Tango and Interdependence between the Sexes

Interdependency is an inherent part of human relationships. There is immense value in the interdependence between the two sexes. Men and women have different strengths, weaknesses, expertise, experiences, and perspectives. They bear different responsibilities and share different tasks in teamwork. Each gender offers discrete forms of emotional support and companionship, makes distinct contributions, and brings different qualities to a fulfilled life. Happiness for either gender hinges on the presence and contribution of the other. Neither gender can be happy without the other.

Feminists blindly oppose women's dependence on men. But the dependence of women is a result of natural selection, helping the two sexes form a sustainable relationship for the benefit of offspring and the proliferation of the species. Women's beauty makes them attractive to men, aids in human propagation. Women's tenderness and sentimentality complement men's toughness and strength, fostering mutual attraction. Women's petiteness and fragility make them sensitive to other's vulnerabilities, making them good mothers and caregivers. Women's hormonal fluctuations during menstruation associated with their fertility, and their need for support during pregnancy and childbirth, make them more dependent in some ways, but that is not inherently negative. The delicacy and reliance of women serve as a crucial incentive for men, making men more responsible, and giving men immense satisfaction. This in return strengthens bonds, encourages mutual support, care and empathy, culminating in stronger emotional ties that lead to solidarity, cooperation, shared responsibility, and a more harmonious relationship.

Similarly, men are dependent on women in numerous areas, including romance, household responsibilities, companionship, emotional support, parenting, caring for elders, and much more. Women's qualities like tenderness, sentimentalism, attention to detail, aesthetic preferences, etc. can complement men's areas where they benefit from women's inputs and support.

The interdependence and mutual attraction between the sexes is the most moving and eternal theme of art. The popularity of tango, in particular, lies in its ability to encapsulate and satisfy the yearning between the sexes. Tango, with its intimate physical contact and emotional interactions, beautifully balances women's delicacy and reliance with men's strength, satisfying both genders. Women are drawn to tango as it allows them to express their attachment and dependence, while men find satisfaction in women's reliance and obedience. (See Close Embrace and Open Embrace (I).)

Long-term observation and experience have convinced me that a good tango is one that satisfies the needs between the sexes, rather than the kind of performance that only cares about images. Proficient tangueras excel in conveying women's attachment and dependence on men while showcasing women's feminine beauty through dance. Similarly, skilled tangueros can satisfy women's attachment and dependence while allowing their feminine beauty to shine. Deepening this knowledge and polishing the skills to fulfil these needs between men and women should be the lifelong pursuit of every tango dancer. (See Artistic Sublimation and Vulgarism in Tango.)

Dancing with Hips

Dancing tango requires skillful rotation of the hips, especially for women. This is because in tango the man typically dances around the dance floor and the woman dances around the man. Since her torso is attached to his torso in the embrace, the woman needs to rotate her hips in order to step on either side of the man or dance around him. This technique, known as dissociation, works best on a woman because the suppleness of her body makes her more suitable for dancing around the man, rather than the other way around. The flexibility of a woman's body also makes her dance more appealing, hence the gender role division of men leading women and women beautifying dance.

In practice, the hips don’t need to be turned much. A 45° rotation of the hips is sufficient for her to place her right leg on his right or her left leg on his left, although some movements, such as molinete and back sacada, may require a greater rotation of the hips. From an aesthetic standpoint, however, exaggerated hip rotation can better express women's gender characteristics and femininity. As a result, in certain styles women deliberately turn their hips wider for enhanced expression.

In addition to display the flexible beauty of a woman’s body, hip rotation can also increase the range and possibility of her movements. By skillfully rotating her hips, a woman is able to navigate agilely around the man, fine-tune her position in relation to him in complex movements while maintain good connection during the interplay. A well trained woman can turn her hips more than 90°. This way she can step wherever she wants around the man, even move backwards with the front ocho, or move forward with the back ocho. The proficiency in hip rotation also allows her to exhibit a sense of grace and fluidity in her dancing, making her performance captivating. Women who excel in tango and stand out on the dance floor are invariably those who possess a remarkable ability to maneuver their hips with finesse.

Swiveling the hips and pivoting the lower body while keeping the torso relatively still against the partner's body takes some practice to master, but it is a fundamental skill that a tango woman must develop. A woman's tango can be truly stunning only if she can execute hip rotation flawlessly. This is also true for men, as the competence to swivel the hips helps the man to maintain good physical contact with the woman and enhances his ability to use his torso to lead her. The first rule of tango is that your torso must always face your partner's torso, no matter which side of you she or he is on or moving to. Therefore all tango dancers must be proficient in this technique. (See Dissociation and Gear Effect.)

