Feeling stressed?
This may be coincidental, but in the space of a month, ‘stress’ has been mentioned as a factor (by followers) which is keeping them away from Tango at some stage.
Although a little surprised, I can fully sympathise with the sense of anxiety faced by beginners. It just so happens that I do still vividly remember, as beginning leader, the insecurity and perhaps the often-unfulfilled desire to “perform” on the dance floor all those years ago. However, perhaps at that time,
- only practicas were regularly held (milongas were were few and far between),
- people were pretty much of similar standards,
- small groups meant everyone got to know each other well after a while,
- goals were similar,
- …
these feelings eventually went away. However, I must say that at no point was ‘stress’ something that would drive me away from the dance floor.
After all, Tango is a social dance, as we have so often heard mentioned, no?
Simple yardsticks
With more and more people coming into contact with Tango, occasionally I get asked by beginners about “how to spot a good leader”?
Without going into a debate into which style is better which is a largely personal choice, or open vs closed embrace**, I think there is a few simple items a beginning follower can look out for.
Politics in Tango?
Had an interesting conversation after the milonga the other day. Eventually the topic of conversation turned to politics in tango.
I have to admit, despite having come across the phrase “tango politics” in various blogs and conversations in the past, I am still not entirely sure about its precise meaning? Very often “tango politics” seems to be used to describe situations where various groups/schools exist in the same “community” and they don’t see eye to eye. However, even in such cases, I think it is usually an overkill to use the term “politics” because this type of group dynamics is part of human nature, no? After all, isn’t that why people have close friends, acquaintances, “hi-bye” friends, etc.? It is normal to have likes and dislikes and people are free to choose who they want or don’t want to work with, as far as I am concerned.
Satisfaction
Tuesday (27 January) was the second day of the Chinese New Year. For those not familiar with Chinese customs, normally the first few days of the lunar new year (assuming they are also public holidays) are filled up with visits to homes of relatives or friends, etc. Because of this I was not optimistic about the attendance at the regular milonga at Xen Bar. In the end, close to 30 people, including a couple of overseas visitors, showed up – more than twice of what I was expecting!
As the crowd was well balanced gender-wise, and since I was feeling rather lethargic because I did not get a good rest the previous night (or perhaps due to the glasses of wine I had…), I had a rare chance to be able to sit back, chat and watch people enjoy themselves for much of the night. I have to admit that it was quite refreshing to be able to sit on the sideline rather than being in the thick of action as it were.