[Tango-L] Don't blame your follower ...keys

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

On 12/16/07, Trini y Sean (PATangoS) <patangos at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I think this was possibly during a time period when keys
> were more of the skeletal type.  I'm not familiar with the
> history of locks, but this type probably may not have fit
> in pockets comfortably.  Based on the footage that I've
> seen, women were doing ganchos and high boleos.
>
> Trini



The only film footage of supposed social tango I've seen from the golden age
has been from movies. I don't recall seeing any ganchos or boleos. If you
have footage from actual golden age milongas showing ganchos and boleos,
please share it with us or provide a reference. Perhaps it is another urban
tango myth, but my understanding is that the use of ganchos and high boleos
was frowned upon in the past as it is today.

The lack of ganchos and high boleos in milongas in Buenos Aires leads one to
ask "Why are dancers outside Argentina so interested in learning these moves
that are not recognized as acceptable social dancing in Buenos Aires?" If
more people went to Buenos Aires, observed how porten~os dance at the
milongas, perhaps all the workshops outside Argentina teaching ganchos,
boleos, volcadas, colgadas and the like would be empty.

Why don't people outside Argentina care if the way they dance at their
milongas looks nothing like the way porten~os dance in Buenos Aires
milongas? There is a culture and customs that are part of tango, but very
few people make the effort to try to understand them. They prefer to
interpret tango within the context of their own cultural worldview.

Ron