Hi Trini - > Personally, I find it much easier to find a connection with someone > if I know beforehand what style they dance or what they prefer. > Otherwise, we can waste a good bit of the tanda trying to find a > comfortable zone. Could you elaborate on how this foreknowledge of the man's style helps you to find a connection? What goes through your mind?
> As for those who feel they need to ask or comment first, I'd just > chalk it up to their not knowing yet that they are supposed to watch > the dancers before asking/accepting a dance. Speaking only for myself, I dance differently with different women. I find that the embrace is absolutely unique with each partner I dance with. I don't know what the embrace will be -- I explore the possibilities on the first dance. I explore them further with each successive dance, and I make micro adjustments until I feel that we both like it. Sometimes I find out that I want to try to influence her to go beyond what she seems accustomed to (reading this in her body). Sometimes I find out that I need to conform myself to her in a way that is unfamiliar to me, but seems good. It's never the same, even with people I have danced often with. When I see that a woman dances a certain way with one man, it does not mean that that's the only way she can dance, or that that is how she will dance with me. In any case, seeing a person dance and taking a reading of their "style" is more of an intuitive thing, no? If I just look at someone and say "oh - she dances milonguero", it's fitting her into my concept of what milonguero is. It's letting an ideal abstract category impose itself on a unique reality. Interacting with a dog, I suppose you could bring some knowledge to bear about how their breeds behave. Alsatian? Oh, that's an attack dog, and I had better be on my guard. Beagle? Oh, that dog is going to be veyr into smell. Maybe that information is helpful, maybe it just blocks observing that individual dog, which might have a lot of interesting personality traits that I miss because I'm too busy trying to identify the traits of his "breed". It's sort of like astrology. You say you are a Libra? (I _knew_ it.) Oh, that means you are going to be indecisive. Yeah, I can see it in the way you dance. All right, I know how to work with Libras. I'll just be very decisive and she'll be able to dance well. This would be a total mental fabrication. But some people think this way. It's the same with tango "styles". They have about as much validity as astrological types. Of course, if you convince people that they belong to a certain type they'll probably start fulfilling your expectations of them. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
