This week, I went to Latin dance club. It was interesting going to Latin dance club, having come from a Tango class just two hours before. My chest wasn't as high, my back wasn't as straight, and my limbs weren't as stiff. There were differences, that was for sure, however my dance teacher told us all something that I feel could connect to both dances.
Usually, my teacher likes to use metaphors when he teaches dance. The one I'm about to tell you was probably the most unorthodox and funny one of all.
During the lesson, our dance teacher danced with a new girl to the club. She hadn't danced for very long, and wasn't sure what she was doing. "I'm not very good at this, so don't expect too much" she told our teacher before he took her hand.
He told her, "well this dance is all about the woman. In a dance like this, it is NEVER the woman's fault."
"Imagine a crumpled up piece of paper." He held his hand out as if a ball of paper were in the palm of his hand.
"Now imagine that there is poop on the ground. I take this piece of paper and rub it in the poop. After a while it dries, all crusty and gross looking." All of us cringe a bit as we think of this image.
"Now, after the poop has dried, I put it in the most beautiful platinum frame that you can picture. It's all polished up, and shiny. And then I hang it up in an art museum. Everyone that goes to that art museum will look at that poopy paper in the frame and say 'Wow....' as if it were the most beautiful thing they have ever seen" Our teacher tilted his head to the side in amazement, as if he were a person looking at the poopy paper in the frame. "You see, the man is the frame. He can make a woman look like the most beautiful dancer, even if she hasn't danced before. The man is the frame, the frame of the picture that everyone is looking at."
Well, this metaphor, though not the most graceful, was the best description of a dance that I've heard yet, and it reminded me of the conversation that we had on Tuesday's class about gender roles in tango. Though the man is generally the lead, it is the woman that is meant to look beautiful. Though the man is conducting the lead, it's the mans job to make the dance about the woman: to show the world how beautiful she is, and to show the woman how sexy she can be.
In the dance world, someone needs to play the part of the frame, and someone needs to play the picture, (not necessarily poopy paper, but you get the point). There needs to be someone who takes the lead in the dance, and someone who follows. If both parties of the dance are trying to dominate, then there is no dance. Just a struggle for power. You can't have two frames, because otherwise, there is no picture to look at.
Aside from this metaphor, I'd also like to talk about the things I would like to learn this quarter. Although I've been to a few milongas, I've never felt very comfortable. I think this is because of my lack of confidence in my dance skills. Seeing the various videos, I really would like to be confident enough in my skills to comfortably attend a milonga. So far I know how to lead a step, a rock step, front ocho, back ocho. I want to learn to use these skills, or learn enough to be able to make a dance into something exciting. Thus far I feel like I create a boring dance when I tango. I'm sure it will get better in time. I want to be that beautiful frame that idolizes the picture.
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