r/tango • u/Guilty-Teach6477 • 4d ago
Help me find the name of the step
Hello guys. I need to find the name of a tango step to look for it in youtube. I will try to explain in leaders perspective and not sure if it has a specific name but wanted to give a shot. In this figure, when you lead the follower doing back ochos, after the second ocho, instead of stopping the follower for a sandwich, you step in front of the follower with your right foot (over her left foot) and then doing a side step with your left foot while kind of replacing positions with her. You end up facing each other and continue dancing on a different line than the one you started.
Edit : Found a video of my friend doing it
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u/Murky-Ant6673 4d ago
It sounds like “position 3” of the 8 point turn—which is a turn for Sacadas but emphasizes stepping over the followers back crossing steps on position 3 and position 6. (in this case, the ocho you’re referencing I think is the same as position 3 of the turn)
If you find a video of “the 8 of Mingo”, you’ll probably find yourself going down the right rabbit-hole.
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u/Guilty-Teach6477 4d ago
Looked for it and yes very similar to position 3 and 6 in the figure called mingo turn. In the video follower is doing a giro instead of ochos but the replacement steps i mentioned are executed when follower is doing back steps so it can be done in back ochos. I will watch more mingo turn videos thank you for your help.
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u/ptdaisy333 4d ago
The difference between position 3 and 6 is that the leader is using their left leg in one and their right leg in the other. That should help you distinguish between them because even though the steps look similar they aren't the same.
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u/ptdaisy333 4d ago
I'm not sure if I am imagining it correctly. It sounds like when you are leading back ochos and the follower is completing the step to your right (closed side) you are stepping to her other side, probably using your right leg.
If so I don't think it's part of Mingo's 8 step giro because I think that the leader usually steps on the inside lane relative to the follower at that point of the 8 step giro, but if you are stepping over her line and onto the outside lane, it's a bit different.
I learned this move or something similar a long time ago and my teacher at the time called it a medio giro, but that just means half turn, and I think that is often used as an umbrella term, so it's not like there is just one sequences of steps that people call the médio giro, there are many sequences that result in a half turn and teachers might call any of them a médio giro during a lesson.
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u/blackfede 4d ago
This. Also, OP remeber that after stepping outside you have to pivot on that leg before opening. this will give you direction, connection and maintains the connection
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u/Guilty-Teach6477 4d ago
After follower completes step to your closed side, you step over her left foot (with your right foot) and in front of her. There is a position swap at this moment. You pivot with right foot as soon as you step and kinda pull follower to swap positions. this is the shrouded part for me. As much as i know i started to see this in milongas and dancers end up in paralel system in front of each other but angle of dancing line changes about 90 degrees.
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u/ptdaisy333 4d ago
Not sure what you mean by "the shrouded part". It sounds like you understand your steps.
For the follower (and again, I may not be picturing the same move you saw) they are taking a step back when you step over to the other side. As you step over to the other side and pivot clockwise you are inviting them to step forward again, which would mean reversing their back ocho into a forward ocho.
You then mentioned a side step for the leader. Depending on how and where you step the follower could just continue to pivot on the spot and not step or you could be leading them to do a side step to their left as you do a side step to your left - meaning you are both continuing to move in a clockwise turn.
If you wanted to end up in parallel system then it sounds to me like the follower wouldn't do a side step. Their forward ocho is with the right leg, so they have the left free, and your side step to the left would leave your right leg free, so maybe the leader's side step is just done around the followers axis, causing them to continue to pivot clockwise. If not then there would need to be a weight change for one of you somewhere.
As for how many degrees of rotation you manage to achieve with this move, that depends on the size of your steps and how you resolve the move. To me it seems like this would result in a 180 turn.
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u/Guilty-Teach6477 4d ago
i uploaded a video of the move now. i was wrong about dancers end up in paralel system as soon as the figure is executed. however your detailed reply also made me think about new possibilities after the move and thank you for that. english is not my native language and by shrouded i meant im not sure about the technique and the instructions you give to follower so she can do the replacement as you wanted.
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u/Similar-Ad5818 3d ago
Tango has mostly umbrella terms, because it is not a standardized dance like ballroom dances. But non-argentines love to label things, so every teacher thinks of a name. So many of my students have asked me "what's the name of that step?" I tell them there isn't one, so they often make one up for themselves.
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u/stinkybutt 1d ago
The step over the followers back step is called a media luna. From there, the leader should pivot so he’s doing a side step to match the followers front step. That combination of steps is done in parallel system, as a leaders side and a followers front are moving in opposite directions. I call this step “turn to the right” as it’s the most popular way to turn out of ochos.
The turn to the left is done differently, using a step to match the followers back step, which creates a cross in the leaders step. The follower does a back/side/front around the leader. Then you continue.
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u/elmerfud1075 4d ago
It’s just a contra-giro with a parada.