Dance and Danceability
What wild imaginations one forms where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken!
Sometimes I will be sitting at a milonga and can't help but compare what I observe to something exactly out of a Jane Austen novel. It is curiously fascinating to me to watch people through this filter of Recency manners. It is where I would rather watch the interactions silently than dance sometimes.
I don't do it all the time, but there are some milongas that bring out the inner Jane in me. Certain dances have a much more observable differentiation of the levels of people and a certain stratification of the attendees.
I am still trying to figure out which character I am. I must be one of the country cousins. I am certainly not one of the first tier of grand ladies.
Studio Gracia last night was a perfect example. My new Willoughby was there (or I like to think of him that way), throwing me overboard for the Miss Sophia Greys and her ilk.
I am still waiting for my Mr. Darcy, Colonel Brandon or Edward Ferrars, though. I don't think those types go to Studio Gracia.
I seem to find more of the Mr. Collinses at this particular place, which is probably why I don't go very often. And then there are the young officers on leave from their regiments. *sigh*
20 comments:
Oh DON'T dance with Mr Collins!! That would just be.... too.... uhm... let's say icky.
I have always wanted Mr Darcy. Especially after the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. Although Mr Bingley is a dear too....
Funny side note. My sister has farm animals and lives in the country. Her husband bought her two pairs of fancy chickens for their anniversary. These chickens mate for life. One pair are named Elizabeth and Darcy and the other pair Jane and Bingley. ;-)
Unfortunately, I don't always know a Mr. Collins until I am in the presence of one on the dance floor. (But I do make note of them for future!)
I have to admit that my preference is for a Willoughby even though that can be bad for my spirits at times. But I have always been that way.
I love the story about the chickens...is it easier for them to mate for life than people? Or is it more of an arranged marriage?
;-)
Ohhhhhhh yes!!!
She was good.
That reminds me, the day before yesterday I danced with someone who was really, really nice to dance with, but totally unsmiling, like Colin Firth in the BBC version of P&P. I couldn't think who he reminded me of until the next day. I knew there was a smile in there somewhere but the only way I could get it out was by creative bitching, just like Elizabeth does!
I'm good at creative bitching, but it doesn't reflect very well on my character.
Oh, yes, so many Mr Collinses. Jane would have had a field day with the tango scene.
Actually, I do have a Mr Darcy in my tango life. But I very much doubt the story will end the way it did for Elizabeth!
To my dearest Misses Hedgehog and Psyche,
It sounds as though you are both dancing in the Land of the Darcys (what was it, Pemberley?). It sounds as though you both know how best to work with your respective reserved dreamboats.
I confess I am very jealous.
What a fabulous, literary filter! Jane Austen indeed!! I usually gravitate to the soap opera filter, but I'm clearly going to have to rethink my approach!
Oh, but Jane Austen is the best kind of soap opera filter!
That is why Misses Debbi, Hedgehog and Psyche, and many others, have been wanting Mr. Darcy since Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813.
Apparently I am the only one here who longs for the bad boy, or else the others reading are not fessing up.
Well yes, of course it is a soap opera. But it's a soap opera with manners. Not like the boobs on All My Children. Not that I watch that stuff. I really don't. Seriously. But I sometimes look out at the crowd in the milonga and imagine how very As The World Turns they are.
I really don't watch that stuff. But I do read Victorian novels :-)
i'm always wishing i could find my mr.darcy but i usually end up with mr.willoughby's. oh, but i'm not talking about the tango here, just life. i'm too new to the tango scene to have had any such encounters. i'm just tyring not to break any toes, so heart breakin is no where within my mind. {yet}
Dear Ms. Wellspring,
I think you may have broken one heart already...
We should get you some closed toe shoes. It's more likely that your toes will be broken. A hazard of following (in the beginning, at least, before you learn how to keep out of the way!)
;-)
ah yes, i forgot about HIM. but i think he crushes on every new girl, so it doesn't really count. plus he's, well, how do i put it, not exactly a viable contender. my penchant for attracting freaks, jerks and bizarro's has been quite remarkable. ;o)
close-toed shoes are my next tango purchase, i think. well, that or the purple strappy delovelies with stilletto heels. hmmmm....
I love Willoughly too! But in the real world, it's the Darcys that get me every time.
I think my Darcy is coming to the States next year - maybe you'll run into him. I mean, it's not a *very* big country, is it? :)
Dear Ms. Psyche,
I agree. The Willoughbys of the world make our hearts beat faster (before they break them), but it is the solid types are better for our well-being.
We are a big country: big and uncouth and uneducated but certainly well-meaning. But not so big where tango is concerned. Please send your Mr. Darcy to San Francisco, and he will be handled with the utmost care and gentle treatment.
Your country cousin,
tangobaby
I think we're all country cousins, us Euro and American types. The portenos are the sophisticated upper classes, and we eye their fashionable clothes and elegant manners from the lower end of the ballroom.
Well said, Ms. Psyche. Whether it's Regency England or modern London, some things never change, do they?
;-)
i already have my mr. darcy, and i am keeping him! :-P
but i would pick mr. willoughby over a darcy or a bingley anyday -- afterall, it's just for a tanda, and the more fun the better.
(please don't tell me i am a closet lydia.)
Darling Nuit,
I think a lot of us are closet (or not so closet) Lydias or else we wouldn't be in love with tango either! A passionate nature is required, don't you think? (Although the passionate ones don't always get rewarded in Jane's world, do they?)
We shouldn’t overestimate Darcy’s dancing skills. While having great potential, he still needs to work on his technique. I’d go for Captain Frederick Wentworth:-)
Hello La Tanguerita,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I think Mr. Darcys of the world are treasured more for their constancy and good morals than their dancing. I wish I could remember the good Captain. Perhaps Mr. Collins was too disturbing to me.
I should also say Willkommen! Ich wünschte, ich könnte sprechen Deutsch für Sie.
;-)
Yes, Messrs.Collinses of this world tend to be very disturbing at times.
Thank you;-)I like your blog very much. You don't need to speak German though:I'm planning on alternating languages in my blog.
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