[Tango-L] Styles of Tango

[Myk Dowling]

Nina Pesochinsky wrote:
>  From what I hear, Australia is not a very crowded place.  Maybe 
> Piazzolla could be considered social dancing there, but probably no 
> place else.:)

Well, it depends more on the size of the dance floor than the size of
the country, surely. Yes, we often have a fair amount of space to play
with, but certainly not always.

> So how about designating what is acceptable as social Argentine tango 
> country-by-country, such as Piazolla for Australia, Milonga Gay in 
> every city in the U.S., stage tango in Russia, etc.  Instead of other 
> fake styles, such as milonguero, nuevo, etc., there could be new 
> styles,. such as "Argentine tango US style", or "Argentine tango 
> Australian style", etc. :)

How about recognising that people dance according to the conditions? If
there is space on the floor, it is perfectly acceptable to make use of
some of it. When things get crowded, you bring your movements in
tighter. In any case, it is certainly possible to dance to Piazzolla in
crowded conditions.

Like David said, it's a case of what you're used to. If you choose never
to dance to nuevo music, you'll never be very practised at dancing to
it. I take difficult music as a challenge, especially when the music has
as much beauty as Piazzolla's. Dammit, I _want_ to dance to that. I want
to turn that fantastic music into movement.

Personally, I'm against "splitting up" tango, other than by music.
Milonga is different to Tango is different to Vals is different to
Nuevo. You dance to each type of music in a different way. I don't dance
to a milonga the same way I dance to a tango, any more than I dance
nuevo style to a tango or vals.

Can anyone claim to dance "true Argentine Tango"? Do they dance the same
way in BsAs now as they did in the twenties? Is Tango something to be
fossilised and enshrined in a strict form, or is it a living art form?
If it's a living art form, which is certainly what I want to be part of,
then you can never really define it precisely. And you shouldn't even
try. That's what happened to ballroom dancing, and now there's no room
for creativity any more in it. As has been pointed out, "Strictly
Ballroom" is a scarily accurate portrayal.

If people aren't interested in dancing "Argentine Tango", then they'll
dance something else. Anyone who calls what they do "Argentine Tango" is
presumably looking to Argentina as the source for their art form. But
Argentina is more than the BsAs milongas, it's the street dancers and
stage shows as well.

-- 
Myk Dowling