Tango is not only a fascinating dance but also a fascinating philosophy, culture and lifestyle. The search of tango is the search of connection, love, fellowship, unity, harmony and beauty, i.e., an idealism that is not consistent with the dehumanizing reality of the modern world. The world divides us into individuals, but tango unites us into a team, community and species. In tango we are not individualists, feminists, nationalists, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but interconnected and interdependent members of the human family. Tango calls us to tear down the walls, to build bridges, and to regain humanity through affinity, altruism, cooperation, and accommodation. It is a dance that teaches the world to love.



April 30, 2011

Tango as a Philosophy


Tango is different things to different individuals: for men, it is leading; for women, it is following; for beginners, it is steps; for seasoned dancers, it is the expression of music and feelings; for lovers, it is a relationship; for attention seekers, it is a show; for heterosexuals, it is a gender expression; for homosexuals, it is a gender-neutral play; for social dancers, it is a dissipation for personal pleasure; for professionals, it is a job to entertain audiences; for casual enthusiasts, it is a recreation; for devoted milongueros, it is a lifestyle; for foreigners, it is a simple interest or fascination; and for Argentinians, it stands as a deeply ingrained cultural emblem that bears their history... We all dance tango differently because of who we are and how we understand tango.

Tango philosophy involves issues that make us different. The following is an incomplete list of such issues. Each may have many answers. Some answers may be more or less correct or incorrect, others may just be personal preferences and neither right nor wrong. But collectively these opinions and preferences decide the way each of us dances and behaves, and divide us into diffferent categories. Studying and exchanging views on these issues can help us deepen our understanding, learn from each other, improve our dance, and, hopefully, achieve mastery through a comprehensive grasp of all aspects of tango.

1. What is tango
2. Why people dance tango
3. The gender roles in tango
4. The relationship of the two sexes
5. Gender neutrality vs. gender expression
6. Feminism and its impact on tango
7. Individualism and its impact on tango
8. Individual performance vs. teamwork
9. Tango as a skill vs. tango as a fellowship
10. Elitism vs. populism
11. Steps vs. chreography
12. Cultural bias and impacts
13. Social tango vs. performance tango
14. Close embrace vs. open embrace
15. Embrace-oriented dance vs. footwork-oriented dance
16. Movements vs. feelings
17. Romanticism vs. gymnastics
18. Prioritizing look vs. prioritizing essence
19. The unity of form and content
20. Classic tango music vs. alternative music
21. Dancing steps vs. dancing music
22. Dancing to rhythm vs. dancing to melody
23. The danceability of tango music
24. Tango styles
25. Three theories on leading
26. Self-centered leading vs. partner-centered leading
27. Active follow vs. passive follow
28. Simplicity vs. fanciness
29. Comfort vs. beauty
30. Reform vs. tradition
31. Creativity vs. standardization
32. Imitating steps vs. developing skills
33. Progressive dancing vs. spot dancing
34. Cabeseo vs. verbal invitation
35. Artistic sublimation vs. vulgarism
36. Freedom vs. milonga codes
37. The freedom in tango
38. Tango and the outlook on life
39. A dance that teaches the world to love



4 comments:

  1. Do you regard all of these pairs of concepts as strict dichotomies? I think some of them are actually hard to separate out, such as "movement orientation/music-feeling orientation" or "personal enjoyment versus show-off" (we want to look good while we're dancing so as to get more dances and hence more enjoyment!) or "elegance vs. comfort" (if your aesthetic involves a very natural, smooth look, which is also comfortable to dance) or "rhythm versus melody" (I am still sceptical as to whether we can really dance to the melody, as opposed to the rhythms within the melody). It sounds as though there is potential for some interesting discussion.

    www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com

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  2. We hope beauty and comfort go hand in hand, but that is not always the case. Movement oriented dancers like to do fancy stuffs that catch eyes and use whatever embraces that help to expand movement possibilities, often at the cost of their own and their partner’s comfort. On the other hand, those who dance for personal enjoyment may be embrace specific, use simple steps, focus only on personal feelings and don’t care much about how they look.

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  3. Dance to the music does not only mean stepping on the beat, it also means dancing with cadencia. When in motion, the body produces a momentum in each step, which can be maneuvered by accelerating and then halting the body motion to create a lilt or cadence in the horizontal direction, like a wave of motion across each step in correspondence with the rhythmic flow of the music. The rhythm is faster, regular, and less emotional. The melody is slower, more sentimental and often irregular. Dancers with good musicality can use different cadencia and other means, such as slow motion and pause, to express different emotions.

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  4. To: Terpsichoral. I certainly appreciate your comment. But, in reply to your statement that reads “we want to look good while we're dancing so as to get more dances and hence more enjoyment!”. It seems that you’re dancing to impress others instead of concentrating on your partner and how she feels and how you connect with her. If she is pleased with your dance, I can guarantee she will tell other ladies and they will want to dance with you. If she is not pleased with your dance because you are focused on putting on a show for others, then she will tell her friends and they won’t want to dance with you.
    I’ve seen this happen so many times at Milongas.

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