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

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

On 10/11/07, Jay Rabe <jayrabe at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Victor wrote:> Its not unusual for a follower to do something you don't
> expect.
>
>
> Amen. In fact, if you get right down to it, it's pretty UNusual for a
> follower, no matter how experienced, to do EXACTLY what you expect, in terms
> of her step speed, direction, or timing. IMO one of the goals of a leader is
> to accommodate the variability of his follower's responses. Like Gavito
> said, "I lead, but I follow." The leader cannot afford to "expect," to count
> on, a specific response. He must wait for her to start moving, pay enough
> attention to her that he can see/feel what she's doing, and adjust his step
> and body mechanics accordingly.
>


Sssh. Don't tell anyone this. This is a secret.

Imagine telling a beginner man he has to learn to find the rhythm of the
music, watch out for navigational hazards on the dance floor, develop a
strategy on the spot for dealing with them choosing from a repertoire of
movements he has learned, then lead the woman to move in the intended
direction with the intended speed while maintaining the connection, and THEN
...

HE HAS TO FOLLOW THE WOMAN'S REPSONSE TO HIS LEAD TO DETERMINE HIS NEXT MOVE
?? (within a millisecond, after all, this is not chess), and take
responsibility for whatever goes wrong.

And we wonder why there aren't enough men in tango.

Yet the surviving men keep trying.  It must be that the rewards of tango are
greater than its obstacles.

Ron