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Swap the genders, and those not getting dances might like that system, minus the brothel drinking den aspect. There are elements of that today: Taxi dancers Classes have structured partner switching Interesting picture below from a festival, I had not heard of wearing a badge like this to...

MiradaMiranda, I enjoy your posts, keep posting! My dear wife (DW) is similar! It's rare she misses a tanda. She'll be completely beat by the end of the night, I'll mention maybe she should sit out the occasional tanda, and she looks at me like I'm crazy. She wants to get to milongas before...

There is a lot of sentiment against performances -- I'll try swimming upstream with some counterpoints. In my former desert (both for Tango and literally) town, a performance meant a festival which meant: A 4 or 5 hour milonga that night, instead of 3 3 to 5 milongas that week, instead of 1...

It doesn't go as far as that, but I think teachers really do enjoy having good students. In my case, I had had one private and multiple group instructors tell me they like how I pay 100% attention the whole time, want to understand everything fully, and the questions I asked. The private...

MONDAY, May 26 2025 - Memorial Day! 1:00-5:00pm SURF'S UP Beach Milonga - DJ Vincent Wong Location: Just North of Manhattan Beach Pier (between lifeguard towers 12-14) Cost: $10 (included in full pass) Link for the whole festival: https://www.latangomarathon.com/ Video of last year:

Did he do any disinflars?

That's a good point that the encuentro regulars saw I knew some people. Another factor is the encuentroers dance more simply, so I probably looked/felt better than my usual. FWIW the follows were shocked I wouldn't be at the other days of the event. I have done the little to big city...

I have found I'm more likely to win a proposal if I use bulleted lists. My experience, that is true for the majority of people, and I don't mind if someone forgets my name. In contrast, I have found a significant minority who get visibly, and sometimes even verbally, annoyed if I don't remember...

The figure shows a prolate cycloid that illustrates the idea. I totally get it for side steps. You go right a bit to unweight the left foot, and then step with the left foot. Up means feet together, and down means feet apart. Once I learned that in a class, I could lead as many side steps in a...

I see how Tango is different from Ballroom music. Is Tango still a different thing, or would you say Blues music (Blues Dancing) and music for Swing Dancing is similarly complicated?

At practicas Mostly a small community where the people are friends, but I have also found it to work in several out-of-state classes/practicas I have done, with instructors I had never met. For whatever reason, there were very few guided practicas in my old little area. The instructors very...

Love your posts, keep them coming! :) I'm sure there are people who do embellishments for show, but I'm sure that is not the only reason. Fun! Another way to express musicality, enabling a 50/50 dance where the follower can express musicality beyond a simple, strict following of the lead...

It's not a huge sample, but I have had good luck asking experienced follows to help or critique me. I'm surprised I have seen that teachers often don't dance with the students in the practica right after the lesson. I often run up and ask "Will you please dance with me and check I understand...

My question is less about milonguero style per se and more about keeping the body straight, as opposed to bent-over. Does keeping the body straight make for better communication? Here is an example to illustrate. I had a first-night-of-dance-lesson-ever partner in a beginners class. For...

Maybe we should do what the illegal street racers do: Blur out faces, license plates, and street signs. We could blur out the dancer's faces. If it is a particularly bad looking dance just blur out the couple's bodies entirely.

It can be argued Tango has more connection than other dances in more ways: You dance 3 songs together, not just one like other dances. Connection has a time component to it. You need to be more in tune with your partner to not step on her foot or your foot. I found Swing to be very mistake...

I was guilty of exactly that. Learning dance has helped me appreciate music more. Good point! I meant the dance motions, and it is a good point the music often has multiple rhythms going. Yes, some people you can just hand a guitar, and they are playing amazingly well a week later with no...

My experience is I got more benefit from musicality training than listening to music. My humble advice would be to right upfront get some musicality training (youtube videos, festival classes, local teachers, and the swing folks have good stuff). You'll be able to better listen and benefit from...

This implies to me that a typical beginner's class near you has a high rate of people who then do milongas. What are your area's good practices for that?

I have suggested to multiple teachers to make the last lesson of the semester a mini-milonga -- they all say "That's a great idea!" and then don't do it. It would demystify it. Several thoughts on the lesson-takers not transitioning to milonga-goers. The social aspect of a class is easy -- you...