At the end of the pandemic, maybe a new start?

[JournalInTime]

My experience is that it depends where you are

Every discussion on this forum leads down the road to what you just said. As I mentioned earlier, I was out four times over the weekend:

Friday afternoon at Studio 1: Somewhat older crowd for here and not many people (no more than 30 even at the busiest moment), both probably due to it being a workday afternoon. Invitations nearly 100% verbal – the cabeceo would've been silly in such a small group. Relatively few people meant much space, despite a small studio. No collisions but lots of slowdowns.

Saturday afternoon at Studio 2: Significantly older crowd for here and only slightly more people (say, 35-40). Invitations would've been 100% verbal with that crowd – but the long, skinny studio forced people to use the cabeceo at times. The studio shape plus columns in the middle made navigation tricky; so did so-so floorcraft. No collisions, but two close calls and lots of slowdowns.

Saturday evening at Studio 3: Slightly younger crowd for here and a modest number of people (perhaps 60 and likely more, as there were people in nooks and crannies). Invitations about 75% verbal because low light made the cabeceo tricky. Big studio should have been easy to navigate, but rampant bad floorcraft made it challenging. Two collisions – neither my fault, one from someone in the inside lane elbowing me while I was right at the outside edge! – and far too many close calls to count, but few slowdowns.

Sunday evening at Studio 1: Average-aged crowd for here, and too many people for the small studio (I'd say 40-50 at any given moment). Invitations about 50/50 verbal and cabeceo, the latter driven by being unable to walk up to people due to crowding. Crowding, Mr. Bad Floorcraft, and a visiting Argentine teacher who took humongous steps made collisions too frequent to count, and slowdowns were frequent.

If someone asked, "What's tango like up there?", all of those would be valid answers. Also, there were two Friday evening events (at Studio 1 and at Studio 4), a different Saturday afternoon event (at Studio 1), a different Saturday evening event (at Studio 5), two Sunday afternoon events (at Studio 3 and at Studio 4), and a further Sunday evening event (at Studio 6) – and I'm fairly sure a few others I never attend and don't know about – that I didn't go to. Ask any 10 people and you'll get 10 different answers, and that's just for one weekend in 2023, in one city.

 

[opendoor]

..worst problem involving lanes is people dancing halfway between the outside and centre..

Not to forget the extended elbows to either side!

 

[JournalInTime]

Not to forget the extended elbows to either side!

Oof, that.

I was taught that the elbows should drop almost straight down, very relaxed. It's a hug after all. I've never hugged anybody in a posture I'd use for slam-dancing at an early 1980s punk show . . . not sure why I'd dance tango that way!

Yet a very popular dancer here keeps both arms extended from shoulder to elbow in a high "T" at shoulder level, then bends his arms inward at the elbows to embrace. It looks like garbage and it's dangerous.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

this is an excellent opportunity for those women who are "only" interested in tango and not in any kind of encounter with the opposite sex.

LOL. Tango is precisely "encounter with the opposite sex." At least, for most of us. One of the reasons why we find it worth pursuing.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

I haven't personally seen any sign of this. There are a number of women in London tango who dance both roles, and leading some of the time doesn't in any way appear to limit their following opportunities.

Perhaps there are some men who are intimidated, but others who see it as a sign that she's likely to be a fun, collaborative follower.

It's not universal, some, of course, do both. But once the flat shoes go on, it's hard to take them off.

 

[Brummbaer]

LOL. Tango is precisely "encounter with the opposite sex." At least, for most of us. One of the reasons why we find it worth pursuing.

That's just one element, but as has been pointed out many times previously, there are easier and cheaper means of achieving that with more options.

 

[JournalInTime]

LOL. Tango is precisely "encounter with the opposite sex." At least, for most of us. One of the reasons why we find it worth pursuing.

I'm not how accurate "most of us" is. I know a few people who would agree, certainly! However, I know more who are happily in a couple and who dance to get out of the house, be social, move their body, and – well – dance. Encountering the opposite sex is more of a side effect than a goal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[JournalInTime]

That's just one element, but as has been pointed out many times previously, there are easier and cheaper means of achieving that with more options.

My experience with tango is that it's one of the most costly, convoluted, and unreliable ways to encounter members of the opposite sex. Heck, a visit to the local café-boulangerie is more reliable . . . I get cruised more times a minute by women there than per week at the milonga.

 

[tangoing]

LOL. Tango is precisely "encounter with the opposite sex." At least, for most of us. One of the reasons why we find it worth pursuing.

As a younger lead in nyc I’d say tango is probably the worst dance for that and not a great hobby for that in general.

 

[Rabbit]

As a younger lead in nyc I’d say tango is probably the worst dance for that and not a great hobby for that in general.

Well it's going to depend on your scene and the age of the participants, there are a lot of couples around here that met through tango and some singles actively looking for a date/pickup on the side.

 

[opendoor]

As a younger lead in nyc I’d say tango is probably the worst dance for that..

But thus the field of competition also is smaller.

 

[tangoing]

Well it's going to depend on your scene and the age of the participants, there are a lot of couples around here that met through tango and some singles actively looking for a date/pickup on the side.

Sure but we also have to look at the effort:reward ratio. How long does it take for a lead to be even decent enough to dance at a milonga? 2+ years? Compare that to other dances which are <6 months. Or other activities/hobbies which require even less.
I’m just saying it’s a very inefficient way to meet people if that’s someone’s main reason to dance. With all the dating apps these days I can swipe while I’m in the bathroom and line up a date for tonight with minimal effort involved.

 

[Mr. Moustachio]

I've seen him toss her into the air, swing her around by the arms with both legs off the ground, and lift her and then jump.

I saw this at the Le Bisou milonga. I hope it's the same person and not the product of some deranged teacher teaching his students this sh*t [<sigh!> website censored me]. There were also dancers doing large turns on a tiny dance floor.

Normally when space is restrained, dancers calm down. That wasn't the case here. My dance partner didn't feel safe and I didn't want to get slashed by a stiletto heel. We left early. That was the only time I had ever left because the dancefloor was dangerous.

If you have enough rules, they fill several printed pages, which you can roll up and use as a cosh.

Huh? Hyperbolic cosine?

 

[JournalInTime]

I saw this at the Le Bisou milonga. I hope it's the same person and not the product of some deranged teacher teaching his students this sh*t [<sigh!> website censored me].

I wasn't there last night to see it, but I dearly hope it was the same person. If it's contagious, we have a problem.

There were also dancers doing large turns on a tiny dance floor.

Well, that's half the dancers at all the milongas in town: Huge "salon" style turns where the follower is on her axis, walking through a large orbit halfway between "close" and "arm's reach," while the leader stands still on his axis, projecting half the turn behind him . . . Lots of teachers are teaching that, too.

I learned to turn by sharing weight, pivoting around a single, shared axis in torso-to-torso contact, while both partners also move slightly down the line of dance so that the follower ends up no farther back than where the leader started. The whole turn takes up no more space than a medium-sized step. It appears that teachers aren't bothering to teach that any more . . .

We left early. That was the only time I had ever left because the dancefloor was dangerous.

It's the only milonga in town where I consistently feel at Condition Red the entire time I'm dancing, which isn't fun.

Huh? Hyperbolic cosine?

Ah, sorry: I meant the weapon, as defined here.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

That's just one element, but as has been pointed out many times previously, there are easier and cheaper means of achieving that with more options.

Not what I was driving at though. I'm not referring to dating or looking for a partner (though both have and can happen). The beauty of tango is the beauty of dancing closely with a stranger. Without ulterior motives.