5055  Argentine Tango, a "folk dancer's" perspective

Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:37:00 -0700
From: Norman Tiber <natiber@charter.net>
Subject: [Tango-L] Argentine Tango, a "folk dancer's" perspective
To: tango-l@mit.edu
format=flowed

Dear fellow Tango dancers (addicts),

I have read with interest, and at times amusement, the postings about
the origins of the Tango, learning the Tango, ?world class? dancers etc.

Let me offer a Tango perspective, from the world of international
folk dancing.

I have been a student of Argentine Tango (not American or
International Ballroom) for three years. I consider it to be one of
the most interesting ?folk dances? I have ever tried to master.

I consider it a folk dance, based on it?s origins. It did not start
out being a dance taught by dance masters. It evolved by people
dancing in a purely social context (with a wide range of dancing
ability and styles). In this sense it is no different than many folk
dances from all over the world.

True, it is one of those folk dances whose origin is primarily
associated with an urban setting, not a rural village (Tango - urban,
Chacarera - rural). The same thing can be said for dances like the
Greek Hassapiko and the American, Ragtime, One Step (an interesting
sister to the Milonga - different country and music, but similar
rhythm and steps).

Unfortunately, far too often, something happens when dances move from
being dances of the folk, to dances taught by dance masters. Now, I
realize that I can not learn the Tango by growing up in Buenos Aires
and going though a complex dance acculturation (beginning with my
hearing Tango music as a fetus in the womb). I do have to rely on
dance masters, listening to lots of music , and practice/practice/
practice. But when I dance Tango, I try to do it like a social folk
dance, not a performance. My goal is to dance in a way that takes
into account and respects:

1. The venue I am dancing in.

2. The music.

3. The other dancers on the floor.

4. My partner and myself (especially my partner).

5. The language of the dance (steps, syntax).

This allows for a wide range in variables like dancing ability and
style.

I have had the experience, at social dances, of having someone tell
me that I was doing something ?wrong? (different?). If I am sure
that I have respected 1-5 above, I usually say ?Thanks, but that?s
the way they dance it in my village.? For Tango, I will substitute
?neighborhood? for ?village,? more urban sounding.

Norm