----- Original Message ----
> From: Ecsedy Áron <[email protected]>
>
> I am always fascinated by the insatiable need of Western societies to
> regualte things as if by decree. I believe this is one of the biggest
> obstacles in learning how to behave, in tango and in life. The way the
> general perception see latins... Paying attention to the justifiable
> needs of others as a default, and knowing when you cross the line (not
> forbidden, just not pretending that you are entitled to do so) would
> help both the US and Europe become much more 'liveable'. Right now, if
> there is a 'rule' for something then nobody gives a sh*t about what is
> balanced, and what happens to the other person. Those 'codigos' are
> simple things to avoid a more aggressive confrontation. They aren't
> really rules as such. They are life insurance policies. You can break
> them, but retalation will not be automatic. Only if the breaking of the
> rule caused harm to someone else.
This is incorrect. Milonga codes are not as strictly enforced in Buenos Aires
as they were in the past, but they still exist. Reckless navigation is frowned
upon. If it is flagrant, you will be spoken to by the milonga organizer. (The
violator's lack of knowledge of Spanish makes this a futile intervention.) You
don't approach the table of someone whom don't know to ask for a dance. (Most
likely you will be turned down.) You use the cabeceo instead. You don't invite
someone to dance who is part of a couple. You don't dance the cortina. You
don't drop someone in the middle of a tanda. Someone who violates these rules
will be peripheralized, not invited to dance, in extreme cases asked to leave
the milonga.
In fact, by comparison it is North American milongas that often lack these
rules. What I see is that the Nuevoistas and the Nuevoista-wannabies act often
act like rebellious adolescents who don't want to be controlled by rules. As
long as there is no blood on the floor, everything is cool. Dancers who want to
have some decorum at milongas (adhere to the line-of-dance, don't bump into
people) are framed as control freaks, tango police, and even tango fascists.
What I see happening repeatedly is that despite saying they respect tango
tradition, the music, and the customs, in their actions the Nuevoistas are
forgetting tradition, ignoring the music, and rebelling against customs in
their display of this new evolved form of tango. Call it Nuevo or call it just
bad manners, but more and more people are getting fed up with the coup d'etat
that is occurring at many North American milongas. That's why an increasing
number of us are calling for segregation of
events. As far as we're concerned, you can set your own codes of behavior (or
lack of standards) at your alternative milongas and we won't care; we just
won't attend. Just don't come running into our milongas like the bulls of
Pamplona. Instead of saying 'I can't believe that you people are regulating
behavior by decree', either abide by the codes of the milonga you attend, or
don't come. And, yes, just so people know what to expect, clearly label your
milongas as "Alternative" and your teaching as "Nuevo", so people know what to
expect.
> I do not believe that the artificial separation (even if voluntary)
> solves anything - it only separates people. The solution would be to pay
> attention to very basic ethics of reciprocity. Do unto others as you
> would have them do unto you. Or rather: Bump into others as you would
> have them bump into you.
Separation is necessary because the goals of the dancers (music, manner of
dancing) are incompatible. If you can't respect that codes of the environment,
don't impose your codes (or lack of them) on a unappreciative audience. No one
is telling you how to run your alternative milongas. Don't force
traditionalists to have a Nuevo environment imposed on them against their will.
Ron
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