Introducing a New Step:

Salida con "loko"

Part I

By Jean-Pierre Sighé

During the next two months we will carry on the old tradition of the yesteryears started by the Tangueros in Buenos Aires who gathered in their mythical “Tango” circle (the place of gathering) to create their dance art forms. Today it serves as a precious and endearing link to us. These dancers discovered, in the course of improvising, various concepts and figures - mixing up or importing different elements and steps from different sources.

With my partner Bianca Blesching I intend to continue that tradition. Our discoveries will be yours, too. We hope you will experiment with them and expand their potentials.

I will start with the Salida con “loko”. The word “loko” here is not a misspell of the Spanish word, loco. “Loko” is a word from the Douala language in Cameroon. The Douala people live on the coast, in the city that borrows its name from the tribal affiliation: Douala. “Loko”, in short, means to boast or brag. “To do something with some loko” means doing it with some proud embellishment or degree of showing off; but showing off with humor and teasing. The “loko” attitude is meant to attract a response of some sort. One is not supposed to remain indifferent to a “loko”. The expected response to a “loko” is another “loko”. It is a playfulness that goes back and forth until a burst of laughter takes place, at which time the participants congratulate each other’s creativity in expressing their “loko”. That’s the spirit of “loko”. I would add that the “loko” attitude or spirit is not just limited to the Douala people. It has permeated, over the years, throughout the 200 tribes in Cameroon; and it is now a natural spice in the living experience of all Cameroonians.

The salida with the spice of “loko” opens the door to another dynamic that I will expose to you in the next Newsletter. But the beginning in itself is simple, fun and adds to the dancing vocabulary.

Please, click on the following links to watch the videos

( In the "open" embrace ; In the "close" embrace) as I describe the move.

Once the man has placed the woman on her right leg, he leads the regular salida. Given the fact that the lady goes slightly ahead of the man, he seizes the opportunity, as she begins to move, to quickly switch weight and meet her at the end of the salida with his left leg “sandwiched” between hers.

The woman responds with a tease, lifting her leg up as in a boleo then bringing her leg down vertically.

From the man’s side, the move is executed swiftly and must not disturb the woman’s move in any way. View it as a surprise. The move does require good balance…

 (to be continued…)

© March 2008