Saturday, February 21, 2009

A note on cabaceo


To the person wondering about cabaceo in such places, I will give you this:

I have tangoed in many cities, many countries and cabaceo works in crowded places. The larger the tango community the more cabaceo is used. In Buenos Aires where there are dancers galore, cabaceo is a necessity. Cabaceo in smaller tango communities, where there are only 10-50 dancers total, cabaceo is a clueless endeavour. In the States, cabaceo is less used than say... BA or Paris, where there is a larger network of dancers.

I personally prefer cabaceo, because then I don't have to say no to someone's face, I can just look away. I have stopped feeling obligated to dance with people because I don't want to embarrass them. For me, it is no longer quantity of tandas or partners, but quality.

Use your judgment with cabaceo. The more advance the dancer, the more he/she understands cabaceo. Relatively new tango communities do not understand it.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love cabeceo! And it's cab-E-ceo :D Pretty common mistake if you've only ever heard it vs. seen it spelled out.

Anonymous said...

As a follower, I much prefer Cabeceo and totally agree with you that I look for quality then quantity. So, I say no and do not feel that I have to dance every tendas.

Anonymous said...

I leave the choice to the tanguera.
and the better she dances the better she understands the attraction and the limits of the cabaceo.