Hi all,
I’ve been mulling over Peter’s essay for the past couple of days and examined
how we tend to use terms on this list. For example, we tend to use
“traditionalist” to describe salon and milonguero styles and “nuevo”
specifically for nuevo. Yet, we use “Argentine Tango” to refer primarily to
salon and milonguero styles, and if we include nuevo, we specifically say
“Nuevo”. We’re already treating it differently. I think that says something
about how we map our internal world of tango.
There also comes the question of suppose I treat Nuevo as I do Milonga and
Vals. Then my requirements for accepting students into a nuevo class would be
much less than they are now. They would just need to know tango basics.
Really, one could teach Nuevo completely separately from salon or milonguero.
Isn’t that part of the point of Nuevo? To make it more accessible?
So the assertion that Nuevo dancers are more expert than others is false. It
just happens that most of those learning nuevo in the past have been the more
experienced dancers. However, if we look around, people far less experienced
than the experts are learning nuevo. I know people in my community who are
working on colgadas and they don’t even know how to do turns well. Nor can
they dance milonguero, well. Again, it suggests that Nuevo, in and of itself,
is not a more advanced form of tango. In fact, I know several excellent nuevo
teachers who do not really dance milonguero all that well. They do okay, but
it's not the same energy.
As for my own skill level, I do quite well as a follower in nuevo, including
the double ganchos and lifts in S & M’s video. I admit I can't get my leg as
high as Mariana. As a leader, I do fine with the typical nuevo moves, as well,
and take advanced nuevo classes as a leader (though I probably wouldn't at a
Chicho or Sebastian workshop). For me, it’s not a question of skill level.
It’s simply recognizing that there’s a distinct difference.
Trini de Pittsburgh
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