Tango y Cultura Popular ® English Edition TyCP Special | Page 49

-Men shouldn’t get too near women at a milonga. First, they have to make sure
they want to dance with each other. It could be that, getting to the table to ask a
woman dance, was a European kind of way in those times. In Buenos Aires, if a
man does this, the woman will refuse with no guilt.
-You might be a brave man, but at the milongas, you shouldn’t get too close
and offer your hand to ask a woman dancing. You shouldn’t make her feel
uncomfortable.
-Tango codes and cabeceo (*) did not come out of the blue. If you look at me and
I don’t look at you, it means I don’t want to dance with you, but let’s imagine this
scenario, and still, you come near so bravely and ask me dancing. Why would you
put me in such an awkward situation, if I don’t want to dance with you and I have
to tell you ‘NO’? You might be a very courageous man, but it is not nice to make
a woman feel uncomfortable.
-No-one should push anyone to do anything! In Argentina, ‘no’ means ‘no’. And
this is advice for you all, that any female ‘no’ is ‘no’.
(Clapping.)
José María Otero
(*) Move the head from one side to the other or from top to bottom.
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