Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in the milongas of Buenos Aires in recent years realizes that nearly everyone dances in close embrace, uses a relatively simple vocabulary of steps, and that embellishments are rare and subtle with feet kept on the floor. The focus of the dance is the connection with the partner and the music, not the steps. After the tango revival of the 1980s, Argentine stage performers dancing a different kind of tango, that used for the stage, spread tango around the world. Due to this exposure, the social dancing at milongas outside Argentina did not resemble dancing at the milongas in Buenos Aires. However, interest in tango led many foreigners to visit Buenos Aires and many of these were exposed to tango culture at its source, with the consequence that the social tango style of Buenos Aires milongas was transmitted (albeit not always so accurately) to non-Argentine cultures. Although exhibition tango still remains the predominant version of tango danced socially outside Argentina, there is a significant foothold of Argentine social tango outside Argentina as well.
In recent years a new version of tango - tango nuevo - which was developed by Argentines, has been exported as another tango art form. Tango nuevo extends the boundaries of tango, incorporating elements of social tango and exhibition tango, as well as elements from other dances. Tango nuevo expands upon the possibilities of tango by varying the embrace (in both open and closed positions), varying rotations (angles) of movements, as well as adding off-axis elements (volcadas, colgadas), among other things. In Buenos Aires, there are several practicas (Villa Malcolm, Practica X) where tango nuevo is practiced. Except as an exhibition, tango nuevo is rarely danced at the 100+ milongas in Buenos Aires, and when it does occur, usually performed by foreigners, it is frowned upon by porten~os. Tango dancers outside Argentina who do not visit Buenos Aires and become immersed in some of the 100+ milongas may not understand the boundaries of social tango within these milongas. Thus, they may be exposed to a misrepresentation of Argentine social tango and not realize it. Thus, the Tango Trojan Horse - a gift that invades tango communities around the world - a vehicle of deception. Probably the greatest misconception of Argentine social tango surrounds the embrace. Although a maintained close embrace is a characteristic element of Argentine social tango, not all dancing tango in close embrace is within the culturally defined boundaries of Argentine social tango. This misunderstanding has led to the acceptance of non-social elements characteristic of exhibition tango as Argentine social tango. For example, a variety of ganchos can be performed without breaking the embrace. Some boleos that lift off the floor can be performed without breaking the embrace. Volcadas rely on a close embrace. Large movements and extensive use of embellishments can be performed without breaking the embrace. Elements of this type have been promoted more frequently recently, with such terms as 'nuevo milonguero' used in advertising, giving the impression that 'tango milonguero' (a term used to label a particular stylistic variation of Argentine social tango) is evolving to include nuevo elements. This may be the case in the repertoires of some tango performers and instructors, many of whom are Argentines teaching abroad, but it is not the case among the porten~os dancing in the 100+ milongas of Buenos Aires. 'Nuevo milonguero' does not exist in Buenos Aires milongas, except as a frowned-upon aberration. So, beware of Argentines bearing tango gifts. They may be offering a Tango Trojan Horse, something which is not what it appears to be and may, in fact, be designed intentionally to deceive because the incorporation of nuevo elements into social Argentine tango is marketable outside Argentina. This 'nuevo milonguero' (or whatever else it may be called to sound like it is based in Buenos Aires milongas) offers a danger of successful cultural misrepresentation that is greater than tango nuevo itself because it may be marketed subtly or not so subtly as Argentine social tango. It is even more likely to be accepted as Argentine social tango when it is taught by Argentines. These arguments are only important and relevant if one cares to accurately adopt Argentine social tango culture. If one is more interested in creating a form of tango derived from Argentine social tango that has been liberated from the cultural context of its origin with the incorporation of elements that are more pleasing to the values and expectations of the recipient culture, then one is, of course, free to do so. However, deception occurs when one represents this adapted version as Argentine social tango, which it is not. Ron _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
