[Tango-L] communites of all gender leading

[Keith]

Encouraging students to switch roles during classes and practice is a good thing because it aids the process of learning Tango. It can 
also be entertaining in a Tango Show - especially if the couple are skilful.

Having said that, switching roles in a milonga is a totally different thing and should not be encouraged. I'll come out flat and say it - 
In a milonga, unless the couple are gay, I hate to see men dancing with men and women dancing with women. Why? Because it destroys the 
whole feeling of the dance and can destroy the feeling and enjoyment of the milonga. We all say that Tango is about 'feeling' as well as 
technique and I certainly agree with that. But same-sex dancing is 100% about technique, with absolutely no feeling involved - unless the 
couple are gay and, as I've said, in that case I have no objection. La Marshall was very enjoyable. 

Another thing - we all rail against showing off in milongas. Don't we all hate that? Or at least we say we do. But let's be clear - most 
people who switch roles during a molonga are showing off - pure and simple. The man is showing off that he can follow, the woman is 
showing off that she can lead. What they're saying is ... "look at us, look how clever we are". And they do it selfishly, with a complete 
disregard for all the other dancers present.

Many people, including Igor in a recent post, have a misconception that there's a tradition in Argentina of men dancing with men. This 
just isn't true. Men practice with men, they don't dance together. When I see same-sex dancing in BsAs, I always think the same thing -
 "look at the stupid tourists".

Keith, HK 




On Thu Sep 13  1:47 , jackie ling wong  sent:

>daniel trenner lives in northampton ma and his students are  
>definitely encouraged to switch roles from day one. i also encourage  
>students locally to switch and experiment.  it's easier for both  
>danny and i because the two of us teach in colleges... amherst, mt  
>holyoke, bard, williams college... personally, i find that younger  
>students are more open to switching roles.
>
>i always lead at milongas and have been known to lead at milongas in  
>buenos aires.  porteno y bailerin, la viruta, la marshall and  
>milongas that la vikinga hosts are generally open to "alternative"  
>pairing.  i heard recently that the milonga that uses the same space  
>as la marshall on another night, asks a woman who was leading and  
>another that was wearing sneakers to leave.  please note that i'm  
>passing on information which i didn't witness.
>
>jackie
>www.tangopulse.net
>
>
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