Ricardo 留給我們的事物
我一向對那些只在意華麗舞步與炫技動作的人缺乏耐性。
但或許我也不該那麼嚴厲——
因為我自己也曾經走過那條路。
我很早就意識到，1990 年代在美國被包裝販售的「舞台探戈」其實毫無意義；
然而，要真正理解真正的探戈，我仍花了很長的時間。
我和 Natu 五年前那場辯論，就是最好的例子。
那時，我雖然常去 milonga、與 milongueros 相處，
卻還沒有培養出一雙真正懂得「看探戈」的眼睛。
在我當時的眼裡，
Tete 那種充滿動能、肢體誇張的舞看起來「更厲害」。
如今回頭看，那真是個錯誤的比較。
Tete 當然是個偉大的舞者（我們稍後會談他），
但拿他與 Ricardo 相比，
就像把蘋果和橘子放在一起比。
現在，經過大約一萬支舞的經驗之後，
我終於理解了當年 Natu 想告訴我的事：
Ricardo Vidort 的確是探戈的「大建築師」（Grand Architect of Tango Dancing）。
我不打算在這裡進行艱深的技術分析，
但如果你想從 Ricardo 身上學些什麼，
我可以給你一些觀察的方向。
首先、也是最明顯的一點——
他永遠在節拍（compás）裡。
他曾告訴我，
以前他和其他 milongueros 之間有個遊戲：
誰在一整晚的舞裡第一個踩出節拍外的步子，
那個人就得請大家喝香檳。
他笑著說：「我從來沒請過。」
我相信這是真的。
我完全無法想像他會有哪一步走在音樂之外。
Ricardo 有一種極其獨特的方式，
能把節奏感**融入 giro（旋轉）與 corridita（短跑步）**裡。
有時他只踩重拍，
有時又在 giro 裡穿插一連串快速的步伐，
進出之間連綴成節奏的波浪。
他會向前或向後做 corrida，中途加入停頓，
甚至讓步伐畫出弧線。
他還將 sacada（穿插步） 與 vai-ven（搖擺步 / rock step）
靈巧地編入 corrida 中，
這是別人做不到的。
他有一種特別的動作方式——
一隻腳穩穩踩地，
另一隻腳則像刀尖般快速「刺」出細小的節奏，
同時仍保持著領舞的控制。
探戈通常是以步與重心轉換為基礎，
但 Ricardo 創造出一種能單腳站立、用另一腳標記節拍的技術，
而舞伴仍能在他的引導下自然流動。
（我唯一見過能做出這技巧的，只有 Osvaldo——他年輕時正是與 Ricardo 一起學、一起練的人。）
最後一點值得注意：
當 Ricardo 在 Alej 的左側做 corrida 時，
他不會改成 contra paso（反步）。
他讓那看起來非常自然，但如果你試著做，就會發現其實很不舒服——
也因此，整個 milonga 裡只有他能這樣做。
我記得有一次問 Ricardo：
「我的 giro 做得對嗎？怎麼看起來跟你的不太一樣？」
他看了我幾秒，說：
「當然，這是個好 giro。你可以那樣做。」
這答案很聰明——卻和我預期的完全不同。
在一般探戈課上，老師通常會示範一個他背熟的轉圈，
然後根據你模仿得像不像，
告訴你「對」或「錯」。
而 Ricardo 的回答，
蘊含著每一位真正的 milonguero 都明白的道理：
「沒有任何一種 giro 是唯一正確的。」
只要你學會在擁擠的舞池裡隨音樂而動，
早晚都會自然做出 giro。
有多少 milonguero，就有多少種 giro。
（如果你想要具體一點的例子，我們會在下一章示範兩個簡單的左右連結 giro。）
探戈可以簡單，也可以複雜——
取決於你想讓它成為什麼樣子。
若想看看這位「大建築師」如何詮釋它，請看下方的片段。
這是 Ricardo 最精彩的即興之一：
在短短兩分鐘內，
他融合了 sacadas、giros、快步、停頓、vai-ven 等元素，
創造出一段閃耀的即興探戈。
請特別注意那段 沿著桌邊的 corrida：
他和 Alej 猶豫、奔跑、又順勢滑行，
在遠離鏡頭的同時，
他還觀察著舞池裡的其他人，等對方讓出空間再展開跑步。
接著，靠著另一段 corrida，
他巧妙地避開擁擠的角落，回到舞池中央。
能同時用探戈的技巧
達成空間導航與音樂表達的人——
這，才是真正的探戈大師。
兩分鐘的即興傑作（Celia’s，2001）。
I’m usually impatient with people who are only interested in fancy steps and moves. But maybe I shouldn’t be... because I’ve been there myself. I was fairly quick to recognize that the stage tango that was being sold in the U.S. in the 1990’s was a waste of time, but it still took me a long time to understand the real tango. My discussion with Natu five years ago is a good example. Although I was dancing a lot in the milongas, and getting to know the milongueros, I still hadn’t developed a good eye for what I was seeing. At the time, the athleticism of Tete looked “better” to me than Ricardo’s dancing. Of course, Tete is a great dancer (we’ll look at him soon), but comparing him to Ricardo is like comparing apples and oranges. Today, with about 10,000 more dances under my belt than I had that night in the parrilla, I understand what Natu was trying to tell me. Ricardo Vidort really was the Grand Architect of tango dancing.
I won’t go into a detailed analysis, but for those who want to see what they can learn from Ricardo, I can suggest some things to look for. First, of course, you’ll notice that he’s always in the compás. (He once told me that he and the other milongueros used to play a game where the first person to take a step out of the compás during the evening would have to pay for champagne. He says he never had to pay—which sounds right. I could never, ever, imagine him taking a step that was out of the music.)
