[Tango-L] Technical vs Sensual - Where are the Engineers from?

[Ron Weigel]

On 5/11/06, Yale Tango Club <yaletangoclub at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hey
>
>   Huh?
>   So if you showed up to my class, you would be happy if I told you
>   Hey Everybody, thanks so much for coming and for giving me your
>   money, the Tango is a Feeling that is Danced, just walk, feel the
>   music, go with the flow, make the connection, have the blissful
>   communication, ok now do it.

I believe the important thing in teaching and learning tango is to
achieve a balance between knowledge (technical expertise) and feeling.
 What I think Caroline, Lucia, and Chris are pointing out is that in
the US and Europe there is too much emphasis on technical teaching and
learning, and not enough on appreciating the connection with your
partner and the music. After all, tango is a dance between a man and a
woman (usually) that is connected to tango music. It is all to common
for American and European men (and women) to become 'step machines' or
'technique freaks' who fail to grasp the passion of the music that is
tango. (I'm talking about the real emotional feelings generated by man
and woman feeling the music and sharing the feelings in their dance,
not the ersatz dramatic pasion sin emocion portrayed for an audience.)

Nevertheless, Tine has made an important point. You can't teach music
and partner appreciation by just talking about it. You have to given
students certain technical skills so they have balance, connection,
some understanding of musical structure, navigational possibilities,
etc., so they can construct a dance. I have seen too many people flop
around on the milonga dance floor, throwing their bodies to the wind
(and dragging their partners with them) to recognize the need for
that. Also, in our (overly) analytical culture, many people learn to
dance by being given a logical structure to bend their bodies around.

However, after reaching a certain basic level of technical expertise,
tango students need to understand that what makes our dance so
different from ballroom dance is that tango is primarily about
connection - with your partner, with the music, with the other dancers
on the floor (in navigation), it is not about executing memorized
figures. So instructors need to constantly remind their students that
technique and steps taught are only a means to an end - the end that
Argentines talk about - feeling the music and flowing with your
partner. If you don't reach that level, you're not really dancing
tango.

Ron