Deby, How right you are! And how sad this is.
I lived in BsAs in 1998-2000. I was there during the crisis of 2001. Now, every time I am there, I am looking for my Buenos Aires. I can find it still, but it is the Buenos Aires that has nothing to do with tango. The tourism has changed tango. The arguments for the economy and the benefit to everyone are true. But the change that happened to tango because of the tourism is grotesque to me. I no longer like the milongas and no longer like what I see. I do travel to more distant milongas where one can still catch a glimpse of the past. Villa Urquiza was respected as a place of tango. It still is, but only because of the old people from another era that still dance there. People like their barrio and are proud to be from there and dance there. If people want to call it a "style", so be it - it will help someone to remember that Villa Urquiza meant something to dancers long ago as a respected place of tango. It is true that no Argentine that I know ever discusses a "style". People just dance. They dance either well or not. Nina Quoting Deby Novitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > I would have to concur with Ron. I find it almost laughable that people > who have never been to Buenos Aires tout themselves as teaching the > Villa Urquiza style of tango. This form of tango, along with orillero > is almost never danced anymore. I learned to dance Villa Urquiza from > Pocho who is 84 years old. It is very demanding on the woman. I have > seen variations of Villa Urquiza in some of the milongas, and always > danced by people who are older than 70. It is not taught here. > Probably never was except by uncles or brothers or cousins. > > Orillero is a form of tango that was danced in Villa Devoto. Mimi > taught me a variation of the dance for an exhibition we did when she > visited San Francisco when I still lived there. Orillero is the one > form of tango where the woman mimics the steps of the man. The back > step cross is very distinct and I use it in some of my steps. Like Villa > Urquiza it is not taught. You see it danced in shows but never in the > milongas. > > Tango never became big business until the crisis hit here in 2001. In > 2003 the government saw tango as an opportunity to promote tourism. > There were seminars presented by the government to the tango business > community on how to maximize their business. Overnight everyone became > a teacher, a shoe store, a clothing store, a specialized hotel, tour > agency for tango. Prices went through the sky. After all, why should > people pay less just because it was Buenos Aires. A pair of tango shoes > now costs upwards of $90. > > Now that we have so many "new" tango teachers everyone needs an angle. > It is no longer enough to say that you are from Argentina. So now > people say they teach "Villa Urquiza", "Estilo Amagro", "Milonguero" or > whatever else sounds good. People who have been dancing less than 2 > years now have ads in the local magazines as teachers and taxi dancers. > It is horrifying. These people are the ones who are teaching and > traveling. A brother sister duo who have a huge bankroll for full color > page ads have danced less than 2 years. A friend of mine and Sandra's > who is a taxi dancer who cannot dance is currently teaching in Germany > for 4 months. It is pretty crazy. > > Then there is those of us who are so far removed from this scene. We go > to the milongas to dance and see our friends. I never look out at the > floor and think "Wow, he is dancing apilado" or "I want to dance with > that guy who dances estilo Amagro." No, instead it is more like, "I > want to dance with El boracho, but he wont give me the time of day." or > "Que hermoso este tango, quien puede bailar conmigo." (How beautiful > this tango, who can dance with me) I don't ever recall my friends here > in Argentine lamenting about styles or names of styles ever. They may > watch a certain couple and comment on their dance (Que elegante o que > disastre). For us tango is always about the music. > > > > > E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (5.5.1.322) > Database version: 5.10150e > http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor/ > _______________________________________________ > Tango-L mailing list > Tango-L@mit.edu > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l > ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.earthnet.net Boulder's Premier Datacenter Network, email, and web servers powered by renewable wind energy. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
