[Tango-L] Keep it simple

[Victor Bennetts]

Krasimir,

Sure, most 'beginners' don't understand, but anyone who has danced for more than a couple of years and has been to BsAs gets the picture. However, it is a reality of life that most people want to get applause.
After they have been dancing a few years they get someone asking them one day - hey I am putting on a show or need a performance for a milonga - want to be in it?
Suddenly they think wow *me* perform (or teach or whatever)... Little do they know that this sort of invitation is usually extended for very selfish reasons, or maybe they don't care because the lure of having their moment of 'fame' brings on a voluntary naiveté.
Don't underestimate the power of this sort of inducement.
You suddenly see people doing uncharacteristic things which can include, at best, a negative impact on their dancing.
For example, how many of these aspiring Javiers and Geraldines have not yet mastered basic things like posture? A lot, in my experience, because they are focussed on something else entirely. They think they are great dancers, but the reality is they would not last five minutes in a ballet class, for instance, because they just don't have any real discipline and in many cases not even a reasonable level of fitness or flexibility.
The 'lure of performance' can also lead people to bad choices in their personal lives, a far more serious matter because it can generate a lot of hurt and angst as opposed to simple bad dancing. But that is a whole other fascinating topic out of the scope of this thread.
Personally, I would far prefer to just keep working on my core social dance than perform and in time try and emulate someone like El Nene rather than Gavito. But I think you will find this sort of attitude is in the minority. The lure of performance, teaching (which can be another sort of performance) etc is just too strong.
Hence there will always be a demand for workshops to 'develop complex figures' and the flip side is you will get people walking out apparently bored when the most subtle and beautiful things are being taught by a living legend of the dance.

Victor Bennetts

>Behalf Of Krasimir Stoyanov
>
>Janis,
>Nobody will understand you, I'm afraid. Every time, when I try to >explain to
>someone that his/her "tango" is not quite tango, he/she is puzzled at >best
>(thinks I am not in my right mind) or sees offence in my words at >worst.
>From: "Janis Kenyon"
>> When I read...
>>
>> integrating more steps
>> develop complex figures
>> porteno tango look
>> waiting times
>> ornaments
>>
>> as topics for workshops, I want to cry and scream because the tango >I know
>> in Buenos Aires isn't being shared in my country.  It's a crime >that
>> people
>> get a counterfeit rather than the genuine.

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