[Tango-L] Navigation

[Sandhill Crane]

--- On Thu, 1/13/11, Trini y Sean (PATangoS) <patangos at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I've also noticed issues with certain vocabulary since
> milonguero style has become more prevalent.  Such as women
> having more difficulty recognizing moments to cross and
> anticipating ocho cortado rather than forward ochos. 
> Anyone else have that experience?

Well, I think the general phenomenon is that women
(and men) react according to their past experiences ...
no surprise there. Some examples I've encountered:

 * women who customarily dance w/ sternums glued together
   find it easier to cross instead of pivot for an ocho

 * women who've been to a lot of workshops react
   to their forward step as a volcada

 * women whose instructors told them to extend their
   foot before every step react to a weight change
   as an ocho

Sometimes I'm kind of surprised by the way that women
react to something I lead. That's absolutely OK, it
just means their experiences have been different than
mine. It gives me the opportunity to learn something
from them. I assume my partner is doing what's right
for her -- I believe this has made me a more effective
leader.

Among other things, recognizing disagreements between
me and my partner (e.g. cross vs ocho) has helped me
make my lead clearer. Working to avoid the volcada
(more than a little disconcerting if you don't expect
it ...) has helped me lead that forward step VERY
clearly. 8^)