In my college English class my proffesor assigned the class to write a process essay explaing in detail how to do one basic step of a ballroom dance. I have choose the tango as my dance. I need to know what CBMP stands for...could anyone please help?

It stands for Contra Body Movement Position

http://www.dancesport.uk.com/tid-bits/issue020.htm

Emily. Have your shoulder in place. keep weight on that foot step across your body either going forwards or backwards.
From the book. Contrary Body Movement Position is the position attained when either foot is placed across the front or the back of the body without turning. It is, therefore a foot position.
Every step taken outside the partner must be in CBMP otherwise the two bodies will not keep in contact.
CBMP will occure on all Promenade figures.
Why did you choose Tango. Two Walks. The first has CBMP the second step has none. Keep your shoulder on the same line on both steps. I hope you are not asked to demonstrate. I would get out of that by saying . If I am going to teach I need to be paid. Good Luck.

I have to agree that the Tango may not be the best dance to do. But since you have selected it.....

One interesting historical fact is that in the original tango, or at least the one that is done in Argentina (you can easily argue that noone dances it in its original form any longer)- but anyway, in the Argentine tango- no matter which way the man and woman are walking, their chests face each other. Try this-

Walk around a chair. Always face the chair with your head and chest. But take a step to the side, and then a step in front of your body, and then another step to the side, and then a step IN BACK of your body; PIVOT if you have to, in order to keep facing the chair. Keep on going. FOUR steps should get you around the chair. That is a MOLINETE in Arg Tango, and is a basic exercise for learning it. Notice how there is a real disconnect and tension between the top half of the body and the action of the lower body.

That certainly is not the same CBMP as you would get in a waltz, but it is TANGO.

Jerry

"no matter which way the man and woman are walking, their chests face each other."

Which is also essentially true in international ballroom - with the exception that the concept of chests facing now inlcudes a moderately constant diagonal offset.

Skilled dancers maintain that parallel topline throughout all closed hold actions.

"Notice how there is a real disconnect and tension between the top half of the body and the action of the lower body."

This occurs in international ballroom as well. However, the directions and motheds of movement utilized in ballroom tend to be limited to those that prevent an extreme disconnect. By prefering movement of the entire body rather than reacing of the leg as the source of the largest contribution to step size, less rotations strech between upper and lower body is needed in ballroom - but there are still many situations where some is needed.

Anonymous. I am sure after that bit of advice the young lady is thouroughly confused. All she needed was CBMP. What is it. She didn't want Argentine Tango, if there is CBMP in the Argentine Tango, She doesn't want. Is the man in front of the lady. She most likely knows that he isn't behind. So why chip in on a perfectly good answer to the question.You seem to do this most of your waking hours altering the question to something else only partly related..

"So why chip in on a perfectly good answer to the question."

Because it wasn't an answer to her question at all, and because it was a very mistaken analysis of differences between so-called argentine and ballroom tango.

Anonymous. What has the Argentine Tango got to do with answering the question which was simply. She wanted to know what CBMP was in the Tango on one step.
Emily. just read the first bit of information from myself. You will be absolutly correct. My reason for saying this is it came straight from the Technique book. The book is called Ballroom Dancing by Alex Moore page 17.
Good Luck with your Essay.

"Anonymous. What has the Argentine Tango got to do with answering the question which was simply. "

Nothing - it was an off topic post that did not belong in this thread.

But the reason I responded to it was not that it was off topic, but that it lead to mistaken impressions of how the on-topic subject - ballroom tango CBMP - would be danced.