[TANGO-L] Performance tango

[Rick McGarrey <rickmcg @FLASH.NET>]

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.