Re: [TANGO-L] Community growth...Teacher Challenge

[Jai Jeffryes <doktordogg @YAHOO.COM>]

--- Robert Hauk <robhauk @TELEPORT.COM> wrote:
> I don't know what it is about tango but it seems to
> have attracted a lot
> of people who want to own the one true tango and be
> the one fountain of
> true tango knowledge.  There is so much arguing
> about which style of
> tango is the real one (how many times has that come
> up on this list),
> and how everybody should dance and how everybody
> should conduct
> themselves, I wonder when people take the time to
> dance and enjoy the
> experience.

Hi Robert,

Always nice to hear from you.  I enjoyed meeting you
on your visit to New York.  When are you coming again?

I think some degree of debate and factionalism is
probably healthy.  Expect to find ardent points of
view regarding beauty and standards in the context of
any expressive art that is sophisticated, deep, and
worthwhile.  The same contention exists in music, art,
theater, and publishing, to a *much* higher degree.
With tango, I think it simply reflects the convictions
of people for whom the dance is ... important!

Furthermore, competitiveness must arise when there are
some few who expect, reasonably or quixotically, to
use social dancing as a source of livelihood.  Believe
me, tango dancers are meek and mild compared to (say)
classical pianists who cling to the belief that one
day their art is going to sustain a livelihood for
them...

I think serious social dancers often share the
experience of going through familiar "stages".  One
stage that might be familiar to many is to be very
devoted to developing one's own feelings and voice
with the dance while not being very susceptible to the
surrounding fray.

Jai


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