Inside the Embrace 2011 Archive

Technique
16 December 2011 — Stephen Brown

"Technique is necessary to start with, but it is also necessary at some stage for the technique to fall away."  Chögyam Trungpa
 

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Without the Music
8 December 2011 — Stephen Brown

"Without the music there is no dance, no tango, no teacher, no student.  A true teacher can only transmit the teaching the music has left him."  Tete (Pedro Rusconi)
 

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Let's Step on the Ground
7 December 2011 — Stephen Brown

"Tango can be danced in a thousand different ways, but let's step on the ground first because that is where the energy comes from.  Therefore, this is where we ought to dance to the music."  Tete (Pedro Rusconi)
 

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Awaken
6 November 2011 — Stephen Brown

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Those who look outside, dream.  Those who look inside, awaken."  Carl Gustav Jung
 

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Proof
7 October 2011 — Stephen Brown

"[A]s soon as something seems always to be true, some wise guy will come along and write something to prove that it's not."  Thomas C. Foster in How to Read Literature Like a Professor
 

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Gloria y Eduardo: 50 Años con el Tango
3 July 2011 — Stephen Brown

Always considered among the best dancers of their generation, Gloria and Eduardo are celebrating more than 50 years in tango.  Marking the beginning of their careers in 1960, Gloria and Eduardo performed throughout the world; appeared as featured dancers with the Francisco Canaro, Osvaldo Fresedo and Florindo Sassone orchestras; appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show; and were among the original cast members of the now legendary stage show Tango Argentino.  They always maintained their social dance skills and are among the renowned teachers in tango's revival in the 1990s.

Their website, gloriayeduardo.com, contains many fantastic images from throughout their lengthy careers in tango.  To see their extensive collection of photographs, notices and other images, go to their website, gloriayeduardo.com, then click on Fotos.  The first set of images, Galeria 1, will begin showing automatically.  To see the second set of images, select Galeria 2.  It also shows automatically.
 

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Mastering Technique
15 June 2011 — Stephen Brown

"The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself."  La Meri
 

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Tradition
30 May 2011 — Stephen Brown

"Tradition is not the glorification of the ashes but the passing on of the fire."  Gustav Mahler
 

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Buying Tango Shoes in Buenos Aires
30 May 2011 — Stephen Brown

For tango dancers visiting Buenos Aires, buying new tango shoes is often a must.  My updated list of the stores in Buenos Aires that specialize in tango shoes is available at Where to Buy Tango Shoes in Buenos Aires.
 

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Tango de Salon or Tango Milonguero
29 May 2011 — Stephen Brown

Over at Melina's two cents, Melina Sedo considers the confusion that has developed over use of the terms "tango de salon" and "tango milonguero."  As Melina (and I) originally understood the term, "tango de salon" was danced socially by milongueros and milongueras at milongas. 

According to what Melina learned from the milongueros and milongueras that she met,
"[A]ll of them danced their personal interpretation of tango de salon, allowing for many kinds of embraces, from very close to a half open V-form.  Some of them danced complex movements with real pivots and even ganchos; some just walked to the music.  ...  Tete danced tango de salon as well as El Indio or Hernan Obispo.  ...  Tango orillero, tango del centro, tango liso, tango apilado, tango Villa Urquiza, tango milonguero [were] ... sub-styles of the tango de salon with one common idea: ... to dance socially."

Because salon-style tango (tango de salon) became synonymous with a hybrid of social tango and stage tango in the United States and parts of Europe, Susana Miller who focused on a limited set of simple movements with small steps began calling what she taught, "tango milonguero" and that term become widely applied to all forms of social tango danced in a close embrace.  Those of us who dance and/or teach other social forms of tango, find the labeling misleading and difficult to swallow.  As Melina writes, "We still dance tango de salon.  Social tango."

For a related set of thoughts, see The Continuing Conflict Over Tango Styles below.
 

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Myths About Dancing Tango
1 May 2011 — Stephen Brown

Over at Tango and Chaos, Rick McGarrey considers three myths about tango he wishes would go away.

Myth 1: "If it's crowded I dance milonguero style tango, but later in the evening, I like to dance other styles."

Rick: "I don't know any social dancers who wait for the floor to clear so they can dance some other kind of tango.  I've never seen it happen in Buenos Aires.  I also don't know any good social dancers who say they dance 'milonguero style tango'—or, for that matter, who say they dance any 'style' of tango."

Myth 2: "We dance alternative tango in a milonga with no problems.  We control our dancing, and when there's space, we get more creative."

Rick: "Translation: 'If I didn't kick you, I didn't bother you.'  This is the rationale of people who do what they want in milongas.  They may not bother anyone when it's early and there's no one on the floor, but as it begins to get more crowded, whether they know it or not, they do bother other dancers.  As far as academic dancing being more creative, I've heard this argument—but to me, it looks mostly like choreography from workshops."

Myth 3: "There is no room in tango for prejudice, discrimination, or closed minds.  Milongas should be open to everyone."

