Cabeceo and Other "Rules"

[JournalInTime]

Moreover, because these rules aren't published in some way, they're unknown and untaught. Should we expect common courtesy to be taught in a dance class, or at school, or at home? What are the customs in that locale?

Codes re: entering the ronda safely, respecting its lanes and speed, adapting vocabulary to its conditions, avoiding bumps, and gracefully handling them when they happen should be taught. I'm of the view that any "Argentine tango teacher" who doesn't teach that stuff is a scam artist, not an Argentine tango teacher.

At the place where I spent three years in classes, that stuff was drummed into us from the first day, and the teachers paused classes each session for a lecture on etiquette and floorcraft. The private teachers I met there were strict about controlling step size and placement even when we were alone on the floor. There were workshops on floorcraft and "tango self-defense." To me, that's necessary to a dancer's education.

Curiously, when I was out Friday and Saturday nights, I saw one of my teachers from that time out socially, after having not seem him around for over two years. He was still perfect at this. And he paid me the great compliment of entering the ronda near me because he knew that while I'm not nearly as flawless as he is, it's safe to dance near me.

I'm not one to stand on tradition, but that subset of tradition is more important than all the other codes put together. In classes, it's more important than all the steps, patterns, sequences, etc. that a lot of faux-tango teachers seem to think matter more than anything else.

 

[Bailango]

Many of the codes strike me as outdated – things that recall a more sexist, macho time.

Frankly most codigas or conventions are similar across dances, and hardly any can be termed sexist. I don’t recall being told any that would count as sexist when I started dancing. Nor have I observed any sexist codigas being followed. People with that mindset? A very small minority. That is different from some instructor having sexist mindset or opinion. Let’s take an idiom - don’t touch someone inappropriately? Is that sexist? No. It is as true in dancing as in any other sphere of life. And in all spheres of life, men are likely to be more offenders than women. Please tell me which of “many” are outdated? There aren’t a whole lot to begin with. Cabaceo too I think is overblown both in the past BsAs and current one. Some of the worst offenders when it comes to Cabaceo are the Argentinians themselves

However, the codes that concern floorcraft are gold. Entering at the event's established "gates," using the leaders' cabeceo to confirm right of entry, staying in your lane, not passing, couples owning their entire spot until the last of their four legs moves out of it, dancing turns with a forward movement component so that the follower isn't thrust back into another couple, dancing cortados as circular and not linear for the same reason, avoiding paradas that hold up the line of dance, saving large or risky movements like boleos and colgadas for the corners, and apologizing when any of it goes wrong . . . that's sort of a minimum skill set if you want to dance around other people.​

In my mind majority of the Codigas are about what you have spelt out above.

The other parts about women not inviting men, all mistakes being 100% the leader's fault even when they aren't, sticking to the seven traditional figures, not dancing too many tandas with so-and-so or people will think you're angling for a horizontal tanda, etc. . . . that stuff strikes me as less useful.

Women not inviting men is not a codiga. I never heard or read it anywhere. Many women refuse to do the invitation thinking only men should do so. But again an established written codiga? No.

All mistakes being 100% leaders fault is again not a codiga. Every leader in ballroom, salsa, swing is told that. Any one who dances as a leader in any dance form has heard it. It is 100% not true but isn’t anything unique or codigous wrt AT.

Never heard of seven traditional figures. I doubt most dancers have. Unless you are referring to the normal step sequence that is used as a tool in beginner classes.

Dancing multiple times whether Tango or any other dance does or can create wrong notions about the motive. Human nature. But again I haven’t seen or read it as a codiga. I won’t ask multiple tandas for the same reason. I don’t want the follower to assume I am interested in anything else.

 

[Brummbaer]

Women not inviting men is not a codiga

A single sample:
http://marcelosolistangoargentino.blogspot.com/2011/04/milonga-etiquette-from-ricardo-bellozo.html

There are others. Just Google, and look at some historical records.

an established written codiga?

Mostly they're not written, or were but there's no governing body. Established? Yes, in some peoples' minds.

Never heard of seven traditional figures

I'll let you do some research. Christine Denniston springs to mind (The Meaning of Tango), but I suspect others have mentioned something similar on, say, Tango and Chaos

 

[JournalInTime]

A single sample:
http://marcelosolistangoargentino.blogspot.com/2011/04/milonga-etiquette-from-ricardo-bellozo.html

There are others. Just Google, and look at some historical records.

That's the general kind of list I've seen many times. All the parts about avoiding disasters on the floor strike me as relevant even today – they're about physical dance skills which, though they have social ramifications, aren't social skills. The parts about who invites whom, who sits where, who leaves with whom, etc. all stink of "men own women" to me: "Otherwise the woman is considered 'private property'" . . . really?! What crap.

