Inside the Embrace 2008 Archive

How We Are Together
7 November 2008 — Susan Brown

It is not about how we dance, but how we are together!
from Taboe Tango Camp
 

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Egotism or Cluelessness?
26 October 2008 — Stephen Brown

A friend of mine who teaches in another city recently announced that admission to her intermediate/ advanced classes would be by invitation or audition only.  She had to take this step because she was having a problem with too many people showing up who weren't able to keep up with the class and were impeding the progress for those who were truly intermediate and advanced.  She said, "Other students in class should be your peers, not your teachers."

At (now defunct) Tangri-LÁ, Johanna Siegmann writes a similar story about another instructor who was offering an intermediate/advanced workshop:
"In the past, these workshops were attended mostly by students who had woefully over-valued their actual skills, being barely able to walk while in the Tango embrace, much less be intermediate or advanced at anything other than over-appraising their abilities. ... [A]fter being forced to devalue several intermediate/advanced workshops due to a preponderance of attendees who were neither—[the instructor] addressed the issue head-on" by reminding the students that they needed to approach learning with humility which included the instructor's appraisal of which level of classes were appropriate.

Like Johanna, my sympathies are with the instructors, who are likely risking losing many students—not only those directly excluded, but those who might stay away because of what they hear.

It's interesting to ponder why the practice of overrating oneself seems so common in tango—and elsewhere in life.  We all likely know self-anointed tango "instructors" who can barely dance themselves.

Johanna offers one explanation, "Unfortunately, there appears to be a deplorable lack of humility these days, everywhere you look.  And if you are looking at Tango, it is dismally present everywhere.  As if the learning process was demeaning and disrespectful.  As though room for improvement was a personal flaw.  Or admitting we need training wheels is somehow insulting and humiliating."  (aka egotism?)

Without disagreeing with Johanna, I would offer another explanation.  As is pointed out below, incompetent individuals fail to recognize their own inadequacy because they tend to overestimate their own level of skill and fail to recognize genuine skill in others.  (aka cluelessness?)

Either way, lack of self-awareness is the root of many evils.
 

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Wanting What You Want
26 October 2008 — Susan Brown

"Remember no project is too ambitious if you crave the result enough."  Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne
 

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Unskilled and Unaware
4 October 2008 — Stephen Brown

In a 1999 article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Cornell psychologists Justin Kruger and David Dunning find that incompetent individuals fail to recognize their own inadequacy because they tend to overestimate their own level of skill and fail to recognize genuine skill in others.
 

Who Holds the Key?
7 September 2008 — Stephen Brown

"The ultimate key to my heart is held by myself."  Roxanne Swentzell
 

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Remembering
2 September 2008 — Stephen Brown

"It's so important to remember where you come from, because if you don't remember where you come from, you don't know who you are or where you're going."  Roxanne Swentzell
 

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Professionalism and Creativity
1 September 2008 — Stephen Brown

"The professional photographer takes assignments from 'without'...  [T]he creative photographer...takes assignments from 'within'...  The conflict from assignments from 'without' versus those from 'within' often perplexes the serious photographer."  Ansel Adams
 

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Chasing the Steps
18 May 2008 — Stephen Brown

At (now defunct) Tangri-LÁ, Johanna Siegmann writes:
"'Chasing the steps' may be one of the most perfect phrases I've ever read regarding Tango.  For me it describes the type of dancer that doesn't get 'it' or has not yet gotten 'it'. ... [A] lot of us eventually stop chasing the step in order to chase the connection."
 

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Everyday Goals
8 May 2008 — Susan Brown

According to Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham once expressed to a friend the thought that he hoped every day to do "something foolish, something creative, and something generous."
 

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So Much More
6 May 2008 — Stephen Brown

At (now defunct) Tangri-LÁ, Johanna Siegmann writes:
"In the universe of the tango embrace, the supreme being is intimacy, not sex."
 

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Taking Control of One's Own Development
2 May 2008 — Stephen Brown

At some point, most tango dancers choose not to improve because the cost of developing skills isn't paid back with a sufficient improvement in the quality of the dance experience.  A person with a greater interest in tango or lower development costs may pursue the development of their skills further, but still reaches a point where the additional cost of developing skills outweighs the gains.  In a partner dance, such as tango, the skills of one's potential partners can greatly influence how much furthering one's own skills improves the dance experience.  The return to developing one's own skills is greater when one's potential partners are skillful than when they are mediocre.

