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Argentine tango blog
/ with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke |
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September 2005
Sep. 27, 2005 - Performances at CITA 2005 DVD
In the review of "Kiss and Tango" book I wrote:
You can see excerpts from Marina's promotional video at her Kiss and Tango website. Trained but not a great performance dancer - she dances as an executive (clerk) meaning she executes as opposed to creates (that would be a sign of true master), too choppy, too afraid (self-conscious), the lingering feminine plastic or playfulness is missing, there are indeed better performance dancers in BA.
That last phrase on better performance dancers has been left hanging without examples. The other day someone gave me CITA 2005 DVD to watch. The DVD is certainly worth your time. Especially the Maestros group dance since it is improvised and so true quality of the dancers becomes immediately obvious. There are at least dozen beautiful followers in that DVD. It was very difficult to select favorites, but here are mine: Nancy Louzan, Alejandra Arrue, Mariana Montes, Milena Plebs and Lucila Cionci - all are naturally graceful, feminine and fun dancers (not necessarily the best performers technically) whom I didn't mind to watch dancing again and again - the natural quality of movement is so obvious - they enjoy it and I cannot help but to share the joy with them.
It was a pleasure to see Osvaldo and Coco dancing again - very inspiring couple. Whenever I saw them at milongas I wished to be able to replay Osvaldo's smooth footwork. Another fun couple to watch is Facundo and Kely - they've got rhythm. Nito and Elba on the other hand are closet ballroom dancers and should have been left in the closet.
Someone wrote to me that I should be more modest when I write, since modesty is virtuous.
Well, both modesty and virtue are interesting notions. Here is relevant excerpt from my reply:
More on modesty. To paraphrase Churchill: modesty is virtue of those who have a lot to be modest about. I hope I will not have to become modest for years to come. However I understand that there are many other personality types among us humans with very different systems of values (not wrong mind you, moreover very much right in proper circumstances, here is where I believe Nietzsche was mistaken) and therefore when I write I do it for my own benefit as I have explained in the previous message. Tango provides a lot of interesting triggers hence I write to Tango-L.
Arrogance is another extreme to be avoided of course. There is nothing wrong with recognizing and acknowledging your true strength and weaknesses on the other hand. Here is an example of modesty went terribly wrong.
Sep. 25, 2005 - Get some spine, man
Trini de Pittsburgh has asked some time ago:
The problem stems from women physically grabbing men as they come off of the floor (using the tango hug as an excuse), following the men to the bathroom and waiting outside, giving attitude about not being asked to dance at last night's milonga, saying "f--- you" when the guy explains that he already has a partner for a particular dance, complaints if he dances a second tanda with someone, etc.
Women can be aggressive and manipulative.Does anyone else have this issue? ... men who feel as if they do not have a choice but to say yes to a woman's invitation if they want to be polite. It means that he dances but doesn't enjoy it.
By being "polite" you encourage this behavior from the bullies, get to dance a tanda no one truly enjoys and feel denigrated for some time afterwards. This is an opportune time to learn to say no (politely). Because being polite does not mean to be available to be used at someone else's whim. It means showing consideration of others and proper consideration for bullies should result in occasional spanking (with adequate level of directness which can be elevated if the initial response does not penetrate bully's often very thick skin).
All of this is pretty self-evident to me and so I have not replied to Trini's message at the time but I have not expected to put my knowledge to test so soon. Yesterday I have been subjected to soft bulling to get to dance with a person with lack of elementary social manners (how else would you describe public display of uninvited snuggling?). After I refused I have been treated to name calling and to tears. Suddenly I almost felt like I am back in kindergarten again except that this time instead of been required to perform as an action toy I was supposed to switch my role and to become a consoling pacifier (in the interest of full disclosure - alcohol was involved but as any state trooper would tell you that is not an excuse really). Crying is of course healing and should never be interrupted therefore once more I have refused this role imposition of being a pacifier. Because in truth I intend to return to kindergarten level of interaction only after I am sixty four. There is no reason to rush into senility before that age.
I normally do not decline an invitation to dance from a person with whom I have never danced before when she asks me for the first time if I am not aware of her level of dancing or personality because she might have considered her level of dancing as adequate for both of us and I know it takes some courage to invite someone to dance. It's an "exploratory" dancing. However once I do know her level of dancing and/or personality I expect that she will respect my preferences too and therefore I normally decline second invitation to dance from the same person. Once more it's pretty elementary matter of mutual respect among mature adults.
