turn. It’s just like, remember we were walking front, but now at the time that we connect our feet, we can turn. It’s just a front step with a different direction. We’re turning. One, two, three, four. One, two, three.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, ready. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

Okay, let’s go. Here we go. Get on the back and keep coming back. Here we go. Keep going. Three, four, one, two… Here we go.

Everybody back door. We’ll go over there, we’ll go around, and then we come back. Okay? We’re out. Yes? No. And it’s the opposite way. It’s across the lake, so if you’re going that way, you should just use it. You know?

There you go. And then you turn. When you cross, it looks like there you go. Yes. Did it help you? Oh, no. Off the floor. Right shoulder. One foot off the floor all the time. Okay? Turn. Two. One. Turn. Two.

Go. Is this it? Yeah. You’re doing it wrong again. If you’re going through your right, which foot are you using? Right. No, your left. It’s a cross leg. One, two, three. Three. Very good.

Now, this is what, let me have everybody back there. Two, three, four. Now, we get over here, we turn around, and we do the up, which is back there over here, assisting her all the way over here. See, now it’s assisting me. So, take a partner, hold each other, and practice hold like so. Okay?

One is going to go backwards, the other one is going to go front. Everybody is starting on the same leg. We are using the same leg. He uses his left, across.

I’m going to use my left. One, two, three, four. Left to left and right to right. Left to left and right to right. Now, this is what is very important to do. As he goes through the center, I do too. And then as he steps, I do too. And then through the center, and then step. This has to be very precise. I cannot go like so. Because I’m not a…

Let’s wait till everyone gets here.

Let me explain this again once more. Okay, I was kidding. I don’t know what you’re doing.

Otherwise, if I go towards the other side, which is what’s going to happen, I need to go towards where she’s going. Stop there for her to make a turn, and then go again. Remember that if you’re walking, going side to side, you’re hardly doing anything. Just bring your feet together, going. She is doing the whole work. She’s going across and around in a 180 degree turn. So I cannot push her around because she’s not going to make it.

So I’m waiting for her to complete the turn and then go. Women, or followers, or the person that is doing the exercise, bring your feet together, turn all the way, and then afterwards you take a step. The first thing you do is turn and then step, turn and then step. The step is just a regular back step.

But what happens is in the middle you have to turn. And now, like another back step, she’s going towards her back. See this? It’s a normal back step. It isn’t like so. But now her hips are facing that way. So first she turns, and then she goes. Okay? Here we go again. Ten minutes. You’re turning your body. Ready? You turn. Yes. Open your eyes.

Come on.

Thank you.

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Now, this is what we’re going to do. This is the opposite now. This is going to take you forward. Do it in front of you. Just lift that purchase.

Okay? So again, you’re using same leg. So she goes with her right foot, I go with my right. She uses her left, I’m using my left. Now the deal is, she’s going across me.

and I’m going side to side, okay? She’s going across, turning, I’m going to the other side. I’m just side to side. We get over here, turn around, and then she tells me…

Thank you.

The best way is to go with your feet on the floor.

There you go.

So this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to take her. I’m leading now. She’s following. I’m going to take my partner for the walk, one step, one beat around the floor. Now I’m walking forward. She’s walking backwards towards the line of dance. And this is the only thing we’re going to do now.

Now remember, each time you take a step, you go through this center, through your axis, and then take the other. OK? So feet together. Don’t open up. Just try to walk straight. And nothing much doing with your body. It’s just walking. If you stop slightly, she stops. OK?

Now, try to, if you stop, stop at the center. You don’t want to stop here. You want to stop at the middle. And then she stops there, too. We’ll do a half a tango that way, then we change, we switch. And she takes me for a walk. And I go, also, as a follow, okay? Now,

It’s very important for you to let her or him know that you’re moving. If I stay here and I move my foot, guess what’s going to happen? I’m going to step on her foot and let her know that I’m moving. So I have to let her know from my upper body that she’s moving.

We don’t have contact on our legs. If there is any contact at all, it’s in the upper body. And the legs are free. So, like, some of you probably have downed boardrooms. You have the contact down here, and then you move the legs from underneath. Now, the quintango is the opposite. The motion comes out of your upper body. So if you don’t move, if you stay still with your upper body and move your legs, you’re gonna crash. So what you need to do is just, as you go, as you walk, just walk.

Just move your entire body to displace yourself from one place to the other. Remember, it’s a walking or pedestrian’s dance, and the only thing they knew how to do was walk. They just walked, okay?

It’s like having a car.

All right.

There we go. Now switch. Switch. There you go. You keep going. There you go.

Thank you.

I’m walking front, she’s walking back. We said before that back watchers are back steps. So that means that from any back step, I can easily get her into doing back watchers.

