[Tango-L] Way too much kicking

[Brian Dunn]

Dear List,
>>>>
Trini> I'm sure that not every woman there was an idiot.  I'm sure there were women watching who do when the appropriate time is to some high kicks.
Huck> I'm curious, Trini, just when is this "appropriate" time, other
than on the stage?  I don't see how these particular kicks are ever
appropriate on the social floor with any appreciable amount of people.
At least not at any milonga I'd ever consider attending. 
<<<<

I suspect Trini means that these moves would be appropriate on the social floor when there are NOT "an appreciable amount" of people - by which, let's assume, Huck means "too many people to allow this to be executed safely".  Huck, maybe you never attend such milongas where this much room is available AT TIMES.  But I often attend wonderful milongas where there is frequently enough room for such adornments, properly executed, without inconveniencing anyone, especially earlier or later in the evening.  As one might expect, some people take advantage of the relatively larger amount of dance room to express themselves, and others don't.  You may not enjoy dancing when there is that much room, you may not choose to dance with followers who express themselves in this way, and of course you're free to sit out anything which doesn't meet your preferences.  But it hardly follows that it's "inappropriate" for someone else to use THEIR SHARE of the floor AT THAT MOMENT to express themselves.  Why else are any of us there, but to use OUR SHARE of the floor to express ourselves in the arms of our partners?


>>>>
Trini> But I don't see the point of withholding this type of information.
Huck> What is the point of teaching something that is arguably never
appropriate to the social floor?...It appears to
be this couple's regularly scheduled local tango class, ostensibly for
the purpose of teaching people how to dance tango at milongas.
<<<<

Are you saying that any milonga that is uncrowded enough at a given moment for these things to be executed safely is, by your definition, no longer a "social floor"?  Well, OK, whatever...again, you can sit out anything you don't like. As a leader, the milongas I describe above sure still FEEL like "social floors" to me when they are this uncrowded - everyone keeping an eye out for social distance, line of dance, etc., regardless of adornment choices.

Perhaps it's useful here to dust off the "authenticity" flag and wave it a bit.  In 2004, Deb and I were taking a private lesson in Buenos Aires with Miguel Angel "Pepino" Balbi, a well-known "true milonguero" who was starting to teach privately to visiting tangueros.  There was a translator present to facilitate, because Miguel Angel spoke little to no English.  He and Deb were hitting it off famously while dancing, and to express her joy in the moment, Deb started to do a high-kick adornment much like what was shown in the video.  Miguel Angel said something which sounded expressive of his enjoyment to me - but what the (somewhat disapproving) translator chose to "translate" was "the milongueros don't like dancing that has lots of adornments".  Well, Miguel Angel apparently knew enough English to stop the lesson right there, and tell us that that was not what he said, that he himself didn't like followers who always danced exactly alike, as if they were clones (he even said "like Dolly the sheep", if you remember the first cloned sheep that made the news) and that he very much enjoyed Deb's expressive adornments.

So with that vote of confidence from old Buenos Aires, perhaps we can all agree that such "expressive movements" have their place in the social dance AT TIMES (like, whenever there is "room enough")?  If that's true, then certainly women students can benefit from examples of elegant expression (such as the class video) as part of their learning process for the milonga.  Then, whenever they DO have room at their local milongas, at least they'll be able to look and feel good as they express themselves (safely, with consideration, in an appropriate scale, as their leader may indicate space to execute it, etc. etc.)

OK, let's say it ONE MORE TIME - be expressive, but don't take up more than YOUR SHARE of the floor with your expressiveness.

All the best,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
775 Pleasant Street
Boulder, CO 80302 USA
303-938-0716
www.danceoftheheart.com
“Building a Better World, One Tango at a Time”