[Tango-L] Villa Urquiza, et al

[Nina Pesochinsky]

Quoting Deby Novitz <dnovitz at lavidacondeby.com>:

> I would have to concur with Ron.  I find it almost laughable that people
> who have never been to Buenos Aires tout themselves as teaching the
> Villa Urquiza style of tango.  This form of tango, along with orillero
> is almost never danced anymore.  I learned to dance Villa Urquiza from
> Pocho who is 84 years old.  It is very demanding on the woman.  I have
> seen variations of Villa Urquiza in some of the milongas, and always
> danced by people who are older than 70.  It is not taught here.
> Probably never was except by uncles or brothers or cousins.
>
> Orillero is a form of tango that was danced in Villa Devoto.  Mimi
> taught me a variation of the dance for an exhibition we did when she
> visited San Francisco when I still lived there.  Orillero is the one
> form of tango where the woman mimics the steps of the man.  The back
> step cross is very distinct and I use it in some of my steps. Like Villa
> Urquiza it is not taught.  You see it danced in shows but never in the
> milongas.
>
> Tango never became big business until the crisis hit here in 2001.  In
> 2003 the government saw tango as an opportunity to promote tourism.
> There were seminars presented by the government to the tango business
> community on how to maximize their business.  Overnight everyone became
> a teacher, a shoe store, a clothing store, a specialized hotel, tour
> agency for tango.  Prices went through the sky.  After all, why should
> people pay less just because it was Buenos Aires.  A pair of tango shoes
> now costs upwards of $90.
>
> Now that we have so many "new" tango teachers everyone needs an angle.
> It is no longer enough to say that you are from Argentina.  So now
> people say they teach "Villa Urquiza", "Estilo Amagro", "Milonguero" or
> whatever else sounds good.  People who have been dancing less than 2
> years now have ads in the local magazines as teachers and taxi dancers.
> It is horrifying.  These people are the ones who are teaching and
> traveling.  A brother sister duo who have a huge bankroll for full color
> page ads have danced less than 2 years.  A friend of mine and Sandra's
> who is a taxi dancer who cannot dance is currently teaching in Germany
> for 4 months.  It is pretty crazy.
>
> Then there is those of us who are so far removed from this scene.  We go
> to the milongas to dance and see our friends.  I never look out at the
> floor and think "Wow, he is dancing apilado"  or "I want to dance with
> that guy who dances estilo Amagro."  No, instead it is more like, "I
> want to dance with El boracho, but he wont give me the time of day."  or
> "Que hermoso este tango, quien puede bailar conmigo."  (How beautiful
> this tango, who can dance with me)  I don't ever recall my friends here
> in Argentine lamenting about styles or names of styles ever.  They may
> watch a certain couple and comment on their dance (Que elegante o que
> disastre). For us tango is always about the music.
>
>
>
>
> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (5.5.1.322)
> Database version: 5.10150e
> http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor/
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
>



----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.earthnet.net Boulder's Premier Datacenter
Network, email, and web servers powered by renewable wind energy.