SLO Tango -- rotating & all that jazz
Glenna Thompson
glennat at charter.net
Sun Aug 5 13:43:22 EDT 2007
Yes, Mack, I have seen a few macho guys in close embrace, but /only/ in
Argentine Tango! (Since this is not the only thing most men need to
practice, it wouldn't have to be the first same-gender exercise)
Perhaps these particular men were secure enough to do this in public
because they were really good dancers. Why? Perhaps because they
weren't afraid to dance with men in order to learn what its like to be
led by them. Really good leaders are quite rare, and I'm convinced its
because so many men are thinking about their own steps rather focusing
on the pairing and leading. One dance with another guy would bring this
point home in a way that talking for years could never do. And,
several? Well, we women would soon notice an increase in skill level
and we'd be ecstatic.
As for distractions, I think that may relate to the reason for being in
class. If its a social occasion, then the dance and learning will not
be the focus and distractions will abound. Chatting about shopping and
TV shows, clothes, who's dancing with whom, etc., If its a serious class
where people are really into the dance and maintaining a connection with
their partner, who'd ever notice what anyone else is doing?
Mack Real III wrote:
>Glenna makes an important point. Is the problem really about rotating or is
>it about standing out without a partner. I think it is not fair that the
>person who coordinated to come with a partner should have to stand out. That
>having been said, in fifteen of group lessons I have come to accept that
>this is the nature of the beast. At six dollars a lesson this hardly seems
>worth fussing over. It I just luck of the draw. However some of us have a
>larger investment when we take these classes. For me I have to add another
>twenty to thirty dollars in the cost of gas to drive my pickup up from Santa
>Maria and back with an additional investment of an hour and a half total
>travel time. This is hardly everybody else's problem. Add to that; I have
>taken classes in some venues where some of the guys took advantage of the
>rotation and never stood out. This is obviously even more frustrating. The
>women in our group have never experienced this have they - that's my sarcasm
>of course. We've all watched this happen even in our group. The obvious
>answer to this is to not rotating. I don't know how it is for the follower
>but it is very easy as the leader to get behind in a class if the rotation
>doesn't switch often enough for everybody to try the move. I have often
>wondered why these classes aren't set up as couples only. It seems like a
>fairly simple thing to create a call list where the people who don't have a
>partner could make it known that they are looking for a partner - before
>they go to all of the trouble to come to the class. There must be some good
>web developers in this group who could make a web page to manage this on a
>night by night basis.
>
>As far as guys dancing with guys, Glenna, in the social environment of our
>community I don't see this happening as a rule - especially in Argentine
>Tango. Can you see two macho guys in close embrace? That's not going to
>happen. At the least it is far to distracting from the lesson - not only for
>the guy's doing it but for the rest of the class as well. Women on the other
>hand... O.K. speaking as a guy, watching two women in close embrace is
>pretty distracting as well. Fortunately I have danced enough group lessons
>to be the intended benefactor of this a time or two - but I digress... I
>love those group lessons!
>
>-Mack
>
>Mack Real III
>2489 Country Lane
>Santa Maria, CA 93455-1636
>
>Home Phone: 805.938.0790
>Mobile Phone: 805.720.1862
>
>myrealm at earthlink.net
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: slotango-bounces at slotango.org [mailto:slotango-bounces at slotango.org]
>On Behalf Of Glenna Thompson
>Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 1:16 PM
>To: sloTango at slotango.org
>Subject: Re: SLO Tango -- rotating & all that jazz
>
>OK, well now I am going to add another 1/100 of a cent. I responded
>carelessly to an earlier post as one of those hysterical
>how-dare-you-not-rotate-people. I realize from reading subsequent posts
>that the subject was COUPLES ONLY classes. Never having been able to
>participate in those classes, I managed not to notice that essential
>part of the discussion. Although I've never had a class partner, I have
>spent many hours practicing with a single partner in a focused way, and
>thus agree that there is immense value to being able to stick with one
>thing and one person for as long as it takes. So, please forgive my
>mistake -- I'd like to be on record as another voice on the side I
>seemed to be opposing before. However, I still wonder if its
>appropriate to use class time for that.
>
>As far as sophistication not being part of tango! You can't be
>serious! Isn't is just so so much more fun to dance with someone who
>has taken the time to develop depth and really understand what they (and
>you) are doing??
