[Tango-L] Taxi Dancers

[Marisa Holmes]

-- Melina Sedo <melinasedo at onlinehome.de> wrote: 
> A lot of men will dance with women who are not their
> first choice for 
> the "common good"... This woman may not 
> have been his dream-partner but it does not hurt him
> either to dance 
> with her, it may even be very nice. And if he
> behaves polite and nicely 
> and does not give the impression of doing it out of
> "charity",  she 
> will be happy to dance, other dancers may notice her
> and the general 
> atmosphere will improve as nobody's sitting around
> with a sad face.

You're right to praise this behavior, although I don't
think I would call this type a "taxi dancer", which
seems to me to be defined by taking money for dancing.
 (Women can also dance with the unknown or the
beginner, of course.  I had an extraordinary tanda
with a guy who walked in whom we had never seen before
or since.)

In any case, you are exactly correct - inviting
someone to dance who is not dancing and who is not
necessarily your favorite dancer (but against whom you
have no specific complaint) benefits the common good. 
It may also benefit the inviter - for example if the
person turns out to be able to dance, or if they
become a long-term member of your community and come
to be able to dance.  

In addition, it is the type of behavior you can be
proud of at the end of the evening, which is a lot
better than walking away musing on how lucky you were
that you were able to pretend not to see the lady who
was visiting your town, whose clothing, dancing, or
physique was not exactly to your taste.  A woman
formerly in our community once told my partner, in
tears, that his mother must have raised him right,
since he danced with _all_ the women.  She was
pleasant, courteous, good company for conversation,
enjoyed dancing, took lessons to improve, danced at a
sort of intermediate level, followed adequately, and
had the face and figure of a middle-aged woman of
moderate weight.  In short, she looked like your aunt
(if you are young) or your co-worker (if you are not).
 I danced with her myself and she was OK.  But she
seemed to be invisible to many of our leaders -
somehow just not as interesting at any given moment as
someone else. And she is gone - got fed up with
sitting.  I'm embarrassed for the community, and sorry
that we no longer have her company.

Marisa

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com