[Tango-L] No Nuevo (as a style) - according to the Naveiras

[burak ozkosem]

I want to make a clarification about the presence of Tango Nuevo in
Buenos Aires Tango Scene.
First of all, there are three different scenes in Buenos Aires Tango life:
-Milongas and Practicas (Social Tango)
-Schools/classes (Pedagogic Tango)
-Entertainment Industry (Cena shows, music showcases)

-Milongas and Practicas (Social Tango)
There is no dance related sign of any Tango Nuevo on the dance floor.
(Wearing baggy pants, or sneakers, or dancing badly is nothing to do
with Tango Nuevo Concept).
There are no alternative milongas or nights that you can hear
electronic tango or alternative music more than 50% of the whole
playlist.
Milongas and Practicas are still very crowded and people go there to
socialize mainly and practicas are dominated by younger crowd.
There is a collaborative effort of some organizers who promote each
others events, therefore there is a huge orientation towards these
venues like La X, Practica 8, SoHo, TangoLab, Tango Cool, Milonga 10
etc. Most of these venues play ONLY traditional Tango musi and others
play 1-2 sets of non-tango music only. These venues share the same
clientele which is very different than the early-night regulars of
Canning/Nino Bien/ El Beso/ La Viru/Sunderland etc. These two groups
of regulars meet at these popular milongas after 2am.

There are practicas run by Tango Schools which are mainly for working
Tango rather than socializing focused like DNI Practica,
There is no venue in Buenos Aires where you can hear a lot of
non-Tango music for dancing purposes.

-Schools/classes (Pedagogic Tango)
This group of tango venues is where one can see Tango Nuevo method.
Most of the Tango schools and classes sustained by Foreigners not
Argentines, so there was a competition to attract foreigner dancers to
classes with fancy titles, new concepts etc. Foreigners thought that
Tango Nuevo came out of Buenos Aires as a style, but this
misconception is changing finally. Those teachers who were offering
such classes don't apply the tools they teach while they are dancing
at milongas.

-Entertainment
There is a controversial situation in Electronic Tango scene in Buenos
Aires which creates confusion. Most of the Tango musicians-mostly
bandoneon players who ended up in Electronic Tango bands are not happy
with what they produce, however financial attraction and opportunities
are driving forces for those musicians to continue. Of course some
believes what they are trying to do is right.
Electronic Tango scenes still attract mainly non-tango people and
foreigner dancers in Buenos Aires.

Cena shows and stage productions are slightly under the influence of
Tango Nuevo, however I wouldn't say that Tango Nuevo is present in
this group of Tango scene in Buenos Aires.
Tango Fantasia is designed for stage dancers whose background is dance
and for the purpose of performing on the stage, despite of the fact
that it's the most artistic and well sustained Tango industry, it will
never be part of the Tango polemics and style wars.

To sum up, I can say that Tango Nuevo method can be seen in the
classes because it's a learning tool and it's nothing to do with music
or venue or the outfit you wear.  Since there are too many teachers in
Buenos Aires, Tango Nuevo along with so-called "Real Tango",
Milonguero style, is being used as a marketing tool and to look
different, so foreigners would choose their classes over others.


Bests

Burak
Chicago
www.buraktangoweek.com
www.miamitangomarathon.com