Visions of tango? This topic is highly explosive. So, before I begin, I ask you for patience and, if you disagree with me, for respect: we all love tango, but not all of us have the same vision or the same taste.
Let me start with this article as an experiment. Take a look at the video and give some thought to the dancing you see there. Some of you will like it, but the majority will think of it as bad dancing.
What if I tell you that I like it? Would you believe me?
And why do you think others have a completely different opinion?
Well, this article is about just that. My intention is not really to start a discussion, more to shed light on the countless discussions in the tango world. People take a stand often for personal reasons, but most of the times there is a deeper reason that is connected to how people view tango.
I have to warn you – I’m not an objective observer. I take sides in this discussion! I have strong opinions about these things – you will see below which one (if you haven’t already). I consider it my mission to help those who agree with me, those that feel that there is more to tango than just performing.
Of course, things are not always black and white. One cannot draw a strict line between the two different ways but that should not stop us thinking about the differences. That is a necessary condition of learning.
In tango, the lines are often blurred and there are several reasons:
Sometimes they are purely financial – teaching the more acrobatic shiny variety of tango is more lucrative.
Other times, they come from the artistic mindset of the teachers who come to the world of social dancing with an artistic background or ambition. These two reasons can of course exist at the same time but the reason can also be completely different.
In this article I will talk about four dichotomies. I have formulated four questions that will help every dancer to find out what his or her vision of tango is, or rather, where one should stand if one wants to become a social tango dancer.
And here they are, so ask yourself:
1. Where do you dance?
Why do you take classes and where are you going to use this knowledge?
If you are a social dancer your answer will be “At milongas of course!” So, what kind of knowledge do you need to be able to dance at milongas?
It is interesting that often when I share my article “Practice less, dance more” so many people disagree with me and the polemics start.
Dance more, practice less
Some people think that you can’t learn to dance just by dancing more at milongas – because their goal is not dancing at milongas – their vision of tango is stage tango, and I agree, it is impossible to learn how to dance stage tango at milongas. That is where you learn to dance social tango (which some people call tango milonguero).
2. Why do you dance?
The question here is do you dance for your partner or for those who watch?
Dancing for your partner is called social dancing. Dancing for a public is called show (escenario).
In my opinion, if you are a social dancer your foremost goal should be to be able to connect with your partner. Everything you do is testing or supporting that connection.
On the other hand, if you are more of a showy dancer, you will probably consider the connection a tool that will help you with the steps.
This is the reason I believe that competing (for example the Tango Mundial) is bad for the development of social tango. Being a champion, in my opinion, is not a good recommendation. Competitors dance for the judges – which is dancing for the observers. And, dancing for the observers requires that you develop a different style than what is required when dancing in a milonga.
I believe the only judge relevant when social dancing is your partner.
3. How do you dance?
Everything you do in tango has its purpose.
For example, some insist on using large steps and a lot of energy. Why? In my opinion, that approach was developed by the stage dancers. When you perform and you have a large crowd in front of you, you need them to see what you are doing, even those seated in the back row. That is why everything you do has to be large.
You also have to move a lot and take up a lot of space, because if you don’t, you will look small on the big stage.
It is similar with stage actors. They have to make big movements and speak loudly – on the stage you can’t notice subtle gestures and face expressions.
Dancing social tango on stage would be boring for the crowd.
Here I believe one should think in dichotomies like large vs small, loud vs soft, grandiose vs subtle, showy vs discreet…
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4. What kind of dancer are you?
Are you an artist/performer or a social dancer?
They both belong to the tango world, but are located in different places. Art in my mind means innovating, dedicating time and energy to be original and mastering the techniques to achieve what you imagine in the best way possible.
On the other side you can find social dancers who are not artists, but artisans (check the lecture by Osvaldo Natucci).
This is why I think social tango is not really that hard to learn. Learning social tango is easy and necessary. Learning to perform on stage is hard and unnecessary.
Teaching all your students to dance show tango is like teaching all swimmers to become Olympians. 99% of them will never compete, but 100% of them will swim in the sea. The goal should be to make them float and not drown 🙂 You learn to swim foremost by entering the water, not by taking countless classes or having hardcore workouts.
I always advice fellow teachers to prepare their students for dancing at milongas, not to perform. 99% of them will never perform on stage, but 100% of them will dance at milongas.
I know, there is a big chance you might have different opinion and, if that works for you, I have no saying there. But if you agree with me, help me spread the word by sharing this article with your friends. Thanks for that!
I fully agree with you Ivica,
Learn and master the basic Tango steps, and enjoy the connections ,
Enjoy the social Milongas with your partners.
Who cares if you improvise,make mistakes as long as one enjoys the Milonga.
Dont let the snobby Milonga cliches put you off.
Dance dance and dance .
Jenny a milongara fro Darwin City Australia.
I am definately a social dancer. I am in it for the connection and I agree with most of what you said.
But as often with your articles, here is again something that I strongly disagree with. Important enough to keep me from sharing the article. I thing its often when you put your general approach to a complex matter (that Ioften share) into a (too simple) rule.
