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.



September 17, 2011

Simple Is Beautiful


In societies of scarcity people are used to simplicity and frugality, while in societies of abundance like ours luxury and waste are the norm. For tasks that other people do with a simple kitchen knife, we use one equipment to chop eggs, another to cut meats, another to slice tomatoes, another to peel apples, another to shred cucumbers, etc. Our kitchens are crammed with junks. Our houses are more and more cluttered. So are our shopping malls, governments, and tax codes. Our national debt has passed $14 trillion, with an interest of $350 billion per year, and we still spend like there is no tomorrow. Our commercial culture is all about catching and impressing, which is why TV ads are made increasingly weird. I don’t think it's coincidental that our young people confuse weirdness with beauty. Just look at the punk hairdos, tattoos, rings on the nose, lips and eyelids, and pants that are about to fall down… Everything is about catching eyeballs rather than genuine beauty.

The way we dance tango reflects this culture. Like life, tango is actually a simple dance, but we insist on making it complex and difficult. While in Argentina tango is danced in natural, normal, simple and comfortable steps, our tango is cluttered with showy, gaudy, farfetched and awkward movements. Simplicity and naturalness are an acquired taste that we don’t have. We regard complexity and bizarreness as beautiful. While in Argentina tango is all about music, feelings, physical pleasure and harmony, our tango is characterized by fancy footwork, showy figures, thrilling performances, exposed costumes, luxurious hotels, and pricey festivals. We are too focused on the superficial things.

Let me proclaim a different aesthetics that values simplicity and naturalness. Nature is simple and it is beautiful. Light makeup looks more comfortable than heavy and queer ones. A house simply decorated is more pleasant than that cluttered with ostentatious ornaments. Concise writing is superior to redundant expression. Simple movements look more elegant than intricate figures. Empty space adds design and depth to a painting. Silence often expresses more. Too much can be worse than not enough. A kung-fu master practices his skill with great ease. The best way oftentimes is the simplest. (See Highbrowism and Populism in Tango.)

Artistic simplicity is among the most important principles in aesthetics, which can achieve unexpected and often superior results. The video below, which uses dance to recreate a classic Chinese painting, is an example. It is best viewed in full screen.




The same is true for tango. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication - a quality those who focus only on superficial things do not have. Tango is not an extravagant luxury. It is a simple pleasure, an inner experience, and a personal expression that should not cost an absurd amount of money to enjoy. (See Boston Tango Marathon.) One has to sublimate oneself from the noise and bustle of the world to enjoy tango. People who love tango must keep it free from the contamination of the commercial world and the frivolous custom of our times. There is no need to spend on fancy steps and flashy dresses to enjoy tango. Tango can be danced in a simple and natural way, like how the milongueros dance it. We have to turn our attention from what is superficial to what is within. An ordinary-looking woman with refined inner quality is much more attractive than a pretty woman without it. Tango is the same. It is for feeling and not for looking. When tango stops to be a show, it will be simpler, deeper, better and more enjoyable. (See The Conceptional Beauty of Tango.)





September 4, 2011

True Beauty Comes from Within


We love tango in part because tango is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with that. People pursue beauty for the same reason that plants bloom and birds sing. Beauty is a natural trait to attract mates. It provides a better chance for living things to thrive, thus is a valuable resource to whoever possesses it. Consequently beauty is admired, idolized, worshiped and emulated. Many methods are developed to make people look beautiful, and billions and billions are spent each year for that. As a result, beauty is no longer natural and real. In many ways it becomes an artificial and deceiving illusion.

When people are obsessed with the illusion, substance are neglected and problems occur. A beautiful woman may have advantages, but at the same time she may also have disadvantages. She may be spoiled, haughty, shallow, and unprepared for the tough realities in real life. She may demand more and be hard to please. A likely prey of men, jealousy of women, and heart breaker to many suitors, she may have more enemies than she can handle. Consequently, she can be suspicious, mistrustful, overly protective, arrogant, and aloof. She may live a less worry-free life. One has to bear in mind the cost of pursuing beauty. Beauty is only a skin deep. It is neither the only thing nor the most important thing in life and tango.

Just as those who focus on the look tend to overlook inner qualities, dancers who are fond of flashy steps tend to ignore feelings. However, without feelings tango becomes an empty shell. True beauty comes from within. It lies in the shared commitment, understanding, cooperation, agreement, resonance, chemistry and harmony between the partners. If you visit Buenos Aires, you will see that is how tango is danced by the milongueros. They don't care much about fancy steps. They concentrate on the relationship, music and feelings, and their dance is so beautiful that it is imitated by shallow-minded foreigners without understanding its essence. (See The Conceptional Beautify of Tango.)

Tango is still young in the US. It takes maturity to overcome superficiality and to understand true beauty. The more I dance with women of all ages, the more I appreciate mature women. I found that, even in Buenos Aires, mature women are better dancers overall. Their youthful freshness is fading, and they start to focus more on the substance rather than the surface of dance. It is my hope that tango in this country, too, will overcome its shallowness and pay more attention to the substance as we become more maturer.