[Tango-L] Now that I?m here in BsAs

[Tom Stermitz]

> How I wish I could bring over the entire tango community from back  
> home to this place so they could learn to dance the Argentine way  
> so that I can selfishly have the same experience in Montreal as I  
> do here.


Maybe they don't want to dance "the Argentine way".

It's a free world.



Seriously...

Your comment is probably not so much on the "Argentine Way", as on  
the distinction between social tango and show or fantasy tango. I am  
NOT saying there is anything wrong with stage tango, but in Argentina  
people at the milongas are more aware of proper contex. They honor  
social tango at the milongas and appreciate the athletism of fantasy  
tango on stage.



Your experience upon arrival in Buenos Aires is typical enough. The  
crowd of dancers at Canning has a generalized style or narrow range  
of styles with a lot of rhythmic steps ocho-cortados, and close-close  
embrace, typically called salon or club or milonguero (yes, even in  
Buenos Aires they use that term).  I've also noticed on my visits to  
Buenos Aires how easy it is to spot the foreigners who dance very  
differently from the rest of the milonga attendees, using stage  
elements like ganchos and wide apart embrace.

BUT, if you pay closer attention and you will discover a large number  
of foreigners who fit right in.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking Argentines are THIS and  
foreigners are THAT. Even the argentines have this stereotype that  
foreigners can't dance tango, to the point that they seem surprised  
that I learned outside Argentina. ("Sabes lo que es piropo? Bueno,  
voy decirle un piropo, mas un piropr de verdad: No bailes como  
estranjero )

In fact, there are a lot of Argentines who are beginners. Tango has  
grown very rapidly in Buenos Aires, and you will find a lot of 3 and  
5 year dancers in the milongas these days. 10 years ago, there were  
fewer milongas, with a lot more 20 & 40 year dancers by percentage.  
On my more recent trips, I've noticed that navigation can be pretty  
rough, and it isn't just the foreigners clogging up the floor.


I want to highlight one thing in your comments about musicality,  
embrace and feel. Even a beginner Argentine usually brings passion,  
intensity, a special embrace and appreciation of the music to the  
dance. They know what tango looks like and in a cultural sense what  
it feels like. If it is hard outside of Argentina to communicate how  
to manage a social dance floor, it requires a greater effort to teach  
non-Argentines the feel of the dance.

Also, if you traveled more, you would discover that you can find good  
tango outside of Buenos Aires.



Tom Stermitz
http://www.tango.org
2525 Birch St
Denver, CO 80207