The required complementarity of skills in dance partners can lead to a situation in which an entire community remains mired in mediocrity—even though many individual dancers may wish that they and everyone else had better skills.  In an established community dominated by mediocrity, a number of individuals seemingly have stopped their development as tango dancers at a relatively low level.  High costs to developing skills could contribute to such mediocrity.  Maybe the community is mired at a low equilibrium created by group dynamics—and the view that everyone dances with everyone.   Each member of the community thinking strictly of their own enjoyment from dancing stops developing skills when their own additional enjoyment from developing those skills just offsets their own additional costs.  Each person acting individually bears their own development costs but gains only a portion of the improved dance experience.  Some of the benefits are distributed to their partners.  If self-interest dominates as might be expected, individuals don't take into account how their skills affects others and do not pursue the development of tango skills to the point that others in the community would like.  Consequently, each member of the community would like everyone in the community to develop a higher level of skills, but no one individual acting alone will do so.  In addition, highly skilled dancers may find it difficult to keep their skills honed while dancing in a community dominated by mediocre dancers—further reinforcing the mediocrity.

In many activities dominated by mediocrity, those who have the aptitude and the desire to improve often find that a strong personal drive to excel can propel them well beyond where their own community is mired.  But tango is a partner dance, and it is better to find at least one partner who is willing to work together toward the same goals of highly skilled dancing—by taking some private lessons, attending workshops in other cities and practicing a lot.  But even if an individual couple working together succeeds in boosting their skills dramatically, they could find their enjoyment diluted when they dance with others in their own community, or they could find themselves feeling isolated when they no longer want to dance with others in the community who haven't made a similar committment to develop their skills.

Perhaps a better idea is to form a small practice group of both men and women, in which everyone has similar goals, is willing to work and to create a supportive environment for each other.  In addition to practicing together, the group might want to consider organizing lessons for themselves, attending workshops in other cities as a group, etc.   Most importantly, everyone in the group must make a committment to developing a high level of skills for dancing tango.  When the group has succeeded and begins attending milongas in the community, there will be less dilution of the efforts because everyone in the group will have several potential partners from the group with whom dance at milongas.  Moreover, the group's development may act as an impetus for better dancing in the entire community because an increase in the number of better dancers in a community raises the return to improving skills, even for those were outside the group.
 

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Some Thoughts about Leading
30 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

Shortly after dancing with Pablo Veron at the 1999 Santa Fe Tango Week a woman told me in a gushing, dazzled tone, "I didn't feel like he led me so much as I felt like he willed my movements."  Ever since then, what she described has been my goal as a leader—finding the balance between strength, grace and gentleness that conveys the lead in such a way that the woman doesn't feel at all pushed around, that she has a good idea what I am trying to have us accomplish, and that she is able to express her own voice.

On Tango-L, Tom Stermitz provides a list of the many ways to lead a woman's movement::
    - leader changes weight
    - follower steps on the slow beat unless prevented
    - leader shifts axis
    - leader lifts shoulder (uggh!)
    - leader bends axis
    - leader settles hips
    - leader pushes hips out
    - leader rotates (spirals)
    - leader rotates (pivots)
    - leader lifts and set down follower with arm
    - leader uses tummy to lift and set down
    - leader uses hands to move follower

Tom says that he uses all of the techniques on the list except shoulder lifts and axis bending.  He doesn't like these two for tango.  He adds, "The good leader uses multiple techniques at the same time, which can make the lead extremely subtle, yet extremely clear."  What Tom describes sounds to me a lot  like willing her movements.

I have taken a somewhat broader approach to learning how to lead, but one that is consistent with Tom's list.  As I see it, nearly all of the lead as conveyed by movement of the man's torso, regardless of style.  The man's right arm sometimes adds reinforcement as an extension of his torso's movement, but without any rigidity or sense of pushing.  Use of the hand in leading is usually reserved to signal a few of the occasions when the follower is asked not to shift her weight as the man moves.  There may be other exceptions, but nearly all uses of the hand to lead that I have seen taught are completely unnecessary and potentially unpleasant for the follower.  Dropping or lifting a shoulder or bending the axis can take away from the perceived quality of movement in tango.  The voice is not used for leading.