I can do as well a "charity" tanda from time to time (I do realize that others can do charity tanda for me from time to time too). Nietzsche would frown at me for this (there, I have used big name in a sentence, now this blog should be considered deep). But a single person cannot demand this attitude repeatedly. I am not that charitable and do not expect others to be that way for me. And so one needs to grow some spine to learn to say no. Because, to bring the trite but true wisdom once more, it takes two (mature persons) to tango, not one and a half.
By the way all of this could have been mitigated with cabeceo.
Sep. 22, 2005 - And now for something completely different...
Sep. 20, 2005 - Philosophy of bullshit
Bullhorn Bullshit, how is it that James Wolcott always manages to find just the right words?
I went to the library today and lo and behold they had "On Bullshit" by Harry G. Frankfurt on display. Coincidence? The closing sentence in that book is that sincerity by itself is bullshit. Indeed when the ideal of correctness (adherence to facts) is replaced by ideal of sincerity (adherence to opinions) this rattling conclusion is inevitable. As I was listening to the book (I recommend reading it - the voice over is atrocious here) I couldn't help thinking of Derik Rawson of Tango-L.
Bullshit is of course a philosophy of Helpers (Kingdomality) - these folks live in alternative universe where there are no laws of reality but only those of opinions (often sincere). One does not have to be right as long as he is sincere.
Can you argue with bullshit mongers (normally I call them buffoons)? Not really. They do live in an alternative universe after all. Besides they might sincerely agree with you today and as sincerely agree with opposing opinion tomorrow.
Bullshit is malady of any large corporation (beaurocracy). When you are ten times removed from meaningful customer feedback (or from reality) bullshitting becomes millions times easier to perform. Hence popularity of Dilbert maxims on management.
As applied to software industry: if you are shielded from results of coding shitty product (for instance investors pay your salary, not customers) bullshit design decisions become reasonable mode of action.
How do you fix the bullshit? In a word: accountability (reality check). For software usability is effective bullshit meter.
Now if we take closer look at Kingdomality we'll see that Benevolent Ruler, Dreamer-Writer and Helper Knight adopt bullshitting as a way of life. Is it terrible? Not at all. We need someone to rally the troops. Where would we be without poets? On the other hand bullshitter can also make very profitable living as a think tank contributor or a theocon.
In the opposite corner we find reality upholders: Engineer, Merchant and Challenger Knight.
On margins of bullshitters are Gray Cardinal and Shepherd (Doctor). Gray Cardinal lies for personal profit more often than bullshits. Shepherd (Doctor) lies more often than bullshit for benevolent cause (to sooth). Since this later is benevolent is it harmless? I don't think so. Soothing a gangrena is not, for example.
Another interesting anti-bullshit author is James W. Loewen - highly recommended both The lies my teacher told me and Rethinking Our Past: Recognizing Facts Fictions, and Lies in American History.
Sep. 19, 2005 - Kiss & Tango by Marina Palmer - a fish on power trip out of water (book review)
Keep in mind that the book was written by well educated advertising executive.
Implications: 1) self promotion messages are scattered throughout, 2) the messages are oblique as should be expected from the well educated advertising executive (here is the usual technique - flog yourself where flogging is not really necessary to induce pity while modestly put the praise into the mouth of outsider, tell a story how your intervention has improved productivity, solved problem, saved time - common job interview approaches), 3) [follows from 1 and 2] the delivery is coy to be inoffensive, 4) the delivery is often hysteric to be entertaining (given author's background I find this element of her style particularly unbelievable, then again I do not think I am in the target audience), 4) math skills are nonsensical (very common among the run of the mill marketing people - example, if you reduce price from $15 to $5 the price will drop by 67%, not 30%), 5) fashionable name-dropping common in a high brow salon chit-chat to impress depth (Nietzsche, Proust, somehow she has managed to omit Kafka, Musil and Joyce - drifting out of fashion?) - the impression is rather shallow though since the droppings do not go too far beyond names.
When I picked up the book my hope was that I would get some insights into social tango scene in Buenos Aires. In this context Sex in the City angle would not hurt either. In the retrospect sex passages were probably the most adequate thread in this book even though they essentially regurgitate some episodes from the TV series. Portnoy's Complaint is more honest and therefore more fascinating book on that bookshelf. The insights into culture of milongas in Buenos Aires are pretty basic - you can find more depth in the archives of Tango-L.
