What is Tango? (Or Tango Categories) - Part 3 Final
What a Radial Category of Tango might look like.
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The following is based on armchair field research.
According to this writer’s experience and observations the category tango is
made up of several models forming a cluster category.
There is the close embrace model (salon/milonguero style), the canyengue model,
the nuevo model all danced to traditional tango music with a strong
participatory and social component.
A quick note on salon style and milonguero style. Many dancers when they hear
salon style they think of a traditional close embrace model. Others have come
to accept that this refers to a somewhat open style of dancing, sort of
in-between close and nuevo. Carlos Gavito famously argued that there is no
such thing as a milonguero style, yes, there are milongueros, but no milonguero
style of dancing. However, by now, the milonguero style has become an accepted
concept and most tango dancers have an image what the term refers to, namely,
close embrace dancing to traditional music..
(We may be tempted to ask, what is tango music? For our present purpose we
can calmly say that we know it when we hear it and let us lump together tango,
valse, milonga and maybe candombe of the golden age as traditional tango music).
These three models together form a cluster category, the main cluster.
Seems that the close embrace tango as danced for a generation or longer in many
clubs in Buenos Aires, and importantly, danced to traditional tango music, is
the prototypical tango dance. At it’s best, it’s a very intimate dance
requiring utmost concentration and can make for an intense here and now
experience. The traditional codigos of the milonga contribute to the flavor of
this prototypicality.
The canyengue model, also incorporating close embrace, is of an older vintage
and is no longer pre-dominant, but is an important model for the tradition.
The nuevo model is danced in an elastic, open embrace and emphasizes a more
sporty attitude. This model seems on the ascendancy.
In short, the close embrace model, the canyengue model and the nuevo model form
the main cluster of the tango category.
Let’s remember that many categories, and consequently our concepts, are shaped
by culture and as such may change over time. Not all members that inhabit a
category have equal weight from a cognitive perspective. The close embrace
model has the greater weight, at least in Buenos Aires, and is the
prototypical tango dance as of now.
The picture may be different in other parts of the world where possibly nuevo
tango has became the prototypical model. We would have to look and see.
One or more of these models motivates extensions, for instance, show tango,
alternative tango, international/ball room tango, and Finnish tango and maybe
others.
Show tango is danced by professionals for an audience of onlookers often to
traditional tango music. It surely lacks the social, participatory aspect of
tango dancing.
The alternative model is characterized by dancing tango steps to other genres
of music. This kind of dance sheds the connection with the tradition, with the
traditional music, it’s a hybrid.
Ball room tango and Finnish tango are products of European cultures and have
little, if any, resemblance to the tango as danced in the clubs of Buenos
Aires.
These models, these extensions seem removed from the central cluster of
subcategories. They are in an outer orbit.
The central close embrace model has recently spawned TangoZen, PsicoTango, and
others. If these are extensions, or simply clever promotional labels is an
open question.
Then there are metaphorical extensions, it takes two to tango, let’s tango on,
etc.
Back to our original questions.
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*What is our conception of tango?
As we saw, it depends who we ask.
*What would a category called “tango” look like?
We suggest that it is a complex radially structured category.
*Is the traditional Argentine tango music the important element of the dance?
According to porteño poets, and any porteño/a we may ask, the answer is yes.
In fact, in their heart, the traditional music IS el tango, the dance is
secondary.
*Is there such a thing as “the real, authentic, prototypical tango?’
We have suggested that the close embrace model is the prototypical model –in
Buenos Aires.
*Is all tango rooted in the Argentine tradition?
There seems to be little disagreement that this is the case, but some tangos
have emerged, have evolved that are far removed from the tradition and are for
sure not Argentine tango.
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