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Argentine tango blog
/ with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke |
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Tango history
October 28, 2004 - Tango timeline, recent history
Tom Stermitz (Denver) has shared his perception of recent tango history (he got detailed response from Brian Dunn (Boulder), I put Brian's dates in brackets below):
If we put a timeline on the introduction of various styles (please correct me if some of my dates are slightly off. Also, I know there are the occasional exceptions):
- 1979 [1982 BD] - : Tango revival begins in Berlin & Europe: Almost exclusively Fantasy Tango taught by show dancers (Eduardo & Gloria did a tango piece during a presentation of Argentine Folk music. Several Berlin dancers including Brigitte Winkler learned tango several years before the revival began in Argentina.
- 1984 [1980? BD] - : Tango begins to be taught again in Buenos Aires. Mostly Fantasy Tango
- 1989 [1985 BD] - : Tango begins to be taught in the US. Mostly Fantasy Tango
- 1993 - : Social tango (salon/fantasy) begins to be taught in the US
- 1993 [1984 BD] - : Explorations of Nuevo ideas begin
- 1996 [1998? BD] - : Milonguero tango begins to be taught in the US.Historically and up to the present, probably 90% of the teachers in the US (Argentine or N. American) teach an open-embrace, "fantasy-salon-mix" style, with a V-frame. There are no cities without a major influence from fantasy/stage tango; there are many cities with hardly any milonguero influence.
To answer Oleh's original question: If there seems to be an increase in the assymetry, I think what has changed is that the salon/fantasy dancers around the US are moving more toward the social version and dancing closer together than in the 90s. At arms-length any assymmetry seemed minimal, but as you move closer together the V becomes more apparent.
And he answered my original question too.
April 17, 2008 - Good tango reads
Tango and Chaos by Rick McGarrey
Rick went to Buenos Aires many times, had met milongueros, interviewed and filmed them. He analyzes the dance, the music, the traditions, the etiquete, and the culture of the dance we all love — tango. Well-written and informed opinion.From the site:
"I once asked a friend what it was about tango that grabbed him. I thought he was an unlikely candidate for tango addiction because he’s an African-American from Philadelphia with an Ivy League degree, and a background drenched in jazz and big-city culture… but he got hooked nonetheless. He said, simply, 'It’s because the music is so powerful.'"
New "nuevo tango" by Terence Clarke at BlogCritics
An insigtful article on nuevo tango in Buenos Aires and around the world. What it is, what it is not.From the article:
"Under the tutelage of such as Gustavo Naveira, Fabian Salas, Geraldine Rojas, Eziquiel Paludi, Federico and Ariadne Naveira, Mariela Franganillo, Pablo Pugliese, and their advanced students — youthful maestros who well understand and respect the traditions of old tango and are adding to those traditions new dance sequences of breath-taking innovation and beauty — the new Argentine tango is a thing to behold. This is terrific, but there is also a broad sweep of unintended hilarity accompanying a lot of the tango being danced now. I had at first thought this was taking place only outside of Argentina.
There is a kind of (for lack of a better term) tribal European dance that many people believe is tango, which is indeed called tango, in which the basic precepts of Argentine tango dance are being ignored, things like a proper lead, following the music, knowing the history of the dance and the music, respecting your partner, dressing well. These are concepts one would think would be the bread and butter of tango, which has traditionally been the most difficult social dance in the world, and one of the most beautiful."
Tango Fuego blog by Alex Long
Alex has sound opinions and does not hold back in expressing them. Very active blog.From the blog:
"I just woke up, wide awake from another tango dream.
The only thing I remember from the dream is that this song was playing. A vals.
It's my favorite vals..."July 12, 2005 - Origins of term Milonguero style
From Trini of PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society:
It might be useful to explain why Susana Miller used the term "milonguero". She began learning tango in the academies in the 80's. She told us that she was famous for being one of the worse dancers there. So she decided to just have fun instead. Started learning from the milongueros.
