513 This style or that...
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 00:44:54 -0700
From: clayton beach <akumushi@ONEBOX.COM>
Subject: This style or that...
Brian Dunn writes:
<<Recently a visitor from out of town was dancing a clearly identifiable
Nuevo
Tango style>>
If this style is indeed "clearly" identifiable, could we get a description
of it?
I certainly could not create a working definition. Frankly, I am really
tired of such meaningless terminology. There is so much talk of Milonguero,
Salon, Nuevo, or Fantasia, and the only thing that I have noticed during
these discussions thus far is that there are as many definitions to these
terms as there are people discussing them.
There is enough variation of style within one individual considering
the factors of his partner, the music, the crowd, and the setting to
destroy any concrete definition of his particular style. Any definition
of style that would be loose enough to categorize a large number of people
would be so vague as to be completly worthless. Why hang on to these
terms, when every person who hears them takes them in a different way?
For the most part the only time I hear these terms being used, they
are being used in a derogatory sense or to effuse a sense of superiority.
It's either:
Come learn the authentic (insert terminology here) style of tango from
master instructor so and so...
Or, it is used, like in Brian's e-mail, to justify bizarre or rude behavior
like taking quick movements against the line of dance;
<<It wasn't the style that was the problem per se,it
was his choice to employ that style in that setting without acknowledging
the social consequences.>>
Apparently, erratic and impolite breaches of the line of dance are a
defining characteristic of the Nuevo Style...
Even worse, these terms are most often used as marketing ploys, trying
to reach a certain "audience," when there is just as much variation between
teachers within a style as there is between teachers of different "style."
These examples are of course extremes from a very large spectrum. However,
I believe that all of those style names bear a latent prejudice, whether
for or against a particular group of people. Milonguero is supposedly
more authentic (more Argentine), salon is more expressive, fantasia is
more American, and Nuevo is just plain evil ;)
It's interesting how meaningless words can take on such great importance
within a society as to create such derision. Perhaps that's what we
get when we infuse art with capitalism, or it is merely one of the uglier
sides of human nature. We could argue after all, that tango has become
a consumer good. Whatever the cause is, hopefully we will soon realize
collectively that there is and will always be one "Argentine Tango."
Happy tangos to all (however you choose to dance them)
--
clayton beach
akumushi@onebox.com
