Alex´s latest post is not for the faint of heart, but it got me thinking. What makes a porteño dancer different than a non-porteño?
There are two specific things I have observed.
First of all, Argentines give emotionally...and they do it in public! Whether it is crying, fighting or making love, they don´t care. Emotions are out in public, not behind closed doors at the appropriate time!
I was always a good dancer, functional, but there came a time where my Tango changed. I was going through intense heartache, and the more I gave emotionally and articulated every sad emotion in every single movement, the more my partners responded to this and all of a sudden I went from having nice dances to having great mind blowing dances.
Argentines in generally are in the present, emoting. If not they are at least at the psychologist trying to figure out why.
Secondly the porteños here own their sexuality. Men are men and women are women.
Women in particular own their sexiness, it is their God given right and they seem to be worshiped for it! Being sexy and feminine is encouraged. Where in the north, women seem to be put down for it. If you are sexy, you are a whore, if you are not "cookie cutter stepford wife look-a-like" you are not worthy and told so. It is no wonder foreign women love it here, how could they not?! With your ego being fluffed up at least every two blocks with lovely piropos! Chubby, skinny, short, tall it doesn´t , matter! You are a woman and you are sexy!
When you feel sexy and good in your own skin; everyone responds to you positively, not just the opposite sex. When you feel good in your own skin, you can give more of yourself in your dance.
The laws of attraction are at work here; the more you give, the more it comes back to you.
Well, that´s my dos centavos worth for this evening! Besos xoxoxoxo
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5 comments:
What a great post!
I just want to add that it's not only the porteños; here in Córdoba I see as well how openly people often show their emotions and share them. I think that's beautiful and most of all I think it's healthy.
The problem in some countries with men commenting on women is that the women tend to get offended, sometimes for a good reason because some guys simply get offensive but also sometimes because they take it as a sign of disrespect. That's a pity actually, and here with the guys usually not being offensive in that area it's easy to seperate the two and just take it as a compliment, an ego booster and feel like a woman without that fear in the back of your head of being falling back into grandma's living patterns.
I LOVE what you say here. This is what I discovered in/through tango: To make the most of the woman inside, and to "put all the meat on the fire." Never mind my age or defects. This isn't to impress the men, it's for me. I don't know if this is releveant but I overheard some women (in my yoga class of all places) putting down a woman for her love affaire with a younger guy. I just smiled. It is not so subtle, that stepford wives thing, where I live. But lucky for us that we know another way, no? Sexy is good.
Once in a milonga, I was dancing with a good dancer, but the dancing was just OK. Talking between songs, I found out that her father was gravely ill and she had been at the hospital every day that week. Our connection for the rest of the tanda, as you said, was mind blowing.
I felt her pain, and I felt privileged that she shared it with me. I can't tell you how she felt, but I think she felt relieved, having told someone about her worries.
Holly, SO well said--and observed!!
I learned the most about tango when my father was dying. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but your words make it more clear...Thanks for that.
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