Whether one wants to pursue Tom's detailed list or take my broader approach as an avenue for developing leading skills, it seems appropriate to explore and be conscious about how each of the leader's movements contributes to the intended lead, and then develop a body sense for the appropriate leading movements.  Either way, I see the goal as being the same—finding the balance between strength, grace and gentleness that conveys the lead in such a way that the woman doesn't feel at all pushed around, that she has a good idea what the leader is trying to have them accomplish, and that she is able to express her own voice.
 

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Gender Imbalance in Tango
24 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

In Dallas/Fort Worth area, the tango community seems to have a roughly equal balance between men and women.  In some North American cities, the gender balance in the tango communities can be quite unequal, usually with more women than men.

On Tango-L, Tom Stermitz provides some insight about why that happens:
"In the beginner classes, the gender ratios are always close to 50/50.  The problem is in the upper level classes.  I don't want to be harsh, but look at the Adv-beginner and Intermediate classes for the different teachers in one community.  Some are 50/50 some are 80/20.  In other words, the problem is methodological and intentional (or ignorant).

"Retention rates in tango are low, so the filtering process is determines the gender ratios.  Out of a new beginner class, maybe 90% quit.  If the rejection rate is unbalanced, say 90% women and 95% men, the teacher is creating double the number of women. In other words, the filtering is so drastic that very small changes in the filtering process has a huge effect down the road."

Tom also offers some specific suggestions for retaining men in his Tango-L post.
 

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It Takes Two Minds to Tango
23 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

According to Judi Neal at Edgewalkers, "[A]n edgewalker is someone who walks between two worlds."  At Boundary Crosser, Carol Ross describes a boundary crosser as someone traveling in many worlds, fitting in none.

On Boundary Crosser, Carol Ross wrote:
"To find a group of natural boundary crossers, join a community of tango dancers.

"I recently attended a friend's 50th birthday party ... What had not changed [about my friend] was his distinctive, rich voice, his engineering-oriented career, and his love of tango. ... In fact 90% of the party goers were [his] fellow tango dancers. ... The first part of the evening was spent talking to tango enthusiasts, about how they got started, where they dance, why they love it so much, and what they do when they are not dancing.  During the second half of the evening, I was the keen observer of what makes this dance so magical, from the outfits worthy of a serious whirl on the floor, to the smooth moves from plenty of experts in full body motion.  It was full immersion into another world for one evening.

"[I]t turned out most people at the party had been practicing tango, consistently, for five or more years. ...  People don't take up the dance lightly.  And like my friend, most had long-time careers in something completely different.  The woman who sat across from me at dinner ... remarked how tango dancers fall into two camps—those in the 'touchy feely' professions (e.g., musicians, massage therapists, artists, nurses) and those in analytical professions (e.g., software developers, product managers, network administrators). She explained that it takes both sides of the brain to do tango and only those who can make the leap to the 'other side' become good at it.

"The dance takes close communication between the partners. ... It turns out that alot of the communication comes through the chest. ... If this wasn't complicated enough, there is no percussion in tango music. Finding the beat can be a challenge for newbies. Other oddities I observed included full stops in the dancing--complete pauses that are timed to integrate seemlessly with the rest of the movement—and a swiveling of the female hips reminiscent of a secret handshake. ... Unlike the stereotype of tango as a movement of wild abandon, I observed it to be a thinking and sensing person's dance, one requiring whole brain thinking."
 

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Being Original
22 April 2008 — Susan Brown

"Be regular and orderly in your life like bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work."  Gustave Flaubert
 

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Exploring Movement
22 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

"To create a space where a person can explore his or her movement in a safe place is much more important on any level of dancing than the moves or technique."  Nina Pesochinsky
 

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Kinesthetic Sense
21 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

On Tango-L, Nina Pesochinsky wrote:
"If someone is comfortable with his/her own body, there is nothing and no one that can 'make' this person to be uncomfortable.  What happens instead is that people ignore their discomfort in the regular life activities, move themselves out of the body and into the head, and stay there until they arrive to tango.  Tango is just a mirror of what is already there.

