On 10/12/08, Jack Dylan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, of course the man must understand the woman's role and must know > all her steps and pivots that he is going to lead but, IMHO, I don't think > that > requires the man to actually be able to dance the woman's role. There might > be some minor advantage but we all have a limted amount of time to spend > on our tango and is it really time and cost effective to learn and practice > in > the woman's role when we could spend that time learning and practicing in > our natural role?
You will never understand the women's role if you don't attempt to do it in a conscious way. This is very clear to me. I believe that after a certain initial level you will improve as a dancer at a much higher rate if you practice following. You will realize much faster what is happening, figure out ways to tackle issues, become aware and conscious of both roles and actually be able to help out followers that ask for feedback. I'd rather spend 1/10 of my time following than 10x more practicing something that I have no idea of what it feels like to someone else. > And just who will lead these men who want to learn the woman's role? I might > be being selfish but I'm certainly not going to spend my time and risk > possibly > injury by leading a large, clumsy man. And one thing I am convinced of is > that > my leading technique will not improve by leading men; men and women are > just too different and I don't just mean physically. If the man feels clumsy and large, he's not doing it right. If you learn how to follow you will be able to tell him what he should practice to change that. A lot of exercises can be done alone, developing good technique. I've found working with men is a very different practicing experience with very interesting outcomes. It has been, in all honesty, an enlightening experience sometimes. Specially because we drop the "be nice filter". I won't practice w/ every men but then again, I will probably spend a lot more time practicing w/ some women than others. The amazing dancers I admire - both men and women - are very proficient at the non-traditional role. It's a no brainer to me. Besides, there's nothing more sexy than a woman that knows how to lead with style. I don't know how women feel about this though. :-) b -- Bruno Afonso http://brunoafonso.com (personal, mostly portuguese) http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:BrunoAfonso (Professional, english) _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l