[Tango-L] Milonga, a guy thing.

[Crrtango@aol.com]

 <<<at our milonga quite a few women like to dance milonga & milonga con 
traspie. there seems not to be as many men who enjoy, this dance.  i wonder why?>>>


Maybe because it is taught so poorly, not to mention it is difficult to lead 
correctly. Most teachers don't even know how to do it properly. Most people 
just do speeded-up tango which is completely wrong. It is also aggravated by 
performing couples who perform it with big steps and stage movements. Although 
I'm sure I will get plenty of opposite responses, like there are different 
types, open and closed, milonga liso, yadda, yadda, yadda, that also is missing the 
point. There is a basic fundamental way to dance it that is different from 
tango. It sounds like the teachers were rationalizing their lack of knowledge. 
Milonga steps are smaller, more contained and don't include many steps normally 
done in regular tango, like going to the cross, for one. Also as Jayrabe 
pointed out, there are no pauses. It is basically a one-two, one-two rhythm 
repeated over and over with variations. Also traspie involves shifting weight, not 
just pointing your foot, which very few leaders seem to understand. No wonder 
people don't feel comfortable doing it. They never learned how. Most followers 
I know love doing it... with someone who knows how.
The other night I was leading someone who said she wasn't very good at 
milonga, and was reluctant, so I suggested she do only one thing - just step back 
and forth on the beat from one foot to the other the entire dance, one-two, 
one-two, etc, without pausing and I would do the rest. I did lots of different 
things with her and when we finished she had a huge grin on her face and said "So 
that's milonga...Cool...I want to do some more." She wasn't the one that 
didn't know how to do it, it was her partners.

Charles



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