3644 Randy Does Rio, Part 6
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:17:40 -0700
From: randy cook <randycook95476@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Randy Does Rio, Part 6
"Dancers for Hire"
I am seated at a table at one of the weeknight
milongas in Ipanema, resting and watching. "How
sweet," I think to myself. "All these young men
dancing with their grandmothers! Good dancers, too,
these boys. So gentle, so considerate, so smooth!"
Then I realize what is going on. "Dancarinos para
alugar," Paulo calls them--dancers for hire. He won't
allow them in Xango because he says they "sicken" the
milonga.
I feel a little sick myself, now that my eyes are
open. I think of the streetwalkers in Lapa who hang
around outside the samba clubs, looking for
middle-aged single men whose inhibitions have been
loosened by drinks and "chorinho" music, and are now
ready to pay for other pleasures...
I do a head count of the sparsely attended milonga in
Ipanema. There are the old women, the young men, a
few couples, and me. I've done my share of dancing
with the elderly ladies. It wasn't much fun. It felt
like work. And in the restroom, the young man washing
his hands at the sink looked the other way when I came
in. I paid R$12 to attend this milonga. Perhaps
someone should be paying ME.
I ask myself if I am being too judgmental. "Imagine
you are a woman in your seventies. Your children
seldom come to visit. You've never developed a
passion for the arts, for charity work, for gardening.
You can't sit around watching the 'novelas' on
television every night. Your husband left you with
plenty of money. Why not take a few private dance
lessons, inquire discreetly where you can find a
dancer for hire, go to the clubs, spend your evening
with a handsome young man--so much more polite than
your grandson--and feel like a young woman again... or
at least like a woman?"
I can't answer my own question. In the case of the
streetwalkers of Lapa, I've been told that a night's
trick may be all that stands between them and
starvation. Sexual exploitation based upon economic
inequality is clearly evil. But if it a case of
picking up a little cash in exchange for making a
lonely woman happy for a few hours, I don't know what
to say.
I only know that I don't feel like dancing anymore
tonight, and on the taxi ride home, I feel very sad.
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:59:47 -0700
From: Yale Tango Club <yaletangoclub@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Randy Does Rio, Part 6
Hello Randy,
Thanks for your stories I enjoy them very much!
I can see you are conflicted about the concept of male taxi dancers. However I think you are reading too much into it. These grandmothers are DANCING with them. It looks pretty innocent to me. The only reason you wondered at all is because there is such a large age difference. It is entirely possible that some of the age-concordant couples also include a taxi dancer.
I think the reason for men's ambivalence about young male taxi dancers is that on an unconscious level men have a problem separating sex and tango. I don't mean anything bad by it. But it is the only explanation I can see for the phenomenon that there is at least as great a correlation between the youth, beauty and freshness of a follower and how many dances she gets, as between her technique and the number of dances she gets. How else to explain why cute young girls who are total beginners are at least as popular as more mature women who have awesome technique? Again, this is just an observation and not a criticism. As an evolutionary biologist I would expect nothing else. It's just how men are wired. Thankfully for the ladies it is not the only criterium, and men will dance with them for a variety of reasons, including they are friends, she's a good dancer, he wants to dance with a variety of people, or he just likes her for some reason, any reason. But sheer nubility is definitely
a factor.
So as you say. There you are, a grandmother, you have slaved over a hot stove your entire life, catering to the whims of a crotchety old husband and changing diapers and kissing scrapes for a whole nest of children who are now long gone. Now the husband predeceases you by 5 years based on life expectancy (that's if you were the same age to begin with, often not the case), or he's out playing cards or whistling at young girls from an outdoor cafe in Ipanema, and what do you do. You want to go DANCING. Heck if I were in that situation I would hire a friendly young dancer instead of just sitting on the sidelines with no dance invitations, being reminded of how the world revolves around the young, and being old and decrepit, you're Finished. You say you're not interested in dancing with the grandmothers; if you were, there would be no market for the taxi dancers. I guess we'll never know if maybe the grandmothers aren't interested in dancing with the crotchety old grandfathers; they're
not asking, anyway.
Hey Randy, keep those stories coming!
Best regards,
Tine
Randycook95476@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
"Dancers for Hire"
I am seated at a table at one of the weeknight
milongas in Ipanema, resting and watching. "How
sweet," I think to myself. "All these young men
dancing with their grandmothers! Good dancers, too,
these boys. So gentle, so considerate, so smooth!"
Then I realize what is going on. "Dancarinos para
alugar," Paulo calls them--dancers for hire. He won't
allow them in Xango because he says they "sicken" the
milonga.