"Walking in Buenos Aire is good for tango, true.  But what is much better is to ride the old Mercedes buses.  If you can keep your balance without holding on to anything, and do it every day, the tango improves dramatically. :)

"That 20 year old bodies are better than 40 year old bodies.  Not true.  20 year old bodies are ignored and disconnected usually because the person is some place else.  If one has been doing something with his or her own body since the age of 20, and has been doing it for 20 years (not tango, but something that involves some consistent and purposeful cultivation of the body), his or her body will be much, much better at 40 than at 20..  The problem is that many people arrive to tango after their bodies had fossilized, and after living in their heads for decades.

"The longer I dance, the less I understand who is a beginner and who is advanced.  I believe that the problem is tango dimentia that sets in after some time of dancing—one sort of forgets the way home and it does not matter. :)

"Tango alone cannot teach a person to move and to be connected with the body.  Other things are needed.  There is a reason why people come to tango.  More often than not it is subconscious.  But each person does know what he/she needs or wants and is able to pursue it, if the conditions are right.  To create a space where a person can explore his or her movement in a safe place is much more important on any level of dancing than the moves or technique.

"When people begin to dance, something important and big has already began to happen to their psyche.  Some call it the emergence of the authentic self.  It is a process for everyone.  I believe that it is a very painful process.  All transformations are painful.

"I believe that if a tango teacher recognizes that such a transformation is taking place in his or her students, he or she can tend to the space that is needed, and the trust that gets built, and gently help them move.  It is amazing to see the incredible speed with which people learn tango in these conditions.  The role of the teacher then become that of helping a person to emerge authentic in the dance."
 

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Troileana
14 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

In the liner notes for her CD Troileana, Liliana Barrios wrote:
"[Anibal] Troilo was a passionate admirer of [Carlos] Gardel and spent his life fathoming the depths of the soul that had already been mapped out by the Mute One.  For this purpose, he used his musical genius and the compass of his poets.  Troilo, whose openess and generosity was legendary, was very parsimonius in his choice of lyricists: only the best would do.  And, if truth be told, a considerable part of great Argentine poetry can be found in tango lyrics.  Poetry that in Troilo's pieces carries the power of lived experience.

"This Gardelian exploration undertaken by Troilo and his friends lights up the the Golden Age of tango-song.  Tango that is felt through the music, imagined in the lyrics and danced by our feet.  This is the tango that I wish to celebrate in Troileana.

"Troilo's repetoire is magnetic, substantial, demanding.  It is demanding on the listener because these tangos make you (almost, almost) want to slit your wrists.  It is demanding on the musician because while its technical difficulty is first of all imposing, once this has been mastered, it must be abandoned in order to reach the emotion.  And it is demanding on the singer, who must embark on a rollercoaster ride of high and low notes, rapture and silence, coarseness and tenderness.

"If anything, I have attempted to interpret these pieces with truth.  With depth of feeling.  As if they were my own veins."

For more information, about Liliana Barrios and Troileana, see www.lilianabarrios.com.ar.
 

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Close-Embrace-Style Tango at a Crossroads?
12 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

The terms used to describe styles of tango are not uniform.  What one person calls "close-embrace-style tango" another might call "milonguero-style tango"—neither term necessarily referring to the way that milongueros dance tango.  Whichever of these two term is used, what is meant is an attempt to teach a form of tango that is more suitable for dancing socially than for show.

On Tango-L, Trini de Pittsburgh (aka Trina Regaspi) wrote:
"It seems to me that we may now be at a crossroads.  The close-embrace 'movement' began as an answer to more show-style teaching methods (complicated patterns, open-embrace, etc.).  As close-embrace became better appreciated, taught, and practiced in the U.S., it started to incorporate some nuevo elements.  Both styles encouraged vocabulary that was organic.  However, the close-embrace that I see most of the time is different from the style that I see the milongueros do.  The milongueros do a lot of basic steps but add a lot of footwork for musicality.  But now that close-embrace (in whatever form) has become more of the norm, are we now interested in it becoming more showy?  I've noticed that it's the beginning women who want to do the showy steps (boleos, volcadas, leg wraps), and the men oblige them.  And I can see it heading back to where we started—show tango."

For some related thoughts, see On Style and Styles (4).
 

