Dancing with Beginning Argentine Tango Leaders
When a beginning Argentine Tango leader starts dancing after learning a few figures he can feel frustration in repeating the same ones over and over again. After several tangos have played, beginners often express the wish they could do more figures.
Being that men are very competitive, they will see other leaders dancing and then think about all the tango figures they can not do. After seeing a woman and thinking they would like to dance with her, they then realize their limited dance skills and that she is a more experienced dancer.
As a follower, you can dance with twenty different men and have twenty different dances. As a beginning leader, you dance with twenty different women and maybe you only have five figures to do. To a beginning leader, it can seem like you have the same dance every time.
It takes a lot of control and balance to take those same figures and interpret them into five different figures musically. Beginning leaders do not realize that to the follower, each leader feels different and provides a new experience for her.
Beginning Argentine Tango leaders think followers want more figures and do not understand that women really want connection and passion. Figures are merely a route to connection and passion.
It is very difficult for leaders to believe that followers are not interested in figures primarily. The reason a beginning leader feels like it’s the same dance every time is not because he does not know more figures, but because his connection with followers is so limited that he experiences every follower and every dance as the same.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
What a wonderful post!
“Beginning Argentine Tango leaders think followers want more figures and do not understand that women really want connection and passion. Figures are merely a route to connection and passion.”
That is so correct! Some of my favorite dances have been simply walking dances – walking and feeling connected. I am never bored by any dance, no matter how simple the steps or patterns. When I hear followers complain about “boring” dances, I think of this quote, ‘if you don’t want to be bored, don’t be boring.’ Be “in tune” with the music, your partner, the floor – that’s what counts.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Hear Hear!
I will always remember some dances where I was lead into a few ochos, maybe he did a few pasadas,that’s it, but the connection…..
I hate leaders who just do figures and I do think it’s one way to manage their feeling of inadequacy. However, those leaders generally evolve into “technically skilled” intermediates who remain afraid of connecting and they usually give up after a year or two.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
EXCELLENT POST!
Another perspective… In 2008, I began teaching Argentine Tango in a ballroom dance studio to students that are primarily used to learning and performing patterns. To make matters worse, they practiced only with each other and missed out on the interpretations of other leaders and followers outside the studio. As an exercise in paradigm shifts, I had the students interact with more improvisational dancers and they were shocked (and almost offended)!
The women found themselves frustrated during their attempts to perform patterns that the leaders didn’t initiate because they were dancing from their connection to the music. The men were slightly more pleased to dance with followers that not only could follow their pattern lead, but beautifully filled in the nooks and crannies with stylish adornments that didn’t hinder either dancer.
You’re 100% right about a new leader’s fear of dancing. It’s filled with doubt and a desire to do more and perform better. Men in Tango set the stage for the dance when taking the embrace. In a completely non-selfish way, we must do what we feel in the music and take the lady on a journey. Dare I say it, we have to be infectious!
July 30th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Very insightful post. We don’t consider the lead’s journey nearly often enough.