[Tango-L] What do you think?

[Shahrukh Merchant]

Brian Dunn says:

> What do you call someone who can speak, read and write English, Japanese, Swahili, and Russian with clarity, precision and humor in all languages? In other words, they can improvise successfully in all of them? I would call them a "language expert".

Nice post, Brian. Gave me lots of food for thought. Thanks.

However, I tend to identify with the "rebuttal" sentiments of Vince and 
Anton.

Yes, those who can dance with ease, grace, technical ability and 
musicality all the mainstream style of Tango are to be admired, perhaps 
even envied. However, these people are few and far between. When you add 
in the appropriate social graces to be popular as dance partners, the 
field is narrowed further, and when you add in the humility necessary 
for these "superstars" to fit into a social environment where they are 
not abusing their skills to the detriment of the enjoyment of others, 
it's a statistically insignificant number. Yes, they probably exist, and 
are well-deserving of their what I would assume to be their high 
popularity, but these "Tango Gods" (not self-proclaimed, of which there 
is no shortage) are too few to affect most communities.

Similarly, the phenomenon of "sour grapes" that you allude to 
(criticizing someone's style because one has not mastered it oneself) 
undoubtedly exists, but I really don't think is a mainstream phenomenon. 
As Vince says, perhaps they just "love a particular form of tango and 
the traditions that go with them."

So, to use your language metaphor, it's not that people criticize the 
true (and very, very rare) polyglots our of envy, but rather it's the 
person who just learned Japanese (for example) and thinks he's a hotshot 
because he speaks more Japanese than the others in the room (even though 
his English, which is his native language, is awful), and imposes 
himself upon the francophones (let's say), pours soy sauce into their 
Bordeaux, and calls them close-minded because they never really wanted 
to drink their wine that way and seem disinclined to change their views, 
whom they have the problem with.

> The excellent young social tango dancers I've met in Buenos Aires can dance social tango to any music under any conditions, with heartbreakingly memorable connection and breathtaking musicality, expressing themselves fully and appropriately within the "boundaries" of the tango environment of the moment.

But how do they function in a social setting? Can they make their 
partner feel good without being an annoyance to the rest of the people 
on the floor around them? Yes, some can and do, but many many of the 
"hotshots" have not developed these "social graces" (that would be the 
polite version), and it is unforgiveable in their case since they have 
more than sufficient technical skills to be able to do so and should be 
very cognizant of what the social environment calls for. Perhaps it's 
because they are almost always professionals and often feel that they 
need to stand out to the crowd (especially if they are young and not 
necessarily established, even if they are talented). This for me takes 
them closer to my definition of a performance dancer (who dances for 
everyone else EXCEPT his partner) rather than a social dancer (who 
dances primarily for his partner, while also respectful of the others 
with whom he is sharing the floor).

> Philosopher-author Ken Wilber [says] ... "Pay lots of attention to the opinions of world-class experts when they discuss their own area of expertise, and routinely ignore them when they express opinions in areas in which they have no expertise"

Problem is that unlike, let's say, a sport like swimming, where someone 
who can swim 100 m faster than anyone else is by definition an expert, 
there is no accepted definition of expert in Tango. Very often, good 
marketing gets someone perceived as much more of an expert than he 
really is, and experts in one style are often scorned (perhaps 
close-mindedly, but who's to say?) by proponents of a different style. 
And Tango has more than its share of self-proclaimed experts. This is 
not to say that there aren't true Tango experts--clearly there are in a 
consensus sense. But identifying them, especially in the context of what 
is important to oneself (leaving aside the additional complication of 
what SHOULD BE important to oneself), is problematic at best.

Also, true experts tend to be multi-disciplinary and, as long as their 
claimed knowledge is not contaminated by arrogance, exhibit expertise in 
other fields that are not obviously related to the one which brought 
them their current renown. So I for one (or "for two," I guess, since 
Vince apparently agrees with me) would reject Mr. Wilber's thesis, at 
least in its generality.

> The really good dancers are the ones everyone wants to dance with, no matter what the music, no matter what the floor conditions.

I disagree: At least referring to the men, the really good SOCIAL 
dancers are the ones whom everyone would like to SHARE THE FLOOR WITH 
(including, of course, but NOT LIMITED TO, his partner).

Shahrukh