Re: role reversals

["Frank G. Williams" <frankw @mail.ahc.umn.edu>]

This has been a very interesting discussion.

There is, of course, no right or wrong way to project one's
personality into one's dance, and that includes the partners
one chooses and the roles one prefers.  There are only more
or less traditional (typical of tango's historical forms) self
expressions.

I wrote off-line to Ingrid and told her that I think it helps
the tango dancing when the leader and follower accept that
their roles are fundamentally different.  The option to decide
which direction the next step should go is only a small part
of leading.  The option to suggest the rhythm of steps or
their size and energy - that's greater but still not (IMHO)
the half of leading.  Traditional tango leading is an abstraction
of seduction.  It is a series of proposals from the leader to
the follower that are accepted, rejected, or re-defined according
to elements of the follower's inspiration or whim.  The level
of abstraction can be great or minimal.  But whatever the guise,
for 3 minutes at a time, there is always a proposition.

My experiences in following male and female leaders and in leading
other men have highlighted the degree to which gender affects one's
dance experience.  For me, (Sr. Cabeza Dura) following is fascinating.
At my ability level, gender doesn't matter as much as the clarity and
playfulness of the leads and the patience of the leader.  What comes
through loud and clear is how much of the leading is for my own
amusement and how much is for the leader's.  But when I lead other
men for their amusement, the whole energy changes.  ...none of this
'lull me into a trance' stuff!  It feels more like 'half-speed rugby
to music' and I'm on offense!  In other words, the concept of
'seduction' is rejected and the dance itself is nowhere close to that
which I would propose when leading any woman - even my sister.

Question for accomplished women followers:  Technique issues
notwithstanding, communication issues notwithstanding, body size
issues notwithstanding, does the art you create when following men
vs. women differ any?  The followers I know best appear to dance
differently depending on whether they are led by women vs. men.
All value judgements aside, I feel that changing genders of partners
[for more than pure practice] is a collosal change to the
interpersonal chemistry.  And it looks like there can be large
differences in your feelings when dancing with other women vs.
men of the same skill.  [That, of course is pure projection.]
But in cases in which the same-sex leader is not extremely disciplined
and does not appear to adopt the complete role of leader, some of
those 'notwithstandings' also change with the interpersonal chemistry.
One could argue that this is not a gender issue.  Sr. Cabeza
Dura is not completely flexible here though he is now out of composition
time.

;-)

Have a great time abstracting or rejecting seduction and enjoy
whatever pleasant feelings you can find!

Cheers,

Frank in Minneapolis
_____________________________________________________________

Frank G. Williams, Ph.D.           University of Minnesota
frankw @mail.ahc.umn.edu            Dept. of Neuroscience
(612) 625-6441  (office)           321 Church Street SE
(612) 624-4436  (lab)              Minneapolis, MN  55455
(612) 281-3860  (cellular/home)

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