1066 VIVA THE TANGO LIST
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 22:14:02 -0800
From: Erika Hilliard <hilliard@SHAW.CA>
Subject: VIVA THE TANGO LIST
----- Original Message -----
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 08:07:08 -0800
From: Erika Hilliard <hilliard@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Fw: 1st attempt was a mistake. VIVA THE TANGO LIST
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 10:19 PM
Subject: VIVA THE TANGO LIST
Whew! We've been all over the map in recent days, from the milonguero in New York suggesting women wear swimsuits to expose their tantalizing flesh to increase the ratio of men to women in dances, to Arturo writing a tongue-in-cheek treatise on how tango helps him to escape from the worries of a modern day affluent society, to Lisandro taking this literally and protesting against such superficiality, to accusations of character assassination, to a call for moderation, to a proposal that we have the right to be idealistic as tango is an art form, idealistic by nature, to a description of a recent trip to Buenos Aires recounting how poor families work with dignity to eke out an existence through collecting recyclables and finally back to Lisandro's insistence that social issues such as sexism, racism, classism not be censored on the tango list.
The discussions have been fascinating. It seems that we are sometimes talking from entirely different planets, each person seeing through their particular lens, shaped by their particular circumstances, each person speaking their version of truth. Philosopher, Foucault, said that there is no one truth with a capital "T," only many truths with small "t's." For this reason, I am with Lisandro, concerning censorship. I' m against it. I like the richness and diversity of the discussions on the tango list lately. It feels real to me. Sometimes I chuckle, sometimes I shake my head, sometimes I'm angry, sometimes I'm touched, and always, I am reminded that not everyone looks at things the same way I do. I am often enriched. Wishing you beautifult tangos *~} Erika.
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 10:08:02 -0600
From: "Frank G. Williams" <frankw@MAIL.AHC.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: VIVA THE TANGO LIST
Greetings Lisandro and all,
You said:
> I do oppose the idea that tango
> is full of really nice people only, who are all open minded and without
> prejudice.
Agreed. ...don't let them spoil your day...
> I also asked why, so many people are
> quick to deny African contribution (i.e. I challenged the racism). Not one
> person responded. That is how people on the list censor ideas.
I believe that most of the quiet readers are just hoping to find any
material that helps them to understand. I prefer to not speak when I know
so little. For example, I don't know who would 'deny' the African roots of
candombe or who would challenge the contribution of candombe to modern tango
music and dance. I'm sure that you and I are not the only ones to wonder
about the evolution of the dances we are pursuing! Can it's history predict
its future? I would like to know how modern candombe differs from candombe
100 years ago - or what elements of historical candombe (as a dance) may
survive in canjenge (sp?) today (as it is danced retrospectively) or in
modern tango. Who were some of the renowned canjenge dancers, when and
where did they live, and what were their lives like? What about candombe
today? Is it a vital source of expression or mostly of historical interest?
The small amount of candombe I heard in Uruguay sounded good - but they
weren't REALLY bangin' it out - as if to reach the gods back in Africa! ;-)
What can you tell us? It's easy - state a thesis that is interesting to you
and then support it or refute it. Mostly, people will only read with
appreciation and not offer an argument. If they are like me, all they are
censoring is ignorance.
All the best,
Frank in Minneapolis
