[TANGO-L] Passion vs. technique

[Trini or Sean - PATangoS <patangos @YAHOO.COM>]

--- white95r  @HOTMAIL.COM wrote:

Hmmm, good thing that tango is not like medicine or
even like auto repair.
--------------------------------------------------
Hola Manuel,

Indeed, it is a very good thing that tango is not like
auto repair. How dull and greasy milongas would be.
For me, tango is more like restoring an antique car
than changing the oil in the new Ford. One is a labor
of love, the other is dull. No matter how finely
skilled the technician, I can t imagine anyone getting
excited about an oil change.

Dancing is art. If you want to compare it to other
fields, compare it to other art forms. In any art,
technique is essential, but it is not sufficient. Art
must evoke an emotional response. Without passion,
there can not be art.

You and I must be using the word  passion
differently. In my work, I deal with literally
hundreds of people on complex projects. Some are
passionate about their work, and too many are
incompetent. But I can t think of a single example of
someone who is both. Passion and technical ability are
not mutually exclusive. In fact, I cannot imagine the
passionate person who does not continuously develop
their technical ability. Sadly, I can imagine the
person so obsessed with technique that they become
blind to art.

I also am very familiar with structural engineering,
and I know that once you ve learned it, the technique
required is simple. So simple that even a mindless
computer can design a bridge to carry a highway across
a river. But to make that bridge beautiful, now that
is hard work, and no amount of technical skill can
substitute for passion. A technically competent dancer
is like a concrete highway overpass. A passionate
dancer is like the Brooklyn Bridge.

We know that Roebling had mastered the engineering
technique available 120 years ago, because his bridges
don t fall down. Today, there are thousands of
engineers who have far surpassed his technical skill.
But most aren t building bridges like he did. To me,
that suggests that technical competence is not
sufficient even for something as simple as
engineering. Passionate engineers create landmarks.
Dispassionate engineers specify jersey barriers.

I know what I like in a dance partner. But I did not
say that a passionate beginner is better than a
heartless automaton. Each has strengths and
weaknesses. How much hubris is required to judge that
one is better than another? I can tell you what I
prefer in my partners, but I won t judge who the
better dancer is. In any event, these two are overly
simple theoretical archetypes, useful for discussion,
but not to be confused with actual human beings.

Too many people responding to my post have missed my
point. I did not write that technique and passion are
mutually exclusive. I did not even write that
technique is not necessary. I wrote  Technique is
essential.  (I really did. Really   check the
archive.) You cannot dance without technique, but
technique is not sufficient for dance. If this still
doesn t make sense to you, consider: You can t live
without breathing, but breathing is not sufficient for
life. (You ve got to dance too! ;o)

Sean

=====
PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance.
http://www.pitt.edu/~mcph/PATangoWeb.htm


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