[Tango-L] Movie "Black Swan"

[Michael]

I saw the movie "Black Swan" today. It's the story of a ballerina who wins the title role in a company's rendition of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." The story is about a white swan and her opposite ego, the black swan. Usually, a different ballerina dances each role but in this movie, the artistic director wants ONE woman to dance both roles. While the movie deals with ballet and not tango, some of the dialogue between the artistic director and the Natalie Portman character, Nina, is instructive. 

 

Nina has no problem with the white swan role but has artistic expression problems with the black swan role. She concentrates too much on technique, trying to be perfect. The director tells Nina to "lose yourself" and stop fixating on technique. Control is wonderful, except when it gets in the way of unleashing the inner person.

 

The dialogue caused me to think of tango festivals and the mix between class hours and time available for milongas. I like the Atlanta Tango Festival (none this year, unfortunately) because there are two classes a day followed by two milongas, I went to a festival last year that had about 4 classes a day and one milonga. 

 

I will never write that technique isn't important. But shouldn't a dancer reach a point where technique is sufficient and now can concentrate more on the music and partner? I discovered on my Buenos Aires odyssey last year that the Argentines (not Argentineans) know about seven figures and concentrate on connection, which is their reason to dance. The figures are only a means to that end. Do North Americans concentrate so much on technique and figures, trying to be perfect, that they are unable to unleash their inner person?

 

 

Michael
I danced Argentine Tango --with the Argentines