A perfect partner
I was as thrilled as all of you to read that ChinesePod has been named on Time’s list of great podcasts of 2006, but really… are any of us surprised? Not me, certainly. I have always viewed ChinesePod as the first “horseless carriage” of its kind. I think we’re likely to see many imitators spring up, but they’ll all be playing “follow the leader.”
But ChinesePod, and Ken Carroll in particular, are not merely leaders. They’re also great followers. John Pasden notes over in Ken’s blog that Ken is a visionary, and that his claims that he doesn’t yet know where ChinesePod is heading in 2007 contains just the tiniest bit of hyperbole. But this evening, as I took an hour or two to visit with my parents across town, we got on the subject of dancing (another language I am learning right now).
My parents are great dancers. They’ve been cutting a rug together for more than 50 years and they move with an effortlessness that’s amazing to watch. They’re the hit of the dance floor wherever they go. So as I stood there showing them some of the salsa steps I’ve been learning, I took my mother’s hand and I started to dance. And she followed.
“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know you knew how to salsa.”
“I don’t,” she said, “but I can follow anybody.”
And that’s when it hit me. When I step in with left foot on my quick-quick-slow, and she retreats on her right, she’s being the perfect partner. She doesn’t yet know what she’s going to do, because she doesn’t know what I’m going to do. She just shows up and reacts to her partner.
Just like Ken and ChinesePod.
Those of you who have even the slightest trepidation over ChinesePod’s plan for 2007, allow me to put those fears to rest. They will do what they have always done. They’ll listen, and they’ll respond. They’ll observe, and they’ll evolve. What will ChinesePod be by the time we reach 2008? Why, whatever we needed it to be, of course.
So relax, folks. Just face the music and dance.
You’re in good hands.
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Hi Frank
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve been learning to tango and, as a woman, it’s all about learning to follow exactly what your partner wants to do but, on the way, being able to add some fiddly bits of your own. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.
Yet, when there aren’t enough men to make up couples, it’s also good to lead sometimes too because it helps you figure out what to do when you go back to following.
The tango rocks! My teacher is a big fan of it and they’re trying to convince me to learn. I keep telling them, “One thing at a time.”
It’s a lot of fun, though.
Thanks for commenting, Bobbie, and Happy New Year!
As someone who does three dance classes a week, I know what you mean. I’m about 100 to 500 years behind you, style-wise, but it’s soooo great to have a partner who can follow where you lead. It’s also nice to have someone who can cover up your mistakes…
I can’t decide where Cpod fits in with my current tango with Chinese. Maybe it’s the firm, yet flexible frame made by our arms as we whirl around the floor. Maybe it’s the music. It’s not the fabric that’s the only thing between us.