[Tango-L] Assessing tango (was Serpentine youth in Zagreb..look out!)

[Myk Dowling]

Trini y Sean (PATangoS) wrote:
> I didn't read that in Anton's statement, but I did read a reflection
> of what I do see happening.  That people are too willing to have an
> "anything goes" philosophy about tango without really thinking through
> the implications.  Inexperience?  Laziness?  Excuses?
>
I'm not one of them. I think there is range of styles that can currently 
be called "Tango", and I think that range mutates over time, and trying 
to prevent that _gradual_ mutation is impossible and undesirable.

That doesn't mean I feel free to dance however I want. My desire is to 
dance in a way that seems very traditional, when dancing to traditional 
music. When dancing to nuevo/fusion music, I like to get a bit more 
experimental, but only a little.

> Tango is a dance that anyone can hang up a shingle and call
> himself/herself a teacher.  There's no qualifying exam or regulations. 
> So it depends on the voices that are heard to help define what it is.
> I think that too often the voices that are supportive of new things in
> tango, such as nuevo, are misused.  Others take the support of nuevo to
> mean "anything goes".  But the best of the nuevo practitioners would
> not advocate that.  In fact, they look for the same qualities that
> traditionalists look for, too.  Elegance, connection, musicality.

I agree entirely.

Myk
in Canberra