[Tango-L] Flaming women at classes

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi Jake,

> Based on some of the class teaching I've seen, this is
> probably a very good thing. Provided the man actually
knows how to lead her (which is the cornerstone of Chris'
argument, which his opponents continue to overlook). But if
he does know how to lead, he can probably tell that those
things are uncalled for with a beginner.

I don't have problem with guys showing women new steps. 
Some guys are good, some aren't.  That's just a fact of
life.  

> > But let's get real. A beginning woman cannot tell a
> good leader from a bad leader as readily as an
experienced dancer can.
> I see this point refuted nearly every day. Women of any
> level, like men of any level, can tell when it's working
and when it's not, and you know that as well as I do.
Beginners are constantly lamenting the difficulties of
working with each other in beginner-level classes.

My statement come from comments I hear all the time from
beginners and intermediate women ("He's not that good.  I
thought he was last year, but I was a beginner then.")  In
places like DC or NYC, you may have enough good role models
for beginners to see and emulate.  A lot of places don't
have that.

It's very easy for inexperienced dancers to be impressed
with flash, both men and women.  Heck, calling oneself a
"teacher" even sets it someone up as being more
knowledgable than a non-teacher, though we all know that is
not always the case.  

We've had problems here with both of those issues.  In the
case of "flash", the guy also happened to be very handsome
and the girls developed crushes on him.  You'd see him
dancing with a less experienced woman doing the talking
tango, and even putting his hand on her tailbone to get her
to do an ocho.  Yet, so many people thought this guy was
such a good dancer!  Now that he's finally left the area
(he's in your neck of the woods now!), we're finally
getting rid of the bad habits he instilled in a lot of the
women.  

But basically, many beginning women are happy to be asked
with danced by anybody.  They also tend to assume that if
they miss a step that it is their fault and may not be able
to recognize that it was a mislead.  I know that from
personal experience.

BTW, women are less willing to talk about guys in mixed
company, so I'm not surprised if you're not privy to those
conversations.

Trini de Pittsburgh






       
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