[Tango-L] men dancing with men

[Crrtango@aol.com]

 tangopeer wrote:

<<<<I keep waiting for someone to pipe in about men
dancing with men in BsAs years ago.  Isn't that how
they learned?  I've heard dozens of stories about
that, but I am no historian.  Who gots da goods on
this?>>>>

Although today same-sex people dance with each other and exchange lead and 
follow for different reasons, the main reason men danced with men is fairly 
simple and a product of the cultural milieu of the day. Tango was not considered a 
respectable dance to do and many women, especially young ones, were not 
allowed to go to practicas (inasmuch as they existed in those days). They might go 
to milongas, and even then perhaps accompanied by the parents. We forget in 
our enthusiasm that even in Argentina, tango was frowned upon for years by the 
upper classes and "cultured" people did not dance it, and not all of the 
"lower" classes danced it either. I have known older Argentine women who told me 
their parents did not allow them to dance tango. Men didn't have too many choices 
for practicing steps except with each other, but this enabled them to be 
prepared when they went to the milongas. Tango came out of the bordellos and 
conventillos...not a world you wanted your daughter to be associated with. We may 
smile at the depictions of "compadritos" on stage, but the reality was not so 
romantic. Compadritos often carried knives and violence was a part of the early 
tango world.   Canaro writes in his autobiography of knife fights and 
gunshots being exchanged (and barely missing him) at clubs in La Boca. It was a 
different world from the one we know.
Danel Bastone told me that he often practiced with other men, simply because 
there were no women around to practice with. I have heard the same from Gavito 
and other milongueros I have known. This persisted well in to the forties and 
fifties of the 20th century. We forget in our modern, more-enlightened day 
that the social customs were more restricted than today. Women did not have the 
same freedoms and men had to learn from each other. 

Cheers,
Charles


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