role reversals and tango history (was: Female Leaders)

[Benjamin Koh <benkoh @STANFORD.EDU>]

It is unfortunate that Elizabeth had an unpleasant experience with role
reversal. However we must always keep in mind that even the best tango
instructor is merely human like you and I. He is not a higher form of
human being. That is to say, he can be a wonderful tango instructor, but
that does not make him immune to being prejudiced, narrow-minded, rude,
or arrogant. He/She is just as likely as the next person to have
characteristics we do not find pleasant.

All a tango instructor is, ultimately, is someone who has mastered a
skill (tango dancing) that you haven't. That doesn't mean that he/she
has mastered diplomacy, a liberal outlook, tolerance or any other
virtues.

In other words, if the instructor is not treating you in a way you like,
move on to another instructor. It does not reflect poorly on instructors
as a whole but merely on he/she if you are made to feel uncomfortable.
Just like in every other profession, there will be some teachers who are
very traditional and some who are open to new ideas. Bigotry and heresy
in the tango context are merely opposing extremes on the scale of
innovation and creativity. Remember, you always have the choice not to
study with someone.

As for role reversals in milongas, I cannot speak for Buenos Aires, but
in some German milongas I attended, same-sex dancing was obvious, both
male-male and female-female, despite there being more women than men.
Men leading women were still the predominant pairings, though there were
also a few women leading men. No one I met batted an eyelid or said
anything. So the bias towards traditional pairings is not always carved
in stone.

Regarding Manuel Patino's statement about the dance originating between
men and women, according to some reading I did a while back, it started
off in the 1880s-1900s as a type of contest between men who were showing
off to win women (the male:female ratio in BsAs at the turn of the 20th
century was 14:1 on one official census). The skewed ratio can be
explained by BsAs' history as a port city - the vast majority of sailors
were men.

There were some homosexual men who took advantage of this opportunity to
meet other men, and as a result the authorities decided to encourage
female prostitution (no kidding) in the hopes of stopping such male
gatherings. The reverse effect occurred and the dance took off between
female prostitutes and their male clients instead, which is where
today's show themes of pimp/whore come from.

Tango went to Paris around the 1920s and became popular there before
becoming socially acceptable in BsAs itself ("if it's good enough for
the French it must be OK"). From then on tango developed the male/female
connection we like to talk about so much today. It was also at this time
that boys learned to dance by first following older boys, and later
learning to lead by practicing with their sisters and cousins, plus
other boys who were in turn younger than themselves. The older
milongueros alive today date from this period (1930s-1950s). Meaning,
they entered the tango scene during this period ie they were born in the
1920s-1940s.

There are many books published about tango history, and books that cover
the history of BsAs itself are also good. Most of these are in Spanish,
but enough have been translated into English and other languages that
you'll get a good overview of how the tango developed.

In dancing with reversed roles, my personal experience has been that I
love dancing with good partners, whether male or female, whether as
leader or follower. Not all men are comfortable leading men, of course,
so I only ask people I know quite well. Likewise for women - not all
women who do lead prefer to lead, so sometimes I follow, sometimes I
lead. And there are women I'd rather follow than lead, and vice versa.

For myself, learning to follow has made me more aware of how critical
the leader's job is in helping the follower maintain balance. A good
leader makes many things easy, but many more things remain difficult.
They are merely *easier* with a good leader, but not effortless. And a
bad leader really makes things so much harder... and it makes me better
able to figure out why stuff isn't working when I'm leading. Because of
the different skills involved, role reversal is also an interesting
technical exercise, and it keeps me humble whenever I see a good female
follower (in high heels, no less) lead better than I do...

Much tolerance and many enjoyable tangos to all,
Benjamin

elizabeth telson wrote:
>
> Ingrid, Astrid, and Everyone Else,
>
> I just finished reading your posting regarding female leads, and I am one of those who had an unfortunate experience regarding this issue.  In fact, it almost destroyed my commitment to stick with this dance.

<snip>

> Well, when I arrived home and decided to check my e-mail, I found an e-mail from the instructor apologizing, which was the appropriate action to take on his part, but in the closure of the message, I was urged to take classes with the other fine instructors in the area, which, of course, I have done and I have no regrets about the move.  I love my new instructors and their teaching methods.

<snip>

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