I'll let you do some research. Christine Denniston springs to mind (The Meaning of Tango), but I suspect others have mentioned something similar on, say, Tango and Chaos

Which figures are "traditional" depends on who you ask, for sure, but a lot of people have a list of five to seven of them they consider "acceptable." I once had a guy go off at me for dancing with lots of sacadas, entradas, leg entanglements, etc.: "A milonguero is a gentleman! He never walks between a lady's legs!" Another chap got angry with me regarding off-axis movements and overturned movements: "What is this? You think ladies are all circus acrobats? They don't want that!" In both cases, the follower I was with gave the guy a major eye-roll and said words to the effect of "Don't tell me what I want."

Anyway, I have no idea which figures are traditional for each coot, but apparently they don't include the ones I just noted.

 

[opendoor]

...the seven traditional figures..

I could have sworn it were only six.

​

 

[TTanguero]

Moreover, because these rules aren't published in some way, they're unknown and untaught.

Some milonga organisers do publish them. For example, The Feast in Devon. I went there in December, and loved it, so am going back in June. Here's what the milonga page says:

"Floor Craft (line of dance), ronda
It is not rocket science, it is line of dance!

A Tango Feast is renowned for its relaxed dancing in a friendly and respectful atmosphere. To keep it like this we ask you, please, to be aware of other dancers. While expressing yourselves do make your priority the line of dance, don’t jump onto the dance floor or move from one line of dance to another without first ensuring you will not upset the dancers near and around you.

If you feel a bit rusty about this subject try practicing before you arrive, say in a confined space, a small room or an area limited by chairs for example 1 meter by 1 meter.

If you or your partner are struggling on a busy dance floor don’t give up, come and talk to me and I will happily offer help or advice because more than anything I want you to enjoy yourself."

 

[Tango Newbie]

A single sample:
http://marcelosolistangoargentino.blogspot.com/2011/04/milonga-etiquette-from-ricardo-bellozo.html

There are others. Just Google, and look at some historical records.

Thanks for sharing the link that gives clear examples of etiquette that is supposed to accompany codigos which seems to be down-played by people posting in here. I've seen this list on a few other sites, so I'm surprised people either don't know, or agree with them. One host at another studio in our local community clearly states in his notifications for upcoming milonga; "that codigos will be enforced."

While it's understandable some of these things are relaxed, especially in local communities where everyone knows each other, but if dancing at milongas outside a local community, codigos and (most) etiquette should be (initially) observed and followed.

Aside from taking lessons, part of my learning process has been to understand the 'codigos' and 'etiquette' so I wouldn't violate anything that would make me more of a 'beginner' than I already am.

I've had discussions (posts) on this very subject of etiquette, particularly when the situation occurred this past New Years Day when my GF/dance partner was approached by a couple leaders at our studio who walked up to her while seated and verbally requested a tanda, then from a visiting leader (that she ended up just after we arrived for our annual New Years festival when I quickly stepped out the door to put some extra possessions in my car, and before we got to dance our first tanda of the year together.

While I don't consider my GF 'property' and she has total freedom-of-choice. Since she has been dancing AT for over 20 years, most of that without a regular partner, I naturally assumed she knew rules and etiquette. She is has an 'accommodating' personality and felt 'bad' turning down two leaders in quick succession, then relented and accepted a verbal request for tanda from an experienced visiting leader.

Needless to say I was a little disappointed, and her response was that she's not aware of any etiquette and doesn't like to paint herself as a 'tango snob'. We worked that all out; she and I dance the first and last tanda (my expectation), and neither of us go to milongas without the other (her expectation).

As for 'verbal' requests, we have a 'relaxed' approach to that in our local community, and will take a 'wait-and-see' approach when we go to Scotland and Ireland in a few weeks and will be attending about 5 AT events during our visit.

One of the things I have struggled with is navigation in the ronda while trying to do more than just stay in one place. It seems a lot of (experienced) dancers don't move as quickly as I expected and essentially clog-up the dance floor. My GF keeps reminding me the crowd at our studio isn't crowded at all, and that in BsAs (and other places she has been) are much worse. Duly noted, and I'm working on making due of smaller spaces and a slower pace in the ronda.

 

[Brummbaer]

Which figures are "traditional" depends on who you ask, for sure, but a lot of people have a list of five to seven of them they consider "acceptable."

I've no idea how many there were, and I suspect no one counted at the time, however I believe some moves (e.g. boleos, ganchos) were considered inappropriate in some barrios at some time in the history of AT. I don't think it matters in that sense nowadays, except that some (e.g. high boleos or sacadas) might be inappropriate (liable to injure someone) for a crowded dancefloor.

