2727  Argentine tango teachers

Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 23:31:54 +0000
From: Sergio Vandekier <sergiovandekier990@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Argentine tango teachers

We should not forget that Tango is part of the Argentine popular culture.
It was born in humble places of the city and it was created and danced by
common, humble people.

Milongueros (those that dance tango regularly) are a mixed group, a social
melting pot where one can find all sort of human beings with all their
virtues and all their defects, kindness and lowness, generosity and
depicable or obnoxious behavior..

Many tango instructors are highly educated, very kind, they frequently
"fell" into tango after a professional life in other art forms, theater,
movies or other dancing forms (ballet, modern, folkloric, etc) but...

Frequently they are "created" by foreign or local tango entrepreneurs that
flock to Buenos Aires trying to discover a good dancer that they can hire
for a sub-standard fee.

Now you have a humble person whose only ability was acquired dancing at the
milongas, somebody without any teaching experience, alone, in a foreign
country acting as a tango instructor. Poor guy!

Your encounter with such a person occurs so that you can learn "his art",
for independently of all his deficiencies he grew up in the street with
tango in his blood.
He is there because he can show you the way tango can be danced, and you
should take advantage of that encounter and (IMO) ignore (if possible)
his/her negative personality traits.

Think about Louis Amstrong who was born in the poorest section of New
Orleans known as "The Battlefield", a man who despite his fame lived all his
life in a poor section of the city.

By the time he died in 1971 he was known as "the founding father of jazz". A
uniquely American art form. I would have loved to take music lessons from
him, it does not matter what his culture or personality was, would't have
you? or...

Elvis Presley was born in the humblest of circumstances in a two room house
in Tupelo, Mississippi.
He created a new era of American music and popular culture. I would have
enjoyed a lot to have met him, it does not matter what personality
imperfections he could have had.

To me, despite of all the negative aspects that you described in minute,
painful detail, when judging Susana Miller, his geniality lays in the fact
that she, along with Tete identified a dancing form among all the other
tango styles that existed at the time and isolated it in such a way that it
could be taught as a distinct style at home and abroad.

This is the way I think, I accept that many other members of our
distinguished list may have a different opinion on this subject and... they
have a reason to have it. :))

Happy tangos to all of you.

Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 17:46:47 -0700
From: Daniel Lapadula <clubstyletango@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Argentine tango teachers

>
> Hi Sergio and the list again...
> You keep posting and I shall keep responding...to a
> normal way to agree or disagree...
> In my case ,I am the son of a milonguero from San
> Martin wich has a brother who was also well known in
> Bomberos de San Martin in the early 50th..
> They where called the gringos ,because they were
> blond
> hair...and tanos....
> My father died a year ago in BA ....he was so proud
> that I was in TV teaching tango...and I admired me
> I
> I used to admired him( My Hero all the way)..but he
> told me that he could not understand the new
> tango...He was referring not to Nabeira
> style,but,the
> way we dance...
> He said to me that cross was never part of a dance
> and
> 1 to 8 count basic did not existed in his time .But
> the main think here is that my father was an
> architect
> and did not work as it ,but in the railroads for 40
> years.(of course in the main office...he was short
> and
> petite to be a heavy-duty worker)
> His brother was one of the first TV stations
> engineers
> and both were part of the tango -scene mix of many
> different social extracts..
> That influenced me a lot regardless of my own social
> position and could be on of the factors of what
> people think about instructors or tango teachers.
> Lets people relax and start searching a little more
> before judging and lets see how far can we go with
> the
> acceptance of a different point of view on foreign
> people that try to help ango regardless of cultural
> differences...
> Regards.
> Daniel
>
> --- Sergio Vandekier
> <sergiovandekier990@HOTMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> > We should not forget that Tango is part of the
> > Argentine popular culture.
> > It was born in humble places of the city and it
> was
> > created and danced by
> > common, humble people.
> >
> > Milongueros (those that dance tango regularly) are
> a
> > mixed group, a social
> > melting pot where one can find all sort of human
> > beings with all their
> > virtues and all their defects, kindness and
> lowness,
> > generosity and
> > depicable or obnoxious behavior..
> >
> > Many tango instructors are highly educated, very
> > kind, they frequently
> > "fell" into tango after a professional life in
> other
> > art forms, theater,
> > movies or other dancing forms (ballet, modern,
> > folkloric, etc) but...
> >
> > Frequently they are "created" by foreign or local
> > tango entrepreneurs that
> > flock to Buenos Aires trying to discover a good
> > dancer that they can hire
> > for a sub-standard fee.
> >
> > Now you have a humble person whose only ability
> was
> > acquired dancing at the
> > milongas, somebody without any teaching
> experience,
> > alone, in a foreign
> > country acting as a tango instructor. Poor guy!
> >
> > Your encounter with such a person occurs so that
>
> > you can learn "his art",
> > for independently of all his deficiencies he grew
> up
> > in the street with
> > tango in his blood.
> > He is there because he can show you the way tango
> > can be danced, and you
> > should take advantage of that encounter and (IMO)
> > ignore (if possible)
> > his/her negative personality traits.
> >
> > Think about Louis Amstrong who was born in the
> > poorest section of New
> > Orleans known as "The Battlefield", a man who
> > despite his fame lived all his
> > life in a poor section of the city.
> >
> > By the time he died in 1971 he was known as "the
> > founding father of jazz". A
> > uniquely American art form. I would have loved to
> > take music lessons from
> > him, it does not matter what his culture or
> > personality was, would't have
> > you? or...
> >
> > Elvis Presley was born in the humblest of
> > circumstances in a two room house
> > in Tupelo, Mississippi.
> > He created a new era of American music and popular
> > culture. I would have
> > enjoyed a lot to have met him, it does not matter
> > what personality
> > imperfections he could have had.
> >
> > To me, despite of all the negative aspects that
> you
> > described in minute,
> > painful detail, when judging Susana Miller, his
> > geniality lays in the fact
> > that she, along with Tete identified a dancing
> form
> > among all the other
> > tango styles that existed at the time and isolated
> > it in such a way that it
> > could be taught as a distinct style at home and
> > abroad.
> >
> > This is the way I think, I accept that many other
> > members of our
> > distinguished list may have a different opinion on
> > this subject and... they
> > have a reason to have it. :))
> >
> > Happy tangos to all of you.
> >
> >
>
> get
> > it now!
> >
>
> >
>
>
> =====
>
> Daniel Lapadula
> ClubStyleTango@yahoo.com
> 54114-773-9383
> Buenos Aires-Argentina
>
>
>
>
>

=====

Daniel Lapadula
ClubStyleTango@yahoo.com
54114-773-9383
Buenos Aires-Argentina