Hello list Hello Nicole I sent this mail this morning, but it bounced and so did not appear in the list. Nicole received my personal copy to her, and has already replied on it throught the list, for which answer i thank her. I resend my mail so you can put things in right order again.
Not such a great day for argument, I hope all out there are well. Petra __________________ > >------Original Message------ >> Hello again list, and a special hello to Petra in Switzerland. >> >>Uh-oh, but this discussion has roused one of my most passionate feelings >>about dancing and the people out there who call themselves dancers. >> > Sounds like a personal topic. Especially when CAPITALS need to be used. You are correct that I belong to the people who call themselves dancers. Not because I did ballet from 5 year on. Because I dance tango for 10 years now. Because I do other dance-related body work to further my dancing. Because I spent these 10 years in milongas, on festivals, in theatres on a very regular basis. Dancing, discussing, observing, listening, teaching, organising and dj-ing. >>Petra wrote: >>> I am sorry. But being a straight female instructor, i have to react >to >>this. I just see this myth of the 'sexual' energy once again pass >in front >>of my eyes and i wonder about this very narrow (IMHO) >interpretation of >>the feeling of tango. I do not think this sexual >energy often is to be >>found in dancing tango. If it is found it can >be exciting, addicting, of >>course. But for me in the follow a sheer >addiction can develop just from >>the movement, there can be a sheer >addiction just in the concentration >>transporting you out of your >every day life, there can be a sheer >>addiction in the sense of >somebody 'carrying' you around like a baby and >>steering you away >from all obstacles, providing you with all quiet to look >>into or >refind yourself. this i somehow do connect more with a general >>>allmost parental-like caring. >> >>MYTH OF SEXUAL ENERGY? What myth? Do you know nothing of the HISTORY of >>Tango??? It was always about SEX. Remember how it originated in the >>BROTHELS?? Well, what do the brothels provide? ALL Afro/Latin dances (and >>Tango is an Afro/latin dance) create a sexual energy...and if you've never >>felt this, you've never felt the "truth" of these dances and where and from >>what they originated in the first place. >> > Wow. Did I say I never felt this? Do you who never saw me (or danced with me ;-) ) say I am cold / frigid ? And are you sure brothels only provide sex? > >>I've never thought of tango as someone "carrying me around like a baby". >>Yes, there's a passive energy for a woman...but not THAT passive. I would >>definately suggest you read The Tao of Tango by Joanna Seigmann, and >>actually LISTEN to the music sometime not just walk through the >>patterns...and maybe even find a new man to dance with. > Thanks for the suggestions. I am by no means a passive dancer. I am pretty pretty active, much more so than most leaders care for or are used to. And you greatly insult me when you suggest I do not listen to the music or am just walking through patterns, that observation has nothing to do with me as a dancer. I am not hanging on my man and just let myself be taken care off, my weight and bad axis inclusive. If my words give you that impression, alas! But I would never get it into my mind to suggest things about your quality of dancing. After dancing for 10 years with so many men I just wanted to suggest that sensuality can come from many places and that I do not want nor expect every dance to be a sexual one and I do not want to dismiss every dance which is not sexual as a dance not very worth dancing, untruthful, not 'tango'. > >>If I wanted a >>parental-like caring feeling while dancing, I'd choose a less passionate >>form of dance, like ballet or modern. >> > I just mentioned some further aspects of the dance. Sometimes I want the 'sexuality', sometimes I want the parental-like caring, sometimes I want both, and sometimes I do not 'want' so much or have no fixed-mind-on-the-fix-i-need but things develop on the spot in the very moment in the one or other direction, i cannot foresay the mood I or my partner is in. I tried to address a transcendental quality. And a social quality. In certain dances with the men of personal friends i can also decide to actively steer away from the sexuality and still have a very rewarding tango experiences. > >>I am so glad to be in a city filled with Argentinians who understand the >>true sense of the dance and the music of tango to help me learn what the >>true energy that is expressed in tango is. And ask any Argentinian what >>that energy is...and I'll assure you they say SEXUAL. >> I do my own share of talking to and dancing with Argentinians. I am not so sure they all say 'sexual'. Nor do I wish to see their opinion as the great wisdom only. And of course 'sexuality sells'. > > >> >>And on another note, Petra responded that: >>" Dancing with a bad dancer will not help or allow you to find the >>> elements inside yourself which build your technique, your posture, your >>swiftness or your sensuality/sexuality.. But dancing with a bad dancer >>might encourage the bad dancer to stay and become a better one." >> >>Petra, the last part is true, but one of the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS for a >>woman to learn in Tango is BALANCE AND POSTURE. And this is the thing many >>women that I have come across DON'T HAVE. One of the first thing I'm told >>by most leaders is that I am light as a feather to move...because being a >>dancer since I was 5 years old, I have perfect balance. Nicole, I am not going to list here what dancers tell me about my dance qualities. Lucky you that you have your heavenliness written all over you. >>A man should not >>feel the weight of the woman, nor should the woman feel the weight of the >>man when dancing with him ...even in close embrace, and the only way to >>accomplish this by maintaining perfect balance and posture. Dancing with a >>bad dancer helps teach yourself to maintain your own balance and posture >>tremendously. Going to the milongas is great practice for me. Each lead >>will provide me with a different balance to counterbalance with my own..so >>it's great practice in working on maintaining my center. >> The balance and posture issue is of enormous importance. Achieving better balance, better posture is a personal body work, that is my personal conviction. Dancing with bad dancers you can assess how well developed it is, how much 'counteraction' you are able to provide (and at what cost, be it the aches several other women already addressed, be it the being rather disturbingly ripped away from your physical and emotional centering). But to incorporate the balance feeling into your body memory, your body will profit from practicing in situations where you can feel it works. As you did ballet for so long, you personally have developed that feeling long time ago, before doing tango. Teaching people with less body consciousness and merely getting them to sense how they use their body elements when dancing, and then to help them change it, that is a more challenging issue. >>Well, that's all IMHO. Happy dancing to all. Leave out the H in IMHO. It does not reflect what you wrote. I could write even longer but... Happy dancing to all who call themselves dancers and special thanks to the women responding warmly to me off-list. Petra >> >>Nicole >> >>> >> >> >>------------------------------------------------ >>Changed your e-mail? Keep your contacts! Use this free e-mail change of address service from Return Path. Register now! >> >>----------------------------------------------------------------------- >>Send "Where can I Tango in ?" requests to Tango-A rather than to >>Tango-L, since you can indicate the region. To subscribe to Tango-A, >>send "subscribe Tango-A Firstname Lastname" to [email protected]. >>----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> -- Petra Starmans Neptunstrasse 21 8032 Zürich tel/fax: + 41 (0)1 262 06 55 e-mail: [email protected]
