Hector Falcon

th Graciela Gonzalez at her home. I met her at the final milonga for El Pulpo's Festival. Tara, Luz, Graciela, G

Hector Falcon

by Jackie Ling WongHector

Scene: Falcon contacted me through email and expressed his appreciation for the interviews on the website. I suggested that we rendezvous in Buenos Aires for an interview. He agreed. Personally, I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised to encounter a very relaxed

pleasant Argentine professional dancer without any pretensions. amazing...:-)

We met in the lobby of the Bauen hotel. I was late and almost missed him because the previous interview took longer than expected.

Q: A little history first... who was most influential in your development as a tango dancer?

Hector: I was 4 years old when I started dancing Folkloric and was 14 years old when I started dancing Tango.

I began working with the Dinzels when I was 21 years old. Maestro Dinzel is profound as a Tango instructor.

The most important highlight was working with Miguel Zotto in the Tango production Tango X 2.

Miguel taught me so much. I knew how to dance socially but I learned a lot from him about the traditional aspects of Tango.

Even though I might "know" a Tango concept, Miguel helped me "understand" it. And then there was Todaro in Buenos aires.

When I met him, he was already very old and he danced Milonguero style. Todaro had a huge vocabulary.. it was unbelievable.

And of course, there was the show Tango Passion. I worked in many companies around the world.

Q: How would you define your style of dance?

Hector: I am very traditional... and an artist. I feel I dance real tango . I don't do many lifts and I dance on the floor.

I love close embrace socially and do as much as I can on stage. Of all the dances, Milonga traspie is my favorite and is probably what I am known for. I enjoy it

Q: Why?

Hector: Maybe because it was very difficult for me to learn... and also because it's fun. Tango is so serious.. the music...

Tango can be melancholy and I like it but sometimes I want to be more upbeat.

Q: Why do you think milonga traspie is so difficult for people to learn?

Hector: It is more difficult than Tango because the Tango gives you many possibilities to follow the music.

In Milonga you must be exact in how you follow the music. Sometimes people think it's the speed and, sure, the melody has speed.

You can stop and wait in Tango. It is part of the choreography. That really doesn't happen in milonga. You must be on tempo.

Q: What are the other differences between the Milonga and Tango?

Hector: Most of the Milonga steps you can do in Tango, but not most of the Tango steps in Milonga.

Q: Why do you say that?

Hector: ...Because of following the music... following the beat. In Tango you can do decorations but in Milonga that is difficult.

Q: And what is required in the leader for Milonga?

Hector: The same rules as Tango. Open embrace or close embrace and it's not necessary to take smaller steps. However, when you dance traspie, you can mix between regular and traspie. The contra-tempo needs to be small step... because the beat is shorter,

so the step needs to be smaller. but regular milonga... sure take big steps. Also doing large steps in traspie would not be elegant.

Q: And for the follower?

Hector: She must know how to dance milonga traspie. It is difficult to do if you haven't learned it.

It's also very important in traspie to follow the lead ... not guess... go after the lead...

Also she must have relaxed legs and put her weight into the ground. In any folkloric dance you need to be grounded.

In classical dance, the weight goes up. It's the same for Tango, except you have more possibilities so your weight can go up.

Additionally your weight must reach the floor exactly on the beat... and just once. Not twice.Some of the dancers,

women and men, fly on the music... so you don't know where your partner is. They must be grounded.

In Tango you can lie, but you can't in Milonga because of the tempo. It's difficult to teach the traspie because of the weight change. I try to explain that it's like the feeling of regret... think I am going to step but change my mind.

Q: Where does the lead come from?

Hector: In close embrace and Milonga I use the chest.

Q: Can you tell when the follower is not following the chest and is thinking more of their feet?

Hector: I can realize when the follower is following the feet.

It usually means that she or he is thinking about how they look... elegant... not the dance..

We don't need to care about the mirror. Our mirror is inside.

