[Tango-L] Social dancers

[TangoDC.com]

Ahem,

I'm really getting tired of hearing this idolatry of the social dance. 
Those of you who prefer it vocally, and argue for its merits here, keep 
blaming the hotshots, the performers, the nuevo dancers for making 
things hectic on the floor, and you continue to exalt the private 
meditation or 3-minute tryst over the (supposed) vulgarities of public 
display. But it's a false dichotomy, and is really skewing the 
perspective unduly in favor of "social dancing."

Crowd conditions aside, I've seen more floorcraft problems caused by 
close-embrace "social" dancers than by anyone else, including beginners. 
The show-offs may dance twice as quickly, and with ten times the 
vocabulary, but they rarely crash or cause others any actual grief on 
the floor. Rather, it's the social dancers, who move more slowly (which 
is fine per se), that clog up the lanes, move against traffic, tailgate 
unnecessarily, and fail to adapt their embrace (leader's left arm 
especially) to the conditions of the moment. I can't count the number of 
times I've been clotheslined by some "social dancer" schmuck who refused 
to reel that sucker in on a crowded floor-- and I'm talking about 
moments when I dance close & small, with my left arm behind my back and 
my partner's right hand on my shoulder, to create more room for others. 
There I am, the nuevo guy doing his part for the team, and here comes 
some moron with his flying fist-- during a  p a u s e  in the music.

Hotshot performers _look_ intimidating, but on a night of imperfect 
floorcraft (which is 95% of nights), you're far safer next to them than 
you are in the general mix.

This is the case in DC, at both weekly dances and the area festivals; I 
imagine it's not too different elsewhere, provided there is even room to 
do an ocho cortado.

Furthermore, the "stage" (which I interpret to mean: show performances 
as well as festival performances) is NOT reserved for hotshot dancers 
only. I've seen many a "salon" performance as well. It's really quite 
pointless to imagine that these boundaries aren't porous.

As a dancer who likes delighting the onlooker, and one who dances many 
styles, including nuevo (when the floor and the music are right for it), 
I'm going to stick up for hotshots. We attract new people to the dance; 
we give passersby something to truly enjoy; we give rising talents 
something artful to admire and emulate. We thrill our partners, and 
leave them brushing a little improv stardust out of their hair. We make 
the dance Dance. AND we put up with all these bullshit accusations, 
coming from "social dancers" who are only out to please themselves with 
their myopic little pseudo-love affairs on the pista, and who are too 
self-absorbed to avoid getting in each other's way.

Now, I know male social dancers who can dance with shut eyes and not hit 
anyone. Plenty exist, and they're a pleasure to have on the floor. But 
the bad floorcraft at milongas isn't coming from their supposed 
"opposites"-- the nuevo kids; rather, it comes from Bad Dancers, most of 
whom, if I dare speak the truth, belong to the "social dance only" category.

Why is this the case? Welcome to the interesting part...

Social dancers _deliberately_ restrict themselves to a small vocabulary 
of moves, under the aegis of refinement and simplicity. This is often a 
noble-sounding excuse for the absence of skill, but that's no matter. 
What Does matter is that they can't navigate as effectively or as 
flexibly-- because they've cut themselves off from the wider variety of 
movements.

Moreover, in the attempt to cast a profound spell on themselves and 
their partner, they ignore much of what's around them. I mean other 
dancers. And I mean other dancers sitting at tables as well as 
non-dancers passing by for a look-see.

Like Dani, I had performing experience prior to my tango kidnapping. 
None of it was in dance. Pleasing an audience in any performance medium 
is an act of generosity, and it's quite inseparable from pleasing one's 
partner, as I imagine EVERY tango performer (except those bizarre 
choreography robot-people) knows full well. The notion that you can only 
please one or the other-- like the related opinion that you must put one 
of them first-- is plumb wrong, and spoken in ignorance.

So is the silly idea that pleasing a crowd, or a single bystander, is 
egotistical. It is, rather, the annihilation of ego, the subordination 
of self to an external Purpose, known, often, as entertainment, and, 
occasionally, as art.

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC


Ron Weigel wrote:
> On 7/12/06, Club~Tango*La Dolce Vita~ <dani at tango-la-dolce-vita.eu> wrote:
>   
>> For you, Ron... for you. Please don't speak on my behalf.
>> Dani
>>
>> Ron Weigel <tango.society at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dancing with your partner is preferred over dancing for the audience.
>>
>> Ron
>>     
>  _______________________________________________
>
> OK, so dancing for the audience is preferred over dancing with your partner?
>
> So I guess it only takes ONE to tango.
>
> The stage is reserved for those who dance for the audience. (By the
> way, good stage dancers have good partner connection technique. Good
> stage dancers also dance a social style at the milongas.)
>
> Those who prefer to dance with our partners would like to have the
> social dance floor available to us. Sometimes we get in the way of the
> performers who have descended from the stage onto the social dance
> floor. Sorry about that.
>
> Ron
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