Unusually, I attended two milongas at the weekend dominated by couples dancing in the modern youthful style to modern music. It started me thinking.......
It strikes me that: a) It a unique hybrid form of dance, like a modern funk or pop dance for couples. b) It combines some classic elements with demonstration / performance figures in a flowing and flamboyant style, often accompanied by static poses. The figures include kicks, slow and deliberate sables and ganchos, exaggerated volcadas and colgadas, side-by-side and underarm spins and other flamboyant elements, even extending to dragging and lifts. It is relatively athletic. c) It is an extroverted dance, not introspective - one of the hallmarks of classic Tango. c) In that respect it is somewhat similar to swing / jive, with combinations of showy figures, kicks and lifts. Some of the elements are typical of the very rigidly choreographed New Vogue dances La Bomba and Tango Terrific. d) The floor dynamic is completely different from classic Tango. It is more like ballroom latin or swing / jive in that it seems more suited to the dancing couples marking out a space within which to perform, rather than a tight rotation. Even when forced into a rotation by other dancers, the couples will still look for open space to perform static or rotational figures, often in the centre or corners of the room. e) It seems attractive to young people, for the obvious reasons that they are seeking fun and display. g) The music typically includes percussion, as does ballroom Tango. h) Though, I venture to guess that the current style is founded on Chicho Frumboli's performances, it seems to have caught on as a social dance in the US, from where it is now being exported. f) I sense that the dance will continue to grow away from classic Tango until it becomes a separate genre that has a passing resemblance to classic Tango, in the way that codified ballroom Tango (Dancesport) nods to its roots in name and the occasional glimpse of a classic figure. Could it become Funk Tango? h) Likewise, the music will grow further away from classic Tango, with more rock, pop and jazz fusion until it is barely recogniseable as Tango, if that has not already happened. John _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