>
>Finally, one more comment about Jeff's original message -- same sex
>rotation. If only there were more opportunities for this. Not only
>should people learning dance be comfortable touching anyone, learning
>how it feels to be handled in both good and bad ways is invaluable. So,
>I say: Get over it guys. Please! Dance with each other! However,
>using judgment about when that is appropriate is a good idea. I've been
>in a dance situation where there were 10 or 15 women standing around
>waiting all night to dance, and three men to go around. Frustrating for
>the women, of course, and way too much pressure for the men. So, what
>did they do to relive that? Two of them danced together for half an
>hour or so, and what could the remaining guy to but give up. Most of
>the women just got mad and left. Of course, that sort of thing would
>never happen here, and I do mean that. Because we have a Precious Tango
>Bubble.
>
>Throughout our lives we experience times and places and people and
>combinations of the three that we know are unique and valuable and we
>know we must hold on to them and treasure them and even when those times
>are past we'll still have the feeling we got from them. This little
>San Luis Obispo dance community is one of those, and these messages are
>a testament to that.
>
>
>DB wrote:
>
>
>
>>Bravo Willow!! Well said!
>>
>>Tangamente,
>>Debbie
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: slotango-bounces at slotango.org [mailto:slotango-bounces at slotango.org]
>>On Behalf Of Willow RunningHawk
>>Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 8:41 AM
>>To: slotango at slotango.org
>>Subject: SLO Tango -- rotating & all that jazz
>>
>>
>>Queridos compañeros/compañeras:
>>Laura asked me to put in my $.02, so here goes:
>>I liked Jeff's email (copied below for those of you who haven't seen
>>it) it's a nice list of good sense vis-a-vis tango.
>>
>>Some people get so worked up about the classes and to rotate or not to
>>rotate, it makes me think that they're just letting off steam that is being
>>generated elsewhere. I think our tango community is fabulous! Let people
>>
>>
>do
>
>
>>what they like, if they want to be exclusive, well, that's their
>>
>>
>perogative,
>
>
>>who cares? (Apparently this does bother some people quite a lot... but you
>>can't please everyone no matter how hard you try.) Most of our more
>>experienced dancers DO make an effort to dance with the less experienced
>>
>>
>and
>
>
>>less familiar partners, and I love you all for that!
>>
>>There has been talk of a tango town meeting, but that makes me quite
>>uncomfortable. Meetings are for work-related stuff, please!! l don't want
>>the outside world to contaminate my precious tango bubble. Tango is what I
>>do to escape from all that! I say we stay focused on what we love about
>>tango... the dance, the music, the atmosphere, the warmth of our tango
>>community... I love you all!
>>
>>besos, Willow
>>
>>**Hi all,
>>
>>This is Jeff from the Salsa world and I wanted to share my opinions about
>>rotating. I believe that in any group lesson, except those involving
>>dangerous lifts and tricks, rotating should be strongly strongly
>>
>>
>encouraged.
>
>
>>I'd go one step further by arguing that advanced Tango dancers should
>>
>>
>rotate
>
>
>>with the same sex, so that they learn the follow and lead. Tango
>>
>>
>originated
>
>
>>this way, did it not?
>>
>>Here's why rotation should be obligitory:
>>
>>1. It's more inclusive. All those single dancers out there will want to
>>take the class that let's them participate, obviously.
>>
>>2. You'll learn how to dance with many types of leads/follows. Do you
>>really want to be a great dancer with your parter but no one else?
>>
>>3. Work out bad habits more quickly. If you learn with only one partner,
>>he/she may not be able to catch everything you are doing wrong.
>>
>>4. Stronger bond between participants. You will make your Tango community
>>stronger by rotating. It sounds cheesy but it's true.
>>
>>5. Better way to gage the different levels of dancing. You'll have a
>>
>>
>better
>
>
>>understanding of what makes a good dancer and what makes a bad dancer by
>>learning with the good and the bad.
>>
>>6. Chance to take a mini-vacation from partner. Do you really want to
>>
>>
>dance
>
>
>>the whole time with your partner, anyway?
>>
>>So that's about it. It's an interesting debate but I think rotation wins
>>hands down. Good luck and I hope you figure out what is best for you and
>>your Tango community. -Jeff.**
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
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