The Willingness To Suck
27th April 2010
"goes beyond the normal realms of sucking and into brave new worlds of suckdom" ~ Glenn
Introduction
How "bad" are you willing to be at tango - and for how long?
Not Willing To Suck
(The "I'm not really willing to suck at all - this is supposed to be fun!" attitude)
"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try." ~ Homer Simpson
Social dancers simply aren't interested in being bad. This is a hobby. They can most likely get all the abuse they want at work or home - failing that try driving in London.
They have no interest in "homework" or practicing. They want classes that are fairly straight-forward, keep their attention and deliver results.
Willing to Suck
(The "I'm willing to suck deeply if it means I'll eventually achieve my goal." attitude)
"How was that?"
"Ok I guess. I mean we can cut together the shots from different cameras to make it work"
"*sigh* Let's do it again"
~ Tom Cruise after shooting a scene where he's cold, wet and being repeatedly knocked down into mud. But the result is a very good scene.
Serious dancers are willing to listen to the teacher when they tell you that basically everything you're doing is wrong. Then going and practicing what they told you, knowing that it will only make you slightly less wrong.
Because eventually you'll be right. And in tango "right" can be a very good place indeed.
A possible theory
I'm uncertain, but I think part of what motivates Serious Dancers is they've seen something that they want, and they have the self-awareness to realise it's going to take time and effort to achieve it. A good example is this
"There are two types of dancer. Firstly, there's the young guy whirling around in the middle of the dance floor, continuously using a series of flashy and damatic movements, his partner with a rictus smile of terror on her face. Secondly, there's an old guy shuffling around the outside of the floor, just walking slowly. Yet strangely, the old guy always seems to have a succession of gorgeous young women draped around him, with expressions of bliss on their faces." ~ David Bailey
Some people want to be the young guy. Others want to be the old guy. But either way it should be fairly obvious it's not just going to happen overnight.
I think Social dancers are either unaware of these possibilities, uninterested in them, or have simply accepted they don't have the time, energy or moeny to achieve them.
~ Christopher O'Shea, 27th April 2010