Half Vine Promenade( Paseo Medeo Vid) The dancers step sideways to open, cross in front. step sideways, cross in front again, and repeats. They do not cross behind. This gives the opportunity for a variety of adornments and moves, such as sacadas or barridas, during the promenade.
Crab Walk( Congrejo) A promenade mirror walk in which partners face each other. Cross step in front, rotate to promenade, side step to face, cross step again, and repeat. The walk is sometimes done with inside hip contact at the rotation.
Closed Promenade( Paseo Cerrado) This is the most common form of promenade. It taken from canyengue style, but also popular in ballroom tango. In either close or closed embrace and in mirror image, the dancers step thru to the leader’ s left. To lead the follower to walk in promenade, the leader may use a quick turn of the head, brusco, to indicate the direction of the promenade. The upper bodies of the dancers are torqued towards each other, as they walk in mirror image. In ballroom tango, the lead arms are extended forward. In canyengue, they are frequently lowered below the waist.
Open Promenade( Paseo Abierto) More common form of promenade in modern tango or tango nuevo. Although the follower is usually to the right of the leader, the dancers may be on either side. The type of steps they may take vary widely and may be in parallel or in cross. The speed or pace of movement can me much greater in an open promenade; It is an excellent move to take advantage of available space on the dance floor. n the other hand, it is a bad move on a very crowded floor..
Promenade Rock Step( Cadencia Paseo) Just as in the caminando, any step can be turned into a rock step during a promenade, simply by reversing and repeating. This can be done to change the pace of the walk, if the tempo of the music changes, or as regular repeat to a syncopation.
Reverse Promenade( Paseo Atras) Beyond a single rock step, any promenade may be danced backwards, but only for a few steps. Sometimes, this may be necessary because of traffic in the ronde, or that the dancers have reached a some sort impasse, either in the music or on the dance floor. This can be an excellent ocassion for the dancers to reverse sides, as well.
Grapevine Promenade( Paseo Vide) This is the molinete in a straight line. Like the molinete it is a sequence of rour steps— step sidewaysl, cross in front, step sideways, cross behind, and repeat. The dancers walk in mirror image of each other. It is most appropriate for quick tempo music, for a maximum of two repeats. Once again, this should be reserved for ocassions when there is adequate room on the floor.
Serpentine Promenade( Paseo Serpeante) Similar to the grapevine or crab walk, but hands are held high as in a butterfly or mariposa. The steps are side, step, cross behind, side step, cross behind, repeat. During the back step, both dancers lower their bodies to make a large fan with their free leg as they move it backwards.
Scissors Promenade( Paseo Tijera) The partners interlace their legs, scissoring as they walk. The partner that is behind sweeps their inner leg around so it is in front of their partner’ s leg. The dancer that is in front must step wide enough to provide space for their partner’ s step. They walk in a zig-zag pattern as they move forward.
Running Crawl( Corrida Gateo) A promenade mirror walk in which partners start facing each other. They then lower their bodies and take a long cross step in front, rotate to face each other once again. This is repeated rapidly, but no more than three times. This is almost a running move. So, there must be adequate space ofn the dance floor.
Spinning Promenade( Paseo Vuelta) As the promenade proceeds, the leader may take the follower’ s hand and raise it above her head to spin the follower as they walk. This can be done from any promenade.
Hairpin( Horquilla Contra Paseo) From any promenade, the follower is led across the front of the leader. The follower ends up on the opposite side, facing the opposite direction. They may then promenade in rotation about their shared axis.
Rolling Hairpin( Horquilla Rodante) From any promenade, the follower is led scross the leaders. The follower rolls and rotates over the front of the leader and ends up on the opposite side, facing the same direction. This is appropriate for any of the promenades. The rolling hairpin is a common way to change sides.
Its obvious that there are many variants on promenades. The reader should definitely experiment with their partner( s) on other possibilities. These were just a few of them. One issue remains to be discussed— How to end a promenade.
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