If
you’re like most women you have one question in your mind when you enter a room
full of dancers: where do I sit? As with all success stories, the key to a
successful milonga experience is having lots of invitations to dance and the
key to that is simple: location, location, location.
For a
leader with experience this is not such an important factor in the quality of
my experience but for the follower it is everything. This weekend, at the
Tucson Tango Festival, I had the chance to observe the impact of seating selection
had on the dance cards of the women in our group.
There
are three seating sections to every dance hall: the near-side, the far-side and
the side-side. Stage-side is reserved for TOAST (tangueras of advanced social
talents;-)
On our
arrival we sat on the far-side. I like to sit over here, especially on the
first night of a tango festival. I usually arrive after a full workday
and a long car-ride or plane-ride. I need to relax, to allow the vibrations
incurred during travel to seep out of my limbs and be replaced by the rhythms
of tango music accompanied by the sight of tango dancers.
The
ladies with us did not get many dances outside the members of our own party. I danced with them as well as two
tangueras sitting nearby. When I searched for new partners on the other sides
of the room I was unsuccessful, too timid or uninterested. I am an unfortunate, nervous and picky person all in the same body;-)
Sometimes
I think the search for tangueras would be better accomplished with the aid of a
hunting dog. It could be useful in
flushing out the ladies looking for Mr. Right from the women looking for Mr.
Right Now. Mr. Right is always on the top of their list; the wandering Blond
Arabian, a.k.a. Kayak Hombre, a.k.a. me, is seldom an obvious pick for an
anonymous hookup. C’est la vie!
The next
night we sat in the same place and our ladies’ dance cards pretty much looked
the same.
On
Sunday night we sat on the near-side because we arrived, accidentally, very
early and there were many open tables. Maybe it was because the pond was
stocked with many Free-Range Taxis, maybe the sun and the moon and the stars
were all aligned (true, in this case, for two planets and the moon) but I’m
fairly certain our seating had something to do with the success our tangueras
had in getting dances that night.
Fishing
was so good for our ladies they couldn’t decide whether or not to accept a
dance from Mr. Right or the Kayak Hombre. Twice I received this reply, “Yes,
uh, wait, uh no, uh……yes, that’s a no.” That’s a woman who’s got Mr. Right on
the line, thinks she’s lost him and then realizes she’s reeling him in:-(
In case you’re wondering what a ‘Free-Range
Taxi’ is I’ll tell you. It is a male friend/student/cousin/brother of the
event organizer who a.) is a skilled tanguero; b.) is good-looking; c.) has a
pony-tail; d.) all of the above. I think there were many of them seeded throughout the crowd and I believe they were taking live bait as well as artificial lures!
Tangueras, it is
important to note that the Free-Range Taxis at the Tucson Tango Festival could have been feral or hatchery dancers but they do not roam at all tango festivals. Don't take your chances on attending a festival where they haven't been spotted. Always check for blogger reviews on a particular city before purchasing your pass.
Thanks again to the organizers of the
Tucson Tango Festival. It was a great time with lots of superb instruction and
lots of great dancing! For those of you planning attending a tango festival in
the fall, their next event is in September and you can find it here: http://tucsontangofallfest.com/ and keep your eyes peeled for those
Free-Range Taxis:-D
(For a more in-depth
looking into the mind of the Kayak Hombre and his thoughts on tango, buy his
book: River Tango, now available on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/River-Tango-perri-iezzoni/dp/1453865527 )
I am working on a new book cover.
Here is an advanced preview:-)
No comments:
Post a Comment