5454  social tango 101

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:13:52 EST
From: Crrtango@aol.com
Subject: [Tango-L] social tango 101
To: TANGO-L@mit.edu

To continue the thread of "bad behavior"? I went to the All-night milonga
here (which was quite crowded but fun) on Sat. and noticed a number of things
about the dancers who contributed the most to the confusion (and collisions) on
the floor. To name a few:

_Talking with your partner while dancing, instead of paying attention to the
flow of the dancers around you.
_Showing off or trying to impress your partner, or those you think are
watching you, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
_Not realizing that a particular figure is too large to execute under crowded
conditions, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
_Standing still and conversing while everyone else is dancing, instead of
paying attention to the dancers around you.
_Teaching (!) in the middle of the floor, instead of paying attention to the
dancers around you.
_Looking down at your feet or those of your partner (a classic sign of a bad
dancer), instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
_Passing and assuming that the space ahead of the couple in front of you is
yours, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.

There are others but I think most people can see the pattern emerging here.
Dancing socially is different from performing socially.

One of the great pleasures of dancing, among many, in Buenos Aires was, after
ending a song, to find the couple that started in front of you and the person
who started behind you were still in the same place.?
I teach some privates now but may soon be starting classes in tango de salon
here in NYC that will emphasize the social aspects of tango dancing at
milongas, including appropriate and inappropriate steps relative to the music and
crowd, the difference between tango and milonga, etc. Those who are interested
can watch my posts for more information.

cheers,
Charles


**************
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
https://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489



**************
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.

https://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:07:20 -0500
From: Carol Shepherd <arborlaw@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] social tango 101
To: Crrtango@aol.com
Cc: tango-l@mit.edu

These transgressions are not special to tango, they are no different

>from ANY social dancing event. Same thing happens in ballroom and any

moving dance. If anything, more so in ballroom, and a lot of it
probably comes from ballroom, which can resemble an Indy 500 video game.
Someone let these people get away with becoming speed racers on the
social dance floor.

While this seems to be very obvious (and very rude)...many people simply
DO NOT KNOW the rules of dance etiquette or what constitutes good and
bad 'floorcraft'. No one has ever told them.

At the U of M ballroom club they pass out a sheet of dance etiquette;
this is also on the website. They also make mention of this, and ask
the new members to pick a copy of the rules up, and the returning
dancers to 'reacquaint' with the rules.

Dance etiquette and floorcraft information can be found all over the web
by using The Google.

Appropriate to hand out at a practica, for sure. If you think this will
spoil the atmosphere of your milonga, then the other choice is for the
promoter to go around and tell people their transgressions privately.

Which they should do. The guests are their invitees and deserve to be
free of this behavior, and it is the promoter's responsibility to
provide for their enjoyment and comfort.

CS

Crrtango@aol.com wrote:

> To continue the thread of "bad behavior" I went to the All-night milonga
> here (which was quite crowded but fun) on Sat. and noticed a number of things
> about the dancers who contributed the most to the confusion (and collisions) on
> the floor. To name a few:
>
> _Talking with your partner while dancing, instead of paying attention to the
> flow of the dancers around you.
> _Showing off or trying to impress your partner, or those you think are
> watching you, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Not realizing that a particular figure is too large to execute under crowded
> conditions, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Standing still and conversing while everyone else is dancing, instead of
> paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Teaching (!) in the middle of the floor, instead of paying attention to the
> dancers around you.
> _Looking down at your feet or those of your partner (a classic sign of a bad
> dancer), instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
> _Passing and assuming that the space ahead of the couple in front of you is
> yours, instead of paying attention to the dancers around you.
>
> There are others but I think most people can see the pattern emerging here.
> Dancing socially is different from performing socially.
>
> One of the great pleasures of dancing, among many, in Buenos Aires was, after
> ending a song, to find the couple that started in front of you and the person
> who started behind you were still in the same place.
> I teach some privates now but may soon be starting classes in tango de salon
> here in NYC that will emphasize the social aspects of tango dancing at
> milongas, including appropriate and inappropriate steps relative to the music and
> crowd, the difference between tango and milonga, etc. Those who are interested
> can watch my posts for more information.
>
> cheers,
> Charles
>
>
> **************
> Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
> https://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
>
>
>
> **************
> Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
>
> https://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
>

--
Carol Ruth Shepherd
Arborlaw PLC
Ann Arbor MI USA
734 668 4646 v 734 786 1241 f
Arborlaw - a legal blog for entrepreneurs and small business
https://arborlaw.com