3518  Help: what does "moving counter-clockwise" mean?

Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:43:31 -0700
From: Lima <amilsolrac@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Help: what does "moving counter-clockwise" mean?

Dear tango-L, time for another little parody.

Hi! Few of you know me. I am a really nifty tango dancer :) and, false modesty aside, very popular
;) So much so that sometimes it feels as if I must bear the entire tango man's burden :p How can I
still have any fun dancing the tango? :( It is a hard job, and somebody's gotta do it.

I know floor craft cold; not just the thermodynamics of it, but also more advanced aspects, such
as the psychosomatic and the socio-sexological ... stuff that pulls at a dancer's heart strings.

I am also called upon to teach tango. I remember well when I started. It was the era of the back
sacadas. Some of you must still remember fondly those times gone by already so many years ago!

I feel it is my moral duty to constantly strive to deepen my understanding of floor craft. Tango
students and the community deserve no less.

There is one concept in particular that I have always found a bit puzzling. I wonder if any of you
fellow listeros would care to comment. It is that bit about "moving counter-clockwise around the
room without bothering or endangering anybody along the way".

I am especially interested in finding out what "moving counter-clockwise" means; and how exactly
does one eliminate assault (threats) and battery (hits) from one's dancing -- which seems to be
the consensus here, right? I thing it is great that the list sets such high standards.

Dear fellow listeros, I have enjoyed the discussion a great deal, even though, frankly, I find
myself over my head a lot. I remember old times when, for instance, floor craft was discussed by
20 people, and 18 of them did not seem to make much sense. Now it feels to me more like 20
people, of which only 2 appear to be altogether out of it. Or something like that, not trying to
be precise.

Great, but somehow all this progress has left me so unsatisfied!... I did not know why, until I
realized that, as it is on the dance floor, so it is here: one or two's enough to mess up the
milonga, though usually economies that extreme go begging. I wonder, did I ever mess up a milonga
all by myself?

Cheers,

Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 14:22:20 -0700
From: Lima <amilsolrac@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Help: what does "moving counter-clockwise" mean?

Thanks so much to all who took the time to help me in my quandary.

I also got help through private mail. One person asked: "What part of counter clockwise don't you
understand"? I did not like the tone of the whole letter, especially this part. I thought the
writer had a hidden agenda.

But then I saw the possibilities. Say, a bad dancer moves in some bad way and bothers a good one.
If the latter questions the former's character, it might be counter-productive. He might like it.
But "what part of counter clockwise don't you understand" might even cause a slight blush.

Next the bad dancer literally kicks the other dancer's partner. There is no good rejoinder in this
case. "Brute" (through one's teeth) does not work, trust me. Taking the blame and apologizing
yourself profusely for him kicking her is too subtle, trust me. But someone with a smattering of
martial arts training could stop, turn to the kicker, and say "what part of not being a brute
don't you understand". Worth a try.

I guess I had the wrong idea about what clocks have to do with tango. I thought "counter
clockwise" was something like this: it is 12:10 a.m.; after some preliminary spinning and drifting
I find myself at the tip of the short hand, facing the tip of the long hand; so I dart off towards
the latter really fast. The opposite would then be "clockwise".

It seems it is nothing like this. I am now trying to sort through the details. It could take
years. Thanks to Alberto and the others for putting the right spin on things.

I cannot believe how I missed so much of what can go on in the lady shielding process. I could not
imagine further than turning my back to an assembly of clowns and plowing through. Chas "tango is
no joke" Gale is able to see the whole thing in mid air and in three dimensions, plus a new twist
on floor etiquette (about prone vs supine, and who should end up on top). That is the sign of a
true artist.

I know a little more about fancy moves, than about clocks. The move described by Chas is called an
x-volcada, though it is really more like a spinning colgada stalled into the ground. It should
look most elegant if properly executed. But Chas is getting ahead of his time: the era of
r-volcadas (regular leg danglers) is still in full swing (!) here in the USA.

In keeping with a long standing (and at times troublesome) policy I pass up commenting on bodily
functions and closely related topics.

Cheers,