[Tango-L] 5 years.

[=?windows-1250?Q?Ecsedy_=C1ron?=]

Dear Keith,

Keith> BsAs. Correct me if I'm wrong but, if not, you should reserve your[high]  opinions of
Keith> your dancing until you do so. Miles, I suspect you're in for a rude awakening when
Keith> you do finally venture to Argentina. You wouldn't be the first to have his confidence
Keith> totally shattered. And I don't care how many festivals you've been to in the USA. The
Keith> unforgiving ladies of BsAs really expect you to know your stuff and are none-too-polite
Keith> if you don't. As for Igor, I've read your posts and your
Keith> unconventional views on learning 
Keith> and dancing Tango. The ladies of San Francisco might accept it but I think BsAs will eat
Keith> you alive.

I find your general discussion style a bit aggressive for any forum, however, you are quite right about the "unforgiving" nature of Argentine women. I am a tango professional with over 15 years of dancing behind me. In Argentina -, people usually thought I am a local (I guess I look like an Argentine) so I could - at least - avoid the "foreigners are bad dancers" stereotype, nevertheless, it wasn't easy for me to get dances in the beginning (cabeceo isn't just having your eyes pop out when you want to dance with someone) and found that dancers of different styles will not mix easily, so if you learnt quite a lot of nuevo, expect that the "traditional" folks will turn you down. Nuevo dancers are more open to others, but they expect a soft lead, excellent navigation skills and great rythm and a lot of play with innocent-looking but sometimes quite complex moves on that four squarefoots you have. You need more than a basic knowledge of the steps for some basic combinations to even have a dance.

IMO While all the above is true, it is only true to BsAs. In every other part of the world people are different, cultural background is different, there is no _real_ need for cabeceo ("everyone knows everyone else" scenario), women are eager to dance with anyone (tango dancers are not so many) and this Argentine mechanism to sort out the less better dancers*** is considered extremely rude. So, mediocre level dancing in the general public, too much show/less subtleness remains because there is no mechanism in place to change it! Personal motivation to become a really good dancer is only present a 1-5% of the general public (It is higher if you are Italian... :) ) and even including the teacher's personal charm will not change the situation considerably, as people usually don't quit their jobs or devote all their free time for dancing.

***cabeceo (selection by women, actively punishing forced (direct) invitations - of course, except if you are one of those every woman wants to dance with), coupled with tandas and cortinas (where a cortina means that you MUST leave the floor and change partner - of course, if you are experiencing so much chemistry that you both want to have another go that's maybe OK, make sure the girls boyfriend is not near though), the "right" to leave during a dance (no mercy-dances), women being extremely picky and dancing with only good dancers even if they have to sit all night.

This system is quite well developed, obviously it builds on general gender-related behaviour. Guys compete, girls choose. Simple, but works. Modern European/N-American society tends to use the "equal rights" (for men/women) principle in everyday life, which leads to the elimination of this... (Ladies, tell me which one of you would gladly tell a guy who is eager, nice, but is a no-go, that he has no chance? How would you tell it? (my experience: a no from a women here is usually all too soft, even if it meant stonewalling) Guys, which one of you normally want a situation where you have to work truly hard to just break even against a lot of other men, who has more experience, more control and more success in what they do, on a field where you have little or no experience, and is obviously not something you learn to do overnight and facing a plethora of disappointing experiences?)

Cheers,
Aron