Rick: "Prejudice and discrimination apply to things like race and religion—not to the way someone decides to dance.  You can't go into a chess club and insist on playing dominoes.  And a beginning basketball player can't expect to walk into a gym and join a pick-up game with college and pro level players.  To dance in a milonga you need a certain level of competence, and you need to respect the codigos."

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The Continuing Conflict Over Tango Styles
17 April 2011 — Stephen Brown

In the late 1800s and early 1900s tango split into two styles.  One style, known as "tango liso" was danced in tango salons (indoors).  Limited by space, tango liso was characterized by care to follow the line of dance, smooth movements, a lack of double-time steps and the use of relatively simple elements that would not disrupt the line of dance.  The other style, known as "tango orillero" was danced in the streets of poor outlying tenements in Buenos Aires.  Not confined by space, orillero was a rougher style with more highly rhythmic movements that did not show respect for a line of dance.

Although the two styles had similar origins in canyengue, the class distinctions between the styles created rivalry.  Because tango had its origins in working class neighborhoods and orillero seemed closer to canyengue, the more refined tango liso was denounced by some as inauthentic.  In return, tango orillero was dismissed as only suitable for individuals of dubious backgrounds.

By the 1940s and early 50s, tango had evolved into a multiplicity of styles.  Tango liso gradually evolved into what many now call estilo Villa Urquiza, a name that reflects its onetime prominence in a northern neighborhood of Buenos Aires known as Villa Urquiza.  It was also likely that the Villa Urquiza style was known as "tango de salon" at one time.  Such a name would recognize that the style was danced in most of the salons throughout Buenos Aires, and it would distinguish the style from orillero, which evolved in the streets.

Orillero-style dancers gradually moved from the streets to small indoor clubs.  They took their rhythmic sensibilities with them, but modified the dance to fit smaller spaces.  As a result, the club and milonguero styles of tango emerged.  The club and milonguero styles are substantially similar to each other, mostly reflecting a continuum of personal differences, with club-style tango sharing some of the characteristics of the Villa Urquiza style of tango.  (See Styles of Argentine Tango.)

Although the Villa Urquiza, club and milonguero styles of tango were all eventually recognized as tango de salon, the rivalry between styles remained.  Refined women refused to dance in the neighborhood clubs where club or milonguero styles of tango were danced, or even to use the double-time steps that characterizes the two styles.  Those dancing club and milonguero tango saw themselves as dancing a style of tango that had a straight-line history to the origins of tango without the contamination of middle-class pretensions.

In the late 1940s and early 50s, some of the better dancers of estilo Villa Urquiza also began to develop their skills for tango exhibitions.  In doing so, they created tango fantasia, a style that builds on estilo Villa Urquiza but uses embellishments more extensively and adds dramatic poses, ganchos and high boleos, all of which have their roots in some part of tango's history.  The creation of tango stage productions led to the development of tango escenario, which integrated fantasia with elements from ballet and other dance forms.

Tango was mostly dormant from the late 1950s through the mid-1980s.  The tango salons were closed, and the Villa Urquiza style that may have once dominated tango in Buenos Aires was danced mostly by older couples at family gatherings.  Some milongueros continued to dance club and milonguero style tango at clubs de barrios, but the Argentine government cracked down on the milonguero life style.  Tango stage shows continued to be produced with fantasia as the dominant form in the more authentic shows.

The stage show Tango Argentino created a revival of interest in tango in the late 1980s and early 1990s, first in Europe and then North America.  An enthralled public wanted to learn what they saw in Tango Argentino, which was mostly fantasia.  The stage dancers, many of whom had limited backgrounds in the social forms of tango, began teaching what they knew to dancers in Europe and North America, mostly as memorized figures.

Perhaps trying to emphasize the refined social roots of their dance, the Argentine stage dancers frequently identified what they taught as tango de salon, which was translated to salon-style tango in English.  This identification created confusion in many tango communities where the term salon-style tango became most closely associated with fantasia and to some extent Villa Urquiza.  In Buenos Aires, tango de salon remained associated with all social styles of tango dancing.  The common style shared by the two different labels was estilo Villa Urquiza, once the dominant form of tango in Buenos Aires.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, milongueros who specialized in the club and milonguero styles of tango reemerged from the clubs de barrio.  At the same time, many foreigners began visiting Buenos Aires to dance tango.  As the two styles met on crowded dance floors, serious conflicts arose.

The conflict between the salon-style tango danced by the foreigners and the tango de salon danced by the milongueros was to some extent practical.  The memorized figures with exhibition elements didn't work in crowded venues where the milongueros danced.  The densely packed floor demanded improvisational and navigational skills which the visitors lacked.  The conditions also required the use of only those dance elements that could be executed safely with others close by, which the visitors didn't understand.

The conflict also had its roots in the social split that occurred in tango's early years.  The origin of the milonguero/club style was in orillero, while the origin of the style danced by most foreigners was in tango liso.  Many milongueros denounced what the foreigners called salon-style tango as inauthentic stage tango that was poorly danced and unsuitable for use in crowded milongas.