What do I need to do is I need to turn her a little bit. So whenever she goes through the center, balance, one foot on the floor, I’m going to stop, put my foot on the floor, change, and as she goes backward, because I’m turning my body up here, I’m going to center, and we’re backward from side to side. This is not going to be easy. You’re going to realize that it’s kind of hard. And from here, again, going from the backward to

vaulting into the walking step. Now again, when we are walking this way, the way I’m walking now, we are normally using different legs, which is my right, my left to the right, and my right to the left. Natural opposite legs. When we do watchers, we normally use the same leg. So that means that one of the two has to change, and it’s going to be the one that is leaning.

which means that I have to take an extra step once she goes through the center. So she’s going through the center. I’m stepping down, ball changing, and going sideways. Now, once I’ve got this going, I can go wherever, because if I’m walking side to side and sliding forward, and she has one foot on the floor, the other one is free,

and I’m walking her backwards, she’s going to have to come across, otherwise she falls. So for her to do ochos, it’s very easy once you’ve got her started. The ochos is, for the ones that don’t know, is what we call the figure eight, because that’s the way it looks on the floor. The figure she draws on the floor is like an ocho.

going back the same way. So we have back culture, that’s why it’s called figure eight. And it’s composed of two movements, one and two. So each one of these is a type of culture, okay? Now again, it doesn’t matter. It’s a type of culture. Cuatro. Cuatro, that’s right. Tabanacho is cuatro. And I know she has two legs, and this is very important to know. Even though…

You may laugh at it. It’s very important to know she has two legs. And always, she’s with one, take it, and the other one is free. See, this one is off the court, and I know it. But what happens is, if I bring my feet together, then I’m, she doesn’t step. She knows you’re not moving. That’s right. Now, I turn my upper body. And then I step, which is I am bouncing.

You have to step, otherwise you fall. So it’s that by moving your body, you actually have to go somewhere. If I’m going sideways, this is like a conversation. You have to come with me. If I’m going front, or back, she’s coming front. I’m the opposite. The thing is, I have to let her know that I want her to come. If I do this, I’m going to wake her up. She’s not going to be able to come. And if I never talk to her,

Okay, so this takes a while. But that’s what we need to get. The branches here get low. See? Okay, here we go. Gonna keep walking, kinda clockwise.

around the line of dance and then again remember to switch in your couple you do the followers part and the leaders part okay

Thank you.

Thank you.

I got to be with this one. Oh, that’s great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Seriously, one foot off the floor. This is what we need.

So the next step, I’m going to tell her where to go. She only has one foot to go. The other one is on the floor. So this one, virtually, is going to go wherever I want. So far, we’re turning her this way and putting her backwards.

But if I would turn her this way and go this way, she’s going to go front. If I would go this way, she’s going to go side. If I would go like so, she’s going to go back or front. She doesn’t have any choice. She’s always moving the only foot she’s got. I give her a direction, and then I move. So then with my upper body, I tell her what we’re going to do next. Let’s say I did this. So I turn her all the way to go that way.

And I move this way. So I could do everything right and move wrong, and she’s going to move with me. Okay? This is what we want. We’re going to go again, do the same thing, and then we’re going to learn how to do it to reverse them, which I actually could put in now. If I have her going backwards…

And at one point I stop her. Don’t turn anymore, I breathe in front. Now she’s going to come into chronology. Or stop her and go backwards. Or stop and go front. Which is, remember, is the same movement but the other way around. So what do I do? I stop her in the center, do not turn, and now I move backwards. She’s going to come forward. Once she did this,

I’m going to bring my feet together and go to the other side of that. She’s going to have to go across feet and front. And if I do the opposite. So my body at this moment is leading her. Since I’m walking backwards, she has to go back with the only foot she’s got. And she’s got the one that is across. She has to follow me with the opposite leg. That’s why she does this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You’re coming forward.

All right.

That’s great. That’s great.

Thank you very much.

So we get to master this idea of walking and getting her into back coaches and from there into front coaches. And then back into walking.

We almost got it made. Now, this takes a long time. It’s not easy. And it’s not easy to realize, maybe this is what happens. She has two legs. And for moving purposes, I have to put her on one leg, because from here, we can’t do anything. So what do I do is I just get her on one foot. Once the other foot is off the floor, now she doesn’t have a choice. From here on, everything she does is controlled by me.

which means she can’t stay up unless I tell her so. And this is very important. It’s very interesting the way Argentine tango is put together. We need two persons to do it, and each one has to do one part of the thing. So I have to let her, and she has to follow me.

