[Tango-L] It's not just gender imbalance...

[buffmilonguera@aol.com]

....it is, unfortunately, a fact that in most places, gender imbalance 
is something that women/followers have to deal with.  My own solution 
was to learn how to lead - which I think I do about 75% at any given 
milonga and it is the rare workshop that I join the follows' side of 
the room.

As a "gray-head" myself, I am very familiar with another imbalance.  
Older women are often left on the side-lines too long, too often.  I 
have been to milongas where some excellent, albeit older followers, 
have sat most, if not all of the evening.  At one milonga recently, I 
saw a very young woman who had never even seen the dance before, and 
truth be told, was not one of those follows that seem to take to it 
"naturally." The men who were asking her to dance were some of the most 
sought after in the community.  I could see that some of them were 
having a difficult time dancing with her - yet she danced at least 4-5 
tandas and was invited twice by a few of her partners.  At the same 
time, some older women, who were excellent follows and well known in 
that community, sat most of the evening.

As I said, I am a often a leader.  I know that there are only so many 
tandas in any evening - and I often come to a milonga looking forward 
to dancing with my favorite milonga partners, and my favorite tango 
partners, etc., so I want to make sure I get a couple of tandas in with 
them.  But I also try to stay aware of other follows at the milonga - 
and if I don't see them dancing, I make a point of asking.  I love 
dancing with the more experienced older follows.  They already know 
some of the steps I am learning to lead and are both forgiving and 
helpful, and I learn a lot.  I love dancing with some of the older 
women who are still a little new to tango.  They challenge my ability 
to improvise, to keep my balance, to keep my lead clean and clear and 
to "take care" of my partner, and I learn a lot.  In both instances, I 
also have a lot of fun.

  I am not saying that it is each and every leaders' responsibility to 
make sure each and every follower dances.  I am just saying that every 
milonga has time for at least one or two tandas danced with someone you 
notice has not been on the floor yet.

imho, of course
barbra

Have you joined the Buffalo Argentine Tango Society Yahoo! group yet? 
It's easy, and the best way to make sure you know what we're doing and 
what's going on with the Argentine tango in and around Buffalo......go 
to www.yahoo.com > select Groups > search for Buffalo Argentine Tango 
Society > follow the directions to join BATS_tango.  Thanks!