[Tango-L] What is Tango? (Or Tango Categories) - Part 3 Final

[bettina maria fahlbusch]

thanks for this clarifying comment - as I observe all the ideas about
what "Tango is" - I think - for the most part, it is something to be
experienced and felt and "should" not be analyzed that much. Like , do
you wask ourselves "what is poetry?" or "what is the scent of a rose?
" or " what is making love?" - it is - and here a bit of a feminine
perspective - clearly, a very male approach trying to dissect almost
scientifically in the head that what is to be experienced and felt,
after all. because this is where the essence and beauty is, not in the
fragments or parts or steps, but in the experience of something much
more whole. As this is what compels us in the first place. recall that
first time seeing a Tango couple, ad the sense inside "WOW" - WHAT is
that?" THAT was a feeling, a sense of something one was fascinated and
could not quite grasp . .  . And while trying to figure out what it is
- bingo, one gets lost in the parts, steps, taking it apart to a
degree where then it is not longer what it is. Like what we see in
NUEVO. If you openly ask "What is Nuev?" versus "What is Tango" do you
think more people would be compelled reading about NUEVO, or reading
about TANGO? And why is that?? Finally, when you finally get it
"right" - then what? Are you gonna then "own" it? "DO" it better?
Even the best dancers in this world today - they have not "arrived" or
own it. They are still always rediscovering and advancing. And who do
they look for? To copy from whom? take classes from whom? No, those
people invent. Just like in any art, after knowing the basic
technique, it is about creativity. Imagination. That kind of outcome -
in my opinion - should not even be copied. But that is personal
perspective and everyone needs to decide that on their own.

Bettina

On 8/5/09, Jack Dylan <jackdylan007 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Anton Stanley anton at alidas.com.au
>  So in my opinion categorisation doesn't
>> answer the increasingly difficult questions of !
>> what is tango. I believe it is in urgent need of some form of definition.
>>
>
> IMHO, this is getting a little silly and overly intellectualised.
>
> 'Argentine Tango' is an Argentine artform and they have 2 categories -
> Social Tango and Tango Escenario. Most of us on this list are non-Argentine
> amateur dancers interested in Social Tango and, if you want to know what it
> is, just walk into any of the 20 or so milongas that are held every day in
> BsAs
> and you'll see people dancing Tango. It's not a secret; it's in the open for
> all
> to see. In other parts of the city you might find dance events called
> practicas
> where people dance something called 'Nuevo'. So if you want to categorise
> or define something, I suggest you change your question to 'What is Nuevo?'
> Is it a new category of Tango or is it something else? Just because people
> outside Argentina dance Nuevo in their milongas doesn't necessarily make
> it Tango. Tango is a dance of the Argentine people and the tangueros of
> Argentina have already defined Social Tango by what they dance in their
> milongas. Who are we non-Argentines to even question that?
>
> Many social dancers outside Argentina also like to incorporate some
> well-known elements of Escenario, which were formerly part of Social
> Tango in BsAs, such as Ganchos, Arristre, Lapiz, Sandwich, etc. They're
> combining the 2 categories of Tango - Social and Escenario, so it's still
> Tango.
>
> But, 'What is Nuevo' is the question, not 'What is Tango'
>
> Jack
>
>
>
>
>
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