Two Tangos, Different Charms

We describe Latin dances such as rumba, cha-cha and samba as passionate, hot and sexy, but we no longer describe tango in that way. Rather, we use elegant, graceful and soulful to describe this dance that once belonged to the Latin dance family. In other words, in its development tango has been gradually refined and gentrified, evolving from the dance of brothel to Tango de Salon.

But once upon a time, tango was a hot, sexy, passionate Latin dance.

Comparing the two kind of tangos, we can see the following differences.

1. Tango de Salon is danced at a slower pace. Earlier tango is danced at a faster pace.

2. In Tango de Salon the steps are larger. In earlier tango the steps are much smaller.

3. In Tango de Salon the woman's hip movement is moderate, remaining relatively paralell to the man's hips, while in earlier tango the hip movement of the woman is quite large, perpendicular to the man's hips.

4. Tango de Salon highlights elegance and harmony. Earlier tango highlights hot gender identity and gender expression.

5. Tango de Salon focuses on subtle, inward feelings. Earlier tango focuses on exaggerated visual impression.

Both tangos have their merits, one shows maturity and elegance, the other shows vigor and passion.

The fact that earlier tango is no longer seen is more or less a shame to me because I believe it still has an aesthetic value, and its techniques, as the couple in the video below tried to reproduce, are worth studying. The evolution of human aesthetics, however, has its own logic that is beyond anyone’s personal preference. As a general trend perhaps, that "Elegance is the only beauty that never fades." - said Audrey Hepburn, is the underlying logic of human aesthetics and tango. Vigor loses with time, but elegance remains. (See Embracing Elegance.)

Steps, Musicality and Choreography

Novice dancers often focus their attention on steps and neglect music and choreography. In fact, the quality of a dance hinges more on musicality and choreography than steps. To explain this, let's first take a closer look at how the milongueros dance tango.

What impressed me most about the dance of the milongueros is not their steps but their musicality and choreography, which have the following characteristics.

(1) They dance at a slower pace, allowing the woman to follow in a restful and elegant manner. (2) Every step is well thought out and clearly led, focusing on expressing the music and feelings, not on impression. (3) There is a pause after each phrase or sequence, just like there is a punctuation mark after each sentence. (4) The pause is not completely still but in subtle motion to allow the woman to do embellishments. (5) The steps are pulsating, like surging waves rather than flowing water, to facilitate cadencia in the dance. (6) There is a soft transition between two steps, often in the form of turn, preparing the next surge in a different direction. (7) Surging step, pause, soft transition, and another surging step constitute the basic rhythm of the dance. This arrangement can better reflect the music, sentiment and feelings that feature social tango.

The dance of the milongueros is in sharp contrast to our tango, which tends to be hasty, busy and beat-chasing, prioritizing movements rather than musicality and choreography. If their tango is art, then ours is more like gymnastics. We tend to step on every beat and dance at a hurried, monotonic speed, leaving little room for the woman to express herself. There is a lack of pause, slow motion, subtlety, depth and emotional expression in our tango. The following is an example.

These are not novices but fairly experienced dancers. In fact, their dancing skills are better than the average found online. I chose this clip to illustrate that dance techniques, musicality, and choreography are seperate skills. What most dancers lack is musicality and choreography.

Of course, as with any skill that requires effort to become proficient, tango has a learning curve. The dancers in the video below have made quite a bit of progress.

Many of them are imitating the style of the milongueros. One shining example is the man in the hat appeared in 3:10-3:50, who used a lot of pauses and slow motions. As you can see, by adopting the choreography of the milongueros, the dance becomes deeper, tastier, more musical and less gymnastic. Pause and slow motion are to dance what punctuation is to writing, which make the dance more musical, meaningful, expressive, and captivating. The following is another good example. (See Floorcraft, Choreography and Hastiness.)

Tango in Small Cities

There are numerous teahouses in the streets and alleys of Chengdu, China, and every one of them is booming with business. Chengdu people like to spend time with friends in teahouses, drinking tea while chatting, reading, playing chess, listening to local operas, etc. This leisurely pleasure has become an indispensable part of Chengdu people’s daily lives.

What the teahouse is to Chengdu is like what the milonga is to Buenos Aires. There are numerous milongas in the streets of Buenos Aires. The Portenos like to pass time there, meeting friends, drinking coffee, listening to music, and dancing tango. Over time, they became skilled dancers, and tango became an integral part of their daily lives. For many Portenos, a day without tango is like a day without food.

Tango dancers in small cities don't have that luck. There are too few of them to hold quality regular milongas. That’s why I used to drive to nearby big cities to dance tango. For a three-hour milonga, the round trip took me five to six hours. In addition to fatigue and sleepless nights, the cost added up to a considerable amount annually. Eventually, I couldn't keep doing that and had to accept the reality of dancing locally.

Dancing locally may not be as gratifying as dancing in big cities, but it is convenient, time-saving, and affordable. It's okay to go out to dance occasionally, but to enjoy tango on a regular and sustainable base, you have to do it locally. Tango aficionados in small cities must face this reality. In big cities there are established tango groups and milongas readily available. But in small cities we have no choice but to make our own. Creating a tango community isn't easy, but if we don't do that and choose to travel long distances, then we'll have to say goodbye to tango when we are tired of travel. Would it not be better if we put that energy in building our own tango community, so that we can enjoy tango just like people in big cities?

Dancers in small towns need to be strategic. We can't expect other people to plant trees for us to enjoy the shade. We have to plant our own trees and enjoy our own fruit. Building a tango community requires dedication and a lot of work. Despite the difficulties, we should not exchange that vision for immediate pleasure. We must invest for the future, so that when we cannot travel around, we will still have a place to dance tango. Don't be intimidated by starting small and slow. So long as we stick to the cause, the community will grow. Right now we are still in the start-up stage, but that stage will pass. What we ought to think is how to make our community bigger, stronger and better, not to leave the community and dance elsewhere.

The importance of building a local tango group cannot be overstated. It is where we improve our dance skills and enjoy tango on a regular base. Tango is teamwork. Without a team there cannot be tango. You go out to dance because there is a better tango community out there. So why not spend time on improving our own? As tango dancers we can't only think about the present but not the long-term, focus only on personal enjoyment but neglect team building, relish without contributing, and take without giving back. I have provided you with a place to dance tango, and I do it willingly as my contribution to the group. I expect you to make your own contributions, not as a way to return the favor, but as a way to strengthen the group and make it stronger, more united, and better. Do not come just to have a good time. Ask yourself at least once a month: "Have I done anything for the group lately?" If everyone can do their part, then our local group will grow faster, so that tango can become an indispensable part of our daily lives, too. (See Never Forget Why We Started.)