Re: [Tango-L] What Argentine Tango is, and what it is not.
Floyd Baker wrote: I believe and have been told by people here that it is very much what Tango is.., and what it is not. Tango, imho, is such an entirely separate entitity from ballroom that I do not even consider it a dance at all. I don't consider ballroom a dance, but a sport much like figure skating is ;). AT is a dance, though. Unless you become so mired in discussions of orthodoxy and heresy that you stop having fun and suffer from paralysis on the dance floor, not daring to step another step for fear of commiting unspeakable sin. Then it becomes a sport again, just like chess. -- Alexis Cousein [EMAIL PROTECTED] Senior Systems Engineer/Solutions Architect SGI/Silicon Graphics -- If I have seen further, it is by standing on reference manuals ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] Argentine Tango Dancer Census: Increasing, Decreasing or Dividing?
On 2008-03-06 22:41+, Felix Delgado wrote: Are tango numbers actually decreasing? One description I've heard is that people aren't staying with tango as long as they used to. Many communities are constantly recruiting beginners. Or maybe tango communities are just splitting into little subgroups organized by different instructors. I don't know. But the large tango crowds seem to be less frequent. This is not healthy for the future of tango. Felix To be honest I think is most likely to do with how unaccommodating the Tango community is becoming. That Tango appears to be less and less about people coming together to dance and more about being part of a kind of self-righteousness elitist group who hold a kind of religious belief about Tango. I have a good friend who went to a Tango class for the first time and has never given Tango another chance since. She said the people were unfriendly, arrogant and no one seemed to care at all for those who were starting to learn for the first time. All she wanted was to meet people and start a new hobby. My point is that Tango is no longer just a dance and though it is exciting to discover how much more there is to Tango beside the dance, it is this attitude that has made it unattractive, inaccessible and really just soo arrogant. If Tango was originally people coming together in small venues smiling laughing and enjoying each others company, the music and practising movements and growing a dance; that is a far cry from what it is today. Just the level of bickering and patronising on this mailing list demonstrates how people can't even share their opinion without stepping on someones toes. And toes, dare one EVER bump into someone nowadays in a milonga. It takes weeks to pull out the eye daggers. If the Tango community is decreasing it would not surprise me at all. 'Mash London,UK ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] Argentine Tango Dancer Census: Increasing, Decreasing or Dividing?
Hey, Culturally, I see big differences as far as socializing goes compared to western (from where I am from) and latin europe. I mainly know Boston, but there's little things that don't seem to be very usual in US. For example, rarely anyone stays talking for an hour in a restaurant after the dinner, just having some drink and chatting. People eat and leave. It's as if restaurants are only there to eat and after that, off you go! This surprises me as the best part of going out to dinner, to me, has always been the lively chat after a good meal, *slowly* savored. Having dinner is a good excuse to get people together, because, you know, everyone normally has one every night. When I go to milongas, I like to sit, watch the floorcraft and listen. This has surprised many of my friends since they go to milongas to dance! I love dancing, but I don't need or want to dance everything. I'm sure I will probably be dancing more as I get more experienced, but right now, I like to learn music, listen to what music compose the tandas and, try to socialize a bit. I also like to watch dancers I like and try to understand why I don't like so much others. I believe tango is a very social dance and it only makes sense as such. I believe you shouldn't go to a milonga for dancing alone, but for the whole experience, for the atmosphere, friends and socializing. Argentines by drop boston milongas and aren't always dancing. That surprises some of my friends and I don't understand them. Learning and dancing AT would not make sense to me if I couldn't also enjoy the unique atmosphere that is (hopefully) created at milongas. I think creating this culture of more than just *a dance* would help to keep communities going. This would make communities friendlier and more amenable to welcoming new elements. There are interesting phenomena that happen when cultures or religions are emulated outside their origins. There's a tendency towards extremes. It's funny that some milongas outside BA are probably much more unfriendly than BA's most unfriendly. It's interesting but at the same time hurtful to the communities. peace b On 3/7/08, 'Mash [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: To be honest I think is most likely to do with how unaccommodating the Tango community is becoming. That Tango appears to be less and less about people coming together to dance and more about being part of a kind of self-righteousness elitist group who hold a kind of religious belief about Tango. -- Bruno Afonso http://brunoafonso.com (personal, mostly portuguese) http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:BrunoAfonso (Professional, english) ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] What Argentine Tango is, and what it is not.
