1409  A samba interlude

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 20:26:46 -0700
From: Carlos Lima <amilsolrac@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: A samba interlude

A dance vignette.

Some months to a year ago I was attending a studio performance night. At some
point "standard style" samba came on. But this was not so standard a
standard: the couple was out of sight. I guess this may be the ultimate
reason why ballroom competition retains a steady popularity: it is the
ultimate show case. It takes a dancing genius, heck, no, TWO dancing geniuses
to make such a stilted, ungainly, out of character, you name it, to make such
an abortion look good. That was the day and the night for dancing genius.

Right next to me was this stunning Brazilian young woman, whom I knew as a
great natural dancer of her country's music, an expert on every manner of
authentic contemporary samba, street and ballroom alike, and that just for
starters. I did not prepare her for what she was about to see for the first
time; like ... I know this looks weird, but it is really rooted in old ways
of dancing the samba down there, you know. Blah, blah. I was caught by
surprise.

As the performance unfolds, I look at her off the corner of my eye. I see the
kind of face of a person in shock. I think to myself, this is natural, poor
girl, she has to go through this sooner or later.

When the performance ends, she claps enthusiastically. No sign of shock, a
big smile on her face. What I thought was dismay at seeing her beloved samba
botched, was concentrated surprise and admiration for the skill, even perhaps
"feeling" of the dancing couple. She raved to me about how good these people
were. She just took the experience in, without prejudice; she admired the
artistry of those dancers without pre-conceived ideas. The only judgment
aesthetical, the only verdict admiration for their craftsmanship.

I must admit, I am not quite that open minded. But could something remotely
like this happen in the tango world? Sure. With some difficulty, agreed? Let
us see, where shall we start? Can differing views on what is the "real"
social, authentic, tango grant the others the courtesy of acknowledging their
un-adorned, un-approved, existence?

No? OK, we will just wait until next year.

Cheers,