Here’s another fascinating insight into how women traditionally learnt to dance Tango in Argentina by Christine Denniston.
In the old days, ladies learnt to dance in private and at home, usually by their fathers, brothers or uncles, but some were taught by mothers, sisters or aunts. In the same was that it was obvious a young man needed to learn the follower’s role, a young lady would also learn both how to lead and how to follow.
While it is not part of the official history of Tango, some believe that a considerable number of women in the Golden Age and probably even before that learnt to dance both the man and the woman’s part, and took their Tango as seriously as the men did.
As ladies were such a rare commodity, there was much less pressure on women to reach a high standard in the dance. For this reason, a woman did not have to be a particularly good dancer to dance all night if she wished.
Of course, it is clear that some women were significantly better than the rest, and that they were the ones that any man would choose to dance with.
Most probably, these were the women who practiced, and who, in the privacy of their homes, led.
Abrazo,
Nati & Bruno
Source: http://www.history-of-tango.com/learn-to-dance.html
