Once in the metro, I kept guesstimating my chances to meet the ponytail girl, while my classmate remained silent. Then he changed the subject.
"- Yunno, I'm not sure I'll stick with tango. Maybe I'll try something else".
What to reply? To my eyes he had always seemed aware of his limitations, but dedicated. He had travelled abroad to attend workshops with masters like Geraldine. Even for this weekly class with our unknown teacher he had made a three-hour train trip. Did he feel like he had reached a dead-end? Had the teacher made some witty comment while correcting him?
"- Well, today's class was difficult for anybody...but technique is necessary...one day it will
pay off...
- No, it's not that, it's the women."
I was still puzzled. Yes, women ignore you if there is a better leader in the room, yes they're prompt to blame you for your poor technique while theirs is questionable, yes they're unable to identify the name of any tango piece/orchestra even if they've heard it one thousand time, yes they're sort of a necessary evil but hey, nothing new here, he must have been aware of this since the very moment he took up A.T
"It's the women. They come to me, they talk me about their life, very personal things sometimes, they laugh at my jokes, they press my hand in theirs while we dance, they send all this sort of signals, but...then goodbye and it's over. I'd like to make it last longer, I'd like to get
more, but..."
Finally I somehow got it. I had read things about men getting into A.T to meet girls and get dates, but I had never witnessed it so far.
" - Well, tango is deceptive in this respect. They play a game because they know it's just for the time of a dance, or for the time of a milonga evening. And they make the assumption that you also know it's a game. Sure If you were sharing another hobby, dunno, bridge or tennis, the same signals you were talking about would mean something, but here...
Maybe get a regular date in a restaurant or an art gallery or something. But in any case
try to put them out of A.T context."
