Height difference; avoid, open embrace, or some other strategy?

jantango said:
If you love tango music and want to dance, you'll dedicate yourself to it. It does make a difference in how one dances.
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One is supposed to dance pleasant with the partner and to the music.
There are a lot of possible factors - it depends on the prerequisites. But in general are the partners quite near to you and the musicans passed away a few decades ago.
 
jantango said:
If you love tango music... It does make a difference in how one dances.
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Disagreed Janice, if it is awful, I quit at once, and shove that woman to the side. I feel responsible for the music, not for the woman. The connection and the woman only is secondary. I am by no means an milonguero, I´m an aficionado. Dancing isn't a secondary lust point of pleasure.
 
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I feel that a good knowledge of the tango orchestra recordings from the golden age along with a passion for the music are requisites for dancing well in a milonga. The more passionate one is about the music, the more one brings that passion to their dance.

Nothing is worse than dancing with a partner who doesn't know the music and merely goes through the motions doing steps without transmitting any feeling. Why bother? There is no conversation between two.
 
jantango said:
I feel that a good knowledge of the tango orchestra recordings from the golden age along with a passion for the music are requisites for dancing well in a milonga. The more passionate one is about the music, the more one brings that passion to their dance.

Nothing is worse than dancing with a partner who doesn't know the music and merely goes through the motions doing steps without transmitting any feeling. Why bother? There is no conversation between two.
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I think knowing/listening/dancing to the music are three different topics.

After a "dream tanda" did my partner state "great Pugliese songs".
And I was not knowing the songs and did not (consciously) memorize something.
But of course, that tanda did I listen and dance to the music and with passion.
(And my height matched her height and the floor was quite empty.)
 
Three requisites for dancing:

Knowing the music -- is it a tanda of tango, vals or milonga? what orchestra? who is the singer?

Listening to and hearing the music -- the melody, the rhythm, the phrasing, the lyrics

Dancing the music -- connecting with the music and moving harmoniously with your partner and others on the floor
 
opendoor said:
Being honest,nagamiki (and at the risk of making myself unpopular)
my strategy is not to dance with them.
It would always be a challenge for my pectoral girdle and I would have to concentrate on the surrounding shoulder musculatur all the time. These costs are simply too high, and thus I restrict to the gazelle type of followers.
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Yes I usually find a lighter follower is much more easy to lead than a heavier follower.
Yesterday when I went to a local milonga I saw there seemed more than 90% followers(and including my wife) are more weight than me. That means I would have very little choice if I insist to dance with lighter followers. I know most leaders do not have this kind of problem, and I think most teachers do not aware the weight difference could be a problem during class, which really bother me.
 
nagamiki said:
Yes I usually find a lighter follower is much more easy to lead than a heavier follower.
Yesterday when I went to a local milonga I saw there seemed more than 90% followers(and including my wife) are more weight than me. That means I would have very little choice if I insist to dance with lighter followers. I know most leaders do not have this kind of problem, and I think most teachers do not aware the weight difference could be a problem during class, which really bother me.
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I totally understand you; big hight or weight difference can make it more difficult to lead...
 
opendoor said:
Definitely not enough,
..not the time you spend counts. Try to analyze: follow the rhythm changes, or follow a certain instrument. Find out the call and reply structures, find out when the cadencia comes, search for alterations, and finally, dance virtually to the music...
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Can you recommend an online source that explains tango musical structure? I do some of what you suggest, but feel that more grounding in music theory would be helpful.
 
nagamiki said:
Yes I usually find a lighter follower is much more easy to lead than a heavier follower.
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I would rather classify the following as light or heavy not describing a person's weight.
Since I have various experience of following with various followers' body type.
If you have a problem with the embrace that is only the area where you need to adapt.
 
nagamiki said:
Yes I usually find a lighter follower is much more easy to lead than a heavier follower.
Yesterday when I went to a local milonga I saw there seemed more than 90% followers(and including my wife) are more weight than me. That means I would have very little choice if I insist to dance with lighter followers. I know most leaders do not have this kind of problem, and I think most teachers do not aware the weight difference could be a problem during class, which really bother me.
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Yes and no. I'm not a big man (about 5' 9") and I'm fairly thin, and there are quite a few tall women in our local community. However, I've danced with women taller than myself (within reason, say two or three inches taller in heels) and it can be really nice if they're good dancers. Takes practice on the leader's part though.
 
WhiskeyPapa said:
Can you recommend an online source that explains tango musical structure? I do some of what you suggest, but feel that more grounding in music theory would be helpful.
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There was a very good one with a lot of detail about musical structure but the Web site shut down a few months ago. There are some links to other sites here though, some of which have pretty good information on musical structure: https://tango-high-and-low.com/music-and-discographies/
 
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