[Tango-L] What is tango? [Tango Clasico]

[Alexis Cousein]

Tango Society of Central Illinois wrote:
> Korey,
> 
> What you don't generally see at Buenos Aires milongas are dancers dancing
> Tango Nuevo. If elements characteristic of Tango Nuevo (e.g., volcadas,
> colgadas, various forms of ganchos and boleos) are seen, it is usually out
> of place and frowned on by porten~os. 

Porteños don't have to defend an orthodoxy with the sword, unlike some
members of the list, and can be surprisingly tolerant.

What they aren't tolerating is someone bothering others.

Sometimes, if someone is merely embarassing himself a bit too much but not
really bothering others, they'll gently nudge them, and out
of the kindness of their heart to watch and learn, but that's very
different from the arguments about heresy we keep on hearing here.

> I have seen some nuevo dancers kick
> bottles off tabletops in Plaza Bohemia.

Fallacy of insufficient sample:

This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population 
based on a sample that is not large enough. It has the following form:

    1. Sample S, which is too small, is taken from population P.
    2. Conclusion C is drawn about Population P based on S.

[The claim also contains elements of three other fallacies, but I'll leave
that as an exercise for the reader.]

Note that I'm not saying it's OK to kick bottles off tabletops. That doesn't
mean other things (which do not kick bottles off tables nor hinder
other dancers) can't fit.

Context is everything when you're going to dance something. Exercise your
judgement, tune your soul to the local TONE, and you'll be fine.

It's not necessary to compile a list of orthodox and heretical moves (after
having tried to reconcile the hundreds of conflciting views about what
is heretical and what is not -- thankfully, in Argentine tango
there is no Great Oracle with tablets of stone to decide that) and
memorise them before you put a foot on the dance floor, though.

To discuss these things as if we were living in Plato's world of ideals
is a futile exercise.

> The roots or Tango Nuevo can be seen in movements like ochos and giros and
> the cruzada shared with Tango Clasico. However, as an experimental dance
> Tango Nuevo has evolved to be quite different than Tango Clasico,

As I said in another post, I do not believe in the existence of those two
as rigid and absolute classifications. They're not two species yet, not until
guardian angels of orthodoxy wielding firey swords manage to separate the
"chaff" from the "weat" and eliminate all cross-pollinations (what do we do
with the persons of mixed race? "Purify" them, or cast them into the abyss?).

A browsing through some of the historical literature would allow you to
see that there have always been discussions about orthodoxy, heterodoxy
and heresy, even within what you would these days undoubtedly classify
as Tango Clasico.

It's good. It's proof that it's a living dance, just as English is a living
language.

-- 
Alexis Cousein                                  al at sgi.com
Senior Systems Engineer/Solutions Architect     SGI/Silicon Graphics
--
<If I have seen further, it is by standing on reference manuals>