Rodolfo & Miho teach boleos in Bylaugh

Hints & Myths about Argentine Tango

Bylaugh

One weekend, in November 2003, saw more Tango workshops held in the recently-refurbished Orangery of Bylaugh Hall in Norfolk.

Rodolfo Aguerrodi and Miho Omaki led workshops with a small group of local or temporarily resident participants on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - morning and afternoon.

We also visited the local milonga in Norwich on the Friday night.

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The second part of the boleo workshops focused on applications of the technique:

First we tried a backward boleo as an extension to a backward ocho:

Leader leads his follower through the pivot of a backward ocho ...

... then, as the pivot completes - abruptly but gently -reverses the pivot causing follower's unweighted leg to lift and return gently to the floor as the pivot completes.

Then a forward boleo as an extension of a forward ocho:

Leader brings his follower - abruptly but gently - through the pivot of a forward ocho ...

... causing follower's unweighted leg to lift, cross her other leg, and return gently to the floor as the pivot completes.

We then combined the backward and forward ochos with and with and without boleos at random while dancing to some rhythmic music ...

...

We then extended the move, in close or medium embrace, so the boleo wraps around the leader's leg:

Leader leads follower into a forward ocho across to his left ...

... and places his unweighted left leg so his half-lifted foot is alongside her lead foot and almost all of his unweighted leg is in contact with hers ...

... before leading her into the pivot around his leg ...

... and the rest of the forward ocho which cannot complete ...

... so her leg wraps around his in a backward boleo.

We repeated the move from a forward ocho to the leader's right:

... creating a backward boleo opportunity around leader's unweighted right leg.

Then we tried the more difficult version using the leader's opposite leg:

... interrupting a forward ocho to leader's left with leader's unweighted right leg ...

... or intterupting a forward ocho to leader's right with leader's unweighted left leg

and, to make life ever more difficult, do all the above in close embrace while dancing to rhythmic music:

Finally, we combined forward and backward boleos into a single action:

Lead backward ochos then, at that certain moment ...

... insert a backward boleo and, as the pivot completes ...