[Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

[Robert Ramsey-Turner]

Most none Argies are attracted to tango because of the theatrical steps and
performances they have seen in a show or movie. So that is the excitement
which brings them into to studios to learn tango, not always but that's the
way I have seen it over the last ten years.
After I had been learning tango for about 6 months from a general ballroom
dance studio which was responding to demand created by the movie "The Tango
lesson". What was being taught, well met the needs of the students, but as I
went on to find, it was one hell of a long way from the tango as danced in
the milongas in BsAs.

About six months into my tango journey, a visiting tutor from AR was
teaching a huge class of students, dancing as far apart as they could get
without losing a grip on their partners, the guys holding onto their iron
frames which they had been taught to build to be able to lead their
partners.

I can remember the AR tutor getting pretty frustrated about what he was
seeing and there were heated discussions with the studio owners.

Julio stopped the class from its dance activity and directed the class
couples to face each other, lower their arms to waist height and hold each
others elbows and to start walking in line of dance, no dance just walk.

After three tango tracks he stopped the class and instructed all couples to
put their hands behind their backs and connect with their partners with just
chest contact.

This was met with shock horror, but we had all paid lots of money for these
classes and with great reluctance complied with the instruction.

Most of us were with people we knew, so the social impact was not yet at its
peak.

After three more tracks of just walking, we were instructed to change
partners. I now had a woman who I had never met, didn't know her name or
where she was from leaning on my chest.

It was overwhelming!!

Nothing to do with sex, it was so foreign to all local social contact and
custom.

One hour later it was behind us and we started to learn tango.

Ten years later I dance simple close embrace in what's generally called
milonguero style.
When I dance, I dance for myself and my partner, I am not dancing for
attention or approval from anyone else. Though it's real nice to get a
little hand squeeze from a milonguera in BsAs and a bien, bien at the end of
a tanda.

If you are enjoying however you dance, go for it. However, if you want
bagels, go to NYC, if you want tulips and windmills go to Holland, if you
want tango, go to BsAs.
Robert

Robert Ramsey-Turner
Crown Associates Limited
Environmental Consultants
4/55B Rautawhiri Road
Helensville 0800
Auckland 
New Zealand
(Office)+64 9 420 7888 (or cell) +64 27 284 6620
robertrt at woosh.co.nz


-----Original Message-----
From: tango-l-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:tango-l-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Shahrukh Merchant
Sent: Monday, 20 September 2010 11:19 p.m.
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

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
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