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TOCA STUDENT · Lesson 29 · Tarraxo and feeling

Breathing together is part of the tarraxo connection

A shared inhale lifts the energy. A shared exhale lowers it. Breathing on the same rhythm aligns the two centres, and the lead becomes fluid without anyone forcing anything.

Dawou Tarraxo, pioneer of Tarraxo. Breathing together is part of the tarraxo connection

The breath also comes before the accent, it prepares it. And on a silence in the music, do not fill it with another movement. Breathe, and let the emptiness vibrate. A pause is not a stop, it is a suspended movement under gentle tension.

Send the air low into the belly. Shoulders that rise on the inhale break the contact.

In closed position, six synchronised breaths. On the seventh, let the shared exhale start the movement.

Shared breath is one of the deepest tools in tarraxo feeling.

Your breathing is part of the connection, step by step

  1. A COUPLE THAT BREATHES TOGETHER LOOKS LIKE ONE SINGLE THOUGHT.
  2. A shared inhale lifts the energy. A shared exhale lowers it.
  3. The breath comes before the accent. It prepares it.
  4. Breathing on the same rhythm aligns two centres and the lead turns fluid.
  5. On a silence in the music, do not fill it. Breathe.
  6. A pause is not a stop. It is a suspended movement under gentle tension.
  7. Send the air low into the belly. Shoulders that rise break the contact.
Do you know how your partner breathes?

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This lesson comes from the book

Page 239 of The student's book by Dawou Tarraxo, the TOCA Method page this lesson comes from
The student's book · page 239

The student’s book takes dancers from the first foundations to real feeling. The teacher’s guide gives instructors the structure to pass it on. Both in English, French and Spanish, on Amazon and Apple Books.

The student’s book The teacher’s guide

The method

T O C A

Two bodies. One connection.

TTouchThe connection with your partner. Feeling through contact, never through force.
OObservationListening to your partner’s body, energy and tempo.
CControlMastery of your own movement. Precision without tension.
AAwarenessFull presence: with yourself, your partner and the music.