Decades ago the young men stood in the center of the dance floor, and the girls sat at tables around the perimeter in neighborhood clubs with an older relative or friend who escorted them to the dance. The men invited the girls with the cabeceo. The only opportunity they had to talk was between dances, but the conversation was brief and private. And it was limited to the topic of the music.
I learned that the topic of conversation during a tanda is only about the music from dancing with milongueros. The woman is the one who initiates. If she says nothing, the man doesn't speak. Talking isn't mandatory between dances. One leaves their personal life at the door of a milonga. The music is the main event in a milonga. At least it used to be. Today there is so much conversation that it is difficult to hear the music. It's no surprise that the sound level has to be increased to hear the music over all the talking. A milonguero told me that he went to dance last night and left after a half hour because there was so much noise. A brief exchange between partners on the dance floor should be low enough that others do not hear what is being said, like whispering into the other person's ear. These days it is possible to hear conversation in the middle of the dance floor while one is seated at a table. Tangos are three minutes long, and yet conversation between dances continues for most of the tango. There are some who continue talking requiring others to dance around them. There are some who continue talking while dancing. It keeps getting worse and worse in Buenos Aires. There is an interview with Gustavo Naveira in which he says it used to be about the music; now it's about the dance. I disagree with him. He doesn't understand what is special about tango because he has been concentrating on technically identifying everything in dance. He is missing the essence of tango. It still is all about the music. http://www.10tango.com/interior/detalle_nota.php?idx=90&seccion=4 Janis www.ToTango.net/milongueros.html _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
