[Tango-L] Right hand lead?

[Tom Stermitz]

Oh my aching back!

Without taking anything away from those great older dancers, it is  
more pleasant to dance with a partner who has good technique.

Tango is a social dance, and Sergio is correct that there are many  
techniques. But the hand technique mentioned can be quite harsh and  
painful.

Trini explains it well, and places the hand lead problem in the  
historical perspective.

Some of the older gentlemen of tango use strong, rigid muscles in the  
arms. When I was learning tango in the 90s, many of the women of  
Buenos Aires were habituated to dance with strength or rigidity in  
their arms, because that is what they were expecting. Even today, in  
Buenos Aires it is apparent that a lot of women have learned on the  
dance floor and clearly haven't taken lots of lessons. (They have many  
other superlative qualities, such as embrace, feeling and musicality;  
it isn't all about technique.)

The only thing I would add is that in Buenos Aires Tango is viewed as  
a social dance, with the implication that you don't need lots of  
lessons. An Argentine who doesn't do tango typically knows something  
about the music and what it looks like. It isn't strange that a woman  
in Buenos Aires would have the view that you can just go dance and the  
guys will make everything work.


On Nov 22, 2010, at 9:18 AM, Trini y Sean (PATangoS) wrote:

> I've been the victim of that many times.  It's rather unpleasant.   
> It was still being taught in the 90's, but I'm glad that it's gone  
> out of fashion.
>
> It's useful to remember that the women way back when didn't take  
> classes like the women today.  The attitude of the man was that the  
> women didn't need to learn anything, they just followed.  When the  
> first women's technique class in BsAs started in the 90's, the men  
> scoffed at it.
> ...
> Given that environment, I appreciate the difficulty someone like  
> Susana Miller had to go through just to be able to teach the man's  
> role.  It would take an incredibly strong character.
>
> Trini de Pittsburgh

Tom Stermitz
c: 303-725-5963
http://www.tango.org
Denver, CO 80207