4939 Skirtless
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 19:41:21 -0400
From: "Fantasia Sorenson" <bichonheels@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Skirtless
To: "Tango-L List" <tango-l@mit.edu>
<b0a530950705101641t367ccceje122d0811d8f7c26@mail.gmail.com>
I tried an experiment at my favorite milonga. I went without a skirt.
I REPLACED it with something, so don't get excited. ;-)
Now, I only ever danced in a skirt before. I like it that way. I like the
way I move in a skirt. I like the way a skirt moves around me. Skirts just
define the way I look. I always wear one, even in classes or lessons.
So I started buying slacks at my favorite clearance store. I look for nice,
designer slacks that flatter me. This is kind of "bold" for me, if you can
believe it.
I went to my favorite milonga wearing a pair of my new slacks. I made up,
and wore a minimum of jewelry. I found a chair (there never are very many
provided), and claimed it as mine. Here's the clincher. I brought no dance
shoes.
Those who know me probably never thought about it before, but now that
they saw me wearing slacks for the first time ever, suddenly they all wanted
to know what was going on.
"Oh, I'm not dancing tonight."
"You're not dancing tonight?"
"No."
"Did you injure yourself?"
"No, I just feel like watching and listening."
"You mean, you're not dancing tonight?"
I swear, EVERY single person asked me multiple times even after I told them.
Why on earth would I want to do that, come to a milonga with no intention of
dancing? It drove them crazy.
So here are some of the really interesting parts.
1. I watched every man I knew dancing on the dancefloor. At some point in
the evening, EVERY single man I knew came over to talk to me.
2. Most of them tried to get me to dance, but I pointed to my flats and
said, thank you, but no I wasn't dancing tonight.
3. Several of them tried multiple times.
4. I wasn't bored and I wasn't disappointed. I had no expectations, so there
were none to be left unfulfilled.
Quite a few men remained with me and talked for a long time. That never
happened to me before at a milonga. Either they would come over to dance
with me, period, or they furtively avoided my gaze while they slunk by. I
don't think they ever felt comfortable around me before. A few of them
talked about that with me.
I don't suppose anyone cares to know why...
Fan
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 10:14:34 +1000
From: Roger <edgecombe_r@optusnet.com.au>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Skirtless
To: tango-l@mit.edu
I find the presence or absence of a skirt - and in fact the dynamic
characteristics of the skirt, effect the way I dance.
No - no - I'm not a closet cross-dresser - what sort of skirt the
Partner has on!
Some skirts exhibit a delicious hysteresis that does a soft fluid boleo
on any ocho, so - more ochos. Some swing nicely during a colgada. Ergo -
an extra colgada or two.
Then again, some skirts are tight, so a deep sacada can be a lot like
kicking a tightly strung tennis racquet. Boinnng! Give sacadas a miss.
And, of course, there are skirts designed to snare the partner's heel,
sending a shockwave through both bodies and a fight to stay upright -
converting a potential tango moment into a fight for survival.
cheers
rde
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 16:38:14 -0500
From: "Lois Donnay" <donnay@donnay.net>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Skirtless
Of course we do!!!
Lois Donnay
I don't suppose anyone cares to know why...
Fan
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 15:00:38 -0700
From: m i l e s <miles@tangobliss.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Skirtless
To: tango-l@mit.edu
Fantasia
I'm keen to hear *THIS* one....
M i l e s.
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 22:12:04 -0400
From: "Fantasia Sorenson" <bichonheels@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Skirtless
To: "Tango-L List" <tango-l@mit.edu>
<b0a530950705141912nc1be90eq6b167c066845e9e1@mail.gmail.com>
On 5/14/07, m i l e s <miles@tangobliss.com> wrote:
>
> Fantasia
>
> I'm keen to hear *THIS* one....
>
> M i l e s.
Alright, Miles, here it is. Thanks for asking!
I was a very enthusiastic newbie when I started dancing. I was dying to
dance and I was absolutely sure that anyone else would be just as eager as
I. I went through all of the stages that I now know to be typical. Sitting
out, not knowing what was wrong with me, being convinced that if I studied
harder I would be invited more, being told I was "dream" one night and then
being ignored by the same guy the next.
So I began to take matters into my own hands and invite men myself. I found
that I didn't enjoy the dances as much, but I enjoyed them more than when I
was just sitting around. At least for a while. Then my pride really began to
chafe at this and I felt less and less dignified. I stopped doing that and
gradually found that I was dancing more and enjoying it more again.
When I showed up not dressed to dance and sat watching the whole evening,
there were quite a few men who talked to me. They were unusually easygoing
and even stuck around and talked to me in several cases. I got them to open
up to me, and it taught me a lesson about what I was doing. More than one of
them, well, more than two... okay, okay, it was three(!)... told me that
they were nervous to get near me before because they thought I was going to
invite them!
I always thought that one of them in particular just didn't like dancing
with me at all. Now he told me that actually he did like dancing with me,
but he was afraid to open the door too much for fear that I would come to
expect it every time and he had other girls that he also liked to dance
with. Do you know that guys actually hide in the bathroom to avoid women's
invitations? I confess that I thought the first man who told me this was
kidding me, and I laughed. I've heard this from several men now, and each of
them thinks he invented the trick himself. They come up with this
spontaneously. I felt a little queasy imagining that I might have been one
of the inspirations for this invention...
I have tried my skirtless trick at other places now, too. More men approach
me if I'm something of a "gal pal" instead of an aggressor. At least, that's
how my experiment has been turning out lately.
Fan
