[Tango-L] Gender roles in tango

[melvillefox@aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Dylan <jackdylan007 at yahoo.com>
To: tango-l at mit.edu
Sent: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 9:12 pm
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Gender roles in tango

Mel,
A fabulous dance by a couple obviously trained in ballet.
But I'd be interested to hear just why you think they are dancing 
'tango'.
Seriously,
Jack

----- Original Message ----
> From: "melvillefox at aol.com" <melvillefox at aol.com>
>
> I searched on YouTube and found a good example of two men dancing 
where
> the follower, always the same man, is definitely more feminine than 
the
> leader, even if perhaps not as feminine as most women:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmjQfp1glo
>

Notice that I did not use the word 'tango' in my description of the 
dance. This was intentional. Unlike Segio (who won't tell us where men 
go to traditional milongas in Buenos Aires dressed in drag), I don't 
think the performance was tango. I don't see many elements of tango in 
it, no cruzadas, very few ochos, I think only one or two giros, 
although there are some nuevo type high sacadas and ganchos (not social 
tango) and some modern dance moves in it. At most the dance was 10% 
tango moves.

Dancing to Piazzolla (never danced to socially in Buenos Aires) does 
not make it tango. Piazzolla himself said he did not compose music for 
dancing.

If we acxcept this as tango, then we open the floodgates for calling 
anything tango. Of course, I think that dam is already broken.

Mel





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