Questions from a sweaty beginner

[dchester]

Invitations for coffee or dinner after the milonga are standard. There is no avoiding it at any age.

 

[DL]

You just discovered the lament of many a woman at milongas, and there are several discussions here about it. Good dancers who are older/heavier/not as pretty sit while cute young girls in short skirts who are lesser dancers dance. All you can do is try to keep a good attitude about it and learn to be as good a partner as you can so you still get to dance.

From one of my favorite references (targeted at ballroom, probably applicable to AT through some filter I leave to you folks):
http://www.utdallas.edu/~aria/dance/beyond.html#Popular

Men, especially, will gravitate to pretty women. Women, while lamenting the shallowness of men, generally behave no better.

Happily this is a single observation among many other factors that determine "who is popular".

 

[sixela]

I sweat a lot, too. A lot. I often apologize for it when I take the embrace, but the men never seem to mind because they're usually sweaty, too. In fact, I'd venture to say that some of them actually like it.

One of my most memorable tandas was at Rue de l'Argonne in Brussels with a charming Dutch lady I never saw again. We were both sweating so profusely that other couples were avoindig us for fear of taking a shower should we ever attempt a giro (think slo-mo Rocky sequences).

So yes, I don't mind.

In fact, it makes _me_ feel less guilty at leaving a lady with a haircut that's dry on one side and dripping wet and stuck to her face at the end of the tanda. I have a jacket (and shirts to change into) to shield ) the ladies from most perspiration but covering (or changing -- ah, were that only possible--) my face is a bit hard...

 

[newbie]

1. I had no idea I was such a sweaty woman, darn it!

Tango should not make you sweat, it is the same physical effort as when walking in the street.

2. Is this "too much"?

Why no, four a week is not much at all, take two classes a day 7/7 if you can find enough teachers.

3. I have salsa shoes, but my feet hurt from being stepped on. Where can I buy (online) tango shoes with closed toe and a 2.5 inch heel or so?

You may want to try sneakers, while ugly they will protect your feet.

4. wait until I have had at least 3 months under my belt?

Three months? lol. 20 min of learning is enough to get a follower ready for a milonga. Quoting Miles, himself quoting Homer Ladas.

5. What is the proper response?

The right answer is they led badly, but you can tell them you don't know, or that only the teacher can answer.

6. Are there any websites or youtube videos that have exercises for solo practice?
I think there is a Jennifer Bratt site about embellishments.

7. What other exercises (not dance) do you believe helped you in becoming a better dancer?
Walking with a book on the head.


8. Where can I buy a skirt to wear with tights?
Find a seasoned follower with similar measurements, she will be happy to donate.

9. (Favorites: Silueta Portena, El Jardin del Amor, El Adios).
There is a nice harmonica cover of El Adios by Hugo Dias, but hard to find.

 

[AndaBien]

Tango should not make you sweat, it is the same physical effort as when walking in the street...

I can see the logic in this hypothesis, but I doubt that dance floor observations will verify it.

Beginners might sweat more because they haven't learned how to relax yet, but I see plenty of experienced dancers looking pretty sweaty and leaving the dance floor to cool off.

 

[LadyLeader]

newbie said: ↑

Tango should not make you sweat, it is the same physical effort as when walking in the street...​

I can see the logic in this hypothesis, but I doubt that dance floor observations will verify it.

Beginners might sweat more because they haven't learned how to relax yet, but I see plenty of experienced dancers looking pretty sweaty and leaving the dance floor to cool off.


There is quite a lot humidity created in a milonga. I think my worst experience was a big milonga when the 4 m high windows had water running down and later in the evening the wooden floor was changed by the humidity so you just couldn't pivot.

It is also a difference if you dance in Close Embrace or in open. In some warm milongas we dance vals tanda in open embrace and it is cooler so!

 

[twnkltoz]

1. I had no idea I was such a sweaty woman, darn it!

Tango should not make you sweat, it is the same physical effort as when walking in the street.

I can probably count on one hand the people I personally know who don't sweat dancing Tango.

 

[sixela]

I'll be counted on the other hand (the one with _lots_ of fingers).

Depends on the tanda, really. I can manage to almost-just-walk on a d'Agostino and not sweat a lot, but it's a lot harder to dance with the same zen attitude on later Pugliese.

 

[AndaBien]

...Depends on the tanda, really. I can manage to almost-just-walk on a d'Agostino and not sweat a lot...

Quite true, but if my goal was not to sweat, I probably would not go dancing.

 

[dchester]

I can see the logic in this hypothesis, but I doubt that dance floor observations will verify it.

Beginners might sweat more because they haven't learned how to relax yet, but I see plenty of experienced dancers looking pretty sweaty and leaving the dance floor to cool off.

Since I often sweat when walking down the street, I don't see the logic in it at all.

 

[AndaBien]

Since I often sweat when walking down the street, I don't see the logic in it at all.

Maybe you should try walking downhill only.

 

[jantango]

I have managed to avoid dancing with Argentines who perspire while dancing with only one exception. Luis Ferre is a divine dancer who perspires during a tanda. I try to dance early in the evening with him or wait for him to cool down and dry off after dancing. Recently, however, he was wet at the beginning of the tanda. At least he carries two handkerchiefs, one for himself and one for his partners. Yes, it was wet when I needed to use it. That was the first time I went directly to the ladies' room after the tanda to use the hairdryer. I didn't want to put my wet hair on my partners cheeks.

 

[sixela]

I have managed to avoid dancing with Argentines who perspire while dancing

I think you're missing a 'profusing' qualifier there, unless you meant to convey that you only dance with dead Argentines (and then I'm wondering how they manage to dance -- or is the zombie apocalypse already underway in BsAs?)

We all perspire. Sometimes the sweat evaporates rapidly, sometimes it does not.

 

[AndaBien]

...(and then I'm wondering how they manage to dance -- or is the zombie apocalypse already underway in BsAs?)...

Haven't you heard? Argentine tango has no steps.

 

[bastet]

Everyone sweats at a milonga. We laugh and dance and sweat and dance. Just do like Dchester says and don't be smelly.

As for feet being stepped on, the most likely real cause of the problem is that as you (and your partners) are just starting neither of you are probably keeping your upper bodies and lower bodies where they need to respectively be. You are mostly likely not extending your leg without letting your upper body getting taken with the leg, or not extending from far enough up (like only extending from the knee), so you get stepped on. Or he leg leads and doesn't give any intention from his upper torso for the movement, and you get stepped on. Closed toes may help at the beginning while you get used to better tango technique, but don't forget to also learn good technique and fix the actual cause of the problem instead of just applying a cure to the symptom instead.