[Tango-L] social tango 101

[Carol Shepherd]

These transgressions are not special to tango, they are no different 
from ANY social dancing event.  Same thing happens in ballroom and any 
moving dance.  If anything, more so in ballroom, and a lot of it 
probably comes from ballroom, which can resemble an Indy 500 video game. 
  Someone let these people get away with becoming speed racers on the 
social dance floor.

While this seems to be very obvious (and very rude)...many people simply 
DO NOT KNOW the rules of dance etiquette or what constitutes good and 
bad 'floorcraft'.  No one has ever told them.

At the U of M ballroom club they pass out a sheet of dance etiquette; 
this is also on the website.  They also make mention of this, and ask 
the new members to pick a copy of the rules up, and the returning 
dancers to 'reacquaint' with the rules.

Dance etiquette and floorcraft information can be found all over the web 
by using The Google.

Appropriate to hand out at a practica, for sure.  If you think this will 
spoil the atmosphere of your milonga, then the other choice is for the 
promoter to go around and tell people their transgressions privately.

Which they should do.  The guests are their invitees and deserve to be 
free of this behavior, and it is the promoter's responsibility to 
provide for their enjoyment and comfort.

CS

Crrtango at aol.com wrote:
>  To continue the thread of "bad behavior"  I went to the All-night milonga 
> here (which was quite crowded but fun) on Sat. and noticed a number of things 
> about the dancers who contributed the most to the confusion (and collisions) on 
> the floor.   To name a few:
> 
> _Talking with your partner while dancing, instead of paying attention to the 
> flow of the dancers around you.
> _Showing off or trying to impress your partner, or those you think are 
> watching you, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Not realizing that a particular figure is too large to execute under crowded 
> conditions, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Standing still and conversing while everyone else is dancing, instead of 
> paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Teaching (!) in the middle of the floor, instead of paying attention to the 
> dancers around you.
> _Looking down at your feet or those of your partner (a classic sign of a bad 
> dancer), instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Passing and assuming that the space ahead of the couple in front of you is 
> yours, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> 
> There are others but I think most people can see the pattern emerging here. 
> Dancing socially is different from performing socially.
> 
> One of the great pleasures of dancing, among many, in Buenos Aires was, after 
> ending a song, to find the couple that started in front of you and the person 
> who started behind you were still in the same place. 
> I teach some privates now but may soon be starting classes in tango de salon 
> here in NYC that will emphasize the social aspects of tango dancing at 
> milongas, including appropriate and inappropriate steps relative to the music and 
> crowd, the difference between tango and milonga, etc. Those who are interested 
> can watch my posts for more information. 
> 
> cheers,
> Charles
> 
> 
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-- 
Carol Ruth Shepherd
Arborlaw PLC
Ann Arbor MI USA
734 668 4646 v  734 786 1241 f
Arborlaw - a legal blog for entrepreneurs and small business
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