On Mar 7, 2008, at 4:17 AM, Alexis Cousein wrote: Floyd Baker wrote: I believe and have been told by people here that it is very much what Tango is.., and what it is not. Tango, imho, is such an entirely separate entitity from ballroom that I do not even consider it a dance at all. I don't consider ballroom a dance, but a sport much like figure skating is ;). I'm not sure I understand this discussion. It doesn't correspond to my experiences with ballroom. I learned ballroom dancing (not learn in a studio) before I learned AT: Foxtrot, One-step, Peabody, Half-and-Half, Waltz, Tango. These are all improvised social dances, not choreographies. Before that, I danced a little country western, two-step and things that were basically improvised foxtro In the United States, ballroom dancing has a social tradition that goes back to the 1910s. Country Western pretty much has an unbroken lineage back to the 1940s. In the Western US there were working CW bands and multiple dance venues even in small towns up through the 1980s. This sort of collapsed in the 1990s to a handful of venues in bigger cities after Nashville got a hold of CW and turned it into a rockified genre with sappy red-neck ballads, big hats and bigger hair. Ballroom did get really messed up with the studio system and their Bronze, Silver, Gold marketing, but even there, the studios always held, and still hold, social dances every Saturday. Most of the clientele consists of married couples or Dance Widows hiring a professional to dance her at the occasional showcases. I think you guys are discussing International Style Competition Ballroom. That is it's own sub genre, that doesn't have much to do with social ballroom dancing. But again, I would expect any decent International Ballroom dancer to be able to dance socially with improvised movements. Argentine Tango also has its choreographed side, the stage tango that may have been more popular during certain decades. ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] History of Tango -- Old dance places Part II -- Maria la Vasca
Article by Hector Benedetti in El Tangauta http://www.eltangauta.com/nota.asp?id=887idedicion=0 More about tango in brothels by Christine Denniston: http://www.history-of-tango.com/tango-origins.html ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] tango in brothels
From: More about tango in brothels by Christine Denniston: http://www.history-of-tango.com/tango-origins.html There is a cliché that Tango was born in the brothels of Buenos Aires My 2 cents: Since the author claims there was no written proof by the members of the literary class to confirm that tango was not born in the brothels, she turns around and builds a case for indicating that this was not true. The author when runs out of evidence tries to present a logical explanation, but based on current practicing social mores and morals. Is the author aware that among many practices of those times was modish to see women pipe smokers, or that it was fashionable to inhale powder tabaco a.k.a a rape? Regards, Bruno ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] One little impression from the milongas of Buenos Aire
A woman in the milongas of Buenos Airestakes herself seriously.She carefully selects each item of clothing to create a specific effect. Her hair is sumptuous and flowing, and blonde. Her nails lacquered to ruby gleam, Her legs long and tan and smooth, but maybe showing just a little too much sixty-five year old thigh in her skin tight lycra. Her lips are pouty, puffy and strange. Her eyelashes flutter attention toward the impossibly high cheekbones and delicate Michael Jackson nose pointing pointedly at her high, firm breasts. She is a queen. Dragging her wrap behind her as she weaves her way though the tables greeting friends. and is led to the table in front of the best dancers in the room. ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] dance ezine
Dear All, New ezine on dance now available (free). Quite a bit on Tango in there. Check out the URL in the sig file. Cheers, Tony -- www.oakebooks.com/ezines/index.php Martial Arts : Health : Dance ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] tango in brothels
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: More about tango in brothels by Christine Denniston: http://www.history-of-tango.com/tango-origins.html There is a cliché that Tango was born in the brothels of Buenos Aires My 2 cents: Since the author claims there was no written proof by the members of the literary class to confirm that tango was not born in the brothels, she turns around and builds a case for indicating that this was not true. The author when runs out of evidence tries to present a logical explanation, but based on current practicing social mores and morals... CD talks, in her book, about Tango music at brothels (similar story to Jazz), and that Gentlemen of letters would only mix with working classes there, and for the first time (for them), see their dance. This is not to say it was born in brothels. I found her explanation plausible and free from moral prejudice. The way CD discusses history / Tango in general does not suggest to me she's white-washing, actually I find her writing style has a broad perspective. It's the best answer I've seen to the question: why would someone go to a brothel, and... dance? It's a fascinating part of the Tango mythos, and I'd welcome any more information on this that anyone has. Cheers Tony ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
