[Tango-L] la dulce vita

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi Dani,

Italy is not like the rest of the world. (Like you didn't
already know that.) Even many of the traveling Porteno
teachers agree that the Italians are among the best tango
dancers in the world. Maybe this is because Italian men are
so competative with each other. Maybe Italian women prefer
good dancers. Whatever the reason, what works in Italy
doesn't work in the rest of the world.

American men don't compete to be the best dancers. They
compete to have the biggest SUV. Maybe because American
women prefer la viva rica to la dulce vita. OK, that
stereotype might not be fair to the tiny minority of tango
dancers. But it may be fairly applied to most of our
population. And at some level those cultural values still
influence our tango dancers. 

In a culture that values surplus quantity, teachers must
work very hard to inspire their students to strive for
quality. On the other hand, teachers who are out to sell a
step a week can make an easy profit in the short run, at
the cost of destroying our dance environment.

Sean

P.S. Don't put too much stock in Keith's "world class"
ideal. Budwiser beer and Armani suits are both world class
products. But I'm not ready to abandon Guiness or Zegna. I
suppose I am one of those rare people who prefer quality
over brand names.



--- Club~Tango*La Dolce Vita~ <dani at tango-la-dolce-vita.eu>
wrote:

> Club ~Tango*La Dolce Vita~
> ~ Dani Iannarelli ~
>  
> Dear HongKong Keith and all othet List Tangueros,
> 
> >Yes Sean, we read a lot on Tango-L about all the new,
> modern methods you Americans have
> >devised to teach Tango. Strange though that, so far, it
> hasn't produced a single world class Tango dancer. Keith
> HK
> 
> Nice one, Keith...! Great stuff!
> But... methinks there will now be a litany of flaming
> coming your way... good luck!





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