As a dancer you want to enjoy the dance. I dance very relaxed. No tension in my arms or my body or my mind.

I go to the milonga to enjoy it.. not suffer. So I want to enjoy the dances I have. Even if you are an artist,

people can see if you don't feel the dance. The best artists are the ones that feel.

When you go to the milonga, sometimes you feel like you are doing everything right..

and another time, everything is wrong. it's not the technique or loss of knowledge... it's the lack of feeling.

If you feel bad that is okay. it is still a feeling... but to be in your feet and not feel anything.. that is not good.

I always compare the dance with language. You and I have spoken English for an hour. Sometimes I say I can't speak English.

So now I have to think in Spanish and speak in English. After a while I relax and now I can speak English with ease.

Q: Carlos gavita was an artist that transmitted the feeling. He was very slow.. and did nothing..

but the feeling from him was remarkable. He didn't need to do many steps.

Hector: I met him almost 20 years ago. He was performing and he was an artist 30 - 40 years ago. Carlos was traveling around the world when no one else was traveling. He came back from Europe after being gone for 15 years. He wasn't competitive.

In Tango we have levels. If I'm going to teach and Gavito is also teaching, I respect him.

I MUST respect him. He was older, had much more experience

If anyone asks me about Dinzel, Copes... I respect them because they are on another level.... older than me in the profession.

We always have something to learn. Sometimes the new teachers, new dancers, they don't care about the important things.

But when we become older, we become wiser. hopefully...

Q: And Nuevo Tango?

Hector: Nuevo Tango - I like it. Everything is going to change and we need to change with the world.

Even if I personally don't change my dance. This is good for the tango. Otherwise we will keep dancing like we did a 100 years ago. We need to change with the times.

and Nuevo music - I like some of it.. and some of it i don't.... because it doesn't feel like Tango.

The Nuevo dance is different. Some of the new teachers dancers try a different way, and they find a different way or step to do...

to see if our body can do it. It is interesting. Maybe I understand because I like to dance other dances too.

Q: How is the Tango different from other dances?

Hector: The tango dance is more important than the tango music. It is a language.

Another important thing about the Tango is that you can dance in any part of the world at a Milonga.

That doesn't happen with other dances. Even if you don't speak the language.

Also , you improvise all the time... and you do that most of the time within the real embrace of your partner.

In open embrace you can do many steps, it doesn't feel like a real embrace. Tango is about the embrace.

If you dance ballroom, you hold your partner. but in tango we embrace the partner.

In english it is very clear. In Spanish we don't use the word hold.

When we talk about improvisation.. sometimes it is not pure because you know the step but you improvise the sequence.

But in the Tango, you can change in the middle of the step.. then it is pure. You never know what is coming. In ballroom,

when you start to do something, you pretty much know what is coming even though you may improvise the sequence.

In Tango, you never know... especially if you don't know your partner. Sometimes, I lead (a question... i ask) and when my partner does something, it is an answer. Sometimes, with a question my partner will answer in a different way and then I need to ask a different question. Sometimes you have to say your question louder. (laugher) One of my teachers, Maestro Dinzel, would always say that each Tango is unique. You can not repeat the experience. Even if you do everything the same, it will not be same.

Q: Any final words of advice?

Hector: Never stop learning. Try to learn the most you can. Even if you are talented, still work, study, rehearse.

Luz Valbuena · Gloria and Rodolfo Dinzel · Dana Frigoli and Pablo Villarraza · Hector Falcon · Monica and Benjamin Grisoni · Graciela Gonzalez · Carlos Libedinsky · Carlos Gavito · Antonio Cervila Junior · Pulpo y Luiza · Argentine Tango Milongas and DJs in Buenos Aires · Ana Maria Schapira · Pablo Nievas y Valeria Zunino · Roberto Dentone · Richard Powers · Aurora Lubiz · Horacio Treger · Fabienne Bongard · Fernanda and Guillermo · Valeria Solomonoff · Carolina and Diego

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