[Tango-L] Nuevo Theory vs Practice: Creating a Social Nuevo, plus my pet dancefloor peeves

[Alexis Cousein]

Sandhill Crane wrote:
> --- On Fri, 12/11/09, Brian Dunn <brianpdunn at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
>> This lack of understanding is evident in the idea that
>> colgadas and volcadas (for example) can be taught as simple
>> "tricks" without reference to connection skills with your
>> partner and awareness of the dimensions of the available space.
> 
> Maybe these steps are not taught as tricks, but they are
> certainly learned as tricks.

Not necessarily a valid statement *in general*.

> You know this and I know this, but the guys for whom this
> is true can't see it; they need someone else to point it out.
> 
No argument from me. But you usually won't achieve that by
going on an anti-nuevo (or even merely anto-colgada/volcada
crusade). They simply won't listen.

Simply point out that
a) he's being rude
b) if he can't perform that step without being rude on
dance floor X (by whatever measures are necessary), he
should either practice or refrain from inflicting damage
("put up or shut up" in another guise).
c) There's more satisfaction in getting a volcada, colgada
or even boleo just right, with *just* enough movement to
feel it unambiguously (and in the case of a boleo, with feet
barely separating). If he can pull those off, that'll impress
the audience more than a move that reminds people of an olympic
hammer throw.

If he then still thinks he's entitled to mow down other couples, well,
that suggests he needs a swift kick in the butt to free him from
his culture of entitlement.

 > It's up to the teachers to influence which
> path their students take.

No argument from me. On the other hand, you can't blame the teacher
only, because I've seen a lot of people resist attempts at
reining them in (and demanding the teacher go on to more fancy
stuff even when they don't get the basics right). It's partly
a culture thing in the audience, too, and as I said, sadly it
predated "nuevo".

[off-topic]

As I'm getting tired of that "nuevo destroys dance floors" mantra,
why not discuss my pet peeves on the dance floor.

Let's go back to bashing stepping back into the line of dancing
with a large step (which can actually be forward depending on
your current orientation!) without knowing whether you
have room, something which plagues all styles and more dance
floors than egregious nuevo dancers (at least here).

Note: some fundamentalists think that banning steps back
of the leader is enough. It isn't, unless your shoulders
are always aligned the same way with respect to the line of dance,
and if you don't understand the difference, you need to practice
and be alert to things, rather than rely on dogmas to save your
behind (or more correctly that of the followers of other couples).

My second pet peeve: if you have half the dance floor in front
of you and everyone crowded behind you, you aren't flowing with
the ronda. I don't care what *you* think music X from Biaggi demands
as far as forward movement on the floor, the rest of the dance floor
isn't agreeing with you. If you compound the problem by also
dashing sideways madly in a windscreen wiping motion, preventing
everyone to unstick the mess you made, you're a real pain.

My third pet peeve: don't start dashing ahead when the intro
of the song is playing, making everyone else (who's just
exploring the music and the connection) instantly feel as
if they're bowling pins. The songs have intros for a reason.