[Tango-L] Skilled women [was: buenos aires milongas]

[Jeff Gaynor]

Deby Novitz wrote:

<snip/>
> 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? 
Just a note from here on the floor, as it were. I'm finding that at 
least in the middle of the US it is the case that there are more skilled 
men than women. Of course, here we have a ton more men at the milongas 
(one I went to last year was memorable because it had something like 4 
women and a dozen men.)  However, even numbers aside, I am finding that 
I'm seriously stuck on a plateau because there just aren't more skilled 
women to dance with. Most think that the women's role is largely passive 
so they don't need to do much.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see that as 
the case and the best women I've danced with, far from going along for 
the ride, are darn fine dancers all the way around. Indeed, a lot of 
them are better than the leads.

Guess what I'm positing as a question is this in the US:

==> Do you think the women's role is highly skilled in tango? If so, do 
you think there is a false perception among women that the opposite is 
the case? <==

If what I am seeing is more widespread, then some effort needs to be 
made in the community to let women know that they have a bona fide skill 
to learn. As it stands now for me with very few exceptions leading much 
of anything is lost on them, so I'm getting more than a little bored. 
Again not with tango, but from not having really anyone to do it with.

Just curious...

Jeff G