The Tango-L mailing list archive
Digest from 25 Dec 1999
to 29 Dec 1999
Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 03:00:04 -0500
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Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 25 Dec 1999 to 29 Dec 1999 (#1999-102)
There are 2 messages totalling 94 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. MISC: CD-Question
2. Making Women Do What You Want
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Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 12:08:33 +0100
From: Sabine Fuchs <Sabine.Fuchs @SBG.AC.AT>
Subject: MISC: CD-Question
Hello list,
I was asked by a friend of mine if I know and know where to get the
following CD:
Tangos y Milongas. The Heart of Argentine Tangos. With Phierry Caens, trumpet.
The whole thing is not quite clear to me - is it a compilation or are all
the Tangos and Milongas played by trumpet and so on. Sorry. But maybe
somebody can give me a hint; Tangos played by a trumpet are not that common...
Thanks
Sabine
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 22:38:26 +0000
From: Larry Carroll <larrydla @JUNO.COM>
Subject: Making Women Do What You Want
(SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY PEOPLE, PLEASE READ MY POSTSCRIPT.)
Ultimately, of course, you can't make women (or men) do what you want
them to on the dance floor. Every attempt stores up resistance that
can flash back at the worst possible time. (And maybe in the worst
possible way; I hate to think what a "misplaced" gancho could do to my
anatomy!)
Instead you have to court a women: lead clearly, build up confidence
that you'll protect her from accidents, judge what she can & can't do,
then begin to give her opportunities to add to the dance. And let her
surprise you. If I'm alert, those surprises stimulate me to greater
creativity & effort & I find myself doing things I didn't know I
could do.
After all these years & classes I'm still happy to hear a new way to
give women the chance & the encouragement to surprise me, which is one
reason why I'm sending this to TANGO-L.
Here's an example of what I do. After finishing part of a figure I'll
slow down & straighten my body, lifting my arms just a little. The
straightening & lifting are as important as the slowing. Together
everything tells my partner (if she's alert) that there's a window
of opportunity she can use to add something.
Another thing I've been doing for a long time now is to make my leads
more subtle. This is especially true of my sacadas, which are still
too harsh. Especially if she's very good, all she needs is a hint &
marvelous things will happen.
This is not to say that a man must always be gentle. Some women
(maybe even most of them) like a man to force her to do things --
IF it is the right time, place, & circumstance.
First she has to be a good dancer (& you have to be good as well).
Then I can hurry the pace just a little bit, hitting the beats of
the music just a bit early, giving a feeling of being swept away.
I'll also tighten my hold on her, maybe lift her a tiny bit. This has
to be done just right, to give the feel of helplessness without the
reality, & without hurting her. And I'll make occasional quick changes
of direction, to add to the intense feeling. This has to be done most
carefully of all, to prevent any kind of whiplash.
Second, she has to be someone I like & trust, someone I believe feels
the same way about me. Someone who will KNOW, despite evidence to the
contrary, that we're playing at a fantasy, that I'm not angry or
careless or trying to hurt her.
When done just right, she'll begin to "fight back," sometimes by
assuming a superior or helpless "passive" attitude, sometimes
"violently" -- which is why I want a partner with excellent body
control, in case that includes those sacadas I spoke of earlier!
Larry de Los Angeles
http://home.att.net/~larrydla
PS. I'll be in the Silicon Valley area this Thursday & Friday & hope
you'll say hello to me. I'll be at Christy & Victor's milonga Thursday,
& Ruddy Zelaya's Friday. Look for a fiftyish, 6-foot blond with a
bright shirt on his body & mischief in his soul -- which you can see
if you look just right!
End of TANGO-L Digest - 25 Dec 1999 to 29 Dec 1999 (#1999-102)
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