[Tango-L] Missing Magic, UNESCO declaration

[Shahrukh Merchant]

In response to my largely rhetorical question between international 
interests in Tango vs. local Buenos Aires Tango interests:

> Which do you think is more likely to  
> care about preserving traditions?

Tango22 <tango22 at gmail.com> legitimately pointed out (if I may 
paraphrase) that foreign wealth and a "convert's enthusiasm" may very 
well trump a mediocre local's (i.e., from Buenos Aires) 
opportunistically taking advantage of his better ability to pull the 
wool over the eyes of Tango innocents (by virtue of his "Argentine" 
credentials).

Worth repeating from his post:

> I have not seen one such "maestro" who does not attract  
> customers through performance (mostly average) and then proceed to  
> teach semi-performance to a gullible audience who believe it is the  
> real deal.  Hence the hybridisation of modern Argentine Tango around  
> the world.

Sadly very true, though in all fairness most of them DO care about Tango 
traditions and culture, but just not at the expense of their livelihood 
(something to do with Maslow's hierarchy, no doubt). It's a complex 
subject for sure, and there are complex interplays between *knowing* 
what is "real Tango," actually *trying* to teach it, *knowing* how to 
teach it, preserving the culture vs. just teaching the steps, etc. 
Someone may CARE about preserving traditions but have no interest and/or 
ability (whether it be financial or organizational) to be an effective 
crusader for the cause. And many people just want to learn to dance what 
they see as the Tango, without any interest whatsoever in the culture 
behind it (for most people, myself included, that comes later (if it 
comes at all), once one has some context and contact with the culture).

But there is one difference: the music. For most Argentines, I would 
venture to say, even most of those who dance Tango, the soul of Tango 
lies in the music (and the depth of cultural complexities carried within 
it). For non-Argentines, even those who really care about the "real 
Tango," it is the dance they focus on. Most of us non-Argentines, even 
those who learned Spanish, can barely understand the lyrics let alone 
all the cultural implications behind it.

And a well-intention philanthropist or enthusiastic convert may 
inadvertently direct his money or enthusiasm to what got *him* 
enthusiastic, with insufficient knowledge of what really needs to be 
preserved. One can imagine a hypothetical visit by a Bill Gates to 
Buenos Aires, where he sees an electro-tango group in torn jeans playing 
in Plaza Dorrego and attends Taconeando (the tourist Tango show), and 
decides that Tango in Buenos Aires needs a $500,000 donation from the 
Gates Foundation so that they can wear better clothes and advertise in 
even more magazines (respectively). But he would miss the fact that 
perhaps what was more worthy of support (for a lot less money) was 
greater exposure to the two quiet musicians in their 70s who play for 
tips on Calle Florida, one of whom was a singer in D'Angelis' orchestra 
and the other a bandoneonista in Pugliese's.

On a related subject, but switching gears somewhat, it's worth looking 
at the UNESCO declaration. Despite my scoffing that "bureaucracy and art 
don't mix," in fact they've done a pretty good job at identifying the 
breadth and depth of what Tango constitutes. The press releases that 
most people read were pretty shallow, but if you want to see the 
details, go to

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/doc/src/00258-Nomination_form.doc

which is a Word document that really goes into some detail about what 
all they are trying to protect, what projects they propose to implement, 
and how much each will cost. Now how much of this money actually goes 
into doing what it's supposed to remains to be seen (actually it's not 
likely that it *will* be seen, since it is doubtful that anyone will 
actually get a real accounting of where the money went). But I don't 
doubt that it will do some good.

No real conclusions from this post (I certainly wouldn't pretend to have 
the answers) ... just various musings.

Shahrukh