Why Women Fail to Do Cruzada

Tango dancing begins with a four-step routine called salida done diagonally on woman's right and ending with the woman's cruzada. The first step of salida is a side step. In the second and third steps the man walks on the woman's right, causing the need for her to recove the symmetrical position in line with him. The most convenient way or shortcut to recover that position is to cross her left leg in front of her right leg in the fourth step. There is no other signal telling her to do the cross except that he is walking on her right. In other words, the woman relies on her sense of equilibrium to return to a symmetrical position with the man by crossing her left leg in front of her right leg.

Tango women must be able to perceive and adjust their body position in relation to their partner. The sense of equilibrium is essential for maintaining alignment. A well-developed sense of equilibrium not only provides women with balance, stability and control over their movements, helping create a visually pleasing appearance, it also makes them sensitive to changes in their body position in relation to their partner, enhancing their ability to maintain proper alignment and weight distribution in partnering work.

Students with a strong sense of equilibrium can quickly get used to crossing their left leg in front of their right leg when the man walks on their right, while those with a weak sense of equilibrium are less sensitive to changes in body position in relation to their partner, thus often fail to do cruzada. For such women, practicing salida helps to get them into the habit of doing cruzada when the man walks on their right.

Bad embrace can also cause women to be insensitive to changes in their body position in relation to their partner. Some women wrap their left arm around the man's right arm, causing their body to be on the right side of the man's body. This misalignment makes them less sensitive to changes in the man's body position. Novice women dancing in open dance hold also can't perceive subtle changes in their partner's body position due to the lack of physical contact. Both may cause them not to do the cruzada when the man walks on their right.

The right embrace is square and symmetrical, in which the two partners face each other chest against chest, his left hand holds her right hand at shoulder height, his right arm wraps around her body, and her left arm is hooked around his shoulder, so the two are perfectly aligned. This correct embrace is not only the most comfortable, it also allows the woman to feel any subtle changes in the position of the man's body, so when he walks on her right, she will naturally reposition her body with the cruzada to bring her body back into line with his.

In my experience, failing to do cruzada is a common mistake women often make. Perpaps half of the women I dance with fail to do cruzada from time to time, and most of them are not new to tango. By adding a step, cruzada often serves as weight shift on the woman's part, thereby transforming the dancing system from balance system to cross system, or from cross system to balance system. Because this affects how the man leads the next step, it is vital for the woman to do the cross when the man wants her to do so by walking on her right. Developing a strong sense of equilibrium, using correct embrace, maitaining proper alignment, being sensitive to changes in the body position in relation to the partner, and practicing enough salida all help to get into the habit of doing cruzada.

Ocho

Although all tango women can do ocho, many fail to grasp its importance and dedicate sufficient time to practicing it. However, if there is one step that can significantly enhance a woman's tango, it is ocho. This is because ocho encompasses all basic techniques that are essential in women's dancing, including embrace, posture, connection, torso communication, pivot, dissociation, gear effect, cadencia, and the ability to return to the home position in a timely manner after each step. A woman who can do ocho well will also be good at other moves, and a woman whose ocho is clumsy won't be good at other moves either. Moreover, ocho is the most frequently used female step in tango. It can best express a woman's feminine beauty, such as her softness, gentleness, suppleness, lightness, grace, and elegance. A woman's tango can be truly stunning only if she can execute ocho beautifully. While some may argue that molinete is another quintessential female step, it is merely a sequence of forward and backward ochos.

The term "ocho" originates from the Spanish word for "eight". In this figure the woman traces the shape of an S on the floor with one leg and then repeats the same with the other leg. The two S shapes overlap in opposite directions, creating the visual effect of the number 8. To execute ocho, the woman begins by rotating her hips and walking to one side of her partner. She then pivots, rotates her hips again, and walks in the opposite direction.

It's crucial to perform ocho with excellent connection, balance, flexibility, smoothness and elegance. Women who use open dance hold tend to turn their entire body instead of rotating their hips, causing a breakdown in connection and lack of intimacy. The correct way is to keep your torso connected to your partner and swivel your hips before making the step, as shown in the following video (6:10-10:00), so that you can maintain close physical interaction with the partner as you perform ocho.

Most tango instructors emphasize dissociation, i.e., the rotation of the hips, when they teach ocho, while neglecting to teach another important technique, cadencia, or the swing of the body. However, combining dissociation and cadencia adds elegance to the movement while creating a swaying feel that enhances the pleasure of the movement. In order to swing the body, it is important to moderate the dance tempo. Many students dance too hastily, leaving no time for their bodies to sway. The man should give the woman sufficient time to execute each step, while the woman should perform each move with poise, sophistication and elegance, as the following vedio demonstrates.

