[Tango-L] New Tango

[Tango22]

Unusually, I attended two milongas at the weekend dominated by couples  
dancing in the modern youthful style to modern music.  It started me  
thinking.......

It strikes me that:

a) It a unique hybrid form of dance, like a modern funk or pop dance  
for couples.

b) It combines some classic elements with demonstration / performance  
figures in a flowing and flamboyant style, often accompanied by static  
poses.  The figures include kicks, slow and deliberate sables and  
ganchos, exaggerated volcadas and colgadas, side-by-side and underarm  
spins and other flamboyant elements, even extending to dragging and  
lifts.  It is relatively athletic.

c)  It is an extroverted dance, not introspective -  one of the  
hallmarks of classic Tango.

c) In that respect it is somewhat similar to swing / jive, with  
combinations of showy figures, kicks and lifts.  Some of the elements  
are typical of the very rigidly choreographed New Vogue dances La  
Bomba and Tango Terrific.

d) The floor dynamic is completely different from classic Tango.  It  
is more like ballroom latin or swing / jive in that it seems more  
suited to the dancing couples marking out a space within which to  
perform, rather than a tight  rotation.  Even when forced into a  
rotation by other dancers, the couples will still look for open space  
to perform static or rotational figures, often in the centre or  
corners of the room.

e)  It seems attractive to young people, for the obvious reasons that  
they are seeking fun and display.

g) The music typically includes percussion, as does ballroom Tango.

h) Though, I venture to guess that the current style is founded on  
Chicho Frumboli's performances, it seems to have caught on as a social  
dance in the US, from where it is now being exported.

f) I sense that the dance will continue to grow away from classic  
Tango until it becomes a separate genre that has a passing resemblance  
to classic Tango, in the way that codified ballroom Tango (Dancesport)  
nods to its roots in name and the occasional glimpse of a classic  
figure.  Could it become Funk Tango?

h) Likewise, the music will grow further away from classic Tango, with  
more rock, pop and jazz fusion until it is barely recogniseable as  
Tango, if that has not already happened.
John