After writing that I don’t think its a good idea to study too many different types of dance at one time (especially for someone like me who works 50-60 hours per week); I started a swing class with my boyfriend. We’ve been together for just under a year. He loves to dance, but has never tried formal classes and was really excited about trying one with me. So last night I was like, yep, let’s do this. This is where it comes in handy that I’ve tried a few different dance styles and studios across the city. The most fun and effective partner dance class I’ve tried was this swing school. Everything about it feels good; from the location to the nice, friendly crowd of people, to the choice of music and the style of teaching. The curriculum is precise. They teach certain steps, in a certain order, and layer movements so that you can get something into your body memory before adding the next step of complexity. I think people learn faster in these classes than I’ve noticed generally.
Anyways, he loved it. Besides the instruction, the music suits his upbeat, perky nature. And I think the fact that there were lots of young-ish, cool guys made him feel comfortable.
This morning I started thinking about tango again. I clicked on my tango blog folder, and found a post about tango quitters. I.e., me. After 2 years of tango, I put away my Comme Il Fauts. The article was one of those snooty, pretentious tango rants about how us quitters just don’t get it. Well, clearly we don’t, I’m not arguing that. But I will argue that for a dance that depends so heavily on following, its a futile pursuit when there are no leaders. Not none, I should say, just no good ones that aren’t your tango teacher. Plus, learning with leaders who are also learning is just the worst way to learn. You learn all sorts of overcompensation tricks like memorizing steps; but not how to follow. The learning curve for North American men is so steep. Not only have they little dance experience; they tend to have posture with their weight thrown back. The milongas were also always weird, disappointing experiences. In my city, at least, it just did not attract a good crowd of people. I did not want to connect or embrace with anyone there. So I had no choice but to move on.
It would be nice to revisit tango one day, when I’m older. And maybe something will click in the future. Maybe it won’t terrorize me as much.
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