This is what the main part of a woman is. They have to try to listen to what I’m trying to say. Because every man that you get, they do different things. They put you in different lights, they walk differently, and you have to follow all of them. That’s your major part. The man, I do have my style, and I dance my style with every woman that I get. So she has to accommodate her style to mine. Which is women follow all the time, and men lead all the time. And that’s…

That’s it. Huh? Yeah. But it’s beautiful. I mean, it’s beautiful. It’s really beautiful to do both. I mean, if she wants to live from the other side, this is not going to happen. It will be awful. All you have to do, each person has to do their job. And if you fight for the leave, then you’re not going to be dancing. It’s going to look like a struggle. And then it’s not beautiful anymore. It’s just a struggle.

so the idea is now again i put her on one foot and then i move once i let her move now i know where she is i know all the time where she is and i can put my i can step 24 times without moving but she’s one foot off the floor as soon as i’m over it she’s gonna go that way

So we’re going to keep coming back to this. For now, what we’re going to do is we’re going to get to embrace now your partner a little bit. So leaders, you’re going to go behind the follower’s back with your right arm. And followers, you’re going to go with your left arm like so. So now…

This creates a closed side and an open side. This side is open. This side is closed, kind of sliding in. From here, we’re going to walk just the way we did before. Walk. And at one point, I’m going to start walking out to my partner. And whenever I do so towards the open side, she has three steps. Left, right, and left to cross.

So here we go. We’re walking. If I walk inside partner, she just walks. If I walk outside partner on my left or on the open side, she goes left, right, left. So I have to allow her to cross, to get in front of me, and then we keep going back.

Sometimes I feel like God can lift your hand. He’s here for us. I’ll be back. I’ll be back.

I don’t use much of that. What I use is my body. So if she’s there and I start moving away from her, she has to come with me. Okay.

All right. If the tide comes up, how many of you know how to swim? I never did tango in the ocean. Mermaid tango. Yeah. So here we go again. Now, I’m walking. Walking. Five.

Side. Back. Side.

Forward. Side. Back. Side. One, two. Forward. Side. Back. Side. Forward. Side. Back. Side. Back. Side. Down. Side. Back. Side. Forward. Side. Back. Side. With the front step, you might get a side step as you start stirring.

See it? Now this is hard. Really. But let me tell you what it is. This is hard, but these eight steps are the ones that do the entire dance. If you learn these eight steps, that’s it. There isn’t anything else. Okay? That’s the whole dance. Now you have to perform it. Stop, huh? Here we go.

Can I go to worse or change the movie?

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Thank you.

Of course, I know what I’m doing. Are there more lessons other weeks? I’m going to Argentina. That’s not fair. Maui’s like Argentina. It’s the same.

Maui is like Argentina. I could stay here. How many women… How many women for men here? How many you want? You do tango about 20 to 1. I was just told that it was 100 to 1. That’s why I was coming over here. 20 to 1, it doesn’t make it.

Thank you for coming. Hey, thanks for inviting me over here. You know, when I saw your movie, The Tango Lesson, little did I think that you’d be here giving a lesson to all of us. Yeah, that’s pretty fun. You inspire the women? JJ has told us, the women come and the men they follow. That’s right, that’s right. That’s the way it goes. You have women coming in?

Is there a philosophy of tango? Something that… You know, I see when you do it, you do it with an attitude. Friendly, but firm and commanding. Well, it depends on… It’s more a feeling, not like a philosophy. But yeah, it’s mainly the way you feel at the moment. I’d rather… You know, a lot of people have…

really this attitude towards town which is kind of serious and stuff. I usually have fun. I like it that way.

A way for me to express joy. Did you grow up with it? No really, I started dancing just 10 years ago. But I grew up listening to music. You know, in Argentina for a long time it wasn’t around anymore. For 20 or 25 years. So I came back just recently.

Well, we’re glad I came back, and we’re glad you came here. Well, I’m glad all of you can get to enjoy a little bit. And you all can do the tango via these lights. Well, they don’t know, but you’re on that camera. I got the most wonderful view that you could ever have, so…

I guess you’re probably my, how do you say, you’re probably envying me because of the view I got over there. Oh, thank you. There you go. Sure, no problem. He just got in. That’s all right. That’s okay. This is live TV. That’s live TV. There you go. What a pleasure. Thanks. Thank you for being here. Thank you. We hope that all of you enjoy it. I will come back for sure. Okay, he’s coming back, so get ready to tango. Get with me like so.

So you’re all ready to tango now, and he’ll be back to teach us. We’ll have more than the first tango on now. Aloha. Aloha. Oh, I had a great time. This is so beautiful. I just can’t get over it. It’s mesmerizing. Say hello to our local television station here.

Let these people get a good look at your beautiful face. Isn’t she beautiful? Lisa, we thought you were terrific. I’ve been thinking that ever since I saw her. Oh, thank you. She’s very nice. You’re welcome. And you look really wonderful.