[Tango-L] Nuevo y Viejo: Style is no excuse

[Jake Spatz]

Dearest List,

Mario wrote:
> It seems to me that with the two different styles of Tango that post 
> here, and each taking potshots at each other it will be very rare that 
> someone takes a chance and posts an in-depth opinion on some aspect of 
> their dance.
>   
For what it's worth, I dance "both" styles myself. At milongas, I 
usually dance close. Unless the thing's almost over, AND there's tons of 
room, and I feel like dancing something wilder, AND it goes with the music.
> There is enough criticism within each dance style and to add the 
> across-styles criticisms is daunting to the potential poster.
>   
If you dance many styles yourself, you'd only be criticizing your own 
dance. If others see fit to write about what they don't know and don't 
do, so much the worse-- for them.
> I would wager that both Old and New style Tango dancers would feel 
> much more at home and appreciated if they had their own threads or 
> forums...
>   
I'm sure they already do have their own forums. This one, however, is a 
melting pot.
> I also feel that the nuevo tango music and open stage-like dancing is 
> definately a wave of the future
>   
I'm almost certain it's the wave of the past, but that's just my 
intuition talking.

---
Ultimately, I think the only reason people get angry about "styles" is 
because they have (valid) reason to get angry at the people dancing 
them. As far as I've actually observed, nearly everyone does admire 
actual talent, whatever surface appearance it has. It's the pretension 
to talent-- the (mistaken) claim to a certain elitism-- that bothers us 
all. That doesn't belong at a milonga.

It often shows up though, because many dancers-- regardless of style-- 
don't dance with love for the room. It's easy to spot the ones who call 
themselves nuevo dancers, because there's already _a separatist 
attitude_ involved in calling oneself that, and it bears out on the 
dance floor. /Taking up lots of room is not the only way to cause a 
disturbance/.

I've heard many descriptions of how a visitor to a BA milonga-- and this 
is plain common sense and decency-- is expected to observe and dance the 
local style. (I.e., even if you live in BA, but come from a different 
barrio.) With tango tourism being what it is, I doubt this respectful 
attitude is widely observed these days.

In America, at any rate, it most certainly isn't observed very 
deliberately, the main offenders being (inevitably) those who pigeonhole 
themselves stylistically. (These people are almost always teachers, who 
get a little too attached to their own marketing.) All it takes is a 
handful of (mentally, stylistically) inflexible people to spoil the 
grand harmony of the floor as a whole, and those people are almost 
always around, and with something to prove. They are almost never the 
newer dancers who think themselves inadequate: they are almost always 
the dancers who think themselves elite and therefore excused from being 
cooperative.

Men are probably more aware of this, since in effect they dance with 
each other (i.e., around each other) all night long. Naturally, some men 
dance kindly, creating room for others (and therefore themselves), while 
some don't seem to notice the work their fellows are doing for them. 
These latter types are like good dogs, and they only disappoint me (and 
very mildly, at that) because they could be good men.

But then there are the guys who dance selfishly, unkindly, with no 
regard for the men around them. The bulk of these people might call 
themselves nuevo dancers, but there are guys with the same ugly behavior 
who might call themselves "milonguero" dancers. To simplify matters, I 
just ignore the alleged "style" and call them assholes.

This isn't to say that women have no part in fine floorcraft. They play 
a huge part. There are, for instance, some women (why do so _many_ of 
them teach?) who will always launch a whole leg into the air behind 
them, no matter how softly or sweetly one reverses their pivot. That's a 
plain lack of proportion, a stark poverty of invention. For each one of 
these women, there are at least three (why do none of _them_ teach?) who 
dance with care for the room, and a beautiful presence of mind. These 
women _dance_; the rest just do silly moves.

Style is no excuse. And resumes don't belong on the dance floor, 
whatever one might specialize in /marketing/. Kindness and respect 
create the ronda, and without the ronda we're all just a bunch of jerks.

Jake
DC

p.s. Lest anyone misunderstand me, I'm not promoting myself as an 
example of the ideal. I'm promoting the ideal as an example for myself.