[Tango-L] buenos aires milongas

[ceverett@ceverett.com]

On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:24:09 -0300, "Deby Novitz"
<dnovitz at lavidacondeby.com> said:

> You know I find it interesting that men outside of B.A.  are now saying 
> how there are more skilled leaders than followers.  I find it rather 
> humorous, especially since I have danced with some of them. Is this a 
> male tango dancer feminist backlash? 

Deby, as you suspect, it's a crock of manure.  There do exist many
followers who have stopped advancing in their tango and are stuck with
some pretty bad habits, but I would say most nights the ratios here are
similarly skewed in favor of men.

The difference is that the ratios at festivals and workshops sometimes
tilt slightly more towards men, say 40 to 45 men to 60 to 55 women.  And
the women dance more in the early part of the evening.  So during the
last hour of the evening, as women find themselves unable to continue,
that's when women pretty much rule the roost in the US.  I probably
didn't dance the last song of the night for the first 2 years I was
dancing.

By the way, it's been my experience that the milongas here in the US
have the same variability as those in BA.  Without naming names, we have
our Ideals (where the skeezeballs who can't dance show up to impress
know-nothing tourists), and we have our Gricel/El Beso/Lo de Celia type
places (where the real dancers show up), and pretty much everything in
between in the US.

Christopher