[Tango-L] What do you think?

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- On Mon, 7/27/09, Jack Dylan <jackdylan007 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Now you could say that 'anything goes' as long as they're
> dancing to tango music and, if that's your opinion, fine. But when does it stop being tango and become something else - modern dance?

That's what I was getting at.  I've heard people say too many times that anything goes, that tango is anything you want it to be when it's not really true.  Even Mariana recognizes this when she refers to still respecting tango as a cultural legacy, to which Sebastian agrees.  Apparently bounds do exist, but what are they?  What does it mean to still respect tango as a cultural legacy?  

Movements can develop independently in different genres.  Perhaps some movements are actually borrowed from modern dance.  Fine, then be honest and state so.  Some of those movements (ganchos) where he lifts her completely off the floor seem to borrow from ballet.  Take a photo still of such a moment, digitize it so that they are both in leotards, and would it look like two ballet dancers in a classic pose?  Suppose that was done for some clips.  How much can you borrow and still call it tango?  

It strikes me that people just aren't willing to verbalize bounds, except for those running the World Tango Championships.  As I watch the clip more, I realize that part of the reason this performance reminds me of modern dance or a ballet is all of the posing.  They don't strike me as pauses, but as poses.  Her ability to dance is taken away for a moment, even ornaments.  In pauses, a tension can still exist that she can influence.  I don't see that in these lifts.

Trini de Pittsburgh