[Tango-L] Tango reflects society - introduction

[TangoDC.com]

Well, let's take a moment to delve deeper than platitudes, and connect 
these tautologies (i.e., men are male, women female) to something 
approaching observations about the dance:

* The vocabulary of follower's moves was specifically developed to show 
off a woman's legs

Really nice ochos give high heels a whole new raison d'etre, oui? We do 
planeos and such, the way we do them, because part of the point is that 
the woman's leg peeks out from under her skirt. This we call SEXY. Well 
then, let us continue...

* The leader's role was specifically developed to show off a woman's legs

Men's trousers do not have slits. Not traditionally, anyway. When I put 
aside my inventiveness and reduce myself to a tango caricature, there 
are only two things that matter, besides the music:
    1. The illusion that I'm a suave-ass cat who can show off her legs
    2. Her legs

* When two women dance together, there is still a pair of female legs to 
show off

I suspect this is why a woman leading doesn't seem as bizarre as a man 
following, or at least points to why it happens more often. Simply: 
There's still a sexy chick. I notice, however, that women do not lead 
with anything close to the thrust-and-parry machismo that men typically 
use. Women adapt the leader's role into something more feminine-- and 
perhaps this accounts for the fancier footwork I've heard praised 
universally by their female partners, both here on the list and in person.

Women, that is to say, have stolen our precious tango lead and changed 
it into something new. Someone call the aesthetic police! Male vanity is 
under attack!!

While we're filling out the burglary report, however, we might as well 
report our own ingenuity missing. We have adapted, in comparison, Zilch 
of the follower's part to suit ourselves. When two men dance together, 
with very few exceptions, the one following merely plays at femininity: 
you might see the old shoe-shine adornment done comically, or watch a 
hiney shake. You might see faces meet in a tango stare, for a moment, 
before they shatter into laughter. But whatever you see, you'll probably 
see mockery.

I applaud this in sheer high spirits, on the one hand, and at such 
moments I'm content with the tango being what it most often is.

* The tango is most often a shallow thrill

On the other hand, I'm kind of alarmed at our lack of resources: we 
haven't figured out how to make following really express Masculinity. In 
finding our inner muchacha, we lose our outer guapo. Drag and a pair of 
fishnets might help some of us out, whereas a painted mustache and a 
fedora would Not do anything for a leading woman.

I'm not ready to conclude, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that men have 
not figured out how to follow in a manly way. I've seen performances 
where nothing struck me as odd, and I've seen a few social dances that 
I'd put in the same category. But on reflection, there is clearly a gap 
between what we've done with the follower's part and what women have 
done with the leader's.

If someone out there disputes this, I'd love to have any links you can 
provide. I'm very curious to see what others have come up with, because 
I'd love to be wrong about the following point, which so far is the 
conclusion to which reason has led me:

* The tango requires at least one pair of women's legs

Jake Spatz
Washington, DC



Sergio Vandekier wrote:
> What follows is how I see the origin of tango roles.  A representation of 
> Argentine society.
>
> Notice that I say "how I see" it. There are many Argentine Milongueros (or 
> anyone else) that read these notes and I welcome them to give their opinion 
> if they do not agree with my views on this subject. (If you write in Spanish 
> I will translate).
>
> This does not mean that you have to dance in any different way than that 
> that you prefer.
> This does not pass judgment on any society whatsoever, it merely describes 
> something as I see it.
>
> Argentine women, like many women all over the world, are happy they are 
> women.
>
> Argentine men are happy they are men.
>
> Women in Argentina have their own feminine world and men have their own 
> masculine world at the same time they have an intense relatinship with each 
> other.
>
> There is some mysterious thing about those worlds: men think that women have 
> their own mysterious world and women think the same way as to the man's 
> world.
>
> They show intense respect for each other's worlds.
>
> In a party, generally speaking, women and men mingle and talk freely but if 
> there are three or more women discussing something, men stay away and women 
> do the same when a group of men are talking among themselves.
>
> Those worlds intersect at times, men and women come together as masculine 
> and feminine, they know that they are different, they do not compete, they 
> do not compare, they help each other to fulfill their roles in life.  They 
> walk hand in hand in admiration of each other's differences, accepting and 
> celebrating them.
>
> When it comes to tango those facts are represented in the dance, there is a 
> feminine role and a masculine role.  They both men and women are highly 
> respectful of such roles.
>
> As an alternative women can perform the masculine role and men can do the 
> feminine  one, or each one can do both roles. As I explained before this is 
> not about machismo or homophobia at all. it is a mere explanation of the 
> origin of the roles in tango.
>
> There is a masculine and a feminine world at the milongas as well...but I 
> will discuss that later.
>
> Regards, Sergio
>
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