According to my limited experience, I now distinguish between 4 different types of followers, as I had the chance to meet them at the festival milongas. I wish to state that this post has no intention of hurting anyone's feelings. Dear followers, I hope you take this classification lightly, just as I tried to ;) Without any further ado, here are the 4 types of followers! 1) Grazias A Grazia unknowingly falls prey to a beginner tanguero. She accepts the cabeseo. Her face and demeanor clearly show her hope to have a tanda that would at least be worth her time and rank. Soon enough she realizes, she's in the hands of a beginner tanguero. She will not try to hide her dissatisfaction with your performance. It is only a matter of time, before she looks at you, pats you on the shoulder and says: »grazie.« They might also say »thank you,« but the result is the same. They leave you standing on the dancefloor, while they exit by themselves, making it clear their needs were not met. A Grazia will surely dump you after the third song of the tanda, possibly sooner. Let's give a big hand for all the Grazias out there! 2) Martyr
A Martyr, much like the Grazia, accepts the invitation to a dance without any prior knowledge of her future dance partner. When she realizes she will not experience much, if anything at all, she accepts her faith and tags along, waiting til the cortina plays. She faithfully follows, yet she doesn't invest anything more than her time. And her body, as a consequence. Whenever I realize this, I feel like I have to single-handedly 'drive' a Martyr around. Martyrs are often 'heavy' as dancers. Or at least they become so in a beginner's embrace. Upon finishing the tanda, she is likely to accept her gentleman escorting her back to her spot. She will offer a tight-lip farewell smile. If you see her again later on, she will avoid looking at you if possible; if not, she will re-enact the tight-lip smile, showing no intention of letting you cabeseo her again, even if that was you desire. Worry not, dear Martyrs, I will not foster your suffering again! Maybe next year ;) 3) Supporter She is someone you either know from the workshops, from your tango school, an acquaintance from local milongas, or even a friend (of a friend). When you see her dance with advanced leaders, her tango looks really good. When she accepts your cabeseo, she knows perfectly well what she's getting herself into. She will dance your lead, while performing all sorts of supporting activities to make you feel better. Here are some support activities I experienced:
What Supporters generally do is they take the heat off your performance and make you believe it's all just good fun and a never-ending practice. They happily let you escort them back to their spot, making chit-chat on the way, giving you feedback for improvement and an occasional compliment, when you truly deserve one. 4) All-in In my experience, the All-ins are the royalty class of Supporters. It's necessary you know them personally, or better yet, you attend their classes. So they are your teachers, trainers and good friends. But most of all, they are advanced, often highly skilled dancers with a sincere wish to raise as many good tango leaders as possible. They might perform any of the Supporter tricks; in fact, they would do anything to make you feel both more confident and more relaxed. But this is not where they stop. They will invest extra effort to both energize you and loosen you up. They don't want you to just survive the tanda. They want you to dance beyond your current level. And in some magical way, they succeed. Here's what little I noticed they do:
For me, they dance the rational fearful mind right out of me. What better gift than that, anyway? I have had the blessing to have danced with 5 All-ins lately. And more than 10 Supporters. But the blessing doesn't stop there. I am actually grateful for all the types of followers, even the Grazias. It does make me wonder, though. When a lady finds herself in the hands of a beginner, does she make her decision consciously? Saying to herself maybe:
And then there's the ladies who say to themselves: »OK. Now we're here. Let me give you the dance of your life!« Or of the night, at least. I wonder: what defines a follower's choice about placing herself in one of the four categories? Would 'my' All-ins dance all-in with you? Or in general with beginners they don't know? I hope so!
5 Comments
irena
2/16/2016 14:52:01
A follower who feels great in her body, confident in her moves and enjoys every step she makes, has no need to get any of these from the partner. She is just happy to share her joy, excitement and experience. Happy to give and interested to receive.
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Blaž
2/16/2016 15:02:03
Hey Irena! Thank you for your feedback. Well said. I'm always curious how the followers experience their growth and progress. You should write a blog too! Or do you have some writings online already?
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irena
2/16/2016 16:43:24
I don't. But you never now. It nice to shear nice things. Increases the "niceness" in our worlds. :)
Jules
2/17/2016 15:30:28
As for what's going through our heads, it could be any of those sentences, I suppose it is an individual thing, depending more on the leader than the particular follower. It doesn't really matter that you are a beginner, as long as you are respectful, not trying to break me with the embrace or kick my legs with your saccadas. As long as you are polite and treat me as a person, as long as you realize that it is yours to invite, and mine to follow suit or politely decline, and that leading is not a matter of physical force, I do not care one bit that you are a beginner. All dancers were beginners once. Dancing with a beginner is an investment into future. Not one true dancer has the face to despise beginners for the sheer reason they are, well, beginners. It is the lack of grace and/or manners, or utter incomprehension of mechanical laws the body has to follow, which make us think that the leader is worth dumping on site.
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BLAZ
2/17/2016 15:48:22
One would think that all followers see things like this. Not so. But for me, it is essential to have experience of this kind. Makes me appreciate so many things so much more. And for the people, just now joining the tango scene, I have loads of compassion and will to help them out by 'giving' them a tanda. Attitude is all, like you said. Thank you!
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AuthorBlaz B, social tango dancer since February 2015. I'm sharing these posts to inspire future tango beginners, to encourage today's beginners and to possibly entertain those dancers, who have already become regulars at tango heaven.
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