[Tango-L] Type-A Tango Salon or Show ?

[HBBOOGIE1@aol.com]

For those of you that don’t seem to be able to  separate salon tango from 
performance tango here are two videos that clearly  show the difference. The 
first video is Orlando Paiva dancing at Sunderland.  Orlando was the master 
of smooth elegant tango. Balance, axis, timing and  connection. The 
definition of Salon tango is to dance closed and open embrace  within the music. 
Notice how they start off in closed embrace and walk then he  gently releases 
her to execute a figure, you barely notice her arm slip from his  shoulder to 
his arm and then back again. Their feet are always in contact with  the 
floor, they don’t look down at the floor…..blah,blah,blah….the point is if  
you can dance salon tango you now have the skill to effortlessly dance close  
embrace or milonguero tango or whatever you wish to call it.

In the  second video Murat and Michelle perform a show tango. With no 
disrespect to  Murat and Michelle a large number of tango dancers are taught a 
lot of the moves  you see in this video. You can see the same open and closed 
embrace being danced  but that’s pretty much the only thing the two styles 
have in common. It’s Show  or Performance tango and it’s not intended to be 
danced at a social  milonga.   


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in8rG2BHnwo  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrhlyM-_yos


In a message dated  12/25/2010 6:51:40 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, 
sopelote at yahoo.com  writes:

Hi David,   yes i have lots of opinions....and  probably don't 'know' much 
about classes...but im trying to distiguish  between what goes on in a 
social 
dance and what goes on in a class..they  seem to be different.. like the 
'class' 
is about a different dance.
I  agree that the leader here pretty much dictates the follow but there is 
a  
deadliness to their 

dance that is very disappointing to me...if i  were hoping for such mastery 
,  
I'd 

quit because I'm simply not  interested in this dance.
whereas watching videos from tango and chaos   simply AMAZES me! .. sure, 
theyve 
been dancing umpteen million years..but  can't WE go for expression and 
individuality too?   or just cookie  cutter dullness...  one has to start 
somewhere... maybe im being too  harsh but if you read Bora's blog..it 
seems to 
me that, she is going  

down the performance path without even knowing it... i say that 'salon'  is 
performance..it is only danced in  performance dances that i have  ever 
seen...  
where else is 'salon' danced?  ok its a word for the  general dance floor 
dance 
but i say it is already co opted ...that the  non-Nuevo performers have 
already 
slipped in their palative
covert-  performance dance as THE authentic one..calling it SALON...it is 
NOT the  
Social dance...
I want to champion the SOCIAL DANCE as it is danced  socially...no one 
seems to 
be interested in this.
I was just talking the  other day to the wife of Ricardo Bellozo (of 
AbreTango) 
they are preparing  to return
to BsAs instead of continuing to live and teach in Italy because  stage 
tango has 
usurped the interest in the social dance there.  We are  witnessing the 
demise of 
the social dance everywhere except in BsAs....so  far.
sincerely   M..

...
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=734224171
www.youtube.com/user/nacotete
www.tangoandchaos.org
www.theopendoorway.org/audiovisual.html
"The  music makes you dance. It is so simple when one gets it. Connect with 
my  
partner and then connect with the music, let the music tell me how to move  
my 
body rather than me tell my body how to move to the music. With the right  
music 
and right partner, I am contented to have just one tanda a night"  -Pedro 
Sanchez




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