Re: [TANGO-L] Passion vs. technique

[Tango Club at Yale <yaletangoclub @yahoo.com>]

Hi all,
Well, everybody who has ever danced with a beginner with boundless enthousiasm and passion will see that some careful technique is needed to smoothen out the connection so it doesn't come between the dancers but rather unites them seamlessly. Steps are of secondary importance. Also there are lots of leaders who charge around the floor like metronomes, executing all the steps in their repertoire, without stopping to smell the roses. This would include a large portion of leaders. These guys tend to progress toward ever more complex sequences which you grow to appreciate as an artful workout and a great opportunity to work on your technique. All of it is a lot of fun, regardless. The real precious connection - tango zone - trance dances are few and far between; they are great, they can totally make your evening, but thankfully I am able to appreciate dancing with almost everybody, as long as I am not being yanked around by the ribcage, cut short, pulled off my axis, or made to feel
 cheap and creeped out.

On a different note, if you have seen a lot of performances by those considered to be the world's top dancers (for example, on the Cosmotango DVD), it may be that after the awe over the footwork wears off, the performances you like best are the ones bursting with fun, flirtation and bubblyness (there's several), and perhaps also the ones that radiate intimacy (there probably is one but I can't think of one off the top of my head). Some people confuse serious and pained frowns with passion. Most often I am not terribly interested in performances, especially if they involve fedora hats, over the top outfits and assorted theatrics. I think tango is not a spectator sport, it belongs to the people who participate.

Tine



WHITE 95 R <white95r  @HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
Hmmm, good thing that tango is not like medicine or even like auto repair.
For myself, I'd much rather have the most skilled and technically
profficient surgeon work on my body than the most passionate doctor
wannabee. Similarly with auto repairs, plumbers, carpenters, etc. I've met
plenty of passionate incompetents who in their overconfidence and hubris
will make a huge mess out of whatever they touch. I'd take technical
competence and solid credentials over passion anytime when it comes to many
aspects of life. Engineering and toolmaking come to my mind (I'm very
familiar with these fields) and I know for a fact that technical competence
is paramount to success and respect in those professions as well.

I keep reading how in tango is better to have "passion" than to be
technically competent, but in all of life's facets, this would seem to be
the exception rather than the rule. Still, it's seems a bit far fetched even
in tango that a "passionate" newbie would be a better dancer than an
expererienced, skilled, technically proficient dancer just because somebody
has decided that passion and technical ability are mutually exclusive.



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