[Tango-L] Tango who needs it?

[Deby Novitz]

Mario wrote:

Tango-who needs it?
  With all this kind of bitching and complaining, I'm thinking that the only place 
  to dance it is in BsAs where the culture and the women know how to handle it.
  Certainly not in Japan and likely not in North Amerika neither. 


Mario, since I live here I will give you my perspective.  The vapid ranting and raving you see on this list, the mean spiritedness, the demand to be absolutely right regardless, that is not in our culture here.  Lists like these do not exist here for whatever reason.  People do not debate step by step, dissect every movement, of the dance nor do they debate the political correctness of the embrace. 

BUT, Argentines by nature love to complain.  And they do. It should be a national sport up there with football. In tango and outside of tango people complain. As for the women knowing how to handle it, handle what?  Our tango culture is so different than the cultures outside of Buenos Aires, you cannot compare them.  

For whatever reason tango seems to bring out the worst in people outside of Buenos Aires.  I once had this conversation with a guest of mine.  What is it about this dance that makes people this way?  I can say at least from my perspective, here in Buenos Aires we treat each other much nicer and with more respect.  We greet people we know (Unlike people in the U.S. who tend to ignore people they know and then pretend they didn't see them). We look forward to seeing our friends at a milonga rather than wrack up a scorecard of the number and quality of dances.  For us, the milonga is a social event.  As I have said often, outside of here it tends to take on the characteristics of any Olympic sport.  The whole feeling of the dance gets lost in a competitive battle.  

I would never give up dancing tango because a few people want to create a nasty environment.  You need to find your place.  When you do, you will see why tango is why it is.