Tip one: come to NYC. Unlike other cities I travel to, here most milongas have more male leaders than female followers. There are also more female leaders than there are male followers, which makes the gender imbalance even worse, as it takes two "eligible" women out of circulation. Through Darwinian laws of survival, more men work harder to improve their tango, so the number of very good male leaders outnumbers the number of very good female followers. Tip two: Arrive late, stay late. For example, at the all night milonga, even if there is close to gender balance early in the evening, or rarer still, more women than men, this is very temporary; after a few hours it skews heavily male, and closer to the end of the night almost two to one male/female ratio. Seems at around 1 or so, women leave early en masse, as if on cue. The men who are dancing are aware of this, latch on to their partner, and rotation of partners ceases. Also, better dancers tend to come later and stay later. Dont ask me why. Maybe the people who come early are there for the free beginner or intermediate lesson early in the night and have had enough after a few hours. So if you are a woman visiting NYC, take a nap in the afternoon, have a leisurely dinner, see a show, come to the milonga after midnight, you will not be sitting out any tandas. Also, the floor craft improves as the night goes on and the crowd thins out. And if you are willing to dance with a non-professional, you will have very little competition, as the better local women will only dance with their best friends or one of the many male teachers or professionals in attendance. I disagree with Igor, who says that becoming a better dancer gives you more dance partners. It is just the opposite. There are less partners that you will be interested in dancing with.
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