It's not all bad though even if it is all fluff - she does not repeat herself much and therefore while you read the progression is smooth enough to keep those pages turning. If you have never heard about tango or have discovered it a month ago there is some useful primer level information scattered throughout and so overall impact of disseminating tango awareness should be positive.
The common theme of looking for permanent dance partner could have been intended as a metaphor for a life partner. Whatever... I think the author went for a major mismatch when she projected her obsession with social tango into desire to become a performance dancer, which is altogether very different kind of tango experience. Well, a lot of people take glitter for gold - otherwise LA would be very different place from what it is now.
I wonder how would the story sound from the perspective of all the people she had encounters with. My guess it would be a much more interesting and insightful "A Fish on a Power Trip Out of Water" comedy.
Finally a bit of knowledge I could do without - it appears that her parents are odorous or about to start to stink. I wouldn't know this unpleasant fact but this is exactly what she writes - old people smell bad. Since our fobias generally come from childhood I assume she has sour memories of her granny's smell as a reference point. I would recommend her parents to wash their clothes more often to avoid this quickly approaching predicament. And of course to stay away from their daughter's probing nose.
You can see excerpts from Marina's promotional video at her Kiss and Tango website. Trained but not a great performance dancer - she dances as an executive (clerk) meaning she executes as opposed to creates (that would be a sign of true master), too choppy, too afraid (self-conscious), the lingering feminine plastic or playfulness is missing, there are indeed better performance dancers in BA (there are no examples of her social style dancing, hence no opinion on that).
Sep. 18, 2005 - Tango in the Park milonga
The milonga was very good - there were about 40 dancers (10 came from Denver). Most stayed till the end. At times there was barely enough space on the bandshell floor. I especially liked the fact that dancers cleared the floor during cortinas - that helped mixing a bit and I did use cabeceo on several occasions.
The scores we keep. Sean wrote about cabeceo:
...If I try to catch a woman's eye when a nice Biagi tanda starts, but she stares at my friend Rhythmic Rob, that would be a failure, no? But later, when a Calo' tanda starts, I find her eyes boring a hole through my head. Does this cancel out the previous failure? Or do I have to count one success and one failure? How about if I ignore her for Calo'? Do I still get to count it as a success, since she would have danced with me?
and Astrid replied:
I would say, it usually works this way:
You try to catch her eye when Biagi starts, but she is looking at your rhythmical friend.= 1 minuspoint for you
After a few Biagi songs with Rob, she is back at her table, and now she is looking at you, but you have ordered yourself a beer, and are darkly puffing away at your cigarette with your back to her at the bar now= one minuspoint for you
She goes off dancing with someone else,but for Calo, she is back staring at you. You use your chance to take revenge, and shun her invitation- 1 pluspoint for you
She goes off dancing again...Then she comes back. Meanwhile your sensitive ego has recovered, and you smile at her from afar. But by now, you have made her wait one time too many, and she pretends not to see your smile- 1 minuspoint for you.
Tonight's score: minus 2 (regarding this lady) Try again next week. Tango is just like real life, except that you always get another chance
True and true. Score keeping is unavoidable among us primates. The only way to escape is to move to an uninhabited island. Then again those pesky turtles or even Wilson the Volleyball might begin to annoy you eventually.
Sep. 16, 2005 - Other tango blogs
I have an impression that soon I will become too busy to update the blog with reasonable frequency. Here is collection of other Argentine tango blogs. This one by Andrew L. Kaye has interesting impressions from Buenos AIres. I desided to put an extended version of this blog here (you can leave comments there).
Sep. 15, 2005 - Tours and Last Tango in the Park
I decided to not run tango tours after all. Many and diverse reasons. This Saturday there will be the last Tango in the Park milonga in Manitou Springs this year. From the look of it this milonga will be the last one I DJ in Colorado Springs (maybe even in Colorado) therefore I plan to play a selection of the very best tangos. Gas prices are shocking but the weather seems to cooperate - I expect quite a few dancers will travel from Denver.
Random
Two good, quietly observant and French movies: Seaside by Julie Lopes-Curval and The Dreamers by Bernardo Bertolucci and one OK French book: After the Empire by Emmanuel Todd. French connection? Seaside reminded me Days of Heaven by Terrence Malick. The Dreamers - Last Tango in Paris. Wait a second, both are by Bertolucci...The book correctly describes current US economy as a giant accounting department run by oligarchs without proper oversight. Consequences are obvious and soon to become unpleasant. His chapter on Ukraine on the other hand is preposterous - the author is apparently oblivious of cultural and historical differences between Ukraine and Russia, especially on the dear to him familial dynamics level (in Ukraine women always were more empowered than in Russia) - forgivable for a lay person but not for professional demographer. Small Russia? Does he live in 19th century? Or perhaps he is French as indeed he is.
