Who says that they don’t teach line of dance

During the Milonga III class of the STS festival on Sunday, Javier Rodriguez, being obviously critical of Sydney (or maybe Australian) general floor craft & salon tango etiquette gave all present a serious dressing down, illustrated with his typically humorous impersonations. The gist of his message is as follows: On the dance floor, men (leaders) are actually all dancing together, even if they are at a distance from each other. They look out for each other, each man keeping his eye essentially only on the man in front of him so as to maintain that intervening space. They are a sort of team. In between the men, naturally, are the women/dance partners. Now a man is never permitted to touch another man, because in so doing, he gives the other the right to ‘touch’ him back, with maybe disastrous consequences. However, as we have evolved somewhat, knives and firearms are luckily no longer common on the dance floor. It is simply the rule: You do not touch another man/couple. Accidents/mistakes can happen. Never say sorry! Laugh at what has happened and make sure you do not repeat it. However, there is something which one must take on to the dance floor which can prevent such occurrences, and that is attitude. One must never be apologetic or explain it was your fault, as this mindset attracts just these encounters. If one enters the dance floor with assurance and poise, you will not collide or attract collisions. Part of this attitude is one’s confident stance and correct embrace. It acts as an energy field and as a protective defence mechanism, the man’s well-placed elbows also providing a strong physical barrier and deterrent. When the man (leader) is looking forward, it is his partner’s duty to watch what is happening behind them. She must have her head positioned so that she can see either side of the man’s. If the man is directing them backwards in such a way that they might collide with the couple behind, she should signal her partner with pressure of her hand on his back. If, however, they are stationary and the couple behind is advancing in such a way that a collision is likely, the women has the right to extend her hand to the rear to physically stop them making bodily contact. Couples must follow the line of dance around the outside of the floor. It is not permitted to overtake another couple on the inside. It happens now and again that one couple is slow or having problems with the dance and can hold up the line of dancers behind them. It is the responsibility of the leader of the slow couple to be sensitive to the situation and enter into the centre of the dance floor, thus providing a gap in the line of dance. The couple behind is now permitted to overtake the previous couple by continuing on the outside line of dance. However, it can happen that the slow couple’s leader is insensitive to the situation and does not make way for those behind. What is the leader of the couple behind to do, as he cannot touch him or tell him vocally to move out of the way? Javier’s suggestion is for him to click his fingers – rather like using your car horn in traffic!

http://www.sydneytango.com.au/WebModules/Forum/ShowThread.aspx?ID=3049

Hopefully these suggestions of Señor Rodriguez will have a positive effect on our floorcraft and make for a more pleasant atmosphere at our milongas where we find all too many couples, both advanced and inexperienced, being misdirected in all directions, and provoking contact and collisions that we could well do without.