[TANGO-L] "Doing the same thing all night long"

[LGMoseley @AOL.COM]

A comment on "doing similar things all night long".

The claim that dancers are "doing similar things all night long" in my view
misses out one of the main charms of Tango. All the individual bits that one
does are similar, and many are identical. For example, most moving steps
involve  a step and a brush (sometimes called a collection) as part of them.
However,  when one connects all the little bits together, the question of complexity
 arises.

From a brush/collection, a movement usually involves either a forward step,
a backwards step, a sideways step, or a swivel and brush. That's only four
possibilities. However, since that step can be followed by either the a forward
step, a backwards step, a sideways step, or a swivel and brush, that sequence
of  only two movements offers 16 possibilities. At the next move, it is 64,
and so  on. When you add in the possibilities that some of those moves may
actually  involve no physical movement at all, or some sort of embellishment
(barrida,  trabada, callesita, various boleos, leg wraps, etc.), some may involve a
 leader's bodily movement which serves as an indication or hint to their
partner,  they may be done in straight lines or in a circle, may be done in
parallel or  crossed, etc., the variety becomes considerable.

Thus, it is true that all the little contributory bits are simple and
potentially repetitive, but the combination of them can be mind-blowingly  complex,
certainly well beyond the capacity of human short term memory (  7+- 2 items
at one time). Thus, although many leaders may restrict themselves to  a small
range of movements, the dance itself does not. If it is boring, it is  because
of the limitations in our minds, not in the potential of the  dance.

Of course, the subjective pleasure also arises not so much from what  we do
as  how we do it. That, though, is another topic.

Laurie (Laurence)


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I would say, from a leader's perspective, someone who says that leaders
aren't
doing similar things, all night long, doesn't understand  leading. If that
statement
came from a follower, it might make more  sense.  Watch leaders sometime.
I would say they have a bag of  moves & favorite combinations & tend to repeat
them  frequently.  To a list of ballroom dances, I would add, night club
2-step,
hustle, west coast swing, which would add some toes, cuz we  just ran out of
fingers to count on. not to say one is better than the  other, they're
different
dances.