[Tango-L] Pedulum swing to fundamental

[Sandhill Crane]

--- On Wed, 9/29/10, Alexis Cousein <al at sgi.com> wrote:

> On 29/09/2010 19:01, Nussbaum, Martin wrote:
> >
> > Sandhill Crane wonders when the pendulum will swing
> > back from fancy steps to fundamentals.
> 
> My guess is "when most dancers have been dancing for seven
> or eight years or more". It takes that long for people to
> realise figures aren't everything, in my experience.

Most people don't stick around anywhere near that long;
I think maybe 2 years in the tango world is something
like the average, to judge by what I see in different
cities and festivals. So if it's a matter of waiting
several years, it's unlikely to become common practice.
Probably you know this already.

Also, from what I can see, people don't change their
style over time. The biggest, fanciest steps that I
see are executed by people who have been dancing
a long time. Long-time dancers who dance conservatively
have mostly been dancing that way for a long time,
from what I can tell.

Newcomers imitate the people who seem to be acclaimed
or praised in their community. Since those are mostly the
people who are putting on a show in one way or another,
we're kind of stuck on a treadmill: newcomers imitate
the people showing off, and if they stick around long
enough, they become the teachers & performers who
influence later generations of newcomers.