Tango is a male dominated dance, and naturally, ladies will have to follow in the footsteps of their male counterparts, without any signals, she can’t move. Only when he leads, she follows. When he stops, she stops. The mixture of signals to go forward or backward is provocative, yet alluring.
It is a dance that lures you forward, but pushes you backwards unexpectedly. It is the thrill of the chase, the thrill of seduction and romanticism, and the fear of rejection and abandonment by your lover. Will he proceed? Or will he go backwards? That constant fear will never leave the viewers, that is why the atmosphere in Milonga’s are solemn… to the point that the question of happiness is abated.
I have an issue when dancing tango, that is to give up my control to the male leading the dance. It is something I find very difficult to do, that level of submission is beyond me. In my daily life, I always have to feel in control, and that causes my anxiety levels to soar (especially during work). The gift of submission to the dance partner, causes a fear, what if, he does not lead properly and causes me to sprain my ankle? What if, he directs me to an incoming path of a train? (crazy thoughts, but yes, they go through my mind)
In my view, submission is a gift, and can be achieved through partner dancing. When I was learning Modern Jive while in Melbourne, I noticed a woman who had serious issues with the male leading the dance, her resentment is so strong in her expression, that I could feel her mistrust and disassociation. Her dance was rough and unforgiving, her movements tough and unmoving. That was the ugliest dance I ever seen, and from that, I realised that feminism is not the answer to partner dancing.
There is a fine line between masculinity and femininity for women. If a woman is too masculine, she would be viewed as too tough, if she is to soft, she will be viewed as vulnerable. It is that conflict every woman in the 21st century has to face – to embrace or disgrace feminism, to be independent or dependent. That constant conflict is the source of many martial disputes and – divorce – for when a woman is unable to resolve her inner conflicts – she is unable to dance smoothly with her life partner – and that leads to seperation.
Dance is after all, an expression of life, and life is an expression of dance.
AVERRAL writes under pen name Scarlet Risqué. She stars in Scarlet Queen YouTube with over a million views. She holds a degree in business. The RED HOURGLASS is ranked Top 50 Espionage Thriller on Amazon. She is currently writing the sequels to the Hourglass Series. Grab a free copy of her novel now RED HOURGLASS on Amazon |