How to do a volcada

How to do a Volcada. Or how to not do a volcada. Or don't do a volcada!

1 Leader: lead the basic step until the 5^th step (the cross).

2 Take a back step with your right leg on a 45-degree angle behind you (behind you to your right), while leading the follower to step forward with her right foot.

3 Now you are going to execute the volcada itself. Take a side step with your left at a 90-degree angle. This side step will take the follower off-axis and swing her left leg forward. The key is to move smoothly through this position without stopping. (Please do not stop and hold this position!)

4 Now step forward with your right leg. Your step should land about 6-8 inches from the follower’s right foot. This will give her room to cross her left foot in front of her right, bringing her back on axis and finishing the volcada.

This step is dangerous!

If you are not a really good traditional dancer you have no businesses trying to learn volcadas. If you’re practicing volcadas badly, you can easily injure the follower’s lower back and/or the leader’s knee.

Common mistakes

There is a very common mis-understanding in tango learning & teaching that the leader and follower should work to maintain parallel lines between their shoulders. Nothing could be farther from the truth. While there are steps in which the leader’s and follower’s shoulders will be parallel to each other (if both are doing side steps, for example), very often in the dance, their shoulders will form angles anywhere between 45 and 90 degrees in relation to one another.

The shoulders of the leader and follower will be parallel neither during the preparation for the volcada (during the follower’s forward step), nor during the volcada itself. During the volcada, the follower’s right shoulder will be quite far from the leader, so that the leader’s and follower’s shoulders will form a 90 degree or nearly-90 degree angle.

Leaders, there’s a tendency to think that you have to tense the bicep in order to support the follower during the volcada. However, the biceps have almost no role in this step. If you tense the bicep in order to hold the follower, everything goes wrong. She slips through your grasp and it feels like you’re not strong enough to hold her.

Instead use your triceps muscle. Lock the right triceps in place. Have you ever felt how the lateral upper part of your triceps engages when you lift a bucket or a suitcase that is about a foot away from your body? Ok, that’s the muscle you have to tense to hold her in a volcada! So now run and lift something sideways so you know what I’m talking about. When you engage the triceps muscle in this way, your right arm becomes a platform on which the follower can support herself (by tensing the muscles of her upper back, side, and triceps).

Leaders, make sure that when you take the side step with your left foot, in the moment of the volcada, that the left leg is in a clear side step and also turned out. Your foot will be facing at a 90 degree angle or more AWAY from the follower. If you place your left foot so that it is facing her, she will feel much heavier to you and you’re more likely to hurt your knee or back.

At the end of the day

These are only a few tips for executing the easiest volcada successfully. Obviously, there’s more to it. But remember: volcadas and colgadas are NOT important. Isn’t it much better to have a pleasant dance doing the basics well?

Disclaimer: This note is for people who are already familiar with traditional Argentine tango language and steps. This is not a detailed description for beginners.