[Tango-L] 3 alarm fire

[Dwain Edwards]

I live in a quite beautiful small city (or large town, depending on 
one's perspective) with a fairly active tango community. For me, one of 
the highlights of the week is going to the Madonna Inn for the Sunday 
evening practica. The venue is perhaps a little over the top, but the 
dance floor is reasonably large, and reasonably well kept. It is a 
tourist attraction, so during the 105 minutes (or so) that we may 
dance, many people stop by. Standing by the bar while a couple of 
milongas were playing (not my favorite dance, so I use that time to 
rest, buy coffee, restroom, whatever), a young boy, about 6 years old, 
said to his grandmother, "Grannma, those people are dancing to 'mickey 
mouse' music." I couldn't help but laugh. (I believe the song was 
"Reliquias Porteñas", by Canaro, but I could be wrong.) Anyway, I think 
there are several responses that could come to mind regarding the boy's 
observation: He just an American boy without any cultural history, 
unable to appreciate the depth and texture, the foundation of the 
music. It would be no different if he was to hear "Un Bel Di", sung by 
Caballe, and due to the cultural "shallowness" of youth, remarks, 
"Those people are listening to yucky music". Then again, another view 
could be taken that "truth" comes out of the mouth of babes; that the  
Emperor has no clothes.

So, why bring this up? Besides the fact that I didn't know how to post 
to tango-l, I chose to not investigate how to post (or at least attempt 
a post), because of the (what I perceived to be) ruthless flames. 
Posting what this boy said would have unleashed (as Michael just put 
it) a 3 alarm fire - which I think is sad. Anyway....

Light Love Passion Compassion,

Dwain