----- Original Message -----
From: Felix Delgado <[email protected]>
(Tom said:)
> > I'm not saying analysis, structure or technique are bad, but if you
> > start people learning tango by emphasizing the Structure, isn't it
> > much harder for them to discover the Heart?
(Felix answered)
> I had wanted to respond in agreement to this post at that time, but after
> several graduates of the Anal-ytic School of Tango objected to Tom's
> desire to put heart into tango, I refrained. Now Ramiro's comments
> suggest there are more (perhaps silent) people who share this view.
Felix, I am appalled to find out that there are actually "Anal-ytic " people
out there who are actually against "putting heart into tango". Gosh, there
is probably a huge "silent majority" out there who would agree with Tom,
Ramiro and yourself (me too, i'm all for putting heart into tango).
> I've been dancing tango for about a year and I was attracted to it
> because of the passion of the music and the ability to express this in
> the dance. I enjoy holding a woman close and moving our bodies together
> with the music.
Yeah, I agree with you here too. Expressing through dance the passion of the
music, and holding the woman close, etc, etc is indeed what tango is all
about.
>I've learned that there is a lot of technique involved
> in dancing tango CORRECTLY and that I have been dancing very badly.
> (Hundreds of dollars of private lessons have been suggested as a
> treatment.)
That is awfull, the desire of filthy luchre seems to have poisoned the whole
purity of tango. It is a shame that some people have the gall to try to con
unsuspecting beginners into a money pit of expensive priavte lessons and
more. Next thing you know they'll be encouraging to attend more workshops
and classes where you can be separated from your money. Don't fall for it!
>I went through a phase where I tried hard to improve my
> technique, and people even commented that I was dancing better. However,
> I realized I was losing a good part of my enjoyment of the dance.
This is an interesting observation. Perhaps the enemy of true tango is
really technique and practice. Who needs to *dance well* if one loses the
enjoyment of the dance?
>I think
> good technique is fine and some of it is necessary, but a lot of
> improvement can come from a lot of dancing. (The body learns to correct
> its own mistakes.)
I'm not so sure about this. It sort of sounds like "self healing" or in this
case "self dancing"? Perhaps if one just relaxes, rests and eats well, one's
own body will intuitively know how to dance tango? Maybe somebody was
correct when they posted a while back about how the very young. They said
that children know intuitively how to move to the music and it was only
other people's influence and critricism as they grew that inhibited the
*natural* talent and dance ability we are all born with?
> As I've advanced through tango I've also discovered
> that people become more critical. (Be nice to newcomers, but be critical
> with the converts.) Although recent posts on this list have discussed men
> being critical of women, I've experienced my share of criticism of my
> dancing from women (at practicas and milongas, too).
Hey, I'm with you on this one. Nobody likes to be criticized. It does not
matter whether it's done at milongas or anyplace else, criticism is hard to
take.
> I've remedied this
> by dancing mostly with women who enjoy the music and the connection (the
> 'heart')
Good idea, but I think that you left out two crucial words: *with me*.
Otherwise you are suggesting that the women who criticize you do not enjoy
"the connection (the heart)" or the music.
>and I've learned to enjoy tango more again.
I wonder what your partners enjoyment level is now?
>Maybe I'm not
> improving as fast as I would if I went to all of these obsessive
> anal-ytic workshops, but I know I'm dancing better anyway. So what is the
> goal of tango - perfection in technique or the enjoyment of the passion
> of the music and the dance? I prefer the passion.
The passion of tango is about *tango*. Tango is a dance, a specialized
activity with certain defined parameters. The enjoyment of tango is like the
enjoyment of anything else. Some people enjoy just doing their activities in
any way while others enjoy doing what they do as well as they can. Passion
can be felt about a huge number of activities or predilections. Perhaps an
infinite number of things. Passion between a man a woman can readily and
easily be felt without the need of tango or any other music or dance.
