opendoor
Forum Master
Yes, unfortunately!
I had already considered offering a workshop on inclusivity myself. But all the studio owners dismissed this idea, they sill favor a tango of young and beautiful people.
Tango Diaries
- Thread starter Bailango
- Start date
I had already considered offering a workshop on inclusivity myself. But all the studio owners dismissed this idea, they sill favor a tango of young and beautiful people.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
Yes.
A friend of mine told me that a friend of hers who had danced with me really disliked it because I was too "insistent" in my movement. This puzzled me, because I strive to wait for my partner to move before I do and then to transfer my weight with my partner, and because I simply do not push, pull, drag, or arm-lead. I told my friend as much. The reply was along the lines of, "Oh, no, she didn't mean that. She meant that you used your energy to tell her when to step, and how far, instead of letting her decide those things."
Silence is all I could manage.
However, in my head I had thoughts like, "That is how we avoid knocking knees, stepping on feet, and other beginner errors," "Displacement synchronized in time and space is the very definition of 'partner dance,'" and, "If she is not ready to step yet, or wants to step a distance different from what I am projecting, all she has to do is make herself present and solid in the floor, and I will wait or stop short."
Then I remembered dancing with the friend in question. She had zero presence. I never knew where her feet were. I had the distinct sense of her waiting for me to lead all the time, and so I led . . . but in fact the "wait" was her being absent to pursue her own interpretation without bothering to use her weight and strength to let me know what she was up to. So, yes, I'm sure that to her, floating around off the floor to do ornaments, my slightest walk was an insistent disturbance.
Unfortunately for her, that's how I learned to dance: Each partner is 100% responsible for digging firmly into the floor and conveying their exact position and movement through muscle tone that can be sensed in the embrace at all times. If they are unready to move, they make themselves immovable; if they do not want their movement interrupted for a "surprise," they make themselves unstoppable. There's no pause de politesse when they become an ethereal being with no connection to their partner . . . such a pause would throw both dancers off the music.
Which boils down to "When I start movement for both of us, that's a lead, and once you move, I will commit to moving myself, and that's another lead . . . and you had better move with me, because I push off with all the strength of my supporting leg." That's what I mean by dynamic. I can't even fathom the "dance of ornaments" where each person is constantly hesitating to commit because the other might be playing around on their own.
And I say that with love, as a dancer who vocally prefers equal-partners, proposal-counterproposal dance. The equality comes from both dancers having strong grounding, presence, intention, and a desire to use energy to communicate desired movements and stops – not from two people whispering at the same time and not listening to one another, hoping the music will lead them both safely away from endangering one another. But then, I'm a dancer who believes "lightness" means "ultra-rapid response, achieved through massive groundedness that allows high-energy pushoff," and not actual lack of mass or resistance.
JournalInTime
Forum Master
Of course.
I certainly do not.
On the other hand, if a follower has a weak walk with no grounding or push no matter the size or speed of the step they take, and regardless of whether that was the step led, or even if they are doing a solo exercise and there is no leader, that isn't the leader!
I dance with rather too many followers who do not ground themselves, or push into the floor with their supporting leg, or use their full free-leg extension from rear end to heel to snap out a strong, solid step. They sort of totter along on tiptoes, often without their legs under them, kind of falling into steps instead of moving from deeply rooted base to deeply rooted base with the energy of the living. I am just about certain this stems from an inherent fear of being deemed "heavy" if they have presence, let their leader feel the floor through their body, and develop significant momentum . . .
That latter thing might be the fault of leaders indirectly, if those leaders consistently favor light-stepping, easily stopped followers who cannot stop them. Bad leaders often do favor that, because they can use such followers as mops to sweep the floor, so they can paint their vision of the music without somebody else getting in the way. Good leaders know that "lightness" is a short response time, and that to move quickly in response to a lead requires a follower to be firmly planted and ready to dish out serious momentum, buying the follower lots of time to decorate in motion and express the music on their side of the dance.
But still, followers can own their dance and simply refuse to be used as mops. My partner does this. The mop guys are in for a surprise when she steps with the floor as her ally and they get spun around by it!
I didn't say the follower couldn't get it wrong! In práctica mode I might consider What am I doing/not doing which means you don't get that - or similar. Obviously depends on the follower. I'd expect my wife to tell me. I'm always grateful for a follower who tells me whether they felt that lead - or too much/too little.
We've just been playing with that varying a sacada into a basic fwd cross (crowded dancefloor), or into a back-cross and some exit. It was my technique with the direction of lead.
In milonga mode, I might try again (maybe I didn't lead that well enough), but otherwise move on and keep it simple. They may be a novice; they may be intemediate who hasn't covered that vocabulary. Of course there's the advanced follower who may compensate.
Whoever, I can still have a great dance - even if it taxes my skills and patience with a beginner. And I learn from that! Maybe I've been taking it for granted with an 'advanced' follower. Maybe my lead hasn't been sufficiently clear for a beginner.
TTanguero
Forum Master
I am in no way doing that.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Just quoting Monica Paz's recommendation, so it comes from a higher authority. I have no idea what a plus 2 or a plus 3 is though. I should add her abrazo is impeccable.
Miradamiranda
Well-Known Member
I thought this was common knowledge as I’ve heard it from a variety of instructors. 0 is vertical. +1 is a decent forward lean with a substantial weight on the metatarsal and toes, leaning like doing a plank from the heels to the head, +2 is extreme forward lean, or sharing weight with partner. + 3 is Gavito / Duran theatrical style, full apilado at a 45° angle
pianistamediano
Forum Master
My friend! I don't know whether I should cry or laugh at the absurdity of this follower, so I shall do both.
Yes. To me that is one of the hallmarks of a good follower from the rest of the bunch. At intermediate and post beginner level too there are followers who can correctly follow the size of a projection.
I never heard it before either. But it is useful if everyone is familiar with the scale
opendoor
Forum Master
But it's not just the size of the projection that makes for a wonderful dance, for me the timing is too.
In my community, there are two followers who have worked hard on their delayed response. They're teachers; one has competed, the other owns a studio. Both dance regularly with international stars, but I don't like their style. I'm not talking about active following here, but rather lead by pure projection. In both cases, the shift of weight occurs milliseconds apart. At the same time, both build up a slight resistance in the upper body and arms. Subjectively, it feels as if you're not moving underwater, but in a viscous medium like syrup. Personally, I prefer followers who don't delay.
Why should it really matter what parts of BsAs dance which way. They are social dancers like the rest of us. Since there is no one authoritative way to social dancers, rather than emulating, the dancers should have their own style that works for them.