[Tango-L] Close in body vs. Closed in mind

[Jake Spatz (TangoDC.com)]

There's an issue here that keeps cropping up in social tango, and will 
probably always crop up. In the present discussion ("Different styles" 
and "How close is too close" etc.), it revolves around the issue of 
whether a firm, mashed-together embrace-- or even a close one-- is 
desired or not, by all or by any. Janis avoids coming to any conclusions 
regarding this particular topic, but states later that the tango is all 
about the embrace, and that young people will realize this in the 
fullness of their future wisdom.

Without getting too vehement, I'd like to point out that such comments 
are rather reductive-- or at least come from a reductive attitude, which 
is unable to transcend, and thereby accept, minor differences.

Perhaps it's my youth, but I see no problem with variety, whether of 
embrace or anything else. Not only different dancers, but different 
orchestras call for different styles; and in the DJ age, where a venue 
can have 12 orchestras rather than one, variety ought to be a 
cornerstone in every dancer's training. To always want a tight embrace, 
or always prefer something with distance, or always dance open, is to me 
a mark of musical insensitivity and even creative atrophy.

Likewise, to state that one major element-- the embrace, e.g.-- is of 
primary import to everyone (or will be if only they age enough), is 
dogmatic. No dance can be complete without a good embrace, quality 
movement, and creative musicality. These are the major features of 
social tango, as I identify them. But to suppose, let alone insist, that 
one must be of _superior_ importance to everyone is foolish. The vast 
majority of dancers would put the embrace foremost, yes; but a smaller 
minority dance for movement (or even moves), and still others would 
claim their inspiration comes most certainly from the music.

Good dancers enjoy all three aspects-- I'm not disputing that. Yet one 
aspect almost always seems more central for every dancer. Without 
question, I'd say I dance for the music. Had I encountered any 
embrace-centered dogma in my earliest experience, I might have thought I 
just didn't get it, and gotten frustrated for no reason, even if no one 
complained about my embrace. I suspect many beginning dancers are put 
off by statements of that kind. They're as stifling, and no less 
confusing, than the apparent contradictions in technique, which appear 
_as contradictions_ only when teachers sideline variety and make claims 
about "the way" to do things.

Luckily, not everyone is so pushy about these matters.

Unluckily, many dancers get more closed-minded about things the longer 
they dance. And-- to reiterate an old polemic of mine-- the worst comes 
from those who think they've Discovered something in BA. If memory 
serves, I don't think I've ever heard reductive or dogmatic statements 
from actual portenos, unless they're being (mis)paraphrased by foreigners.

I do realize this may seem an over-subtle or hairsplitting point. But 
the impact on students is large.

Jake Spatz
DC

=POSTSCRIPT=
Whether dancers "dance for" the connection (i.e., embrace), the 
movements, or the music, as their most central motive, is probably a 
decisive factor in whether they consider themselves primarily social 
dancers, performers, or analysts. (All kinds teach.) Most people dance 
for the connection, and most consider themselves social dancers-- and I 
see an obvious link there. But that is only one mode of tango dancing, 
and it need not be exclusive-- a point I'm sure Igor would agree with, 
based on his refusal to acknowledge that there's a deep split between 
social and stage dancing. It's really just a question of priorities and 
of purposes.

I'm also sure a lot of dancers would identify themselves in all three 
roles, as I do (on a good day). But I'm also confident that every good 
dancer could pick one role, without much hesitation, as the one in which 
their contribution to a community is probably most valuable. And I bet 
that role would line up with their foremost motive for dancing as well.


Janis Kenyon wrote:
> I would never have thought that a visit with my tourist friend to see a
> rental apartment in downtown Buenos Aires could result in an interesting
> discussion about tango with an Argentine woman.  But that's exactly what
> occurred last Sunday.  The woman showing the apartment mentioned that she
> dances tango, when she realized that we were foreigners.  Alicia was on duty
> for three hours that afternoon showing the apartment to prospective tenants,
> and we were her first visitors at 4:00.  Rather than discuss the details of
> the apartment, we talked about where we go to dance and our preference of
> style and partners.
>
> Alicia told me that she doesn't want to be held in a firm embrace, but
> prefers to be able to maintain a comfortable degree of separation the man.
> This was the first time that I've heard this directly from an Argentine
> woman that she doesn't like a secure embrace, and Alicia refuses to dance
> with any man who holds her that way.  I didn't ask her age, but she appeared
> to be around 50.  We got into demonstrating the embrace with one another.  I
> embraced her the way a milonguero would embrace me.  She stepped back and
> told me she would never dance tango that close.  She then demonstrated how
> she is comfortable dancing with a man--with a slight degree of separation
> and her head turned to the right looking down.
>
> Alicia said she tries to keep a low profile when she go to the milongas, and
> occasionally teaches foreigners who see her dancing.  She has studied
> flamenco and started dancing tango only eight years ago.  I enjoyed our open
> and frank discussion.  I dance in milongas where every woman wants
> and expects to be firmly embraced by a man.  Alicia is probably one of many
> women for whom a tight embrace, chest to chest, cheek to cheek, is too close
> for comfort.
>
> Meredith Klein commented that younger dancers (18-40) "get bored if they
> have to dance in close embrace all night, doing simple steps."   They will
> mature and realize that tango is an embrace.  They will understand it when
> they're older.
>
>
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