3678  Freezing water! (Was: on syle and styles)

Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 10:13:53 +0200
From: Melina Sedo <melinasedo@ONLINEHOME.DE>
Subject: Freezing water! (Was: on syle and styles)

Dear Derik,

You wrote:

> I like to go directly from an Argentine close embrace
> (where my partner is not off, out of balance, to one
> side of me, with her eyes closed, or staring of into
> out space zoned out, leaning on me for all of her
> support) to an open embrace where I can play with some
> of the stage stuff for fun when there is room to
> spread out on the dance floor. I can only do this
> when my partner is on her own balance ALL THE TIME IN
> FRONT OF ME!!, looking at me, and paying attention to
> what is going on around her. My big problem with the
> so called "milongero style" dancers I have known, is
> that when I go from close embrace to open, my partner,
> the girl, suddenly has to stop dancing and complain
> that she does not know what to do, because she does
> not know any open embrace stuff at all. This is a bad
> thing.
>

Well....

Sometimes I like to dance in an open embrace. And - although it's not
my favourite way to dance - I think I get along quite well. Sometimes
the music inspires me to do so, especially at the end of a Milonga,
when I danced all night in close embrace, when the dancefloor is
getting empty and the music more expressive. At these moments my
partner and I like to "play" a little, just having fun dancing in open
or shifting embrace.
And of course there are men, who are not acustomed to dance closely to
whom I adapt myself. This is ok, as we then choose an open embrace from
the start.

BUT - the most disturbing situation is the following:
A unknown person invites me to dance and we go into a close embrace, as
I'm used to do. I close my eyes and start enjoying the dance. THEN -
suddenly - he breaks the embrace and starts doing some fancy stage or
nuevo stuff.
This is very, very annoying as I have to get into a totally different
mood from one second to the other - without having been able to forsee
it. It's like been thrown into cold water by a horde of teenagers as
you were dozing happily in the sun at the swimmingpool.
As I know how to swim, I will not drown, but - returning to Tango -
this dance has been spoiled.

I think, a lot of women will feel the same way - not only
Milonguero-dancers. All this is not only a question of not being able
to dance this or that style, of being able to stand in your axis or not
- it's a question of a certain mood and feeling. And this is what Tango
is about, isn't it?

So, Derik, I we ever meet and you invite me to dance, please introduce
yourself. I will be then able to adapt myself from the start. ;-)

Greetings,

Melina




Melina Sedó & Detlef Engel
www.tangodesalon.de

Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:31:51 -0700
From: Derik Rawson <rawsonweb@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Freezing water! (Was: on syle and styles)

Dear Melina:

I do agree with you completely about what you are
saying, but I must say that I do prefer my partners to
be conscious while they are dancing with me.... Just
kidding...lol.

For me dancing tango is all about communication. The
man and the woman need to be sensitive to each other's
needs, no matter what styles they are dancing. They
also need to learn enough of the dance styles to be
capable of good communication with their partners.

I have a friend from Paris, who flew down here to
Houston to dance and then went on to New York to dance
on her way back home. In New York she encountered a
great tango dancer who danced her to death. She said
that she hated dancing with him, because he "worked
her too hard" and made her do all the fancy steps
which she could do easily, but at the time of the
dance, he could not tell that she was not in the mood
for dancing her tail off. This was not a dance
problem for her, it was a communication problem. I am
talking about women who dance close embrace who refuse
to learn open embrace and cannot dance it. This is a
very different kind of thing. It is about not
"growing" in the dance.

Thank you for your E-mail. I am looking forward to
meeting you sometime very soon and dancing with you.
Have a great day.

Derik
d.rawson@rawsonweb.com


--- Melina Sedo <melinasedo@ONLINEHOME.DE> wrote:

> Dear Derik,
>
> You wrote:
>
> > I like to go directly from an Argentine close
> embrace
> > (where my partner is not off, out of balance, to
> one
> > side of me, with her eyes closed, or staring of
> into
> > out space zoned out, leaning on me for all of her
> > support) to an open embrace where I can play with
> some
> > of the stage stuff for fun when there is room to
> > spread out on the dance floor. I can only do this
> > when my partner is on her own balance ALL THE TIME
> IN
> > FRONT OF ME!!, looking at me, and paying attention
> to
> > what is going on around her. My big problem with
> the
> > so called "milongero style" dancers I have known,
> is
> > that when I go from close embrace to open, my
> partner,
> > the girl, suddenly has to stop dancing and
> complain
> > that she does not know what to do, because she
> does
> > not know any open embrace stuff at all. This is a
> bad
> > thing.
> >
>
> Well....
>
> Sometimes I like to dance in an open embrace. And -
> although it's not
> my favourite way to dance - I think I get along
> quite well. Sometimes
> the music inspires me to do so, especially at the
> end of a Milonga,
> when I danced all night in close embrace, when the
> dancefloor is
> getting empty and the music more expressive. At
> these moments my
> partner and I like to "play" a little, just having
> fun dancing in open
> or shifting embrace.
> And of course there are men, who are not acustomed
> to dance closely to
> whom I adapt myself. This is ok, as we then choose
> an open embrace from
> the start.
>
> BUT - the most disturbing situation is the
> following:
> A unknown person invites me to dance and we go into
> a close embrace, as
> I'm used to do. I close my eyes and start enjoying
> the dance. THEN -
> suddenly - he breaks the embrace and starts doing
> some fancy stage or
> nuevo stuff.
> This is very, very annoying as I have to get into a
> totally different
> mood from one second to the other - without having
> been able to forsee
> it. It's like been thrown into cold water by a horde
> of teenagers as
> you were dozing happily in the sun at the
> swimmingpool.
> As I know how to swim, I will not drown, but -
> returning to Tango -
> this dance has been spoiled.
>
> I think, a lot of women will feel the same way - not
> only
> Milonguero-dancers. All this is not only a question
> of not being able
> to dance this or that style, of being able to stand
> in your axis or not
> - it's a question of a certain mood and feeling. And
> this is what Tango
> is about, isn't it?
>
> So, Derik, I we ever meet and you invite me to
> dance, please introduce
> yourself. I will be then able to adapt myself from
> the start. ;-)
>
> Greetings,
>
> Melina
>
>
>
>
> Melina Seds & Detlef Engel
> www.tangodesalon.de
>
>
> should be sent to
> send the
> LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU.
>
>
>

Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:33:27 -0700
From: Saen de PATangoS <patangos@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Freezing water!

Hola Derik,

You have here a key that will open so many doors.

--- Derik Rawson <rawsonweb@YAHOO.COM> wrote:

> For me dancing tango is all about communication.

It's not just dancing. Life is all about
communication. Your email communications have become
better and better, day by day. I have no doubt your
dancing improves in the same way.

There are no great tango truths to be found on this
list. The best you will find here is fellow seekers,
your peers who are happy to share their experiences
with you, and eager to learn from your experiences.
The worst you will find are a few ignorant souls who
have bought into false dogma, and ended their search
short of the goal. Most of us fall somewhere in
between.

When one of us tries to close a door, we're just
begging la chusma to force it back open. (One day one
of us will even finally put the torch to Tom's straw
man.) Or maybe we're just bored with cruise adds...

Dancing is about the serious business of living life.
Talking about dancing is mostly b*llsh*t. Don't let
the turkeys keep you from flying with eagles.

Sean