[Tango-L] Don't blame your follower

[buffmilonguera@aol.com]

(...as she ventures, a little timidly, out from her much safer lurker
position.....so remember, this is my first time :) )

Bravo Doug and Astrid!!  I am a woman who both leads and follows - many
times back and forth during a single evening,  depending on the
crowd...and while there is an obvious difference between the two - I am
a equal partner in the dance no matter which role I have....once I was
watching a beautiful woman dance with a man who was leading - really
admiring her adornments, musicality, beautiful footwork, and nuance - I
couldn't wait to dance with her - when a guy standing next to me said,
"that's great! he is playing her like a fine violin......."  yuck!!
This passionate, beautiful dancer described as an inanimate object that
he "uses,"  Maybe it is oversensitive to have such a strong reaction to
imagery that other folks use to describe their tango....but part of it
comes from the experience of being told "follows only really need to
learn to follow," having inexperienced (or worse, experienced) leaders
wrestling with you to "get" gancho after gancho after gancho - and
those are usually the same leads who will violently twist your
shoulders over and over to get you do the boleo they demand, and, my
favorite, the leads who will stop dead in the middle of the floor
during a milonga and scold, "you were supposed to do...whatever," to
which the best response, that most follows are too gracious to say, is,
"you were supposed to lead it...."

(...now she tentatively hits the send button, a little worried about
the reaction she'll get but committed to being part of a
community/conversation about a dance she is obsessed with.....)

b


Have you joined the Buffalo Argentine Tango Society Yahoo! group yet? 
It's easy, and the best way to make sure you know what we're doing and 
what's going on with the Argentine tango in and around Buffalo......go 
to www.yahoo.com > select Groups > search for Buffalo Argentine Tango 
Society > follow the directions to join BATS_tango.  Thanks!
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