[Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

[RonTango]

----- Original Message ----
> From: meaning of life <kushi_bushi at hotmail.com>
> 
> have you all ever considered that some people enjoy dancing a more open  
>embrace? enjoy seeing each others faces as they dance? enjoy sliding their  
>bodies past each other? enjoy the larger figures? enjoy the more dramatic dance  
>permited by a more open embrace? enjoy the athletiscm that a more open embrace  
>permits, even encourages?


Yes, I've considered that many people prefer dancing stage tango rather than 
social tango on the milonga dance floor. I have considered that outside of 
Argentina many people prefer to avoid the embrace, dance with space between 
them, and call it 'Argentine Tango' whereas in the milongas of Buenos Aires the 
rare person dancing in an 'open embrace' is a misguided tourist. Without the 
close embrace it is not Argentine Tango, it is 'Tango for Export', a version of 
tango that is adapted to the culture of the nation to which tango is exported. 
By breaking open the embrace, Argentine Tango becomes just another ballroom 
dance.


> have you ever considered that starting slowly  and allowing a more open 
>embrace,  larger figures and a more dramatic dance  might improve your 
>recruitment and retention? especially among younger  dancers?


Yes, it will. So will playing electrotango or gypsy music or Sting in a milonga 
so people can mimic stage tango steps. Adapt tango to foreign tastes and it will 
be easy to attract people, but they won't understand tango.

The tango of the milongas of Buenos Aires is a man embracing a woman and walking 
to classic tango music, respecting the space of others on the floor. Getting 
outside of one's ethnocentric worldview and understanding what the tango culture 
of Buenos Aires offers provides a new and rewarding experience. If we have to 
destroy just to attract people who can't make the transition, then we are 
sacrificing the potential benefits of embracing tango argentino. 
 
 
> have you ever considered that some people feel mauled and  threatened 
>(especially good looking females) by the pack of wolves that descend  on them 
>DEMANDING close embrace dances and belittling their hesitation to have  their 
>"personal boundries" invaided by "stinky old men"? and this destroys your  
>retention, especially among younger females?


Actually, I've seen more slimy varmint sexual predators dancing nuevo and stage 
tango than dancing tango de salon. 

What a generalization!! I suppose we need to stop hugging each other for fear of 
introducing lewd thoughts.  


> 
> i'm just asking. who is it  that has the issues?



The person who has issues is the person who comes to the dance with prior 
issues. Tango in close embrace does not corrupt a decent person..


Ron