Perhaps it would be helpful if organizers of the milongas and practicas outside of Buenos Aires would start educating the dancers on the finer points of the rules of engagement for Argentine Tango, by doing something similar.

i actually tried it for a couple hours at a milonga last week, but nothing came of it… then again, a man here who would actually be informed and experienced enough to use it is probably an advanced level dancer, and would dance with people he knows will have a great connection with him.

once, a man kept staring back, and i thought it would work… thirty minutes later (long after the “stare” was forgotten), he walked over like everyone else and asked for a dance. so i don’t think it was a cabeceo… he probably thought i found him attractive or something.

:/

I dunno, I think that if the cabeceo is done properly, there is no rejection at all. Just missed eye contact. In the correctly done cabeceo, there is only ever “yes”. “No” doesn’t even play a part because it doesn’t have to. Anyone who doesn’t want to dance with you (or me) just won’t make eye contact. It’s a hard game to play. Being turned down is never a “fun” experience though, and I can even say it from a woman’s point of view.

My body aches to dance when I hear Tanturi/Castillo as well, but I’m sure that’s obvious.
Ah, the Tangoed (tangled) web we weave.

At the end of the aforementioned milonga a very sweet lady came up to me and said how sorry she was that I did not dance very much. If not for the fact that she was not feeling well that night she would have liked to dance with me, she said. It turned out she was the organizer of the milonga. On the way out I chuckled over the fact that I had managed to attract the attention of an influential tanguera by doing little more than sitting around getting rejected for most of the night, but such is the sophistication of tango.