standard requirements

newbie

newbie

Well-Known Member
I went to the CITA desk (CITA is an A.T festival in Buenos Aires, I attended the 7th edition in March) and asked for a taxi-dancer (taxi-mujer, in this case) for four classes where I did not want to see all the nice teaching ruined by a fat, unskilled, assertive follower. Well, no, most probably I felt unsure about my own abilities for these classes ( three intermediates and even one advanced) and thought I would probably need an helpful partner.

Each day I got a different girl, but basically they were all very similar:

A flexible body, making effortless hips/shoulders twists,
Axis and independent balance, never using me as a support,
Instant reaction time for following (whatever I may lead) and adjusting (to my changing the abrazo, or making larger steps…),
Never anticipating anything,
During giros, stepping on the beat and with evenly-sized steps.

While in the classes I liked very much these partners, because I could concentrate on my own mistakes, as they were making none. Also they were patient and supportive. Yet they were clearly not outstanding, they were just flawless. Neither elegant like Lorena (Ermocida) nor playful like Alejandra (Arrue).
And now I’m wondering why all the followers can’t be like this. All the aforementioned qualities are nothing special after all, and should be the standard requirements of the random follower, the “ground zero” of tango skills for any woman who has been taking A.T. classes for one year. Yet, out of my nine usual partners (and who have from one to ten years of experience in A.T), four would fail the first item, and six would fail the second.
 
Gee... you want someone with no personality to react to your every movement perfectly... Try Stepford. See if you can find some "perfect" leads over there for me.
 
One argument for ladies doing exactly what is lead, no more, no less is that it makes the men quickly learn if we are leading things right or not.

We sometimes call it the "what does this button do?" method of learning to lead.

It sounded like the original poster was looking not just for patience, but some key technical skills, such as being able to maintain the support of ones own weight and accomplish certain rotary stretches. Such skills develop when teaching stressing them, and don't develop when it doesn't.
 
"Why all the followers can’t be like this?"

They should be. It's the minimum basic requirement for dancing. However, few want to put in the work it takes to learn how to do it.
 
Hmmmm....while we're at it, why can't all leads fit my standards? :shock: I'm not that picky, really. All I want from an Intermediate level lead is an awareness of his own body and what it's doing, a decent posture, oh and leading from his center would be nice. Instead, I get guys who hunch over me, yank my arms out and yell at me for their own mistakes. :?
 
randomMysh said:
Hmmmm....while we're at it, why can't all leads fit my standards? :shock: I'm not that picky, really. All I want from an Intermediate level lead is an awareness of his own body and what it's doing, a decent posture, oh and leading from his center would be nice. Instead, I get guys who hunch over me, yank my arms out and yell at me for their own mistakes. :?
Click to expand...

Try dancing with intermediate leaders who are smaller than you. They won't hunch. Also they won't yell at you because you'll be physically stronger.
 
casa said:
randomMysh said:
Hmmmm....while we're at it, why can't all leads fit my standards? :shock: I'm not that picky, really. All I want from an Intermediate level lead is an awareness of his own body and what it's doing, a decent posture, oh and leading from his center would be nice. Instead, I get guys who hunch over me, yank my arms out and yell at me for their own mistakes. :?
Click to expand...

Try dancing with intermediate leaders who are smaller than you. They won't hunch. Also they won't yell at you because you'll be physically stronger.
Click to expand...

I'm 5'4", so finding smaller leaders won't be easy.
:lol:
 
Edie said:
Gee... you want someone with no personality to react to your every movement perfectly... Try Stepford. See if you can find some "perfect" leads over there for me.
Click to expand...

I tried, but it was not flexible enough and it broke after a back boleo.
woman.jpg
 
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