[Tango-L] Tango's Cutural Heritage

[RonTango]

----- Original Message ----
> From: Jack Dylan <jackdylan007 at yahoo.com>
> To: Tango-L at mit.edu
> Sent: Mon, May 24, 2010 6:02:02 AM
> Subject: [Tango-L] Tango's Cutural Heritage

 
> But has anyone wondered just what they intend to preserve and safeguard 
> and just how 
> they intend to do this? The Tango that is danced in much of the 
> world is very different to 
> what is danced in the traditional milongas of 
> Buenos Aires and, with the growth of tango 
> tourists to Buenos Aires, is 
> there a danger that the traditional milongas will be unable to 
> survive in their present form? 
 
The short answer is "Yes". 

Yes, tango has always been changing, evolving in some way. However, at least since the 1930s or perhaps earlier, if some evolution in tango did not fit into the customs of the milonga, particularly how it respected the space of other dancers on the floor, it was forbidden at the milonga; some evolved forms, for example tango fantasia, led to the development of tango for the stage. What is different today is that much of tango nuevo is not designed to fit into a community of dancers on the social dance floor. In Buenos Aires, this has led to separate events for nuevoists (milongas such as La Viruta and La Catedral and the nuevo practicas) and the traditional customs of the milonga are generally respected at the overwhelming majority of other milongas. 

Something to be noted is that this is perhaps the first time in the history of tango that there is a considerable amount of age segregation by milonga. The average age at La Viruta and La Catedral is undoubtedly under 30 and the average age at many traditional milongas is over 50, probably even over 60. There is a lost generation of tango. In the golden age, young porten~os were initiated into the tango culture by their parents or other older relatives of the previous generation, most likely in a club del barrio. The traditional customs were passed on within families, from the older generation to the younger generation. The current youth of Buenos Aires has parents who were unlikely to dance tango. Their first encounter with tango is more likely to be with peers. 

Tango nuevo appeals to young people. It is targeted at young people. Thus, tango nuevo represents in part a youth culture in which young people can form a community of peers that is largely separate from a culture of traditional tango that is more appealing to middle aged and elderly porten~os. The age segregation is, of course, not absolute, with some young porten~os attending traditional milongas and some older porten~os attending nuevo events. My guess is that the former represents a larger number of people than the latter, due to the physical limitations caused by aging which make nuevo less practical as a style of dancing.

What is not easy to predict is what will happen in the future. The physical limitations of aging will cause many people to drop nuevo. So will having children to raise. It is possible many of the dancers who dropped nuevo will take up traditional tango de salon at an older age. 

A major unknown in this equation appears to be economics. Tango tourism fuels the economy of Buenos Aires. Many of the changes that can be called the evolution of tango coincide in time with the increase in tango tourism. Tango festivals like CITA and El Pulpo's festival are too expensive for porten~os and one need only pick up an issue of El Tanguata to realize that much of the tango industry is targeted towards tourist money, and much of this tourist money goes towards nuevo / show tango, which fits in more with the impressions and expectations of tourists for tango than does the marketing of tango milonguero. Thus, many milongas are supported by tourist money and thus there has been an increase in tango-tourist oriented milongas and practicas that meet the expectations of tango tourists. With inflation eating away at the the expendable income of porten~os, it is a simple matter of supply and demand that traditional milongas are fading away and tourist
 milongas are increasing. 

Another thing that may kill traditional tango is the lack of transmission of the character of traditional tango to the younger generation. It seems that every month one hears of one or more milongueros who have died or stopped dancing. So even if there is a demand for traditional tango, the number of people who are available to pass it on has decreased.

However, if traditional tango could survive nearly 30 years of dictatorship and political tyranny from the late 50s to the early 80s, perhaps it can survive the challenges porten~o youth culture and foreign cultural demands and economic influence. There is something unique about this traditional tango that causes people from around the world to become obsessed with it and travel to Buenos Aires to find more of it. Another 10-20 years may be needed to determine whether nuevo is the future of tango or whether it is only an evolutionary experiment.

Ron