Ouch!
Half-way through the first tango, Man Yung got kicked - by a guy who was dancing behind him. It was the intrepid tailgater - AGAIN.
This guy's modus operandi involves bumping - and then looking sheepish. The fact that he is swinging his left arm out like a crane and charging into and kicking people does not seem wrong to him. I imagine he collides so many times a night it he feels like he hasn't danced if he doesn't get his quota of tackles. "Whoops-a-daisy!" he must be thinking, plus - "What jolly, harmless fun!"
As for saying sorry - NEVER.
Meeting face-to-face after the milonga, Man Yung couldn't stop himself from pointing out the obvious to The Lord High Tailgater. "There's more than enough space, you don't have to crash into the people in front of you!" said Man Yung, exasperated.
"No," he said.
It was my turn. "You are always like this. One time, there were only two couples on the whole dance floor - you had the whole room between four people and still you had to go right up into the couple in front of you. All this space and you were practically up Man Yung's ass! What's wrong with you?"
"That's just your ego talking, " he said, snidely.
I can't explain to you what exactly he meant by that, but I can interpret it as the following:
1. It's his version of a witty repartee;
2. He has serious impairment in conceptualizing space. Or alternatively/concurrently, he has no sense of personal space;
3. Of course he doesn't remember when he has violated other people's dance space - it's just normal to him because it happens all the time;
4. He absolutely, unequivocally, obstinately refuses to accept responsibility for being such an a**hole on the dance floor.
Many men try to be better leaders - better at navigation, better with floorcraft, better at expressing the music. They enjoy tango more - and get better dances with better followers - as a result.
However, some leaders are just content on being bad dancers - until eternity. Some women will still dance with them anyway! Unfortunately, no amount of defensive driving can help you from being ambushed from behind by this kind of tailgating folk.
2 comments:
Ha! The same thing happened to me in BA at crowded Porteño y Bailarin. A former world champion, late thirties, dancing like a clown carrying a ladder, arm outstretched and turning relentlessly. I got my forearm block up in time (thank you, Kung fu lessons) but it was a good solid SSTEEEE-RIKE and he glared at me. I glare pretty well too, so I matched him and added a snarl.
Then, one lap later...he did it again! He glared even harder this time so I silently mouthed threats of violence at him, he looked startled, tucked his arm in and danced with more respect for other people afterwards.
Dear Tangogeoff,
Oh my goodness, you could be Man Yung's twin! :-)
Glad you stood up for correct behavior on the dance floor. Kung Fu training comes in handy when it comes to calming down clowns with ladders in milongas, LOL!
Thank you for commenting and sharing your very funny anecdote, have a great weekend!
Irene and Man Yung
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