tangopeer wrote: <<<<I keep waiting for someone to pipe in about men dancing with men in BsAs years ago. Isn't that how they learned? I've heard dozens of stories about that, but I am no historian. Who gots da goods on this?>>>>
Although today same-sex people dance with each other and exchange lead and follow for different reasons, the main reason men danced with men is fairly simple and a product of the cultural milieu of the day. Tango was not considered a respectable dance to do and many women, especially young ones, were not allowed to go to practicas (inasmuch as they existed in those days). They might go to milongas, and even then perhaps accompanied by the parents. We forget in our enthusiasm that even in Argentina, tango was frowned upon for years by the upper classes and "cultured" people did not dance it, and not all of the "lower" classes danced it either. I have known older Argentine women who told me their parents did not allow them to dance tango. Men didn't have too many choices for practicing steps except with each other, but this enabled them to be prepared when they went to the milongas. Tango came out of the bordellos and conventillos...not a world you wanted your daughter to be associated with. We may smile at the depictions of "compadritos" on stage, but the reality was not so romantic. Compadritos often carried knives and violence was a part of the early tango world. Canaro writes in his autobiography of knife fights and gunshots being exchanged (and barely missing him) at clubs in La Boca. It was a different world from the one we know. Danel Bastone told me that he often practiced with other men, simply because there were no women around to practice with. I have heard the same from Gavito and other milongueros I have known. This persisted well in to the forties and fifties of the 20th century. We forget in our modern, more-enlightened day that the social customs were more restricted than today. Women did not have the same freedoms and men had to learn from each other. Cheers, Charles ************** Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489 _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
