[Tango-L] To men

[Keith Elshaw]

Hi guys;

You have gathered from my previous posts that I am one of those who will
not abide the rear-view mirror attitudes of people who don't get it. They
can do and think what they want - but must let others do and think as they
will also. They don't have a choice, no matter how shrill their
declarations of truth-knowing.

Who among us would like to live under the strictures and mores our parents
had to endure?

People with closed minds are growing old.

Life introduces change. Duh.

Yes, when you begin to follow, it's starting all over again. But not as bad!

And just like when you came to it all, you find that if you have the right
attitude, you will experience rewards you couldn't have imagined.

Now, I live in a city where there are many women who lead. It's a culture
with an open mind. (Need I say - I am only interested dancing with women).

But that doesn't matter - wherever you are, there are lovely women dancers
who are starting to lead out of necessity. In so many communities, women
just get bored. If they don't lead, they sit way too much. Not hard to
empathize. More and more opportunities all the time now.

There are occasional times when another guy and I will dance a song just
for fun - because not much is happening. Empty place type thing. Maybe
twice a year. And we'll switch parts and enjoy 6 minutes of challenge. And
it is really fun, because women who lead tend to be kind of soft. To have
a firm lead is a bit of a relief for a male follower.

Women just tend to be better dancers and of course that's why a woman will
generally prefer to lead a women. Easier to make it happen in their state
of learning. So you want to learn quickly to be responsive - open to the
lead.

But when the opportunity comes for me to dance the following part to a
woman, I go to heaven. Close my eyes and experience the really GOOD part
of tango -  the abandon. It really sucks you in. As does the
not-making-decisions part.

There is no way that is THE way. Never was. The Argentines have always
taken their lead from the rest of the world after their initial outburts
of genius. They invented it and would *perhaps* have lost it long ago
without outside influence. History tells us so.

They'll come along. Don't be intimidated by the narrow-minded sages. They
don't have much fun, to tell the truth. Too concerned about recent codes
and false assumptions.

Get a good woman to lead you. You'll find more of what tango has to offer
you. When the macho guys scoff, give them a wink and feel sorry for them
for missing out on so much pleasure.

I think it's already been months since I had the chance to follow,
actually. It's not an all the time thing. But I'm always ready. It is a
gift from the gods to experience tango from the other side.