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i posted this about a year ago on Aikido-l. it gets more revelant every day!
When i began training i hadn't danced a step in a couple of years. So i was
drawing parallels from memory-"_this_ ukemi feels sorta like _this_lead in
tango". The way that uke, or follower,has no idea what is coming next,
having to be open, to maintain the connection...well, thats what i love
about Both arts.
When I started dancing agin, early this year, i immediately began using
aikido references & exercises in my teaching-maai,entering,the simple act of
putting your arm on your partners shoulder became a form of iriminage. When
i had the oppurtunity to actually teach tango to an aikidoist, he could find
the openings where technique _could_ have happened....but had a problem with
what i am perceiving as "double center"- you walk from your one point but
you lead your partner with your chest instead of your hips. The leverage
works the same way tho.
So its been sliding back & forth for me.
In freestyle it has added to my repertoire-now i hear the music saying
"roll" as well as
"spin" or "kick" or "shimmy"- an expansion of my vocabulary.In performance-
well, i haven't had the opportunity to do a really spectacular fall onstage
in a few years...
So it really all blends for me. I would teach tenkan in hoopskirts.I would
add ukemi to tango. Follow a deep arabesque with a roll or a breakfall.
Extension in waltzing.
The language of movement,the moment of connection becomes all one.
Connecting with the earth,the sky,gravity, your partner, your uke,the
mat.Its really all the same thing.