Cuddle shufflers

[bordertangoman]

"I heard the term cuddle-shuffler at the weekend. The term has been around for a while. Then I watched the floor and saw who was dancing like that. There were a few, maybe more than a few.

It refers to someone who dances tango, taking short steps, but without any vim or vigour; has this breed of dancers seem to have arisen, no not because of a zombie mutant virus, but because they are too afraid of doing something that will be disapproved of by others? Or is it consequence of over emphasis of the 'abrazo' over actually dancing? You are on the floor, having a close embrace, and there is tango music playing. This makes your dance tango?

I don't think so.

It's a sheep like way of dancing. It lacks any energy or va-va-voom and reduces musicality to slow equidistant steps. Its like homogenised milk. All the same; and tastes bland.

What are other people's views?
Are you a cuddle shuffler?"

 

[opendoor]

..other people's views?

I find that a hugh number of cuddle-shufflers also belong to the sub population of queue dancers.

 

[UKDancer]

Not come across the term cuddle-shuffler, but I certainly recognise the type. I would say that the most obvious attribute is that steps, while largely slow and equidistant. never quite fall on a beat of the music.

 

[jantango]

I'm quite content to dance with "cuddle-shufflers" by your definition because I feel tango with them. There are many other women in BsAs who feel the same way. They may appear to have no "vim or vigour" but you can't feel their energy. There are women who wait patiently for a tanda with them.

Someday, if you're lucky, you may discover the secret of cuddle-shufflers.

 

[Lui]

I’ve never heard the term "cuddle-shufflers" before and I can imagine several types of dancers it might be applied for.

By bordertangoman’s description I imagine a dancer in a big but half empty dance hall. A very dramatic version of La Yumba is played and everybody is feverish eager to engulf in the flow, but they can’t. Complete disconnected from the music the dancer in question is blocking the lane, strolling along to some imaginary Jeopardy-tune in his mind.

I believe I have seen what open door mentioned in some body-awareness, Fedenkrais, esoteric influenced parts of the tango community. Looks like a circus pony act or maybe yard-time for a chain gang. No turning just monotonously staggering along – almost ritualistic. Are they the real cuddle shufflers?

Jan suggestion brings up an image of a Gentleman handling a rather tight space, like a square meter, to calm music. Let’s assume an old Canaro. From the outside it looks like he hardly steps at all, but at the inside the women experiences a firework of twist and turns embedded into a wonderful flow. Maybe he is mistaken for a cuddle shuffler?

I’m absolutely convinced that we should elevate “va-va-voom” as a technical term into the dictionary of tango. Nevertheless, I’m still not sure if coining "cuddle-shuffler" will be really helpful.

… especially as it sounds a kind of cute, or is it just for me?

 

[dchester]

"I heard the term cuddle-shuffler at the weekend. The term has been around for a while. Then I watched the floor and saw who was dancing like that. There were a few, maybe more than a few.

It refers to someone who dances tango, taking short steps, but without any vim or vigour; has this breed of dancers seem to have arisen, no not because of a zombie mutant virus, but because they are too afraid of doing something that will be disapproved of by others? Or is it consequence of over emphasis of the 'abrazo' over actually dancing? You are on the floor, having a close embrace, and there is tango music playing. This makes your dance tango?

I don't think so.

It's a sheep like way of dancing. It lacks any energy or va-va-voom and reduces musicality to slow equidistant steps. Its like homogenised milk. All the same; and tastes bland.

What are other people's views?
Are you a cuddle shuffler?"

I've never heard the term before, but if I'm understanding your definition, then to certain songs my answer would be yes.

Not all tango songs have "energy", and I'm not going to dance energetically to a song that's full of other emotions. I prefer to dance to the music, rather than dancing the same way to every song.

IMO, some people never understand/experience the power of the embrace (and I fear you may be one of them).

 

[bordertangoman]

you could be right dchester, but I was seeing some dancers dancing the same way irrespective of the music. This is a dance, after all. You don't need any music to enjoy a lovely embrace. Only 3 women have complimented me on it, but it's far lighter than a typical Argentine man's,I am told. One of those compliments came from a teacher, who noted that my right arm moved with her body.
Perhaps it's a UK thing. Dutch dancers seem to have a more turning and twisting way of dancing. (I hear.)

