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Re: [TANGO-L] 'The Best Things Happen if You're Argentinean' + Obscurantism.

  Hey!!! I AM NOT a Scotsman!!!!!

  For the record . . .

  I was born in Scotland of Italian parents. I have an Italian passport, although I also hold a certificate of exemption from Italian national - military - service. I regularly visit my family in Italy - a little village in the mountains between Roma and Napoli (in fact, near Cassino). My heritage is Italian, my bloodlines (both parents) are 100% Italian. my attitude is primarily/mostly [southern] Italian (with a little British influence), my culture (although raised in the UK) is primarily [southern] Italian - through genetics as well as the family/friends environmental influence, my looks are Italian, my image is Italian, and . . . I even have hairy Italian pecs .

  The only contradiction in my life is that my car is Japanese, and having said all that, Japanese is probably my second-favourite culture.

  Ultimately, I have always considered myself Italian first and British (NOT English) a distant second (Scottish is nowhere to be seen, frankly).

  So-o-o-o-o, please PLEASE do not refer to me as Scottish . . . I'm NOT.

  Wait a minute. . . after all that, I'm breathless! Okay, now, to take on your other points:

  i.  "orgiastic British girls cheering their pop idols" - don't you mean 'orgasmic'? 'Orgiastic' relates to orgies . Anyway, can't be bothered with all that rubbish.

  ii.  "Seriously now:
I consider the Argentines to be the best Argentine
Tango dancers.
The Finnish, to be the best Finnish Tango dancers.
The Viennese, to be the best Viennese Vals dancers.
The Irish, the Brazilian Samba, the list goes on..."

  This is all generalisation. You cannot generalise. There was one point when people generalised and said that the Japanese are the best karate exponents. So-o-o-o what happened when Great Britain (which included in the line up my instructor of 33 years - Hamish Adam) became the first country to beat Japan in the final of the World Championships in Long Beach in 1970-something? Coutries outside of Japan now regularly win World Championships. The only thing that stays with any particular nationality is the respective culture that is integral in the history of that nationality's worldwidely disseminated 'art-form' or sport. Bottom line is that 'natural' dancers have the potential to be "the best" dancers. The world is full of natural dancers. Being Argentinean, Finnish, Viennese, Irish or Brazilian does not bestow a greater propensity to be "the best" at their respective exports.

  iii. "Sergio explained
in one of his messages, that the Argentines lacking
dancing skills
are discouraged to dance by their society"

  Then why is it that (certainly when I started to learn tango in BsAs 9 years ago) I did indeed find Argentine teachers who were crap - I could even tell that as a beginner. Why are they not discouraged to teach?
  [Thank God at the time I found (individually/separately) both Fabian Salas and Zoraida Fontclara each with whom I took courses of private lessons - both brilliant in their own ways].

  iv. "Darwin"??? What's the theory of evolution got to do with this? Evolution makes a significant impact only over many 100,000s of years! I don't think tango will be here then - or it may be only in the form of a pill like something from "Barbarella".   Anyway, apparently it was a Scotsman who first put forward the theory of evolution that Darwin took up and published a hundred or so years later (anyone interested? I can give you the references).

  v. "Whisky. . ." I can't stand the stuff! Fire-water!

  All the best

  Dani
  "El Zorro de Tango" looking for a duel with "El Bandito de Tango" :-):-):-)


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