1835  ''Irreconciliable differences"

Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:52:52 -0400
From: Sergio <cachafaz@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject: ''Irreconciliable differences"

Astrid says:

"...and I have not heard anyone discussing "irreconciable
differences" except on tango-l. I have also met a number of people who will
use the ocho cortado AND ganchos, sacadas etc, and still dance, more or
less, in "close embrace". Is this considered a problem in the US?

The discussion of different styles on my part started when I noticed that
Tango workshop organizers would bring instructors that taught different
tango styles.

Typically what happened was that Nito and Elba (to give an example) would
come to town and insist that everyone should walk toes first with a certain
external rotation of the foot (one of many differences in technique).

Next Susana Miller or Cacho Dante would be brought and insisted that
everyone should walk with the foot flat on the floor (the whole sole should
touch the floor) at landing time, with no external rotation of the foot.

Some beginners would travel to take instruction from instructors that used
totally different technique.

These differences created confusion on the beginners.

It was my idea to discuss the different styles and the techniques used by
such styles so that the organizers and the students would understand that
this fluctuation from one style to the other was somewhat confusing .

The problem was that frequently the organizer was totally ignorant of the
existence of different styles.

In my opinion each group should decide what style they wish to dance and
then be consistent with the type of instructor that they bring to town.

Once a style is mastered then it could be interesting to explore another
form of dancing.

I think that, as Melina says, at the end we do a synthesis of everything to
create our own style amalgamating certain elements from everything that we
know.

But nothing is simple in this list, there is always somebody that will
misinterpret your intentions and antagonize you for one reason or another.

There are the ones that declare themselves bored if nobody writes anything
interesting and the others that accuse you of having "writer's pretensions"
if you write about something of interest. You never win. :))) I guess that
the only reason I still write here is that I make some very interesting
friends all over the world otherwise I would rather be fishing. :))

Happy tangos to you all. Whatever the style you dance may be.

Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 02:32:43 +0900
From: astrid <astrid@RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>
Subject: Re: ''Irreconciliable differences"

> The discussion of different styles on my part started when I noticed that
> Tango workshop organizers would bring instructors that taught different
> tango styles.
>
> Typically what happened was that Nito and Elba (to give an example) would
> come to town and insist that everyone should walk toes first with a

certain

> external rotation of the foot (one of many differences in technique).
>
> Next Susana Miller or Cacho Dante would be brought and insisted that
> everyone should walk with the foot flat on the floor (the whole sole

should

> touch the floor) at landing time, with no external rotation of the foot.
> These differences created confusion on the beginners.
>

The way I dance is the result of retaining the best of what many different
teachers taught me. Speak, retaining, what I liked best.
After being drilled for a long time in walking with my knees bent, and feet
straight, my teacher left, and after a while, I changed to another studio.
This place was run by a couple of stage dancers. They told me that I had to
attend their intermediate class "because I still made some very basic
mistakes"- like walking with my knees bent all the time, while they kept
their legs straight for most of the step, and not really having mastered
their style of walking with my toes turned outward. I had to relearn the
walk first.
A year later I danced with some Argentine in Cancun and he complained to the
instructor:"I can't do this step with her, because she turns her toes
outward and it bothers me." Luciano, the young instructor from BsAs, advised
me:"The correct way to dance is to roll the hind foot all the way to the tip
of the toes, and then slide the tip of your big toe along the floor at a
vertical angle." I refused to adopt this style. Later Luciano danced with me
himself, and said:"You are fine. I like dancing with you, do not change
anything about your style !" Now there are not many teachers as open minded
as this, but then, Luciano was only 20 years old."
I also, three months into my lessons, started attending a second practica
simutaneously,where they danced much closer, touched heads, and danced
rhythmically to Golden age music only. When I told my first teacher about
this, he said:"I would also danced like this,but my boss here won't let me.
I am not allowed to dance so close with the students."
However, the teacher who became his successor, only used Pugliese, and tried
to teach us a lot of fantasia steps.

All of this happened within a couple of years, and I figured out the
teachers' idiosyncrasies after a while, without getting very confused or
upset about it. You just keep what you like, and drop the rest. It is fine
to have them teach me their personal style in detail, it does not mean, I
have to dance like that forever. There is no "right" way to dance tango, I
think, even if some people claim that their style is the right one.

Astrid

Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:44:28 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: ''Irreconciliable differences"

Sergio wrote:

>The discussion of different styles on my part started when I noticed
>that Tango workshop organizers would bring instructors that taught
>different tango styles. ...
>These differences created confusion on the beginners.

In my opinion, Sergio offers very good reasons for distinguishing between
styles of tango, and I appreciate Sergio's efforts in that regard.

I think it is fair to say that tango is danced in a spectrum of
individualistic or personal styles, and that many tango dancers do not
accept a categorization of their own dancing by any broad stylistic name.
The commonalities and differences that can be found across the continuum
of individual styles do allow for rough definitions of a number of
distinguishable styles of Argentine tango that are currently danced. We
must also recognize, however, that identifying the differences between
styles is to work in broad generalization. Trying to push these
definitions toward infinite and specific detail is a futile activity that
only serves to destroy the usefulness of identifying different styles.

With best regards,
Steve

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
https://www.tejastango.com/