[Tango-L] CITA begins in BsAs

[Caroline Polack]

Ay yi yi - quite a contentious subject this has been.

I tell you what: I went to a milonga after having taken just a few classes. 
All I knew at that point was the salida and ochos. My experience at the 
milonga was nothing but pure humiliation.

So, yes, women do need to learn - whether in class, private lessons or from 
a kind leader willing to teach.  Yes, you can learn at milongas but if you 
were living in Buenos Aires, you would have access to hundreds of practicas 
and parties and classes and private lessons and tango friends where you 
could learn to improve to make your next milonga experience better. What I 
know for absolute certain is that in milongas, men do not like to be seen 
with a woman who does not dance nor follow well. So, if you have no 
experience, no learning and want to learn only at milongas, good luck lady, 
you'll need it.

When I went to Buenos Aires, I was so glad that I had a year's experience 
under my belt. This made me good enough to get asked for dances and from 
there, I was able to expand my learning. But to expand, you need to get on 
the floor first. If you don't know how to dance, well, find a comfortable 
chair for you'll be sitting all night.

The downside to classes is that they do interfere with the natural process 
of following which is listening to your leader and his body. Classes focus 
on steps, and certainly not enough on listening to your partner. Many 
leaders in my class would freeze if they made a mistake or were in danger of 
bumping into someone else instead of recovering nicely and carrying on. 
That's the problem with classes that fixate too much on one element of tango 
and neglecting all others.

In Buenos Aires, I learned what I had missed out in class - which is to 
follow naturally and instinctively with nary a thought about steps. That is 
something you can't really learn in class, you have to go to milongas for 
that.

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