As tango's popularity grew, a new round of teachers emerged in the mid-1990s and early 2000s who taught tango in the styles of the milongueros.  The emergence of this group of teachers created a practical and philosophical split in many tango communities.  The milonguero-style instructors emphasized learning tango in small rhythmic elements that could be combined improvisationally.  The salon-style instructors emphasized refined movements and memorized figures.

Nuevo tango also emerged in the 1990s.  As it was originally conceived, nuevo tango was largely a pedagogic approach to tango that emphasized a structural analysis of the Villa Urquiza, fantasia and orillero styles of tango through which the connections between tango's elements could be explored and new combinations and step patterns could be found.  Some of the dancers exploring tango's possibilities gradually developed nuevo tango into a style that is danced in an open, loose or elastic embrace with a very upright posture and a great emphasis on the dancers maintaining their own axes.  Although the vocabulary was strictly tango, some of the combinations were fresh and unusual.

By the early 2000s, tango seemed to be splitting into three distinct styles that were very different when taken to their extremes.  These styles included a milonguero/club style that emphasized a close embrace, small rhythmic movements and improvisation; a fantasia-centered style, mostly known as salon-style tango outside Buenos Aires, that emphasized quality of movement and was frequently taught as memorized figures; and a nuevo style that often employed a loose embrace and emphasized the exploration of movements through the development of a structural understanding of tango's possibilities.  Although each of the styles draws deeply on tango's history, practical and philosophical conflicts emerged as each style was taken to its extreme.  (See Taking Tango Styles to Extremes.)

Aside from polarizing comments made by the adherents in each of the three stylistic groups, several other factors have added to the appearance that tango has broken into three distinct styles.  Estilo Villa Urquiza, which links the various styles through it commonalities, never recovered from tango's dormancy to regain the prominence it enjoyed in the 1940s and early 50s.  Other styles eclipsed Villa Urquiza, and it began to disappear as an older generation of porteños died.  As a result, many dancers have difficulty seeing how the diverging styles are part of tango's whole.

In addition, the differing methods for teaching each of the styles has accentuated the differences between the styles.  The many dancers whose learning is incomplete within each style have substantially different limitations in their dancing, and those limitations have been interpreted as part of each style.  Incomplete learning in milonguero/club tango typically results in dancers who plod along to the music without much quality of movement, sense of form or inventiveness.  Incomplete learning in salon-style tango typically results in dancers who execute memorized patterns without rhythm or the ability to navigate.  Incomplete learning in the nuevo style typically results in dancers who spin out of control without much rhythm as they explore tango's possibilities.  (See On Style and Styles (4), Incomplete Education and Approaches to Learning and Authenticity.)

The overall appearance in the tango world is of three seemingly conflicting styles of tango that are pulling apart because there is no central gravity strong enough to hold them together.

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Nuevo Milonguero
13 April 2011 — Stephen Brown

In a recent post over at Tango Voice, the anonymous blogger considers what is meant by the term "nuevo milonguero" which he re-anoints as "tango estilo milonguero nuevo."  He reaches the conclusion that nuevo milonguero is a close-embrace variation of nuevo-style tango, which is in direct contradiction of my previously expressed view that nuevo milonguero was created by adding nuevo elements to milonguero-style tango.

His reasoning?
"With its maintained close embrace and small steps (when necessary) Tango Milonguero is designed for the high density characteristic of milonga dance floors in Buenos Aires.  Tango Nuevo is identified by its focus on the exploration of possibilities for movement, which by its very nature requires space and freedom of direction in movement.  ...  Although the addition of Tango Nuevo elements to Tango Milonguero ... creates an incompatible mix, the converse mixture is viable.  The addition of the characteristic closed embrace of Tango Milonguero to Tango Nuevo does not limit the latter's ability to improvise because the milonguero embrace is only part of the continuum of distances and variations in partner connection that are characteristically passed through in dancing Tango Nuevo."

Although I agree with Tango Voice's view that nuevo elements can be incompatible with the original purpose of milonguero-style tango (which is dancing in crowded spaces), I do not understand the substitution of logic for history.  Those who developed what has become known as "nuevo milonguero" are dancers and instructors closely associated with milonguero-style tango.  They added nuevo-inspired steps to their dancing in way that they considered compatible with the movements of milonguero-style tango, if not the unwritten codes for tango de salon in Buenos Aires.  Whether their motivation was marketing or a desire to punch up the milonguero style in the face of the nuevo onslaught, I don't know.

Either way, I see Tango Voice as paying insufficient attention to tango's history in the pursuit of his self-appointed mission "to counter the prevailing tendency to misrepresent tango argentino in North America."
 

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The Dancer's Expression
9 March 2011 — Stephen Brown

"The Dancer believes that his art has something to say which cannot be expressed in words or in any other way than by dancing.  ... [T]here are times when the simple dignity of movement can fulfill the function of a volume of words."  Doris Humphrey
 

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Happy New Year
1 January 2011 — Stephen and Susan Brown

We wish you the best for 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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