[Tango-L] Observations on "Nuevo"

[Shahrukh Merchant]

Well, I found myself agreeing with 50% of the burst of good high-energy 
discussion in the last few days, then realized that since every opinion 
and its counterpart had been expressed, that statistically speaking 
pretty much everyone would have to agree with 50%. :-)

Anyway, some observations on the over-generalized use of "Nuevo":

Various people have attached the "nuevo" label to all of the following 
things, in some cases lumping them together, in other cases treating it 
as an "evolution" (or "devolution," depending on the perspective).

There may have been an evolution in a chronological sense in some of 
these, but they are all distinct phenomena and are being grossly 
over-generalized and even more grossly over-simplified by all being 
given the label "nuevo."

- STRUCTURE: Naveira/Salas/Frumboli (the last to a lesser extent) 
analysis of tango movements into elements to identify a structure within 
the dance. They never called it "nuevo," they called it "structure" and 
it was largely within the realm of traditional Tango. Mid/late '90s. 
Some of it I found extremely useful (e.g., it's emphasis on the giro and 
its technique as a fundamental building block of Tango structure), other 
things "interesting but not particularly useful mathematical 
curiosities," such as trying to explain the cruzada as just another 
giro, and other things "experimental" such as extrapolating the 
structure into new "figures" like "Change of Direction." The last of 
these seemed to me more like a particle physicist's attempt to define 
all the possible elementary particles that must exist by symmetry and 
then spending a good part of a career trying to discover them: it is 
great that science is being pursued by a talented few, and it must be, 
but practical applications will be few and far between for most of us.

- MORE OPEN MOVES: This PARTIALLY evolved from the above, where some 
extrapolated figures really needed a more open position. But there was 
also the influence of dozens of Tango stage dancers (which the N/S/F 
trio really are not), who for many years dominated the teaching of Tango 
around the world, and who taught open figures because (a) that's how 
it's danced on stage (easier to see and do flashy stage moves) and (b) 
students flocked to classes to learn the aforementioned flashy stage 
moves. In fairness to these teachers, most of them DID place a lot of 
emphasis on proper technique. But a lot of people wasted a lot of time 
and kicked a lot of shins learning to do back sacadas (not easily done 
in close embrace) while thinking they were learning social Tango. A 
third influence on open moves and a more open embrace was that in most 
non-Latin cultures, people are just more comfortable dancing further 
apart (the milonguero movement in exported Tango came later), and a 
fourth influence was of course the much greater space to do these open 
moves in the relatively nascent Tango communities of the time (and in 
most even now) outside Buenos Aires.

- NEW FIGURES: The oft-mentioned "colgadas" and "volcadas" come to mind. 
(The colgada, unlike the volcada, IMHO is largely incompatible with 
traditional Tango technique, but that's another discussion ...) The 
point is that these have nothing to do with the first two (they don't 
directly derive from the "structure" nor do they come out of an open 
embrace--a volcada would in fact preclude one). The N/S/F trio (among 
others) WERE instrumental in their development and adoption and 
dissemination, no doubt helped by their effective and successful 
marketing (in a positive sense).

- "TECHNO"/ELECTRONIC TANGO: The music that is. I'd guess the term 
"Tango Nuevo" was first used in the context of the music. This music 
came, and still comes, from Argentina, or in some cases from Argentine 
musicians in other parts of the world (e..g, Gotan Project). Some of the 
more sweeping figures and/or open moves went well with SOME of this 
music (a very small fraction of which is actually danceable, 
notwithstanding the "one can dance anything to anything" school), so 
there was some synergy there.

- ALTERNATIVE TANGO [SIC] MUSIC: From the "one can dance anything to 
anything" school, an attempt to dance Tango to anything EXCEPT Tango 
music (techno or otherwise). Sorry, but this is an entirely gringo 
phenomenon. To the extent that it exists in Argentina at all, it's to 
cater to the Tango tourists who "learned" to expect this. I call them 
"excessively long cortinas," and they are most appropriate for doing 
what one does during cortinas (anything except dance Tango).

- BAD NAVIGATORS/INCONSIDERATE DANCERS: Nothing to do with any of the 
above, except (and this is a big "except") that big-movement dancers are 
much more of a nuisance when they disrupt other dancers. As succinctly 
stated by Aron: "bad nuevo dancers are like lighthouses, bad traditional 
dancers are simply ignored." But I would expand to "bad and/or 
inconsiderate and/or unaware" (after all, someone who is bad just 
because he is a beginner is to be nurtured, not rejected).

One can't really lump all these things into the word "nuevo" (and some 
of it isn't even new). My own personal preference (or tolerance) for 
these is roughly in decreasing order in the way I listed them above:

- I've found some of the structure extremely useful, particularly in 
giros, barridas, and the like.

- Open/sweeping moves: with the right space and the right partner and 
the right music, sure, but I very rarely encounter that combination, and 
even less if it's techno Tango I'm dancing to.

- Volcadas: yes (but sparingly), colgadas: no.

- Alternative Tango [sic] music and inconsiderate dancers: Here, I'm 
with Ron--let's isolate these to the same room and lock the door (from 
the outside). :-)

Shahrukh