[Tango-L] Not Nuevo Milonguero

[Barbara Garvey]

Dear All,
The couples you refer to in Tango Bar are all social dancers, a few of 
them taught a little, most of them are now dead. They are dancing what 
is sometimes referred to as Villa Urquiza style. Al and I met most of 
them in 1987-1990 and took classes from 5of them including Fino Ribera 
and Roberto Grassi. IMO they were then, and would still be, if they were 
alive, high among the best dancers in Bs As + the world. Please note 
that although not dancing what is now called Close Embrace, they have no 
trouble dancing on a crowded floor, although everything is improvised. 
Those we talked to told us that they danced in the late '40s- early '50s 
and then very little until 1983. And not only are none of them young, 
none had any dance training, which opened up possibilities for those of 
us without either of advantage.

Our amazing luck in meeting these people changed the way we thought 
about tango in1987 and is our basis for judging dancers to this day. 
This scene in Tango Bar is probably as close as it is possible to get to 
the Golden Age of tango.. There are a few clips on Ney Melo's Youtube 
page, thank you Ney!
Abrazos,
Barbara Garvey



steve pastor wrote:

>Recently I looked at "Tango Bar" again. I seemed to remember that there was an awful lot of 
>  the moves that are usually thought of as nuevo in there. There is in particular one scene in 
>  which dancers dance to "La Comparsita" in a very elegant setting. They appear to be in very 
>  close proximity to each other, based on the positions of their feet. You see, the first 2/3 of 
>  the scene shows only their feet and legs. Again, many many, very complicated movements 
>  and "foot play". Many things that most of us would probably label as "nuevo".
>  The punch line here is that finally, we see the dancers from the chest up and note that they
>  are all at least middle aged.
>  The film has a 1988 copyright. 
>   
>  Fabian Salas states that the first meetings of their "Tango Investigation Group" happened 
>  before 1990", and most sources list 1995 - 1997 as the years for the Group. So it is 
>  extremely unlikely that the filmed performances were influenced by "Nuevo".
>   
>  Salas has said that "We came up with in line boleos and ganchos like this, but everything 
>  was already there. We didn’t invent them. They were already there." 
>  http://www.totango.net/salas2.html
>  If you wish to read a more in depth coverage of this look at this url
>  http://www.history-of-tango.com/tango-renaissance.html
>  Close embrace dancers looking like "Nuevo" dancers? It is perhaps a case of Back to the Future.
>  Meawhile, it is possible to use the process of analyzing how apilado movements work to
>  teach people how to dance the apilado style of "close embrace", and I know at least one 
>  instructor (and I can probably count two) that approach their teaching that way. 
>  In that respect the Nuevo Milonguero label might be appropriate.
>
>
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