Here it is – you write:
“I believe one should think in dichotomies like large vs small, loud vs soft, grandiose vs subtle, showy vs discreet…”
No. Those can all be expressions of emotions, of music, of the connection, of me – that I, you, we feel. And if I have have the space and the right partner, I want to be able to express this.
Sometimes the large, loud, gandiose and even the showy is exactly what the music, the connection, the moment feels like. What a loss if I would restrict myself to not express it. I (and my partners) have had so much fun doing showy / silly end poses for example. I don’t do this for an audience – I do it for me and my partner.
Sure, at many other times the emotion is small. soft, subtle, discreet,… and I want to express that too.
So what I ecxpect from a tango theacher is to teach me how to express those emotions in an appropriate way. Teach me both sides of the dichotomie – and when to use them (and when not). That will include how to restrain (or channel) my emotions – if there is not the space (or partner). But not to suppress them because thats the “law of social tango”.
Sometimes I go to lessons or prácticas, because there are no milongas in (a small) town.
I am not a professional dancer. I am not a tango instructor. I am not artisano or artista. I am a simple amateur in tango. Just like 99% of dancers in milonga. And if tango instructor comes to milonga and show to all ladies his masterpiece of sandwiches, ganchos, and voleos every lady in the room will think I am a bad dancer. 99% of amateur dancers will never dance like their instructors. And all here now that. That is the reason for milongas are attended mostly by tango instructors and their friends. And if You tell me that 99% of people in suburbia of BA in Golden Age are dancing in the same way with sandwiches and ganchos I will not believe You. Tango instructors with their shows at milongas are just killing tango. Sorry for my bad English but I think we understand each other.
The style in which people dance depends not only on the artistic (or other) motives of the dancers, but can also depend on the space in which they dance.
In a crowded milonga in a small venue in the micro-center of Buenos Aires, people were dancing in a very close embrace, moving very small – since there was not a lot of space on the crowded floor. That was Estilo del Centro or Estilo Petitero.The same people who used to visit milongas (“milongueros”) – when they danced on milonga in the suburbs danced in a completely different style – Tango Orillero. Tango Orillero means “Tango from the outskirts of the city”. Milongas are often organized in the suburbs outdoors, at basketball or handball courts and there was plenty of space so dancers could dance playful, sharp, with jumps, kicks, ganchos, crazy twists.
In my opinion, dancing tango in multiple styles can only enrich the “dance vocabulary”. The one can dance depending on the partner, place and mood, and this can only be a plus for many reasons. Personaly, I don’t like to be any “tribe member” – for me it’s all Tango, including even Tango Escenario.
Little do they usually know that it is Tango Escenario and its choreographies that brought back Tango from certain death. By 1955, Tango as a social phenomenon was disappearing. Newer generations thought it was a dance of the old people. Only thanks to the tango escenario presented throughout Europe that Tango was kept alive. This is why many maestros have an appreciation for Tango Escenario.
Lastly, I would quote the content from a great article by Liz and Yannick about Tango competitions
“We’ve also heard lots of objections about Tango Competitions. The main argument is usually about how something so beautiful as a connection, that is shared by two people, can simply not be competed in. That’s true, you can’t compete in how much you care about the other person, how much you are taken away in woosh of fluffiness or how tightly you embrace each other. You can compete -however- in how original your style is, how good your technique is, the execution of your steps, your musicality, how you improvise with awesomeness and many other factors that make up Tango. Tango competitions are as old as Tango itself, historically there have always been Tango competitions, as early as 1920, maybe even earlier! Today, they are a great way to meet many new people with a similar passion, they are a great way of pushing yourself to become better dancers and they teach you an appreciation for other styles! A competition is a celebration of Tango.”
What do you think about public sex competitions? Loud noises, acrobatic positions, trying to orgasm as fast or slow as possible so as to beat the world record, etc. Sounds ghastly to me. But maybe, as with tango, we’ll someday need such sex competitions (or show/escenario sex) to bring people back to having partner sex with real humans versus masturbating to porn or playing video games.
If somebody does not like that couple dancing tango, he/she does not understand tango. They are absolutely awesome. I am from Argentina, and that is how tango should be danced.
Argentine tango… On the music walking and walking and improvising …
It’s not a clear opinion for me, because you made some logical errors in your to draw your conclusions. How people know how to make their first in tango? How to keep the ronda? You confuse learning process with learning some specific style or technique.
In both cases – when you dance in milongas and when you dance stage tango – you need to learn. I see No dichotomy here. It’s not a different vision of tango. Learning to dance is not in opposition to ‘social tango’. Learning just by ‘dancing in milongas’ will probably lead to lots of frustration and failure, because it slows down the process. It’s like trying to move using just one leg – yes – it is possible, but doesn’t make sense if you can use two.
Hey Petra, thanks for the comment… I see no difference in opinions here 🙂
People should learn – I never said they should not visit classes and practicas – I just said that visiting classes is overrated… and also, you don’t have to visit classes and workshops non stop – but you have to dance non stop.
As Ricardo Vidort often said to his students – he just gave them the basics, now they have to go and develop their dancing at milongas.
On the other side, dancing for stage requires hard hard work and exercise…