Sep. 15, 2005 - How to cut cortinas
Michael at Tango Bellingham (WA) has asked about the best way to cut cortinas. After trying several approaches (including precut cortinas) I have settled on this: the best (both the most powerful and the most flexible) way to cut cortinas is to use volume control of your sound board, amplifier or speakers as you DJ. This also happens to be rather old fashioned way to make cortinas.
Sep. 12, 2005 - Other tango DJs
Several tango DJs have contributed articles to Keith Elshaw's site. And tango DJ forum at Yahoo (archives are closed to general public, hence I do not participate in that one).
Sep. 7, 2005 - Racism and tango
Tango-L has an intensive discussion of African roots and influences in tango. I have just seen La Cienaga (The swamp). Good movie which works on so many levels. In a way it is similar to Festen – both are family movies, except in this one the families are more familiar since they are more ordinary. Illustrates the concept that most relationships (all?) are not between equals. Given time the inequality grows to become absurd to fresh eye (movie viewer in this case).
What does it have to do with discussion on Tango-L? One of the more prominent threads in the movie is overt racism in some strata of population in the present day Argentina. Toward Native Americans in this case. Racism, a comfortable morality of servant owners, is quietly observed and effortlessly accepted by friends who aspire to be wealthy enough to be able to afford servants (for unrelated reasons, there are many shades of gray in this movie). Naturally, if a racist were to write a history his race would play the most prominent role in the story. All other influences would be distorted or dismissed altogether. Hence the reasons for a heated discussion on Tango-L. Europeans do not hold monopoly on history anymore. Good book on bias in the popular history is "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen - propaganda in American history as it is taught in high schools right now.
Random
"Orwell rolls in his grave" - A documentary on rise of propaganda model in the news coverage and in mass media in general. Very much "1984"-like. That's why I have dumped my TV set ten years ago.
Sep. 6, 2005 - Two pics and couple thoughts about Labor Day tango festival in Denver
It was good festival for me. On one hand I got to dance with many people I have not danced with for months or even years. There is this nice feeling of mutual recognition, rediscovery when you get to dance with someone after long intermission. On the other hand at the very first milonga I had experienced severe desire to revisit Buenos Aires - there were several dancers who had the Buenos Aires quality. Well, all it takes is to find cheap tickets right now.
Tom's experiment with cabeceo at the festival has brought mixed results. He has seated all followers at one side of the room and leaders at the other. This separate seating arrangement has worked beautifully at Lo de Celia and still works very nicely at Maipu 444 and to some extent at Club Espanol in Buenos Aires. However seating there is arranged around the floor, not at the two adjacent sides of the floor. Also those locations are relatively small and so it is not that difficult to catch an eye across the room.
At the festival on the other hand the floor was that of the size at Salon Caning and three to four rows deep seating of followers on one side of the floor and leaders at the perpendicular side has led to a situation where during cortina a wall of leaders would bunch up in the corner trying to get that special follower to look at them and preventing those seated behind the wall from doing cabeceo. Oh well, at least everyone got off the floor during cortinas (in the beginning) and the desire to use cabeceo was quite evident.
Met somebody who knows Sergio Vandekier, who is apparently not Vanderkier at all (Saco or somesuch if memory serves me right).
Target stores have sent some representatives to Cheeseman Park to give away free apples and to take polaroids at the outdoor milonga. Thus I got into possession of these two pictures.
Random
One thing I will miss in Manitou Springs once I get out of town is Sunday Acid Jazz jam sessions at Old Mariner tavern. The dynamic and the chemistry among musicians is both fascinating and infectious.Sep. 5, 2005 - Tango in non-tango media
From Lucia:
Aperture, a photographic arts magazine, published a photo essay by Adriana Groisman. A nice picture here: http://www.aperture.org/store/magazine-detail.aspx?ID=370
From many reference to the article on Neo tango in Wall Street Journal. It's on front page of August 29 edition.
Sep. 4, 2005 - Tangovers and how to deal with them
Tangover (coined by Polly McBride in Portland ) is that crampy feeling you get a morning after overnight milonga. Tine from Yale recommends drinking Gatorade during or after milonga. While Richard de Sousa is partial to PowerAde because it has half the sodium content (red colored Fruit Punch).
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