SLO Tango -- sloTango Digest, Vol 30, Issue 13

[Mack Real III]

Arlene,
I had to respond because I felt greatly insulted by your statement:

"...and I agree, but have come to realize that Tango is different from most
recreational social dance where skill level and sophistication are not as
intrinsically important." 

I think I pretty much agree with everything else you said but I really got
stuck on this. As I make my point I may actually end up agreeing with the
remainder of you email. 

To be clear my frustration is not with you particularly but with the tone of
this comment and the similar feeling that I've been getting from this group.
I'm understating myself when I say this represents an under-appreciation for
other dances. It is not my desire to insult anyone from our tango community
but please let me say this: I took Tango with this group for a short time
and I would even like to take more Argentine Tango as I feel this dance is
really suited to me. I wish I could say I was surprised by this statement
but this statement carries with it the essence of why I sidelined my Tango
lessons for now. Not because of you personally of course but this comment
exemplifies the "general" feeling I was getting from this group. I have
received instruction in many disciplines of dance. The dance I have
committed the most to so far is West Coast Swing. It isn't Tango but there
is a point here. I have been taking West Coast Swing lessons for fourteen
years. I have taken lessons from instructors that want to express events
that have to happen at 1/2 of 1/2 of 1/2 of 1/2 (probably one more 1/2 but
you get the point) of a beat of music. A few months back I had the
opportunity to dance West Coast Swing at another venue with a Tango dancer
from this group and was very insulted when she informed me she had taken a
couple of classes in this dance and had it down. To her credit she is
becoming quite fun to dance with now but it took me a while to get this bad
taste out of my mouth. 

Now; I understand about the dynamics of correctly executing a move - even
though I'm just a lowly West Coast Swing dancer (OK; maybe that was a cheap
shot - sorry.). I know that you have to break a dance down and reduce it to
a count to teach it. But what I would say the majority of dancers don't get
is that once you know the pattern you have to re-convert it back to a dance.
Generally speaking I found our Tango dancers to be bad at this and not very
patient with it. This is what I don't think this group is getting - you have
to "feel the timing" (with your partner) to execute the pattern properly to
music. I would say that the majority of dance students in all disciplines of
dance don't do this part very well and eventually give-up or sideline dance
as a whole without realizing the best part of the dance. The feel of really
connecting with your partner. 

I haven't been taking West Coast Swing for fourteen years because I'm a slow
learner. I continue to improve on my ability to lead the dance to many
varieties of dance styles and dancers of many levels of abilities. The same
rules of nature apply to Tango as apply to other dances. I have come to
realize that many people in the collective dance community live under the
fantasy that if they know a lot of moves this makes them a great dancer. To
Rich's credit many in this group have learned that a few moves well executed
are better than a whole bunch of patterns poorly executed. But even this is
not the sign of a great dancer. The real talent of dancing is to
successfully connect with another person on the dance floor whatever dance
it is. It is easy to dance with a great dancer. You are not challenging
yourselves by doing that. Sure, it feels great dancing with an accomplished
dancer. But if you (not you specifically Arlene) want to show how good YOU
are then dance with a partner who isn't that great. If you're just in these
classes to dance with someone who makes you look good then you're not
proving anything to anyone. As a leader there is great satisfaction in being
able to lead someone to perform a move they didn't know they could do. As a
follower it is great to make a relatively poor leader enjoy the dance and
feel like this is something they'd like to invest more energy in. Those are
the marks of a good dancer. And you have to dance with a lot of not so good
dancers to become good at that. And while I'm on this point Laura and
Christina I want to say thank you. I am new to Argentine Tango but you have
showed much patience and you have offered great advice. I want you to know
it was appreciated. Jobie, you too - but don't worry, I'm not pursuing you.
I like you but I'm not after you. I got the point a long time ago. 

My final point that closes the circle is this: a truly good dancer will
recognize dance skill across the gamut of dances. Not just within their
particular discipline. This goes back to the statement I was objecting to in
the first place. There are all different levels of dancers in all of the
dance disciplines. While the character of Tango is quite different from
other dances it isn't really all that more difficult to perform well than
any other dance. Like any other dance it all depends on your desire for the
dance and how much you're willing to invest to become really good. 

And Argentine Tango isn't a ballroom dance for crying out loud. Like West
Coast Swing, Argentine Tango is a street dance... You're not supposed to
pose with your partner you're supposed to flirt with them. This is a fun
dance. 

These words aren't meant to tear down. I have been feeling tension in these
emails for a while and I hope some up-tight people will get some humble pie
so we can all unite around a really fun dance. It is my hope that these
words are received favorably to the whole group. 

-Mack

-----Original Message-----
From: slotango-bounces at slotango.org [mailto:slotango-bounces at slotango.org]
On Behalf Of BSYBDY at aol.com
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 5:17 PM
To: slotango at slotango.org
Subject: Re: SLO Tango -- sloTango Digest, Vol 30, Issue 13

Very well expressed, Beth, and I agree, but have come to realize that Tango 
is different from most recreational social dance where skill level and 
sophistication are not as intrinsically important. An elite group can have a

tantalizing appeal to many to devote themselves to rising to the top without

compromising their satisfaction in the heady tango sphere. Here and there,
I've found, 
some wonderfully accomplished dancers will be gracious, helpful, and
socially 
polite at milongas by dancing with new dancers and strangers, but through 
conversations and observations I've more often seen attitudes reflecting
resistance 
to "charity" and a belief that it will diminish their credibility and their 
personal satisfaction, which is paramount.  Although I don't think I do
this, 
and I'm sure most others don't think they do, I think it's one of the
paradoxes 
of this incredible dance, and I almost believe I have a realistic respect
for 
it now. 
However, we could have a larger community, more happy dancers, and I am
truly 
convinced we would also have much faster learning possibilities if the 
experienced and the "couples" would gladly spend a small percentage of their
dance 
time with less experienced and less familiar partners.  
Is this an impossible dream??
My heart is with you all, and tango in general.  Arlene
<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> Get a sneak peek of
the all-new AOL at 
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour</HTML>

_______________________________________________
sloTango mailing list
sloTango at slotango.org
http://slotango.org/mailman/listinfo/slotango_slotango.org