2153  Performance tango

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 19:14:28 +0000
From: Oleh Kovalchuke <oleh_k@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Performance tango

On performance tango
Lois Donnay wrote:

Recently I was asked to do a tango demonstration on New Years Eve I chose a
ballroom dancer and taught him a tango routine.

It was rather easy. It only took about 2 practices/week, it included
lifts and trick moves, and the performance was great.

And TangoLady wrote:

I know a great majority of female Tango dancers would love to be able to do
that move. It is beautiful and very depictive of the Tango Shows we get in
the US and in Europe/Asia. Fortunately or unfortunately that is the export
Tango, and a lot of us fell in love with when Tango Argentino came to the
US. Back then social Tango was hardly known in the US. Many other shows
followed and still the moves and endings of routines were very dramatic and
similar.

In my book that is called show biz. Sorry but a lot of people don't want to
pay $40 to $75 dollars (depending on seating at a theater) to see social
dancing at a Milonga. They want action.



There is performance tango and performance tango.

Last year I saw Tango Kinesis and Tango Mujer within one month. Tango
Kinesis had the word tango in the name of the troupe, a lot of lifts and
some _dramatic_ endings, not dissimilar to the one shown on the cover of the
book, which begun this thread. I was bored. A quick poll of a few other
members of the audience showed that they shared my impression. Then I saw
performance by Tango Mujer. This one had _drama_ and was based on social
style of dancing. My memory might be failing me but I do not recall any
lifts and certainly no _dramatic_ ending of the kind we are talking about.
Just real feelings reenacted and result was absolutely spectacular.

I approach tango when I perform it for audience in the theatre from the same
perspective: if you dance the real emotion and do not ham it, discerning
audience will notice and will appreciate it.


Cheers, Oleh Kovalchuke

https://TangoSpring.com

>From: Lois Donnay <donnay@DONNAY.NET>
>Reply-To: Lois Donnay <donnay@DONNAY.NET>
>To: TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
>Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] New book about the Tango/Performance tango
>Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 10:37:52 -0600
>
>I have a confession to make.
>
>Recently I was asked to do a tango demonstration on New Years Eve. This
>was a big deal, and there were going to be a lot of spectators as well
>as the possibility of press.
>
>So, I had a dilemma. I needed to choose a partner, and I only had 3
>weeks. Who among the local tango dancers would do? Unfortunately, there
>are only a few who can do this "performance tango" well, and they were
>unavailable. There are a lot who can do a fine tango at milongas, but as
>Lydia points out, who wants to watch social dancing at a milonga? OK, so
>I could have taught them a lot of show moves, but I was worried that I
>might risk ruining them for the social floor. There are those who only
>do performance tango, and I didn't want to reinforce their idea that
>they are tangoing well. (We also have an epidemic of floor-staring in
>this town, and that habit is notoriously hard to break)
>
>So, who did I choose? I chose a ballroom dancer and taught him a tango
>routine.
>
>It was rather easy. It only took about 2 practices/week, it included
>lifts and trick moves, and the performance was great.
>
>Of course, there's fallout. This poor ballroom dancer was dismayed to
>find out that what he learned was useless to him on the tango dance
>floor. Although he could be a great tango dancer, he will have to start
>over. If he comes back to tango.
>
>Then there's my conscience. I know teachers who teach this stuff first,
>and who deceive their students into thinking they are dancing real
>tango. The students really think they are getting somewhere, as they
>dance far apart, and lead and follow their never-ending ochos and unlead
>boleos. Then one day they wake up - they've spent weeks learning moves
>that are useless. They will have to start over. I have resisted this and
>start my students learning connected walking. Yet I lured in a whole lot
>of new students who will expect to learn ganchos the first night.
>
>PLEASE NOTE! This is not an indictment of ballroom dancers, who I find
>can be taught real tango easily if you stay away from the show moves.
>However, this is too rarely done.
>
>Lois Donnay, Minneapolis
>www.mndance.com
>612.822.8436
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango
> > [mailto:TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of TangoLady@AOL.COM
> > Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 4:28 PM
> > To: TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] New book about the Tango
> >
> >
> > Oleh wrote:
> >
> > >If cover of this book
> > >(https://images.amazon.com/images/P/0786414065.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
> > >accurately represents the content, think twice. I hope the
> > tango in the
> > >United States has not stooped this low.
> >
> >
> > I know a great majority of female Tango dancers would love to
> > be able to do that move. It is beautiful and very depictive
> > of the Tango Shows we get in the US and in Europe/Asia.
> > Fortunately or unfortunately that is the export Tango, and a
> > lot of us fell in love with when Tango Argentino came to the
> > US. Back then social Tango was hardly known in the US. Many
> > other shows followed and still the moves and endings of
> > routines were very dramatic and similar.
> >
> > In my book that is called show biz. Sorry but a lot of
> > people don't want to pay $40 to $75 dollars (depending on
> > seating at a theater) to see social dancing at a Milonga.
> > They want action.
>

Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:41:31 -0700
From: Rick McGarrey <rickmcg@FLASH.NET>
Subject: Performance tango

I said I thought the couple in the picture was Alejandra and Sergio, and that
they hadn't danced in the U.S. As I have been informed (by several people) the
couple in the picture is actually Monica Romero and Omar Ocampo, and what's
more, it turns out that Alejandra and Sergio danced in Miami recently. 0 for
2. At this point, I should probably hang it up. Or at least change the
subject. So I'll try a something different.

Dancing tango is a very interesting and complex activity. It's not like
running or golf, with a clock or a scorecard to tell you where you stand. It's
not even, in my limited experience, much like other types of dancing. Most of
the other dances seem to have more clearly defined goals and ways of doing
things. Learning about tango can be very confusing for beginners, and for more
experienced dancers as well. In some ways, learning what is good or bad, or
right or wrong is very subjective in tango. At times it feels like you've
stepped off into deep water, and there is no bottom. It is this search for the
"real" tango that makes it so frustrating. And I think it is also the source
of a lot of miscommunication and rudeness on the list.

But at the same time, whatever it is that makes tango dancing so hard to pin
down, is exactly what makes it so fascinating. And it means that most people
see what they want to see in tango. They find whatever they want to find. If
you are a performer, you'll find a stage. If you are lonely you'll find
companionship. If you're analytical you'll find complexity. And if you're
athletic, you'll find physical challenges. If you want attention, confusion,
abuse, friendship, sex, frustration, conflict, embarrassment or glory, you'll
find it all in tango. Many of us are probably in tango for a combination of
reasons, and many of us have probably moved through some of these stages at one
time of another.

If one of the aspects of tango is the pure performance part, (as well
represented by the picture on the cover of the book), there is another part of
tango that is at the other end of the spectrum. And it is here that you will
find many of the real tango fanatics. These are the people who want to feel
tango, and more or less keep it between themselves, the music, and their dance
partner. They sometimes look down on others in tango, and see them as being
less serious, or misguided. And, of course, the people who have other
interests in tango often think of this fanatical group as a bunch of
insufferable snobs. Just because I want to go out and socialize, or try out a
few new moves to some different music, why should I be attacked by these
purists? Sometimes it becomes easy for each group to dismiss the other. Deep
down, performers might think other dancers are less coordinated or untalented.
People who like complex figures might think others are simple. And those who
don't want limits may view traditional dancers as uncreative and unimaginative.


Of course, I am at the far end of the tango "snob" spectrum. I'm with that
small group of foreigners who are so crazy that we spend much of our time in
BsAs, and only dance in certain clubs with certain dancers. We don't just want
to feel tango, we want to feel it and move to it the way the old portenos feel
and move. And I find that I have to watch myself. It's easy to start thinking
that those with other interests are philistines who are completely missing the
point.

But in reality they are not missing the point. It is this type of arrogance
that is really missing the point. Because in the end, there is really only one
goal in tango. And it's a simple one. That is to search for what you want in
the beauty of the music and the dance and to enjoy the search. It's not brain
surgery. It's a hobby. The only real way to miss the point is to become self
important and intolerant. At least that's what I keep telling myself.