This is a column where stray and random thoughts appear:

…ever wondered what's beyond salsa in other dance communities?  My short
forays into swing and tango made me think of the following comparisons. 
Salsa is happy and sexy; swing is friendly and humorous; tango is dramatic
and sexy. Granted, these very brief and personal impressions are based on
superficial observations, however, in swing I noticed more equal approach to
dancers where your dancing skills override your looks; local tangueros, are
closely knit community socializing outside the dance clubs and, unlike
Argentineans, disdainful of other dance forms. Still, some of the dancers in
those communities might be a tad envious of salsa world: we are the most
popular, the sex appeal of numerous "eye candy" is hard to resist - we are as
a group the Gemini butterflies of social dancing: superficial, fun,
irresistible, impulsive, passionate, unreliable, carefree, charming etc.etc…

…in dance, like in life, some people make things happen, some watch things
happen and some wonder what happened…

…the ultimate goal of a social dancer is to be able to lead all followers
regardless of their skills and for the followers - to be able to follow any
leader.  There are very few people out there who had enough training and
experience to achieve that.  Some think they can.  Some pretend they can,
but, afraid to face the truth, wouldn't test themselves. And most of us don't
think anything, just dance and have fun…
 
… salsa is such a macho dance: men get to literally manipulate women, "tell
them what to do", albeit not in words but in movements, and ladies must abide
by these rules, they are even called followers.  Look at rueda, it's a male
bonding ritual with ladies as their tools.  Then why so many women are drawn
to salsa?  It's a relief from their scary and tiring independence, somebody
else takes charge for a change…

…in response to the question what people are looking for in dancing, one
tanguero said: contact…

… certain salsa moves look like they've been created by sexually deprived
men.  Watching some of them on the dance floor the above statements certainly
seem true…

…followers are supposed to adjust to the leaders' style, wouldn't it be nice
for a change if leaders could feel the follower's strength and weakness and
adjust their lead accordingly so that she would not fall off balance if he is
too strong or if she needs stronger lead to understand what he wants to do…

by Maya

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