Get Outta There!!

Tangogal said:
...I’m currently at the point where I receive as many invites as my body allows but far less than my heart desires..
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I too have come to terms with my condition (osteoarthritis). I can already dance three tango tandas and one with a waltz.

 
itwillhappen said:
Okay, maybe a clique is more of a construct to set yourself apart from anyone who isn't in it.
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It may not translate well across cultures and different users of even a similar language, but the British English implication is a small group (micro-community, Freundeskreis?) but who do not welcome others into their group. The scourge (another interesting usage!) of social groups anywhere.

Just interesting because setting up some concept of 'club' or 'society' has both negative (exclusivity) and positive aspects and any positives can easily swing to negatives (seen that with some controlling 'chairperson').

I take the point you make wrt illness, pain, disability, etc, and consequent choices, and the positives of some friendly mutual attraction or even some club to promote AT, but it can, and frequently does, deteriorate into exclusivity, e.g. excluding novices, those from 'out of town', or worse. Human nature, eh?:confused:
 
opendoor said:
And some remain eternal beginners if they don't leave the orbit of their first teacher or usual community.
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That's interesting since, I suppose in the early settings for AT, it's often taken to be a mix of immigrants, but then there wasn't the possibility to even commute outside one's home area - except maybe later the trip into town where the so-called milonguero style evolved (yes, I know that's limiting and has other names).

Nowadays it's possible to be exposed to several styles by travel, different teachers, or just going to another milonga or workshops.

Our path has been from starting out with a female teacher (not that good overall), via a couple (in group classes as teacher-assistant, although the 'assistant' was the better dual-role dancer and gave private lessons) through various couples (dual, shared, input), a coaching (dual, shared, input and dual-role) couple and another female teacher.

Yes, I have preferences, but not finished learning yet.
 
I took the unusual path of going to as many teachers as I could afford (both in money and time). Then, when I moved to a smaller city, I went to the main teaching couple (maestro and assistant/translator who eventually became two teachers). I didn’t rate the other available teacher as I didn’t like her way of dancing (heavily influenced by choreographic elements as her previous experience was in stage performance and ballet). While also traveling once or twice a year to big festivals and taking a wide swathe of workshops at different levels. I was an avid reader of blogs at the time and probably learned almost as much from them. I also learned several other social partner dances concurrently with tango.

This is not meant as a cv! Just to illustrate that there are many paths just as there are many tangos. There is no one true way!
 
itwillhappen said:
Yes - and the advanced phase begins when you adjust your environment to your preferences. Either by traveling to suitable events or by building a micro-community around you.
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I have always believed that if you are sufficiently good at what you do and a demand exists for it, people will come to you and you will influence the environment without any particular effort.
 
Rabbit said:
I have always believed that if you are sufficiently good at what you do and a demand exists for it, people will come to you and you will influence the environment without any particular effort.
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Sorry, but always taken that view as the triumph of hope over reality. I guess I've become even more cynical with life experience, accelerated in recent years. Sometimes you've got to step in/step up because otherwise the alternatives are too grim to contemplate. Laissez-faire was never a good strategy if it means everything sinks to its basest level when better can be achieved.

That's the reason we are educated and learn.
 
Rabbit said:
I have always believed that if you are sufficiently good at what you do and a demand exists for it, people will come to you and you will influence the environment without any particular effort.
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Well, some people, maybe. As for influence, I'm not convinced. People don't always recognize quality when they see it.
 
tangomaniac said:
The problem isn't the V-embrace. The problem is their pushing. Have you seen my X-rays? Well, my orthopedist has seen my X-rays and he said no pressure on the shoulders. Women can dance in a
V-embrace but they don't have the right to ruin my frame! My teacher said, "Don't let a woman's poor dancing ruin your dancing."

I think this pushing comes from being told to "give resistance." I don't give resistance and don't expect resistance in return. If I lead a sidestep and the woman resists, she doesn't step or takes a tiny step. If I lead a back step and the woman resists, she doesn't step or takes a tiny step. How can I lead a woman who resists the lead?

My ballroom and Argentine tango teachers didn't give me resistance during lessons. Why should I expect resistance on the dance floor? My ballroom teacher called it a feather lead, very light to the touch.

I've found the best tandas are from followers who move well by not offering resistance. These followers don't think what I'm leading. They feel what I'm leading. You can't feel a lead when your muscles are clenched due to resistance.
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When I visited BA, my tango tour guide told me that the Argentines dance pectoral-to-pectoral in a V-embrace. The problem isn't the V-embrace but the misalignment of the bodies when the follower places herself in my armpit. When our sternums aren't in alignment, our feet aren't in alignment as well. I can't lead sacadas because the space I need to step into won't be in front of me but to the side. The follower's boleos won't be as good as they could because our axises don't line up so she can't make the largest pivot possible.

I didn't explain the situation accurately in the OP. Reading the posts proved enlightening.
 
tangomaniac said:
...Argentines dance pectoral-to-pectoral in a V-embrace..
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That is mutually exclusive or your vocabulary is different.

tangomaniac said:
...V-embrace.. sternums aren't in alignment, our feet aren't in alignment as well..
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But that's how the V-hold is supposed to be. Sternum is not in touch. Upright posture, no lean. There should be 12 degrees of opening on the side of your left hand. The toes then no longer point exactly in extension to each other. All this has consequences for the caminada. That's why V-hold and tango de salón are synonymous concepts. You dance in a different style on the parquet floor than in a club, in a bar or in a confitería.
 
Brummbaer said:
..interesting.. in the early settings for AT, it's often taken to be a mix of immigrants, but then there wasn't the possibility to even commute outside one's home....
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In the beginning the tango dance skills were low in BsAs. Tango was not seen as a dance, rather a means to have some body contact and feel.
Tango as a dance was systematized abroad: Ricardo Güiraldes was the first to teach AT in Paris in 1911. Valentino followed in the US. Tango always developed in exchange of different subscenes.
Brummbaer said:
..have preferences.. not finished learning yet.
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Tell, what is your current project? A teacher training, by chance?
 
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