....it is, unfortunately, a fact that in most places, gender imbalance is something that women/followers have to deal with. My own solution was to learn how to lead - which I think I do about 75% at any given milonga and it is the rare workshop that I join the follows' side of the room.
As a "gray-head" myself, I am very familiar with another imbalance. Older women are often left on the side-lines too long, too often. I have been to milongas where some excellent, albeit older followers, have sat most, if not all of the evening. At one milonga recently, I saw a very young woman who had never even seen the dance before, and truth be told, was not one of those follows that seem to take to it "naturally." The men who were asking her to dance were some of the most sought after in the community. I could see that some of them were having a difficult time dancing with her - yet she danced at least 4-5 tandas and was invited twice by a few of her partners. At the same time, some older women, who were excellent follows and well known in that community, sat most of the evening. As I said, I am a often a leader. I know that there are only so many tandas in any evening - and I often come to a milonga looking forward to dancing with my favorite milonga partners, and my favorite tango partners, etc., so I want to make sure I get a couple of tandas in with them. But I also try to stay aware of other follows at the milonga - and if I don't see them dancing, I make a point of asking. I love dancing with the more experienced older follows. They already know some of the steps I am learning to lead and are both forgiving and helpful, and I learn a lot. I love dancing with some of the older women who are still a little new to tango. They challenge my ability to improvise, to keep my balance, to keep my lead clean and clear and to "take care" of my partner, and I learn a lot. In both instances, I also have a lot of fun. I am not saying that it is each and every leaders' responsibility to make sure each and every follower dances. I am just saying that every milonga has time for at least one or two tandas danced with someone you notice has not been on the floor yet. imho, of course barbra Have you joined the Buffalo Argentine Tango Society Yahoo! group yet? It's easy, and the best way to make sure you know what we're doing and what's going on with the Argentine tango in and around Buffalo......go to www.yahoo.com > select Groups > search for Buffalo Argentine Tango Society > follow the directions to join BATS_tango. Thanks! _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
