[Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

[Shahrukh Merchant]

meaning of life <kushi_bushi at hotmail.com> asks:

> 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?

I'm not sure what the point is. I've considered that people enjoy ski 
jumping, demolition derby, flying trapeze, and other visually dramatic 
activities. But they don't call it Tango and they certainly don't do it 
at milongas.

> 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?

Unfortunately, way too many "Tango" teachers seem to have indeed 
considered this and found it lucrative, with the result that in some 
communities that is the only thing that people are being exposed to as 
"tango." However, it's capitalism and free markets at its finest, and I 
would support it at that level. Unfortunately, preservation of culture 
and art forms is not the forte of the free market system, where "New and 
Improved [sic]!" continues to be the marketing methodology of choice.

But if higher recruitment is all that one is after, Salsa may be a 
better option. Most places in the world (excluding Buenos Aires and 
possibly a few others) that have a thriving Tango community have an even 
larger Salsa community.

> have you ever considered that some people feel mauled and threatened (especially good looking females) by the pack of wolves that descend on them 

Well, not being either a good looking female nor a pack of wolves 
(perhaps a tiny fraction of one rather socialized wolf :-)), I would 
have to say that no, I have never considered this.

> and this destroys your retention, especially among younger females?
...
> hesitation to have their "personal boundries" invaided by "stinky old men"?

This I have not seen either. They generally learn rather quickly to 
avoid the predators and unless they have led highly sheltered lives, 
Tango is hardly likely to be the first place they encounter them.

And if your hypothesis were correct, communities with a strong tradition 
of close-embrace dancing would have a dearth of your aforementioned 
"younger females," which phenomenon I have seen no evidence of (nor 
heard of anecdotally).

"Stinky" men and women tend to be avoided by all, with the possibly 
exception of those who are recovering from bad colds.

As far as "old," while there is natural tendency for people to mix with 
others in their own age group, it is actually a nice thing about Tango 
that there is actually more mixing of age groups. You should come to 
Buenos Aires and watch the glow on the faces of the "younger females" 
who just got invited to dance by one of the "old men" milongueros--if 
their personal boundaries were being invaded, they certainly weren't 
showing it.

Shahrukh