2594  Flash! New Tango Style!

Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 10:18:40 EDT
From: Crrtango@AOL.COM
Subject: Flash! New Tango Style!

Timmytango wrote:

"Maria gave credit to Susana Miller for bringing this step back to life 4 or
5
years ago even though at one point in time the ocho cortado wasn't
appreciated by all."

Huck wrote:

"Hmmm. Ten Argentines, ten opinions, be it on how to dance,
what a style is called, where it came from, etc. "

How very true. There are more claims for inventing steps in Buenos Aires than
there are opinions on this list. Some even put a value on them, "That's a
twenty-dollar step," etc.Yes, the ocho cortado has been around for years but
Susana Miller didn't bring it back to life for anyone except those who didn't
already know about it. It depends on who one has studied with because some of us
learned and used it (and still do) long before Susana Miller was even known.
Nor is she responsible for the spread of close embrace or milonguero or whatever
you want to call it as is often claimed. Tango has always been danced close
in the milongas of Buenos Aires. Milonguero, apilado, etc are all just the
same dance, more or less, and are hardly new.
The problem seems to be more about teachers, both Argentines and others, who
teach so many stage moves instead of how to move and walk and dance well at a
milonga, so dancing close seems to be just another style (read gimmick)
instead of something more fundamental.

Once people go to Buenos Aires, they all seem to say the same upon returning,
"Gee, everybody dances close there."

They always have, but if I can convince you that it is something new and give
it another name, I could probably earn even more of your money. But first I
have to make sure you have enough bad habits that it will take you a lot of
classes to change them.

Cheers,
Charles