[Tango-L] male/female dancers

[Shahrukh Merchant]

Dubravko Kakarigi writes:
> Almost without an exception (I could probably come up with one or
> two), applause during a "demo" dance is given when a leader (most
> often a male) does something beautiful/new/creative/surprising.

Well, in the sense that the leader is, by definition, leading, I suppose 
he'd be the one initiating the "trick" (my general term for something 
designed to get applause). Of course, in a choreographed routine, which 
many exhibitions are, the woman is not depending as much on the lead for 
knowing what to do and when, although she may be for physical support 
(depending on the trick).

I avoid applause during the dance, partially since the applause seems 
interruptive to me (I know I'm an exception), and partially since 
tricks, unless they are done by really good dances, tend to decrease the 
overall quality of the dance (sometimes it gets "cheap applause" anyway 
but ends up requiring the dancers to break form in some way). In many 
cases, they end up making me flinch.

> When you look at dancers during an
> exhibition/demo dance, where is your focus?
> I contend that a beautiful form of one dancer is nearly impossible to
> display consistently without the adequately good technique of the
> other.

I don't think so. While the adage, "It takes two to tango," certainly 
holds literally as well (Pocho Pizarro notwithstanding :-)), and one 
cannot look good without the other, it is quite apparent to me if one 
partner is a better dancer relative to the other (and thus being limited 
in some sense by the other). I'd imagine that most Tango dancers, even 
not very experienced ones, would notice this too.

I tend to focus on the better dancer, though it's more pleasurable to 
watch if they are well matched, in which case the whole is greater than 
the sum of the parts, and I don't think I'm focussing more on one or the 
other.

> I also contend that female dancers rarely get sufficient credit for
> their own expressed musicality and beautiful forms.

I don't see this at all--if anything, I would have said the opposite. 
There's a (somewhat admittedly overused) metaphor of the woman being the 
painting and the man the frame, but there is some truth to it, and even 
more so in performance dancing. Sure you have some exceptions, where the 
guy is somewhat of a ham and more famous than his partner so he feels 
the need to "show off" and the crowd expects nothing less (Miguel Ángel 
Zotto comes to mind--and I can think of none of his partners off the top 
of my head). Guillermina Quiroga is an obvious counter-example where no 
matter whom she's dancing with, she's going to be the one commanding the 
attention, both by her presence (all the more impressive for her small 
stature) and her dancing. When Carlos Gavito danced with Marcela Duran 
I'd watch them both as a couple--when he danced with anyone else, I'd 
end up watching him. And so on--I could probably come up with a dozen 
examples where one or the other commands more attention, at least for 
me, or where it's the couple together that does.

Shahrukh