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Re: [TANGO-L] negotiating the dance

At 07:36 AM 7/29/2005, H Dickinson wrote:

Maybe that is the real divide--those who are in tango for the
tango (dance, music, embrace, feeling, challenge, connection,
excellence) versus those who are in tango for something else
(sex, socializing, diversion, whatever).  Being in the first
group, I of course assume that my agenda is the "best" one, and
get irritated when my nose is rubbed in the fact that those in
the second group, assume that not only is theirs the "best"
agenda, but that I must necessarily share it.  Perhaps we should
wear little stickers identifying which group we belong to?

Hyla

Hyla,

  Thank you for the time you've taken to think about all these details and
putting them into well-thought words.

   I would like to ask you one thing, though: you mention a "real divide"
between "those who are in tango for the tango" and "those who are in
tango for something else" and put yourself in the first group. Could you
tell me what you thought of tango the very first day you went to a class
or maybe to an intro class before a milonga? Were you aware of all the
aspects of tango like the dance, the music, the embrace and especially
the connection/feeling/challenge etc. as you put it?


    In my opinion, in US, new people come to tango mostly not because of
an idea about the real aspects of the social tango but with a more clear
image of a performing couple or a soundtrack that impressed them, if their
reason has anything to do with tango!  Or they are Argentines who have an
idea about the social aspect of the tango but don't know how to
dance!  Other than these people, I believe most beginners fall in the
second category you have described above. It only becomes a problem if
these non-tango related reasons to try out a social tango environment
remain as the main reasons for someone after several months or years of
exposure to classes, practicas and milongas.
Let's not forget what the reasons for the very first tango dancers were:
being alone, being an immigrant in another city/country and seeking company
was a strong enough drive to create an embrace to dance, wasn't it?

Gulden