2764  Feelings verses thinking

Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 14:52:36 -0500
From: Leonard Kunkel <image10@SWBELL.NET>
Subject: Feelings verses thinking

This posting is not scientifically based and comes from my impressions
of those who post here and is not meant to polarize people into any one
group of thinker or feeler.

Something has occurred to me as I have watched various writers on
Tango-L. Due to the fact that this medium itself requires thinking and
evaluation to construct a posting, most of the writers are in a thinking
mode. Tango enthusiasts trying sometimes to analyze aspects of tango
that sometimes just cannot adequately be described in words. Most of the
postings are from men and are evaluating the dance in a very structured way.

It appears a higher percentage of the women that post are attempting to
express feelings about the dance. At times there are a number of men who
will attempt to put feelings into words but in doing so are opening
themselves up to attacks from the pure thinkers. My prose from a month
ago is a good example.

It appears that feelers are more accepting of everyone's dance. Thinkers
are more into the way they dance and they are intent on convincing
everyone else that their tango is the right way. Feelers can prefer any
of the styles of tango. A misconception that seems to run through the
threads. That in order to feel you have to do dance in one of the closed
embrace styles.

Feelings are very personal to the individual. I see the thinkers are the
ones to shoot down others. Feelers by nature are more sensitive to
everyone's feelings and are more reticent to challenge.

I can see frustration in some trying to express those feelings in words
and having those words understood. To learn tango especially for the
leader requires a lot of thinking in the beginning. But to dance well
requires a letting go of the mental planning of every step.

It seems to me that teaching close embrace to beginners tries to
introduce that feeling mode at a much earlier stage than say open
embrace. And on the other hand I believe that there are fundamentals and
getting a true sense of independent balance and axis that is more easily
taught in an open embrace. Fundamentals that need to be acquired to
become a more than moderate dancer.

To dance all styles of tango well requires a sensory level of feeling.
Thinking needs to move more to a subconscious level. You can easily spot
the conscious thinkers on the dance floor. They have a presentation that
may be technically perfect but lacks emotion and makes their dance even
uncomfortable for me to watch. Like it may contaminate into my dance.
Ridiculous to say but it is my feeling.

Followers have to be in a predominantly feeling mode;. For a follower to
think they are attempting to out guess what is coming. And we all know
that experience. It is not pretty.

Scientific fact: Women can move between feeling and thinking much faster
than men. Men have a time delay in switching from thinking to feeling.
More specifically from left to right brain. This is why it takes that
two or three dances to make that feeling connection. The more experience
a leader has the less delay there is.

I am lead to believe that thinkers are not near as good of dancers as
they believe themselves to be.

Let the thinkers attack,
Leonardo Kunkello

Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 19:08:47 -0400
From: WHITE 95 R <white95r@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Feelings verses thinking

Hmmm.. Maybe some dancers are so intent in experiencing these "feelings"
that they think too much about it and have extremely long delays and
difficulties in switching from the right to the left side of their bodies,
thus they forget to move their feet.... You know, right, left, right, left,
etc.... ;)

Ambidextrous tangos to all,

Manuel

>----Original Message Follows----
>From: Leonard Kunkel <image10@SWBELL.NET>

>Scientific fact: Women can move between feeling and thinking much faster
>than men. Men have a time delay in switching from thinking to feeling.
>More specifically from left to right brain. This is why it takes that
>two or three dances to make that feeling connection. The more experience
>a leader has the less delay there is.

>I am lead to believe that thinkers are not near as good of dancers as

.they believe themselves to be.

>Let the thinkers attack,
>Leonardo Kunkello

Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004 06:06:11 EDT
From: LGMoseley@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Feelings verses thinking

Why can't you do both.

Think when you are teaching, learning, or practising, and feel when you are
dancing.

Incidentally, I don't know one can stop feeling. We all do it, anyway. That
is easy.

Laurie