meaning of life <kushi_bu...@hotmail.com> asks: > have you all ever considered that some people enjoy dancing a more open > embrace? enjoy seeing each others faces as they dance? enjoy sliding their > bodies past each other? enjoy the larger figures? enjoy the more dramatic > dance permited by a more open embrace? enjoy the athletiscm that a more open > embrace permits, even encourages?
I'm not sure what the point is. I've considered that people enjoy ski jumping, demolition derby, flying trapeze, and other visually dramatic activities. But they don't call it Tango and they certainly don't do it at milongas. > have you ever considered that starting slowly and allowing a more open > embrace, larger figures and a more dramatic dance might improve your > recruitment and retention? especially among younger dancers? Unfortunately, way too many "Tango" teachers seem to have indeed considered this and found it lucrative, with the result that in some communities that is the only thing that people are being exposed to as "tango." However, it's capitalism and free markets at its finest, and I would support it at that level. Unfortunately, preservation of culture and art forms is not the forte of the free market system, where "New and Improved [sic]!" continues to be the marketing methodology of choice. But if higher recruitment is all that one is after, Salsa may be a better option. Most places in the world (excluding Buenos Aires and possibly a few others) that have a thriving Tango community have an even larger Salsa community. > have you ever considered that some people feel mauled and threatened > (especially good looking females) by the pack of wolves that descend on them Well, not being either a good looking female nor a pack of wolves (perhaps a tiny fraction of one rather socialized wolf :-)), I would have to say that no, I have never considered this. > and this destroys your retention, especially among younger females? ... > hesitation to have their "personal boundries" invaided by "stinky old men"? This I have not seen either. They generally learn rather quickly to avoid the predators and unless they have led highly sheltered lives, Tango is hardly likely to be the first place they encounter them. And if your hypothesis were correct, communities with a strong tradition of close-embrace dancing would have a dearth of your aforementioned "younger females," which phenomenon I have seen no evidence of (nor heard of anecdotally). "Stinky" men and women tend to be avoided by all, with the possibly exception of those who are recovering from bad colds. As far as "old," while there is natural tendency for people to mix with others in their own age group, it is actually a nice thing about Tango that there is actually more mixing of age groups. You should come to Buenos Aires and watch the glow on the faces of the "younger females" who just got invited to dance by one of the "old men" milongueros--if their personal boundaries were being invaded, they certainly weren't showing it. Shahrukh _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l