What Is Tango Doing Right/Wrong: Recruiting and Retaining

TTanguero said:
...But in London, you will find a great many followers who only ever dance in open embrace with everyone, and that never changes. They've simply never learned to dance in close embrace.
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This implies two things:
-There are tango teachers now in L who don't orient their students toward CE.
-There are tango students who never change stables.
25 years ago, you Londoners danced with us in Hamburg on every weekend (the flight with Ryanair cost €5). The guys actually danced in practice hold, but your ladies always immediately snuggled into deep embrace. Maybe you should change your gestures: I just posted how it works, read about left and right arm guesturs!
 
ArbeeNYC said:
Well, you can always choose whom to dance with.. whose abrazo matches yours.
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And this is exactly what doesn't work! I posted it here 10 years ago: A good and experienced tanguera from my city asked me why I never invited her to dance? "Because you always dance apilado, parallel and with a lot of lean," I replied. "I can do other things too," was her reply.
 
Paja said:
Why you resignate?
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In every single amazing tanda I've ever had over years of dancing, they've all begun in close embrace. ;)

Switching is one thing, but when your default is open... Well, to each their own, but that's not what I'm very interested in.

Paja said:
how comfortable, playful and pleasurable
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It only really applies to followers who've not been dancing for long — and they're exceptions, of course; beginners are beginners, and they haven't danced enough to develop a preference either way.
 
Bailango said:
In all milongas or only certain ones?

Is salon the popular embrace choice ?
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In all milongas I have been to, which is most of them (there are one or two nuevo/alternative events but I don't attend those). The most common is "close" embrace but it is not exclusive. Some of the dancers can dance milonguero, as I understand the term.
 
Bailango said:
That’s not a criteria for selecting dance partners. Most dance partners I like dancing with, I don’t have issue with their abrazo. Thought some have far superior abrazo. Not only when they dance with me, but with anyone.
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Interesting. I mean if a follower only and always dances in an open or nuevo style of hold (it's not an embrace), would it matter to you?
 
opendoor said:
And this is exactly what doesn't work! I posted it here 10 years ago: A good and experienced tanguera from my city asked me why I never invited her to dance? "Because you always dance apilado, parallel and with a lot of lean," I replied. "I can do other things too," was her reply.
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After a while, and after watching repeatedly, you get a sense of a follower's preferences. You can choose to comply with those preferences even if they're not your own or look for someone whose preferences align with your own. I realize that experienced dancers can switch but many of the younger dancers here only dance in open / nuevo holds.
 
ArbeeNYC said:
After a while, and after watching repeatedly, you get a sense of a follower's preferences. You can choose to comply with those preferences even if they're not your own or look for someone whose preferences align with your own. I realize that experienced dancers can switch but many of the younger dancers here only dance in open / nuevo holds.
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I personally swap between close/open during the dance often. I may stay in close if it’s with an older follower who’s less advanced though.
A lot more movements become accessible/easier to perform in open than in close, so that’s probably why the younger dancers prefer open (not counting the beginners who may only be used to open).
 
ArbeeNYC said:
Interesting. I mean if a follower only and always dances in an open or nuevo style of hold (it's not an embrace), would it matter to you?
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Yes. Then it is not really tango. Or at least not “my tango”. I might indulge a dance in open hold to nuevo or alternative music, but I don’t consider that as dancing tango. I can dance open hold in many different ways. Once upon a time a long time ago I was at a regular alternate milonga with my regular dance partner. That milonga played equal number of traditional and nuevo/alternate tandas. After packing our bags and changing shoes a catchy music number came on. We were half way outside the tango hall, far away from the dance floor making our way to the exit. There was enough space infront of the welcome/pay table area. About 40 sq feet or so. On hearing the music my dance partner wanted to dance. So we dropped our bags and started dancing in open hold. Completely improvised. We used to danced a few other dances together, so it was easy to improvise. After the catchy song ended, two different people approached us separately and ask what we were dancing. And if we taught that style. My partner and I looked at each other bemused. We were just goofing around. Something we did if we heard music at any place. I did notice more than a few people watching us as if we were performing. I have danced tango to non-tango music in non-dancing places too. It still amuses me that two people thought it was a style and wanted to learn!
 
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Bailango said:
..There was enough space infront of the welcome/pay table area... On hearing the music my dance partner wanted to dance. So we dropped our bags and started dancing in open hold. Completely improvised... After the catchy song ended, two different people approached us separately and ask.. if we taught that style..
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Congrats, it must have touched those people because music and movement complemented each other.
 
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