... and I keep dancing

Welcome to my Argentine Tango blog! I began this blog about a year after starting to dance Argentine Tango. That year had been both wonderful and frustrating. I started recording my progress and feelings from that point on... and both wonder and frustration have continued, only even more intensely.


Friday, August 1, 2008

The leaders I hate to watch

I am approaching this is in the spirit of fun satire, as many of these leaders are much better dancers than I am, but, hey, it's my blog and my taste. So what if some followers choose them over me!

The zombie

This guy has a frame that looks like welded steel. He ondulates left and right with his arms at a fixed angle and feet going in and out of cross system, and slightly back. I see advanced followers carried along with a look of bliss on their face, so this guy must be doing SOMETHING right. There must be a great deal of comfort in a solid frame. I should learn something from him... but it looks sooo boring to me. Still ... that look of bliss... go figure.


The broom back

Ok, this is really nasty, but the guy looks like he has a broom stuck ... well.. all the way up his... (I'd better stop). He's a bit like the zombie but the solid frame is up his back and slightly bent forward. Again, this position seems to have success with many advanced followers. He tends to move slowly, probably because that broom is very uncomfortable. The follower seems happier than he is. If she only knew...


The wrestler

This guy is the opposite of the above "super frame" leaders. His arms are constantly moving like he's trying to find a way to pin the follower down to the mat. He tends to be shunned by most followers, except for beginners, and women who have been getting really bored and figure that some flexing exercises might be good after all to keep in shape.


The lawn-mower pusher

I couldn't believe my eyes the first time I saw him. He kept his arm at about waist height and literally pushed the follower into a variety of open "embrace" (if you can call it that) figures that showed a good level of experience. Maybe it's tango "hypernuevo", who knows. The followers tend to keep their eyes focused on his belly button area, from where the movement seems to originate, and maintain a vague smile of disbelief throughout the dance...


The tea-pot

This is another seemingly "advanced" technique I can't figure out. This leader keeps his left hand at a funny angle, while holding his and the follower's hand close to the left side of his head. The VERY advanced tea-pot leader will actually touch his own head, and the circle of his arm, with the twisted hand, looks like a tea-pot ... The look is one of intense concentration. It makes me think of tantra exercises where idea is to circulate the "Chi" between the two partners. Hey, maybe that's what's happening! Amazingly the followers seem typically happy, but I wonder how their right wrist feel after the dance

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