 

[dchester]

you could be right dchester, but I was seeing some dancers dancing the same way irrespective of the music. This is a dance, after all. You don't need any music to enjoy a lovely embrace. Only 3 women have complimented me on it, but it's far lighter than a typical Argentine man's,I am told. One of those compliments came from a teacher, who noted that my right arm moved with her body.
Perhaps it's a UK thing. Dutch dancers seem to have a more turning and twisting way of dancing. (I hear.)

I really think it comes down the fact that different people have different preferences. Some women really like my "default" embrace (calling it: comfortable, cuddly, safe, etc), while others hate it (calling it: too constricting, keeping them from dancing). The really interesting thing to me is that so many people who complain, think that what they what is exactly what everyone wants (and in my experience, nothing could be further from he truth).

That's why I tend not to think so much in terms of right and wrong, and more in terms of possibilities and preferences. Unfortunately, there still are some possibilities and preferences that I don't have nearly a good enough understanding about (although I suspect that's probably true for most people).

 

[Steve Pastor]

It's ironic that this thread started the same day that I had been thinking that our regulars here had been around long enough to have both a knowledge of, and a tolerance for, the many and varied ways of dancing tango.
Silly me.
Although I must say that any time people are not dancing with the music, I can't watch. And THAT happens across the spectrum of AT styles, as well as just about any partner dance that isn't a pattern dance.

 

[UKDancer]

Although I must say that any time people are not dancing with the music, I can't watch. And THAT happens across the spectrum of AT styles, as well as just about any partner dance that isn't a pattern dance.

To the extent that I recognise the 'type', is is the shuffling, not the cuddling, that is the issue. That's just another way of saying not dancing with the music, and I'd like to thing that Jan is talking about something else. Musicality certainly isn't 'just' dancing with an awareness of the music's pulse, but it certainly isn't dancing without.

 

[jfm]

It's ironic that this thread started the same day that I had been thinking that our regulars here had been around long enough to have both a knowledge of, and a tolerance for, the many and varied ways of dancing tango.

LOL

 

[LadyLeader]

IMO one the most important skill and expertise in this kind of dancing is the timing; the relation between movement and music. In my early days I was totally unaware of the beats in the music and my training at home was based on a feeling: when I was walking to the music and I felt good then my steps were on music - and the opposite.
When you go on this timing/feeling path you can develop a very strong emotional response to your personal timing preference. An experienced follower can get into a meditative(like) state when I managed to hit her timing preference and when so I would never break the flow of movements if possible. A leader, who is for this kind of dancing, really needs a well functioning floorcraft to get his/her meditation. The navigation needs to be minimal.

I started as a nuevo leader but during several years I have been growing towards the minimalistic way of dancing. Today I feel that my deepest preference is the dynamic dance and it seems that I am now turning the boat - more movements, more figures, more dynamic dance in the future.

 

[bordertangoman]

I started as a nuevo leader but during several years I have been growing towards the minimalistic way of dancing. Today I feel that my deepest preference is the dynamic dance and it seems that I am now turning the boat - more movements, more figures, more dynamic dance in the future.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I don't think Jan's comparison of BsAs dancers is really relevant here. there were some superb dancers who can dance small, but the dynamism isn't lost. I think the homogenisation happens when the cuddle-shufflers dance the same way whatever music is playing.El Flete (D'Arienzo) gets the same treatment as Vientos del Norte, (OTV) for example.

Fortunately a lot of them can't cope with a fast milonga, and they disappear off the piste..

 

[dchester]

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I don't think Jan's comparison of BsAs dancers is really relevant here. there were some superb dancers who can dance small, but the dynamism isn't lost. I think the homogenisation happens when the cuddle-shufflers dance the same way whatever music is playing.El Flete (D'Arienzo) gets the same treatment as Vientos del Norte, (OTV) for example.

Fortunately a lot of them can't cope with a fast milonga, and they disappear off the piste..

I guess I don't see why your complaint seems to be focused on these cuddle-shufflers (as you call them). I've seen people who dance big and lively to every song, and I've seen people who dance small and slow to every song.

 

[bordertangoman]

Although I must say that any time people are not dancing with the music, I can't watch. And THAT happens across the spectrum of AT styles, as well as just about any partner dance that isn't a pattern dance.

I beleive the cuddle shufflers have only one way of dancing whatever the music; I think some of them dance like that out of fear ' maybe of social ostracisation, or being banned from particular milongas.

There is a group of people who fall into category of having been banned from a local milonga for various reasons; one includes an Argentine dancer!!!