Ricardo was able to incorporate the compás into his giros, and corriditas (short runs) in a very unique way. Sometimes he only stepped on the strong beat, and sometimes he did a whole series of quicks into and out of the giros. He did corridas to the front and back, he added pauses, and sometimes he curved them. He also incorporated, sacadas, and vai-ven steps (“come and go” or rock steps) into his corridas like no one else. And he had an unusual way of planting one foot and making small stabbing movements with the other while continuing to lead his partner. Tango is almost always danced with a step or weight change from one foot to the other, but Ricardo developed a way of staying on one foot, and marking several beats with the other while his partner danced. (The only other dancer I’ve seen do this is Osvaldo, who apparently learned and practiced with Ricardo when they were young.) Finally, you might notice that when he does runs on Alej's left side, he doesn't switch to contra paso. He makes it look natural, but if you try it you'll find that it's not very comfortable—which is probably why he was the only one in the milongas who did it.
I remember once asking Ricardo if I was doing giros correctly, because they didn’t look like some of the giros I’d seen him do. He looked for a moment, and said, “Sure. That’s a good giro. You can do it like that.” It was a smart answer—but a little different than what I was expecting. If you ask that question in a tango class, you’ll probably get a demonstration of some turn the instructor has memorized, and then he or she will tell you you're right or wrong, depending on how well you're able to copy it. Implicit in Ricardo’s answer was something that every milonguero knows in his gut: There is no “right” way to do a giro. Learn how to move to the music on a crowded floor—and sooner or later you’ll begin to make giros. There may be as many different giros as there are milongueros. (For those who want something a little more concrete however, we will demonstrate a couple of simple linked left and right giros in the next chapter.)
Tango can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. To see how the Grand Architect does it, take a look at the window below. You’ll see Ricardo at his best, combining everything—sacadas, giros, quick steps, hesitations, and vai-ven, in a brilliant two minutes of unrehearsed dancing. Check out the hesitating, running corrida he and Alej do along the tables, as they move away from the camera. (You can see Ricardo spot the other couple move down the line of dance to give him room before he makes his run. And if you continue, toward the end, you’ll see him use another corrida to escape to the middle of the floor to keep from getting boxed in. Using the tools of tango for navigation and musical expression at the same time is the mark of a great tango dancer.)
Two minutes of truly brilliant, unrehearsed dancing. (Celia's, 2001)
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