[Tango-L] appropriate?

[tangosmith@cox.net]

I agree with Marisa.  I personally find the idea that Alberto’s quote to be
approaching inappropriateness, in the context of a subculture generally
known for dancing in intimate, suggestive, “nipple-to-nipple” embrace with
strangers, rather odd.   

His message was perhaps vaguely flirtatious and mildly humorous.  But it
was also a very interesting comment on perhaps one of the most important
aspects of the roles of the embrace and connection in tango, and that is
sensuality.  

I firmly believe, as some others have noted here also, a connection (given
appropriate skills, etc.) can be achieved with a dance partner doing
virtually any dance regardless of the degree of separation in the embrace. 
That is one of the true beauties of couples dancing. 
What is much more difficult to achieve in dance is sensuality.  While
sensuality certainly may be achieved with separation, it is generally much,
much easier to achieve when the dancer’s bodies are in close proximity, and
generally, the closer the better.  
I believe, for most people, both observers and dancers, the essence and
attraction of Argentine tango over other dances often lies in its inherent
sensuality.  Therefore, it is not surprising (at least to me) that many
would view the close embrace as essential to dancing “true” tango, that the
proximity of body-to-body contact is necessary to achieve the requisite
sensuality to make it “real” tango.
As someone who enjoys many different types of dance and admittedly doesn’t
believe that the close embrace is really necessary to achieve either the
connection or the sensuality, I still gladly choose to dance close embrace
tango anytime and thoroughly enjoy the sensuality it brings to the dance.  
I think Alberto was simply trying to offer some insight on this aspect and
proclivity (of mine, his, and many others) in his message and quote.

W.B. Smith


Original Message:
-----------------
From: Marisa Holmes mariholmes at yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 07:16:40 -0700 (PDT)
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] appropriate?


The thing I want to point out is that Alberto is a
valued member of this list whose postings are usually
thoughtful, often witty, and have never seemed to me
to be designed to give offense to anyone.  (This is in
marked contrast to a listero who has speculated on his
motives, personality, etc.)  He does write in English,
and it is not a language he is perfectly fluent in. 
This translation into a second language occasionally
leads to misunderstanding, especially with nuance,
allusion, and humor.  No surprise.  Alberto is (based
on his postings) an afficianado of poetry and of the
written and spoken word, and has delighted all of us
in the past with passages from Borges, from Whitman
(if memory serves me), and from other sensitive and
thoughtful writers.  I guess if he had posted a
snippet of the Kama Sutra to the list, and it was
relevant to the topic under discussion, as this was
because of the shared use of the word "embrace", it
would have seemed perfectly normal to me.  The passage
cited was really not awfully racy, especially in
comparison to other discussion on the list (who was it
who wanted to tell us about his erections?) or what is
generally available in the media.  I can see where it
would be disconcerting to receive it personally if you
didn't start with the assumption (which I have from
reading him on the list) that Alberto is generally
polite and delights in language more than most of us.

Marisa

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