The leader is limited by my stride-length. Short legs cannot project beyond a certain point no matter how the leader wills it.But a leader can control your stride length, that technique is called projecting.
For Leads: Do you watch how a follower dances before inviting her?
- Thread starter WhiskeyPapa
- Start date
Perhaps extend the heel hight
I would still choose my stride length to match how I hear the music. My leaders have to just go with it.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
"The limits of my language are the limits of my world." It just popped into my head.
Tango Distance
Well-Known Member
Late to the party here... I've been busy...
When I watch the dancers it is most often watching the best leaders, trying to learn more Tango. What makes me most want to ask a follower is if she looks like she is enjoying herself (and the opposite is true, I try to avoid people who look bored while dancing). I'll confess, if a lady looks really really good, I worry about whether I'm good enough to give her a good tanda!
Not really watching dancing per se, but I also do look out for:
When I watch the dancers it is most often watching the best leaders, trying to learn more Tango. What makes me most want to ask a follower is if she looks like she is enjoying herself (and the opposite is true, I try to avoid people who look bored while dancing). I'll confess, if a lady looks really really good, I worry about whether I'm good enough to give her a good tanda!
Not really watching dancing per se, but I also do look out for:
- Newbies
- Visitors not getting dances
- Locals having a dry spell
- Introverts and shy
- Tall ladies
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Tall women can definitely be awkward for a shorter lead. It's also looks kind of awkward. A little bit taller is not much of a problem, but beyond that it doesn't really work well.
ardix
Active Member
opendoor
Forum Master
Don't worry, there are so many things that make YOU good "looking" : your honest behavior, your gentle voice, your upright posture, your perfume, musicality and understatement!
Tango Distance
Well-Known Member
Many thanks for the encouragement. One lady says she likes dancing with me because she can tell I am a good person. I once told the lady I consider the best follower Tango dancer in our state (BFTDioS) that I was intimidated to dance with her. She said "No, no, no, please ask me to dance!" BTW, she is very popular, no surprise there! Another BTW, last time I danced with the BFTDioS, my dear wife said it was amazing and she wished she had a video. All I know is she was going about twice as fast as I was leading! A group of ladies talking with my dear wife (DW) judged me to be the most gentlemanly of all the leaders (don't worry JiT, they meant "best behaved, most considerate, etc." sense of the word). I do worry about my partner's enjoyment still -- would a pro basketball player enjoy a pickup basketball game with me? Probably not! I also worry a bit about asking teachers, but less after a couple of teachers told me how much they enjoy seeing their students progress.
Ardix said:
Would you be willing to develop that?! And what do you mean with "a lady looks really good" - is it her dancing or her general look? This may help me understand a few things....
I meant dancing well, but looks indirectly factor in. Beautiful ladies get asked more, get more one-on-one coaching at practicas, and better leaders who might not normally ask a newbie do so becasue of beauty, so they tend to progress faster in their learning.
An example should clarify: I saw a great follower, new to our area, and a great local leader, dance. She jumped in the air, and twisted up her legs clockwise and then counterclockwise while airborne. It looked to have been led (could be wrong there), but in any case the leader didn't seem at all surprised and they carried on awesomely. I wondered if I would seem rather pedestrian in comparison! Another example (in Swing): I saw my local instructor (she's awesome in every way) with a visiting instructor. They both spun around twice, matched feet, push back foot-to-foot, and spun two full rotations the opposite direction! Wow! This happened at a dance, it appeared to be led and not choreographed! Again, I had the thought I might bore my instructor!
JournalInTime
Forum Master
I feel the same way.
There are lots of dancers in my city, and also a lot of visitors who dance (during non-pandemic times). The average dancers are, by definition, just average . . . but we have critical mass for the high level to be very high indeed. There are ordinary dancers at the milongas here who look better to my eyes than touring pros who perform for a living.
When I see followers at that level, I avoid them because my brain convinces me that I'm too far below their standards for "a good tanda." My teacher has chided me for this: "You've studied tango intensively for most of a decade. You dance regularly. Why limit yourself that way?" Probably because I see all of my errors in the mirror whenever I study or practice, and feel like beginner-going-on-intermediate most of the time.
So, while I'm not much of a floor-watcher, some part of my brain subconsciously registers who's really, truly talented and high-level, and convinces me not to go there even on my best days.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
You really have to want the tanda. One of my preferred partners is taller, heavier, and stronger than me. I'm serious: She could be a superhero or something. But I love dancing with her, so I make it work. But yeah, I'm sure it looks like Spider-Man dancing with She-Hulk.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Oh, yeah, the big strong ones are risky. Especially once they start moving--you know momentum and inertia and all that stuff.
Sometimes the dancers look good because they look good not because their dancing is actually that great. Someone who’s studied ballet for example will always look good even if they’re new to tango.
Great dancers also get bored sitting round all night at a milonga. Even if a leader is very middling they’re more fun than a chair.
Great dancers also get bored sitting round all night at a milonga. Even if a leader is very middling they’re more fun than a chair.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
This I get! It's also one reason why I think two-way invitations make more sense than the tradition of "leader invites follower": One time, a very advanced follower up and invited me, and it was fine. I do think that very skilled people are in a situation where they're going to have to do most of the inviting, whatever role they dance.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
Let's just say that I get more use out of my physics degrees during such tandas than I ever have in the rest of life!
