[Tango-L] What Argentine Tango is, and what it is not.

[Floyd Baker]

Sorry if this is a dupe...  
Having trouble getting it sent.    
Please see below

On Fri, 7 Mar 2008 08:54:43 -0700, you wrote:

>On Mar 7, 2008, at 4:17 AM, Alexis Cousein wrote:
>
>> Floyd Baker wrote:
>>> I believe and have been told by people here that it is very much what
>>> Tango is.., and what it is not.   Tango, imho, is such an entirely
>>> separate entitity from ballroom that I do not even consider it a  
>>> dance
>>> at all.
>>>
>> I don't consider ballroom a dance, but a sport much like figure  
>> skating is ;).
>
>I'm not sure I understand this discussion. It doesn't correspond to my  
>experiences with ballroom.
<snip>
>Ballroom did get really messed up with the studio system and their  
>Bronze, Silver, Gold marketing, but even there, the studios always  
>held, and still hold, social dances every Saturday. Most of the  
>clientele consists of married couples or Dance Widows hiring a  
>professional to dance her at the occasional showcases.
>
>I think you guys are discussing International Style Competition  
>Ballroom. That is it's own sub genre, that doesn't have much to do  
>with social ballroom dancing. But again, I would expect any decent  
>International Ballroom dancer to be able to dance socially with  
>improvised movements.
>
>Argentine Tango also has its choreographed side, the stage tango that  
>may have been more popular during certain decades.


Tom...

The point of the thread?   My analogies..?  Certainly not discussing
any area of any type of ballroom.   My 'chess of the dance games' has
nothing to do with Ballroom or it being considered a sport.   I wrote
that on my tango site 12 years ago.  Something like 'it's the sunniest
part of any day', or whatever else one might say.  :-)

I consider it a head game for sure.  Where the ladies get their rush
from being able to keep up with that other rush...  The signals coming
at them each and every step.  Trying to produce the perfect Tango.
It's a subconscious challange for them, isn't it?  That mental
'conversation'?   Trying to stay lucid while dreaming?   :-)   

As for ballroom..?   I know little of it.  Except for a bit of the
'studio system' you mention.   It didn't take me long to leave it.

As for real differences twix us and them...  One can point to
something said here long ago...  I'm sure you'll remember it.  That
Tango has two very active listservs of it's very own.., while all
25-30 ballroom dances share one Rec.Dance newsgroup..., as a whole.   

One need not question differences.   Just enjoy them...  

You can pull up American or any other ballroom Tango
competition videos on youtube and you'll instantly  know why *I* for
one prefer true Argentine.  Bad breath, can't stand each other head
snaps...  Eeeaaghhh....

Even ballroom sponsored *Argentine Tango* championships.  Not!  A
dozen or so who have the money to get to a 'world competition', 
so obviously one of them  wins..?   :-p    They belong to a very
small world.   There are ten thousand other couples in the real one,
who are better.., without the choreography too.., but they don't have
the bucks to be there.   They wouldn't be, even if they did.

Then we get ballroom A/T champions with their sheet of paper going
around teaching true Argentine?  Hmmm...   'Here's where to put your
foot' and the like?   Perhaps that's one of the reasons A/Tango is
said to be losing its appeal?   No one knows what it is?  

And too, it seems there's a lot of off-topic conversation going on
here these days too.   A lot of discussion of ballroom details...  How
ballroom steps are done and such.   I'm not referring to you for sure,
with you mistaking me above.   But it seems even on the Tango-L's the
focus is waining.  Ballroom is intruding.   Sadly so, if so.  

Take care and Tango on...

Floyd

     Buffalo Tango - Argentine Tango - How To Tango
     * * * * * *  www.buffalotango.com  * * * * * *