Ocho can be danced in a variety of ways. It is the most colorful step of all tango steps that can fully display a woman's feminine, gentle, soft, pliable, graceful and creative beauty. Here are some examples.

Mastering these variations can make a woman's dance more captivating. Tango women should make practicing them a part of their daily routine, dedicating 10-20 minutes every day until they have internalized the movements and developed their own personal style. The key word here is internalization, which enables the woman to concentrate on her partner rather than the steps. A bad tendency at present is to use too many variations to show off. Women must overcome the urge to swagger. They may know many variations of ocho, but it's better to use the normal form and only add some variation occasionally, instead of overwhelming themselves with too many options.

Ocho can be a very seductive move due to the physical interactions between the partners. (See Dissociation and Gear Effect.) Instead of concentrating on her own performance, the woman should focus on the physical interactions with her partner, devoting her attention to making him feel good, and establishing a deep and meaningful communication with him as she dances ocho. This is only possible when she has internalized the movement. (See The Four Stages of the Tango Journey.)

America Is in Big Trouble

What creates wealth is the real economy like agriculture, manufacturing, mining, energy and construction. The trade, professional service and financial sectors only provide assistance in exchange for a piece of the pie. They do not generate wealth by themselves. (See Mammonism.)

Today's American economy is too service-oriented and financialized. Except for a few remaining high-tech and military industries, most of the manufacturing has moved to countries with low production costs. The US economy has undergone severe deindustrialization over the past few decades and has become increasingly dominated by financial capitalism that relies on financial operations to reap the wealth of the world, while its productivity has long been unable to support its hegemony. Our apparent strength is built on virtual finance rather than real economy. The Federal Reserve prints a huge amount of money each year. Our national debt has exceeded $32 trillion. Private lending reached another $30 trillion. Much of this money flows abroad through purchases of foreign goods, loans to other countries, and payments to our debt creditors, as the US dollar as the world reserve currency is demanded by all countries. It is estimated that there are more than $80 trillion dollars in circulation abroad.

This allows the US not only to harvest the wealth of the world with printed dollars, but also to influence other economies with its monetary policy, such as using monetary easing (reducing interest rate and increasing dollar supply) to stimulate borrowing, and monetary tightening (increasing interest rate and reducing dollar supply) to make the dollar appreciate relative to other currencies, causing the repatriation of capital to the US and the contraction of other economies, enabling US financial oligarchs to acquire foreign assets and stocks at a discount price. Monetary policy is often operated in conjunction with other measures, such as creating regional tensions, social unrests and color revolutions under the pretext of human rights etc. to worsen the investment climate in other countries so that the US can reap their wealth while profit from arms sales and wars. Of course, the direct beneficiaries are the US special interests, not the American people.

The current world economic order established by US special interests is unfair and immoral from the standpoint of developing countries. To maintain this order, the US special interests have made unremitting efforts to stifle the growth of rival economies, such as UK, Germany, USSR and Japan in the past, and Russia, Europe and China today. They have instigated the Russia-Ukraine conflict to contain Russia while creating a security crisis for Europe, cut off cheap Russian energy supply to the continent, seized the European market with expensive American energy, which sparked severe inflation that affected people's lives, a dramatic increase in the cost of production that damaged the European economy, and a significant capital outflow from the region, further eroded Europe's strategic autonomy, tied Europe to the American chariot against the rising East, and made Europe more dependent on the US for security. They are currently creating tension in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to contain China.

America's determination to maintain its global hegemony contradicts the aspirations of other nations to develop their own economies. Most countries desire a cooperative, equitable, and peaceful environment for development that benefits all parties. The US policy of prioritizing America's interests, promoting unipolar hegemony, and asserting extraterritorial jurisdiction has encountered opposition from developing countries worldwide.

Faced with mounting debt, inflation and financial crises that a hollowed-out economy must face, US policymakers are caught in growing anxiety. But, instead of focusing on solving deep-seated structural and institutional problems within the United States itself, they resorted to high-handed tactics to pass on the crises, including continuously raising the debt ceiling, forcing other countries to buy more and more US treasuries with no intention of repaying the debt, flexing military muscles, provoking regional conflicts, launching cognitive, trade, technological, and financial wars, using US domestic law to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over other countries, imposing unilateral sanctions to suppress foreign companies, freezing and confiscating foreign overseas assets, weaponizing the US dollar and the SWIFT system, sabotaging civilian infrastructures of other countries, and engaging in embargo, decoupling, clique and isolation, etc. These tactics aimed at containing other economies also caused serious damage to our own, ruined America's reputation as a fair player, weakened its international influence, damaged the credibility of the dollar, further isolated America itself, and is causing a global sell-off of US treasuries and de-dollarization that will ultimately end US hegemony. To make matters worse, uncontrollable inflation in the US has forced the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively, triggering the current wave of bank failures and a global economic downturn, causing turmoil in the financial markets of many countries, especially heavily indebted countries.