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On Style and Nuevo Tango
4 April 2008 — Stephen Brown

On Tango-L, Nina Pesochinsky wrote:
"There is a huge confusion about 'styles' in tango.  Some 'styles' are nothing more than bad form, bad technique, and, on the whole, bad dancing. ... People often select a 'style' without having the technique to build it on.  Dancing in a 'style' without a technique is a lie, a cheap immitation of something that could be fabulous.

"I am all for tango nuevo in good form with technique and a lot of training. ... Gustavo, Fabian, Chicho and some others have technique that allows them to have a true style, chosen by them and not by default because they cannot do anything else.  Most of those who imitate [Gustavo, Fabian, Chicho] and call themselves 'nuevo' dancers usually do not have such technique, tend to be quite lazy in regard to mastering the dance in a technical sense because they cannot dance anything else, are usually awful to dance with, look terrible and appear to be deaf, since most of the movements tend to happen outside of the music.

"Originally, nuevo tango was something very exciting.  We all did it and worked like demons.  And loved it.  Now it is just a lot of bad dancing (with a few exceptions)."

For some related thoughts, see Incomplete Education, Approaches to Learning and Authenticity, and On Style and Styles (4).
 

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Seduced by Tango
25 March 2008 — Stephen Brown

Seduced by Tango (aka Tango Seduction) was to be a feature-length documentary hosted by Robert Duvall and intended for PBS broadcast.  The project was cancelled for lack of funding later in 2008,  What follows are my comments about the project from 25 March 2008.

Seduced by Tango follows acclaimed Tango artist Pablo Veron as he works with non-professional dancers from around the world.  Each of the dancers is from a different culture, and each has a different story to tell.  Although their differences might be profound, tango is what unites them as they work together toward a common goal: to perform tango at a milonga in Buenos Aires, the birthplace of Tango.  Along the way, the viewers come to understand the dramatic history of tango as dance, music, and a metaphor for human connection.

In the video about Seduced by Tango, the producer/director Catherine Tatge says, "Tango has spread all over the world, and the passion that people have for it is just remarkable.  I mean once you start dancing tango, it's like you can't stop."

Do you dance tango socially?  Have you been seduced by tango?  Has your life been changed by your association with tango?  If so, you and your dance partner may be able to participate in the making of a feature-length documentary film, led by Emmy Award winning director Catherine Tatge.  For information about participating in the film, see the Tango Seduction or Seduced by Tango websites.  (Both sites are gone.)
 

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Argentine Nights
18 March 2008 — Stephen Brown

Can anything match Argentine Tango for first, second, third or lasting impressions?  This picture accompanies "Argentine Nights" an article in the March 16 issue of the New York Times about expatriates and various aspects of Buenos Aires nightlife including tango.
 

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Improvising
7 March 2008 — Stephen Brown

"The greatest improvisers of all time spend their effort not on improvising but on practice."  Chris Kimball (of America's Test Kitchen)
 

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To Dance Tango
21 February 2008 — Stephen Brown

On Tango-L, Chris John Jordan wrote:
"To 'dance tango' is to dance the music that is tango."

For some related thoughts, see StepMeisters Abound and The Music Is Essential.
 

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Why He Did It
06 February 2008 — Stephen Brown

In writing for this column, and in thinking about tango, I frequently find myself drawn to ideas and stories that help define artistry and mastery.

In the Winter 2007 issue of Jazz Improv magazine, Sue Terry recounts a story that was told to her by bassist Chip Jackson who had heard it from jazz pianist Billy Taylor.  The essence of the story follows.

Many years ago, when jazz pianist Billy Taylor was on an extended engagement on the West Coast and jazz pianist Art Tatum was living and playing on the West Coast, the two would hang out together in after-hours clubs, where bands often played informally all night long.

One night Taylor and Tatum were in such a club, when a European approached Tatum and introduced himself as a pianist and Tatum admirer.  He said, "With your permission, I'd like to play your version of Tiger Rag."  (Tatum was known for playing in an extremely complex style.)

The man sat down and played the difficult piece note for note, just as Tatum had recorded it.  Disinterested, Tatum sat at the bar and ordered another beer.

Taylor said to Tatum, "Ths guy is pretty good."

But Tatum shook his head and responded, "He knows what I do, but not why I do it."
 

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