One Tanda, Two Tandas, Three Tandas...
The number of tandas can mean -oh so many- different things...
Back when I was a Baby Tanguera (and yeah, *that's* coming up soon...) visiting my first Milongas, I used to measure what I thought was my own progress ( or what I understood to be as how successful I was as a dancer) by how much I danced. And by this I mean how many tandas I danced a night, as well as how many successive tandas I was asked to dance with a single leader. For many reasons, my views on this issue have changed dramatically as I have learned, grown as a dancer and walked ahead on my "Tango Road"...
First, let me talk about the dreaded number of tandas a night. And here I have to say that I have surprised myself about the fact that I really have transformed my point of view, and have come to place quality way, way, way above quantity. Of course, I would rather be dancing than not... after all, I love to dance. But if I'm given the choice, I really prefer to have just a few really great, high quality tandas, than a full night of luke-warm, passionless, jerky or non-musical ones. And just to add to this feeling, I have also come to see my attendance to Milongas much more as a social happening: an opportunity to greet friends and talk; an opportunity to listen to beautiful music; and opportunity to enjoy myself watching people dance and connect (something I love to do).
The other tanda-number issue is that of how many tandas in a row to dance with a single leader. On this, I have to say that I have never been a person who's looked for much more than one tanda a time. Of course I'm really glad--even ecstatic--to do one or two more when my connection with a particular leader is fantastic, but generally I don't expect it. There are several reasons for this. One of them is definitely a cultural issue: after having had the opportunity to travel around to dance Tango, it has not been hard to conclude that the 'standard number' of tandas danced successively by a single couple varies tremendously from community to community, even within the U.S. We already know that in Buenos Aires the rule is that of 'One'. In my U.S. community, the one tanda rule generally tends to apply as well, though not without exceptions here and there. In other U.S. cities, I've come to notice that local dancers sometimes feel bad if they don't dance at least two or three... In Europe, couples often stick together for long chunks of the night--with Paris being, in my experience, one of the places where I got to see some of the least turnover of couples in the dance floor.
But there is something else that makes me not look so much for too many tandas in a row, even when I'm having a great time on the dance floor: the desire to make the moment special, and the fear to spoil the greatness if I overload myself in it. It is something like getting so much of a wonderful dessert that the last thing one remembers of it is just the slightly disgusting flavor of too many loads of sugar and butter, rather than all the wonderful nuances of texture and ingredients that may have been there to start with. Just 3-4 beautiful songs may be enough to get *It*, to see the Ghost... and I'm often afraid that *It* may just fade away, if I try to force such Ghost to stay. And while I will admit that there have been times in which I have danced many tandas in a row with someone with whom I had a special connection (like Mr. Bear... ;)), and still found the experience amazing, I would claim that it is a rare happening that the marvel of the unexpected, exciting and wonderful connection does not wear off a bit as the cortinas succeed each other.
In fact, I sometimes find that waiting a little bit to dance with the same person can actually help maintain the Ghost around, although I know that dancing spaced out tandas in the same Milonga is not what people tend to do, and can easily backfire--indeed, I've seen this more at weekend-long Festivals than in normal Milongas. Of course, I know some could claim that the quality of the connection sometimes can increase the more a couple dances with each other. I would say that they've got a point, though I'm not sure that maintaining and growing the connection requires dancing too many tandas with no interruption--instead of dancing often while allowing for breathing space to renew, refresh, feed oneself with the inspiration of other great dancers, and so on.
Anyway... I guess that's the wonderful thing about Tango--it is so rich, complex and full of surprises, that it has no real rules... :) Each tanda (or two, or three) can be a World, all by itself.
6 comments:
"I'm Mr. Bear, and I approve of this posting".
I tend to space out multiple tandas with the same follower so as not to come across as a hog. But, this has also backfired frequently, with the competition for said follower usually being high - because she is most likely dancing every tanda. I struggle with the fine line between going back for more and hogging.
I never did get the "dancing frenzy", dancing every song, every tanda, and dancing with every person in attendance mentality. It's not a contest.
For me, it's more of a social thing...see friends, chit-chat, a little vino tinto, a little dancing, sometimes more dancing...plus, I feel like a whore when I dance with too many women...(grin)...
Well, just one tanda is just enough for me to get "in sync" with another follower. If I like the way it feels during the last song in the tanda, I will ask for another one. If not I will not.
Now, the reverse is not generally true, as in, if I only dance one tanda with someone, it doesn't mean I didn't like it, there can be a host of reasons for just dancing one tanda.
When it goes really well, the "magic number" of tandas seems to be 3. After 3-4 tandas I am generally running out of steam and/or inspiration. One of the reasons I will dance 3-4 tandas in a row with a follower is to dance on various feel/energy sets. If for example I started on a high energy set like DiSarli, and the next set is a Fresedo, I will want to experience that as well. If the next set after that is a vals, I will want to dance that as well. Of course that requires that the DJ knows what are they doing.
For me, if the music is good and I am at my regular milongas:
3 tandas with my partners,
2 tandas with my regulars,
1 tanda with my friends,
1 or 2 songs with visitors, visiting professional dancers, my former teachers, people whom I have obligation to dance with, extremely beautiful women who happen to accept my cabeceo...
If a woman dances three tandas with the same man without dancing with another, a milonguero will assume she is "with" him, even if they are seated separately and will not invite her to dance.
I refuse to obligate anyone to dance with me as so many Argentine women do these days in the milongas.
I don't dance two tandas in a row because I want to stand in the feeling of the last tanda for a while. I learned this from the milongueros, and it works for me.
Excelent post La Tanguera! Again…..
I do travel around a lot and go to milongas in every place I can and I do never dance 2 consecutive “tandas” with the same woman, for respect to other women with the room. The so-called experienced dancers tend to forget once that they have been beginners. Later on I only return to the same women if she practices “cabeceo” with me. “Cabeceo” tends in most places to separate “milongueros” (I do like better this expression then experienced leaders or followers – since I’m always learning....) from the rest, but first I try to dance with anyone, even they are badly coordinated.
But musicality I believe it is the major subject of the “la tangueira” post… but this! you have it or you don’t … if you don’t have it better stop dancing tango if you are a leader. When I do feel extremely connected with a women I dance with I expect her to tell me what she’s hearing. Obviously, that’s difficult when Biagi/Arienzo is playing… but she can really take the lead when Pugliese or Sarli are on. But unfortunally not many “milongueras” do that, most probably because they have always mistreated by man and they have been used to follow!!!! And there are excellent femeale dancers around that never take the lead!!!!
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