[Tango-L] Women's role

[David Hodgson]

This is really great Razor girl.
Thought I would toss something out and see if it flies and compliments what
you wrote.

This is really simple folks.
When you dance with another, regardless if it is Man or Woman/ Lead or
Follow/ Predator or Prey/ Weak or Strong/ Masculine or Feminine/ someone
with a nice hair style or a shaved head.

The dance of tango has the potential to manifest all these things that have
been mentioned and a whole lot more.
It does not mean it is going to.
This folks, can make the dance really hot.

David



-----Original Message-----
From: tango-l-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:tango-l-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Razor Girl
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:59 AM
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Subject: [Tango-L] Women's role

Hi everyone,
 
I haven't written to this list in a long time and also I apologize if I am
taking this out of context or anything but I had to pipe in when I saw this
statement from (I believe it was) Dani:
 
"The man is the predator, the woman is the prey, as has been since time
immemorial "
 
First of all, I am not going to argue that the above statement might be the
opinion of some.  But I think it's a really narrow minded way of looking at
the complexity of the relationship between men and women.  And it inspires
me to address what I often find to be a misconceived view of the
relationship between the leader and follower in tango.
 
Sometimes I have found that men get on these power trips about leading and
neglect to acknowledge the true fact that the follower has an equal amount
of influence on the dance and that it is truly a partnership.  Even the most
machismo men can not deny the powerful role of the follower.
 
Here are a couple of things to consider about the role of the follower and
her power to influence the dance:
 
1. It is the woman's choice who she dances with.  She allows herself to be
approached or not, she selects whether or not to catch a man's gaze.  I
would go so far as to say that most of the time it is really the woman doing
the asking with her posture and eye contact and not really the other way
around.
 
2. The follower is in control of the dance.  Without someone who has agreed
to follow you, there can be no lead.  There is nothing "prey"-like about
this and it is a completely conscious and active choice on the part of the
follower.  Without her trust and response your lead means nothing.  Also,
the way in which she interprets the lead is her choice, so as a leader you
have to be aware of and open to the possibilities she presents.
 
3. The follower has an extremely influential role in the expression of
musicality.  Her timing, responsiveness, and the manner in which she
executes the movements which are lead are all completely her responsibility.
Also, the spaces in between what you lead are hers to play with.
 
The best dances happen when both the leader and follower are striving to
make the dance delicious for the other person while confidently expressing
their personal uniqueness in a warm and trusting embrace.  
 
Be kind to one another. Don't confuse femininity and masculinity with weak
and strong or predator and prey.
 
-Razorgirl

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