4333  Men dancing with boys

Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 10:08:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Trini y Sean \(PATangoS\)" <patangos@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Men dancing with boys
To: tango-l@mit.edu

To put it in perspective, it was really men practicing
with BOYS, not other men. From what I have been told,
"manhood" in the early days seemed to come at age 16.
This is when they could begin wearing long pants
(instead of shorts) and go to the milongas. From the
ages of 13-16, they would dance the woman's part for
those aged 16 & up. This also explains why old
milongueros would say that they would practice for
years before they were allowed to dance with a woman.

I have also talked with Maria Cieri (an older
milonguera) about how she first learned tango. She
first learned it from her mother when she was about 6
years old. Obviously, her mother knew how to lead the
steps. This was quite common.

Trini de Pittsburgh

> Sergio Vandekier <sergiovandekier990@hotmail.com>
> escribi?:

> The false premise here is that men practiced with
> each other as followers to become better leaders.
>
> The truth was : Men had to practice with each other
> because there were no women to do it with. ...
> They practiced as followers to give a partner the
> chance to do his leading part knowing that later it

would be his turn to lead.

PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
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