I feel a little sick myself, now that my eyes are
open. I think of the streetwalkers in Lapa who hang
around outside the samba clubs, looking for
middle-aged single men whose inhibitions have been
loosened by drinks and "chorinho" music, and are now
ready to pay for other pleasures...
I do a head count of the sparsely attended milonga in
Ipanema. There are the old women, the young men, a
few couples, and me. I've done my share of dancing
with the elderly ladies. It wasn't much fun. It felt
like work. And in the restroom, the young man washing
his hands at the sink looked the other way when I came
in. I paid R$12 to attend this milonga. Perhaps
someone should be paying ME.
I ask myself if I am being too judgmental. "Imagine
you are a woman in your seventies. Your children
seldom come to visit. You've never developed a
passion for the arts, for charity work, for gardening.
You can't sit around watching the 'novelas' on
television every night. Your husband left you with
plenty of money. Why not take a few private dance
lessons, inquire discreetly where you can find a
dancer for hire, go to the clubs, spend your evening
with a handsome young man--so much more polite than
your grandson--and feel like a young woman again... or
at least like a woman?"
I can't answer my own question. In the case of the
streetwalkers of Lapa, I've been told that a night's
trick may be all that stands between them and
starvation. Sexual exploitation based upon economic
inequality is clearly evil. But if it a case of
picking up a little cash in exchange for making a
lonely woman happy for a few hours, I don't know what
to say.
I only know that I don't feel like dancing anymore
tonight, and on the taxi ride home, I feel very sad.
************************
Tango Club at Yale
YaleTangoClub@yahoo.com
Check out our brand new website at www.yaletangoclub.org
To subscribe to our event emails, please email us or visit our website.
To unsubscribe, send us an email, or if you're in a hurry, do it yourself by sending an email to YaleTangoClub-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. If it doesn't work, just let us know. We're nice people and we really don't want to aggravate anybody. Thanks!
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 12:07:41 EDT
From: Richard deSousa <Mallpasso@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Randy Does Rio, Part 6
Hi Randy:
When I was down in Buenos Aires last November I danced with some grandmothers
at various milongas and I'd have to say some of them are very good dancers!
El Bandito de Tango
In a message dated 7/25/2005 08:18:24 Pacific Daylight Time,
randycook95476@YAHOO.COM writes:
"Dancers for Hire"
I am seated at a table at one of the weeknight
milongas in Ipanema, resting and watching. "How
sweet," I think to myself. "All these young men
dancing with their grandmothers! Good dancers, too,
these boys. So gentle, so considerate, so smooth!"
Then I realize what is going on. "Dancarinos para
alugar," Paulo calls them--dancers for hire. He won't
allow them in Xango because he says they "sicken" the
milonga.
I feel a little sick myself, now that my eyes are
open. I think of the streetwalkers in Lapa who hang
around outside the samba clubs, looking for
middle-aged single men whose inhibitions have been
loosened by drinks and "chorinho" music, and are now
ready to pay for other pleasures...
I do a head count of the sparsely attended milonga in
Ipanema. There are the old women, the young men, a
few couples, and me. I've done my share of dancing
with the elderly ladies. It wasn't much fun. It felt
like work. And in the restroom, the young man washing
his hands at the sink looked the other way when I came
in. I paid R$12 to attend this milonga. Perhaps
someone should be paying ME.
I ask myself if I am being too judgmental. "Imagine
you are a woman in your seventies. Your children
seldom come to visit. You've never developed a
passion for the arts, for charity work, for gardening.
You can't sit around watching the 'novelas' on
television every night. Your husband left you with
plenty of money. Why not take a few private dance
lessons, inquire discreetly where you can find a
dancer for hire, go to the clubs, spend your evening
with a handsome young man--so much more polite than
your grandson--and feel like a young woman again... or
at least like a woman?"
I can't answer my own question. In the case of the
streetwalkers of Lapa, I've been told that a night's
trick may be all that stands between them and
starvation. Sexual exploitation based upon economic
inequality is clearly evil. But if it a case of
picking up a little cash in exchange for making a
lonely woman happy for a few hours, I don't know what
to say.
I only know that I don't feel like dancing anymore
tonight, and on the taxi ride home, I feel very sad.
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 10:29:07 -0700
From: NANCY <ningle_2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Randy Does Rio, Part 6
--- randy cook <randycook95476@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> "Dancers for Hire"
Tell me, Randy. When you go to Buenos Aires will you
be equally disturbed by the seventy year old men
dancing with the twenty year old women?
Just curious,
Nancy
<<Rito es la danza en tu vida
y el tango que tu amas
te quema en su llama>>
de: Bailarina de tango
por: Horacio Sanguinetti