For its own self-interest, the United States has become a source of instability in the world. Of course, its vested interests will not stop being the troublemaker. Some of them think that they can harvest others's wealth forever just by keeping the money printing presses running. Others are willing to start another world war to maintain their hegemony. On the surface, it is the overcapitalization and overfinancialization that have led to America's crises, but the root of the problem lies in the ideologies that the American plutocrats believe, that is, capitalism, Darwinism, Machiavellianism, the law of the jungle, and zero-sum game. (See Darwinism and Eastern Philosophies.) It's just that they forget that a hegemony built on mounting debt rather than real ecomony is not sustainable. Most tango dancers do not embrace the ideologies of the American plutocrats, I believe, because these ideologies contradict the spirit of tango, but we cannot but be wary of the negative influence of these ideologies on our life and tango.

The world that the majority of nations seek is a democratic world where all countries have the same opportunity to develop their economies and advance the lives of their people through win-win cooperation. US policy makers must abandon their selfish, bullying and myopic approach if they truly believe in democracy. The American electorate deserves leaders who demonstrate greater moral principles. Otherwise, America will ultimately face the repercussions of its behaviors. (See The Vicious Circle of Regime Change.)

P.S.
The following video explains the American monetary system, from Bretton Woods agreement, decoupling of USD to gold, USD pegging to oil, consumer capitalism, vendor financing, outsourcing manufacturing, job losses, big trade deficits, huge inequality, big military, lots of wars, printing more and more money and having more and more debt, to devaluation of USD and inflation. The speaker attributes this doomed system to dollar as the world reserve currency and suggests that these will all end when a new currency regime emerges. The question is whether vested interests in the US will allow that to happen before the empire collapses?

Darwinism and Eastern Philosophies

English naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western Hemisphere. His book, On the Origin of Species, published in 1859, revolutionized Western thought.

Darwin's theory is based on the idea of natural selection. Organisms with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. This is largely due to the fact that variation exists within all populations of organisms. Throughout the lives of the individuals their genomes interact with their environments to cause random mutations arise in the genome, which can be passed on to their offspring. Because individuals with certain variants of the trait tend to survive and reproduce more than individuals with other less successful variants, the population evolves.

While most scientists came to accept evolution as descent with modification, not all agreed with Darwin's assertion that natural selection is the primary, but not exclusive, means of modification. Some favored competing explanations that assigned a lesser role to natural selection. One critique is that Darwin placed too much emphasis on the "struggle for existence" and "the survival of the fittest" among individuals, and did not give sufficient consideration to the role of coexistence, interdependence and cooperation within a species, and the importance of ecological balance between species in the evolution of species. (See Pluralism vs. Monism.)

While Darwin's theory has given us a new conception of the world of life and revolutionized the whole study of nature, it also had adverse impacts. One of the negative consequences was the misguided use of the concepts of "struggle for existence" and "survival of the fittest" among individuals to human societies by some people in the West. This has resulted in ideologies such as social Darwinism, exceptionalism, racism, individualism, law of the jungle theory, zero-sum competition, and unipolar hegemony, etc., that pose a threat to human solidarity, social harmony, and world peace. The harms these ideologies have done to mankind should not be underestimated, as Western civilization ever since Darwin was built on power, warfare, conquest, colonization, genocide, exploitation, and looting of other peoples, with Darwin's fellow countrymen taking a prominent role. These ideologies have also fuelled Western capitalism that led to brutal competitions, severe inequality, depletion of natural resources, destruction of ecological balance, and damage to the environment. (See Democracy vs. Plutocracy.)

Fortunately Darwinism did not have as much an impact in the Eastern Hemisphere, where the prevailing philosophies, such as Confucianism and Taoism, value the unity of nature and man, the natural way of life, and the harmonious relationship and win-win cooperation between nations and people. While it is too early to draw conclusions about the merits of Eastern and Western philosophies, the rise of the East and the decline of the West in our times seems to suggest that collectivism and cooperation, not individualism and competition, are more conducive to the success of the species. This is also attested by tango. (See Philosophies that Separate Two Different Worlds.)