Some milonga organisers do publish them

They publish their interpretation of appropriate codigos, and IMHO they're entitled to do so. If you don't like the ones they 'published', or I referenced, then I have others. It's been said before, but they're fundamentally about respecting others, but as broad as Google's Do no evil, replaced by Alphabet's Do the right thing in 2018. It was ambiguous and open to interpretation. This is where most of the problems come from. One person sees it in a particular limited and specific way; another sees it in a broader sense. It also gets mixed in with older rules for men or women which are no longer considered appropriate in the west, even if they're generally customary in BsAs. So everything gets thrown out.

It's been said:
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
(Peter Drucker)

And one role in AT is as 'leader'.

It seems a lot of (experienced) dancers don't move as quickly as I expected and essentially clog-up the dance floor.

It was sometimes considered a 'rule' not to block the ronda, but sometimes it can just move slowly. There's sometimes a follower blocking the ronda by excessive decorations; there's sometimes a leader blocking the ronda by an overlong sequence in one place. It's about adapting. Use the space when it's there; dance in a small space when it's not. (It's not considered respectful to remove the problems from the dancefloor on the way round)

 

[Tango Newbie]

It was sometimes considered a 'rule' not to block the ronda, but sometimes it can just move slowly. There's sometimes a follower blocking the ronda by excessive decorations; there's sometimes a leader blocking the ronda by an overlong sequence in one place. It's about adapting. Use the space when it's there; dance in a small space when it's not.

Yes, I'm doing what I can to keep things moving. When I find the ronda is getting tight (blocked), many times we move into the middle, but still move counter-clockwise. I must say, sometimes I'm okay with things slowing down a little, it gives me time to work on dancing in close confines of one place, and think about my musicality and steps to accompany the music being played. So yes, I'm adapting as best I can.
Cheers amigo!

 

[ArbeeNYC]

In five nights of milongas, only in the last night did two leaders made an eye contact before entering the ronda. This was an extremely crowded ronda at all times.

Hmm. That's terrible floorcraft, dangerous, and, well, rude. It is disrespectful to other couples and to their own partner as well. Unfortunately, you don't have to go all the way to Portugal to find such behavior.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

Yes some are, but the era of AT codigos outside BsAs has passed, unless some organiser both states AND enforces their rules.

Well, of course they do. Organizers and teachers enforce them. So do other dancers if you are just beginning tango. And that is global not limited to B.A. The mechanics of the dance floor in tango are largely universal. I really don't see what all the hullabaloo is about when it comes to codigos, which are really pretty damn simple.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

I've seen this list on a few other sites, so I'm surprised people either don't know, or agree with them.

Moreover, some milongas (at least in B.A.) actually post the list at the entrance. Locally, some milongas distribute cards on every table with similar information. It's not like this is a mystery to anyone who has been dancing for a while.

 

[Brummbaer]

Organizers and teachers enforce them. So do other dancers if you are just beginning tango.

That depends where you live and who's running the milonga and where the dancers are drawn from (e.g. ballroom, jive, swing). I only know some of what's reported as 'codigos' only because I looked up what they were in certain places, although some classes have mentioned them.

I really don't see what all the hullabaloo is about when it comes to codigos, which are really pretty damn simple.

I agree. They're simple, and amount to pretty much the same idea even if expressed differently, but you just need to look through the threads to find reports that they're not being followed, or people don't know. And in some locales other customs apply as well. Hence the discussion.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

I agree. They're simple, and amount to pretty much the same idea even if expressed differently, but you just need to look through the threads to find reports that they're not being followed, or people don't know. And in some locales other customs apply as well. Hence the discussion.

I can see how this might differ from place to place in its details (dress, for example). But we all know that the basic format of a milonga is the same throughout the world. The cabeceo is not some ancient mystery, it's simply an extension of social behavior. They are not being followed for the reasons stated above: people are aware of them but choose not to observe them. Some folks are just thickheaded, others don't seem to care much for the craft or technical aspects of the dance floor. This, as has been stated, does not only apply to beginners.

 

[Bailango]

Hmm. That's terrible floorcraft, dangerous, and, well, rude. It is disrespectful to other couples and to their own partner as well. Unfortunately, you don't have to go all the way to Portugal to find such behavior.

Honestly I haven’t experienced anything remotely similar in many other cities I have danced in. A good thing about AT anywhere is most of the floor etiquettes are uniform and do get followed. As said some local milongas I avoid due to bad floorcraft. But it isn’t anywhere close to what happened at this particular festival. The surprising part was the majority displaying bad floor craft rather than minority of the dancers.