[Tango-L] How tango evolves

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hi all,

Since there's been some reference to tango being changed to whatever the users want it to be recently, I've been thinking of the factors that cause tango or dance to evolve.  While I agree with many that tango does evolve, I don't believe that it happens willy-nilly.  That anybody can decide what happens.

So what has prompted tango to evolve in the past?  Women's fashion changes.  Changes in the music.  Space limitations.  Changes in teaching methods.

Here's an old tango-L post that describes the influence of Petroleo.
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2003/msg01480.html
Notice that the changes mentioned improved the dance.  They were not changes for changes sake.

All of this indicates to me that lasting evolutionary changes to tango involve something fundamental that create an organic change.  The work of Pulpo did, for example, is merely an extension of basic tango technique that, but it still follows the core principles of tango.

What is tango at it's heart?  To answer that I asked myself what could I strip away from the dance and still call it tango.  Could I strip away boleos?  Yes.  Could I strip away improvisation?  No.  Could I trade away connection or musicality?  No.  I came up with a few characteristics that I think describe tango at it's heart:

- A Walk
- Physical Contact through an embrace
- Emotional connection
- Improvisation
- Lead/follow
- Musicality
- Elegance

If I had to give a prototype to a beginner about what tango is, it would include these characteristics.  Perhaps a short video of Miguel Zotto and Milena Plebs simply walking elegantly to the music.

As tango evolves, I see the above-mentioned elements as necessary ingredients of the dance.  The quality of these things might change from person to person, but I don't think that anyone would really be willing to sacrifice any of these elements.  Yet, people will do so inadvertently.  Is this still tango?  I would say yes, but it wouldn't be good tango.  It wouldn't be the prototype that you could show to a beginner and say "this is tango" in a way that is meaningful.

So while I do think that tango evolves, I would say to be aware of evolutionary changes versus passing fancies.  Comments?

Trini de Pittsburgh