1450  "Bizarre" Posts

Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 21:54:33 -0400
From: Keith Elshaw <keith@TOTANGO.NET>
Subject: "Bizarre" Posts

WHITE 95 R wrote:

>I have to say that some of these posts border in the bizarre.... Why would

anyone say that they

>are dancing tango to Led Zeppelin? (or any other non-tango music?).
>Argentine Tango by definition is danced in a certain way to tango music. Not
>only to tango music but not jut *any* tango music.

Wow. The rules/definition according to ... whom? A rules maker? A zealous
disciple? A crackpot?

It is "bizarre" to tango move to good music and enjoy it?

One hopes to be excused for choking on the pomposity of that one.



There might not be a person on the planet who spends more time - year in and
year out - listening to/working with traditional tango than moi. You don't
want to know what restoration involves in terms of reverence, time and
nerves of steel.

Living with it affects your dancing. It's all you want to talk about. You
hear it in your sleep.

It is the background to the figure of the person going through life, in my
case.

And if I dance tango to Zep's "D'yer Maker" or Astaire's "Cheek To Cheek,"
or Sinatra/Riddle's "I've Got You Under My Skin," Piazzolla, Gotan Project
or WHATEVER when everyone has gone home I'm a bizarre person ... well, I
thank the gods of tango for giving me such enjoyment and causing such
consternation in the minds of the grim. Surely there is 15 minutes at the
end of a week for delightful play? There is in Montreal ...


Fun is beauty.

Tango is fun, too - lest we forget. But dancing tango to different music is
best held for the end of the night, for sure. Here, that means 3 AM.
Fortunately, grumps and piets go home to sleep the tension off - leaving the
floor wide open.

The slippery slope towards this piety can be seen in relative ways; there is
a dj in the west who doesn't even play Pugliese (certainly not Color Tango
or El Arranque) because it makes people move too crazy. He wants them only
to dance to 20's / 30's music. That, to him, is true tango. He declares it
openly, with great fervour. Like the gods have spoken.



With a nod and a wink to the light-hearted,

Keith

Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 02:15:48 -0400
From: Keith Elshaw <keith@TOTANGO.NET>
Subject: "Bizarre" Posts 2

Dear friends;

Yes, I'm bated. I mean no disrespect to my friends Manuel and Charles.


Charles wrote:

>As Manuel said it is really culture arrogance when one thinks they can improve

something that they >don't even really understand yet.

> They are not improving tango or having
> fun with it. They are avoiding it.

> one must be humble and accept one's own ignorance and open up to learning
> another culture including it's limitations instead of deciding what needs to
> be corrected.

So ... if you do something - like dance to music - you've decided to
"improve" what you don't understand. And you've decided to "correct" it. But
really - you are avoiding "it."

Got it.



And here I thought I was just moving with a partner to music and that it was
my privilege, being alive, to live and dance in the moment. Shucks, I'm
sorry you don't approve and think I'm so wrong.


I don't know where you guys get some of this stuff.

Passing it off as imperiously you do gives one cause to chuckle. Nothing
wrong with that!

Please keep saving us from ourselves. We are so unworthy.

Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 11:34:15 -0400
From: Antonio Cervila Junior <junior@CERVILA.COM>
Subject: Re: "Bizarre" Posts TANGO ?????

I sent this message and it didn't came to the list. Is there any problem
with my e-mail or ir was a list mistake?
Thanks
Junior

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 1:06 AM
Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] "Bizarre" Posts TANGO ?????

> I am Junior from Buenos Aires and I am living in New York.
> I don't use to write to the list, but I read some of the e-mails.
>
> I have a article of about 50 pages that tell the evolution of tango as a
> dance.
> In the begining of tango's history, There was the dance the compadritos
> imitated from the slaves camdomberos. They startad as a burlesque dance

and

> did it with everything that they played at that time.
> Polka, Zarzuela, Milonga, etc.. Then the mix of Habanera, Tango Andaluz

and

> Milonga criolla generate what we know as "tango".
> So at the beggining they did tango with music that was not tango. So why

not

> Led Zepplin?
> I use to say: If you have fun and don't hurt anybody in the dancefloor,
> everything is allowded.
>
> Junior
> www.latindancecarnival.com
>
>
>
>
>
> Original Message -----
> From: "Keith Elshaw" <keith@TOTANGO.NET>
> To: <TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 9:54 PM
> Subject: [TANGO-L] "Bizarre" Posts
>
>
> > WHITE 95 R wrote:
> >
> > >I have to say that some of these posts border in the bizarre.... Why
> would
> > anyone say that they
> > >are dancing tango to Led Zeppelin? (or any other non-tango music?).
> > >Argentine Tango by definition is danced in a certain way to tango

music.

> Not
> > >only to tango music but not jut *any* tango music.
> >
> >
> >
> > Wow. The rules/definition according to ... whom? A rules maker? A

zealous

> > disciple? A crackpot?
> >
> > It is "bizarre" to tango move to good music and enjoy it?
> >
> > One hopes to be excused for choking on the pomposity of that one.
> >
> >
> >
> > There might not be a person on the planet who spends more time - year in
> and
> > year out - listening to/working with traditional tango than moi. You

don't

> > want to know what restoration involves in terms of reverence, time and
> > nerves of steel.
> >
> > Living with it affects your dancing. It's all you want to talk about.

You

> > hear it in your sleep.
> >
> > It is the background to the figure of the person going through life, in

my

> > case.
> >
> > And if I dance tango to Zep's "D'yer Maker" or Astaire's "Cheek To

Cheek,"

> > or Sinatra/Riddle's "I've Got You Under My Skin," Piazzolla, Gotan

Project

> > or WHATEVER when everyone has gone home I'm a bizarre person ... well, I
> > thank the gods of tango for giving me such enjoyment and causing such
> > consternation in the minds of the grim. Surely there is 15 minutes at

the

> > end of a week for delightful play? There is in Montreal ...
> >
> >
> > Fun is beauty.
> >
> > Tango is fun, too - lest we forget. But dancing tango to different music
> is
> > best held for the end of the night, for sure. Here, that means 3 AM.
> > Fortunately, grumps and piets go home to sleep the tension off - leaving
> the
> > floor wide open.
> >
> > The slippery slope towards this piety can be seen in relative ways;

there

> is
> > a dj in the west who doesn't even play Pugliese (certainly not Color

Tango

> > or El Arranque) because it makes people move too crazy. He wants them

only

> > to dance to 20's / 30's music. That, to him, is true tango. He declares

it

> > openly, with great fervour. Like the gods have spoken.
> >
> >
> >
> > With a nod and a wink to the light-hearted,
> >
> > Keith
> >
>