La pisada
Jay Abling and Rachel Moon teaching at a Tango Basics “boot camp” at the Minneapolis Center for the Performing Arts.
The most basic step in Argentine tango is la pisada, the walk. It derives from the Spanish word for step - pisa - and is related to the word for floor - piso. It involves the change of weight through the standing foot to the moving foot. As simple as that is, it can take a couple of years of regular practice with a master instructor to develop a good pisada.
David Wolf and Connie Cohen enjoying a dancing at the recent Grand Milonga in St. Paul’s Historic Triune Masonic Temple.
Readers of my blog know that I photograph all types of dance. Argentine tango is among the most challenging to photograph because it’s difficult to capture the sentiment of the dance, which is the dancers’ expression of the music in a small, intimate abrazo, or embrace. “Show tango,” developed for the stage, can be just as exciting as ballroom dance. But the essence of Argentine tango is social dance, usually on a crowded floor. “Milonguero” tango - old style - emphasizes a close embrace. “Nuevo” tango - modern style - allows for a relaxed or even an open embrace. Regardless, all styles of tango emphasize the importance of the pisada.
The Kingfield Ensemble wrapping up at the Parkway Theater at the close of the Minnesota Tango Music Festival on May 11, 2024.
I recently was asked to photograph a concert of several Argentine tango music groups and a large tango dance with live music. I also was asked to photograph Gri Montanaro and Gastón Torelli — two master tango instructors visiting from Bueno Aires — to document their first trip to the United States. This follows my recent completion of a project to photograph 10 different dance groups at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis.
Gri Montanaro and Gastón Torelli, master instructors from Buenos Aires, at the Lake Harriet Bandshell.
All of this leaves me reflecting on what I’ve learned. I realize it all comes back to la pisada. Gastón Torelli told the dancers in one of his classes that they will come to a moment when they’re lost in their dance. Either they’re thinking of their next move, hanging on to an error they just made, trying to figure out what their partner is doing or simply experiencing a brain freeze. In those moments, he said, just find the beat in the music and STEP. The dancer steps to the beat, then progresses to find the axes — the partner’s axis as well as their own. Beat, axis. Beat, axis. The pisada is the process where that takes place.
I am now listening for the beat in my photography. I recently attended a talk on street photography by the photojournalist Jefferson Wheeler at the Praxis Photo Arts Center. The gallery was in the process of putting up a new installation, so I was able to take in two full shows all at once. The quality and variety of work was impressive. I left thinking that I had much to learn. Pondering that, I remembered the pisada.
A dance is composed by moving from one foot to the other. It’s may sound trite, but it really is about the journey.
Gri Montanaro and Gastón Torelli, master tango instructors from Buenos Aires, strike a pose at the Walker Art Center’s sculpture garden.
