Wednesday 25 December 2013
Express yourself!
How many times have you heard these exhortations from teachers of tango:
Allow yourself to be transported by the music.
Focus on the connection with your partner and the music.
Develop your own personal style.
I believe in these statements. So, why was I aghast when a couple in a milonga was doing their own thing (in concert with the music), executing bizarre, disturbing movements reminiscent of a stage show?
Fortunately, there were no collisions with other dancers or surrounding objects. It was not a case of Dodgems on the dance-floor. However, their dancing was incongruous with that of other couples around them in the ronda. They seemed unaware of their disruptive influence on an otherwise harmonious dance-floor.
The person sitting next to me was more forgiving and remarked that they were simply expressing themselves. No doubt, they were dancing tango in the way familiar to themselves. They appeared to be having a good time, and isn't that the most important thing? It made me ask myself if I had become grouchy and intolerant of styles different to my own. Was I being too sensitive and critical? I think not, but that's a somewhat biased opinion, of course!
It seemed that the couple had not internalised a basic fact: Tango is, above all, a Social Dance.
Perhaps they had never been taught the skills and awareness enabling them to dance with the other couples in the ronda. Maybe the distinction between performance and social tango had never been made clear, ie. social tango is not primarily for the entertainment of onlookers. Carlitos and Noelia show us the difference, and the contrast could hardly be greater: performance and social tango.
Tango therapist's social tango etiquette emphasizes consideration and respect for the surrounding couples. Why? Because surrendering to the music and your partner in an intimate embrace requires us to trust not only our partner, but also trust those dancing nearby - something we cannot do if collisions seem likely.
Here are snippets of milongas in Chan Park's documentary trailer, showing how we can express ourselves in the dance and allow those around us to do the same.
PP
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TSA wrote: "Tango is, above all, a Social Dance."
ReplyDeleteThe problems you describe start with those who overlook that tango is, above all, a genre of music.
You're right, Chris. Tango is indeed a genre of music to be respected.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think the problems I describe are a product of people not understanding the culture of social tango, which goes beyond learning to dance.
Trouble is, people can't develop an understanding, unless consistently exposed to those cultural values (eg. through immersion in the traditional milongas of Buenos Aires or via one's teachers who have themselves been immersed and embraced that culture.)
PP
The culture of tango needs to be taught along with the dance. There are many teachers who have never danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires, so it's impossible for them to teach what they don't know.
ReplyDeleteVideos leave lasting impressions. The quantity of performance tango videos outnumber social tango. A steady diet of those will convince people that those lovely performances are how tango is danced in Buenos Aires, especially when Argentines are the performers.
It's an uphill battle on the social dance floors of the world where doing what you feel in the music is like giving a teenager a license to drive without explaining the rules of the road.
Another great post.
"... doing what you feel in the music is like giving a teenager a license to drive without explaining the rules of the road"
ReplyDeleteSuch an apt comparison! thanks for your comment, Janis.
PP