Actually, it does not even need a prone position ;) If you want tango, then
dance tango. If you want passion you need not dance tango to feel or express
it.
>I had an
> experience recently that almost had me quitting tango. There was a
> milonga associated with the visit of some well-known traveling tango
> instuctors. In an attempt to be friendly, I asked the woman of this
> couple to dance at a milonga. Instead of being a 'love affair in 3
> minutes', it was more like a slow death from poison. I must have received
> at least 20 points of advice on how I could improve my tango, some of
> which required stopping the flow of dance and some demonstration. I was
> looking forward to escape at the end of the song, but as I made motions
> to exit the dance floor, she said 'Where are you going? This is only the
> first song of the tanda.' and I submitted to another 10 minutes of
> destruction of my tango self-confidence.
Perhaps after you've been dancing tango for more than year you can
understand and appreciate things like technique, practice, musicality and
precision. Although you had a bad experience, that does not reveal the whole
picture of your interaction with this teacher. Without being in your
(tango:)) shoes, nobody can deny your experience, but there are a few things
that you might not know.
You said "In an attempt to be friendly, I asked the woman of this couple to
dance at a milonga". You might not know but this is not the way or the
reason to ask someone to dance. First, it is not a "friendly gesture" for a
beginner to ask a master to dance a a milonga, it is an imposition. The
friendly and respectfull thing to do is to allow the master to choose who
they will dance with or if they will even dance that night.
You don't say if you attended the workshops or not or even if you watched
this woman dance with others before you asked her. Perhaps you did not and
had no idea of what could happen. OTOH, maybe you took the workshops and all
and felt that your dancing was good enough to entertain the master. At any
rate, it seems that this teacher thought that your request was for help and
advise. She obviously felt you needed some coaching and she gave you about
15 minutes of private lesson for free!
It's too bad that you felt as if you "submitted to another 10 minutes of
destruction of my tango self-confidence."
At least you got some free lessons and now you know that you don't enjoy
this teacher's teaching. Both are good things. Next time, before you ask a
master to dance you'll probably consider their temperament and your level
more carefully.
I don't know about everybody but for me (and many others) tango is something
to be taken seriously, not analytically or like a subject of dry academic
study, but seriously. Tango is not just a lark like going to a disco with
some friends every now and then and just "moving to the music". There is
plenty of "passion" to be had at any place where men, women, alcohol and
music are thrown together with that in mind.
Tango is impossible to take it lightly by it's very nature, the music,
lyrics and dance make it a thing of deep emotions and feelings. If tango is
to be taken seriously, then it must be done well. Just feeling intense
feelings is not sufficient to dance tango. Almost all people are capable of
intense feelings and passion. Almost all people like the physical closeness
to the opposite (or with some, the same) sex. Again, having this
predilection is not enough to dance tango well. I hate to burst anyone's
bubble, but tango just ain't that simple.
I don't want to discourage beginners or to make tango seem more complicated
or academic than it is. I do want to share with people my experiece about
tango. As much as I enjoyed tango when I first began dancing it, it was
nothing compared with what it is now. The more I learn and understand tango,
the better I like it, the more I can enjoy it. I know that I also still have
much to learn about tango and that I'll enjoy it even more when I gain more
skill dancing it. The rub is that tango requires learning, practice and
technique. There are no short cuts except for a lucky few who have such
natural talent that they become masters in a short time. I believe that easy
fixes are not good. Tango cannot be danced well by just magically willing
it. No amount of heart and passion can make up for clumsiness and ignorance,
these can only be overcome by study and practice. The rewards of study and
practice are better than one can imagine. Please do not be discouraged by
the difficulty of tango and do not be seduced by some bogus "touchy-feely"
tango. Passion and heart are what tango is all about, but the expression and
experience of this heart and passion require hard work. Tango is not easy,
it demands respect and dedication. The more you put into tango the more you
will get out of it too.
Passionate, heartfull tangos to all,
Manuel
