Brian, may I quote you on that? I really fully believe all should re-read this and think... I use an analogy of the Windows operating system.. but this, this is soo much better.
2009/8/3 Brian Dunn <[email protected]> > > > The good “nuevo dancers” dance anything from the > > close embrace club style to “nuevo” based on their mood > > and available space. I.e., they dance tango. > > What do you call someone who can speak, read and write English, Japanese, > Swahili, and Russian with clarity, precision and humor in all languages? In > other words, they can improvise successfully in all of them? I would call > them a "language expert". > > Here in Colorado, if someone can only ski or snowboard on the groomed, flat > slopes, we call them a "beginner". When they can handle steeper slopes, we > call them "intermediate", and when they can take on ANYTHING with confidence > and grace, we call them "advanced/expert". > > What do you call someone who can dance "milonguero", "salon", and "nuevo", > with connection, expression and musicality, varying how they dance with the > partner, the music, and the setting? > The excellent young social tango dancers I've met in Buenos Aires can dance > social tango to any music under any conditions, with heartbreakingly > memorable connection and breathtaking musicality, expressing themselves fully > and appropriately within the "boundaries" of the tango environment of the > moment. Although I am primarily interested in the man's role, I've had the > opportunity of following some of them myself. I have also benefitted from > reading evaluations of many of these dancers from their partners in our > workshops. The opinions expressed by these very experienced customers, ten- > and fifteen-year dancers, when they speak of the dance encounters they have > with these leaders, have "raised the bar" in my view when it comes to > discussing what is possible in a social tango embrace. I would call them > "good social tango dancers". > > Philosopher-author Ken Wilber spends his time querying the world-class > experts in widely varying disciplines, seeking out the kernels of "truth" > that their life's work has led them to discover. One of his rules of thumb > is "Pay lots of attention to the opinions of world-class experts when they > discuss their own area of expertise, and routinely ignore them when they > express opinions in areas in which they have no expertise". Lately we've > heard lots of critique of the aesthetic choices of some good social tango > dancers on "style" grounds, and I fear we are hearing a lot of people > speaking outside their area of expertise without taking responsibility for > doing so (imagine that! ;) ). > > One of my tango teachers once said, "If there is something you cannot > accomplish with your current skill level, and you tell yourself you are > *choosing* not to perform it for *style* reasons, then to be truly honest you > are not really making a choice." > > There have always been good social tango dancers - in crowded milongas, in > tango/vals/milonga/whatever, in spacious practicas. We all want good dances, > right? The really good dancers are the ones everyone wants to dance with, no > matter what the music, no matter what the floor conditions. If we are honest > with ourselves, at some level, we envy them a little bit their universal > desirability at the milonga, right? I suggest that we all know this is true, > and it transcends "style" discussions. If you don't know what I'm talking > about, I suggest you probably need to be more honest with yourself, or you > probably need to get out more. > > Similarly, there have always been social tango dancers who will be good > someday if they keep working. And there are social tango dancers who don't > want to work anymore to be better. There's nothing wrong with this, of > course - life is short, and everyone invests their time, energy and money as > best they can in pursuit of tango happiness. We're fortunate that we've all > chosen a personal art form where there is so much happiness available at > every skill level. > > Yet in this thread we hear so much of "why don't they just stop calling it > tango?" as if the point is to eliminate the good social tango dancers because > they "speak more languages" than me. > > In a social art form such as tango, we may well consider that someone's skill > level and "language facility" might have significant bearing on the worth of > their opinions, especially if they relentlessly and routinely criticize the > "style choices" of others. Something along the lines of "If THEY can do what > I do, but I can't do what THEY do, maybe I should just shut up and dance". > After all, isn't it a lot easier for me to "lower the bar" to my current > level, using "style" as a weapon of exclusion to eliminate my rivals, rather > than to take on the work of improving my social tango to the point where > everyone at the milonga always wants to dance with ME? > > All the best, > Brian Dunn > Dance of the Heart > www.danceoftheheart.com > "Building a Better World, One Tango at a Time" > > > _______________________________________________ > Tango-L mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