Maria Cieri, widow of Rodolfo Cieri, told us that the academies only started popping up in the 70's, after the military government ended. The problem was that tangueros now had to put groups of novice men and women together. In earlier days, novices would learn from experienced dancers (Maria learned from her mother, Rodolfo from his father) in personal settings. The predominant solution to public classes was the 8-count base.
When she was here, Maria taught the 8-count base in our class for novices. However, she also told us that neither she nor Rodolfo used it themselves or were taught with that method. But when they were asked to start teaching in the 80's, they adopted that convention, just like other dancers who became teachers. They also knew that it resulted patterned dancers, but no one knew then how to teach actual lead/follow in a groups. The teachers themselves had been taught by friends and family.
Susana chose the term "milonguero" to differentiate her style from what was being taught in the academies. The name will probably stick until someone comes up with a better name.
Basically milonguero style term was born as a way to teach improvisation in tango (as opposed to pattern teaching). Unfortunately too many people took pattern teaching as the only authentic way to teach (they did not know a better way) and this tradition perpetuates itself due to inertia.
July 19, 2005 - 100 tango festivals around the world in 2005
Some curios numbers on international growth of tango festivals over the years. Each dot represents a dot. Adapted from Tobias Conradi at Tango.info (includes links to festival websites).
1994.1
1995.1
1996.1
1997.1
1998...3
1999....4
2000..........12
2001.................17
2002..............................30
2003.................................................................75
2004...........................................................................................91
2005...............................................................................................................................127
2006.....................................................................................................................................................149
2007....................................................................................................100
Geography is fascinating as well. Mostly Europe and North America, but more recently also Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Brasil. Notice that Tobias' list is not comprehensive. Still the overall trend of growth, which begins to level off, should hold.
From the same site complete discography of Reliquias label.December 7, 2004 - Tango festivals in the US: recent developments and geography
Tom has posted his perception of recent developments at tango festivals and a list of tango festivals emphasizing social dancing. Couple interesting observations:
Tango Festivals are really maturing in the US. There are at least 12 each year. Festival attendance of 400-500 is not unusual.
In my opinion, the cause of the improvement is that the focus at many of the festivals has turned toward social dancing rather than step-collecting, stage, or athletic tango. Teachers are chosen who focus on musicality, navigation and social dance skills.
The second change is that milongas are as much of a draw as the classes. Half or more of the attendees come only for the milongas.
Several inexpensive tango festivals in the US that specifically emphasize social dancing:
January 21 - 24, 2005
- Ann Arbor, MI
- 3rd Michigan Tango Fest (maybe about 200 people)
- $100 (includes milongas)
- instructors: Alex Krebs, Brigitta Winkler, James Friedgen, Robin ThomasFebruary 18 - 21, 2005 (Feb 21 is Prez's Day)
- Portland, OR
- 8th Valentango (maybe about 450 people)
- $140 (plus milongas)
- instructors: Many teachersApril 8 - 10, 2005
- Atlanta, GA
- 1st Southern Tango Social
- $135 Festival Pass (includes milongas)
- instructors: Brigitta Winkler, Tomas Howlin, Robin Thomas, Jennifer Bratt, Robert Hauk, Ramu PyreddyMay 25 - 30, 2005 (May 30 is Mem Day)
- Denver, CO
- 6th Memorial Day Tango Festival (maybe about 450 people)
- $135 Festival Pass (includes milongas)
- instructors: Brigitta Winkler, Hsueh-tze Lee, Alex Krebs, Robin Thomas, Robert Hauk, Dan Boccia, Ramu PyreddyOther festivals include: Miami (May), Boston (June), San Francisco (July), Las Vegas (September), Austin (November).
Dec. 22, 2004 - Tango article in Wiki encyclopedia
Discovered Wikipedia today (like Columbus years after native Americans). Search for tango produced quite a few results including well informed article on tango the dance. The well informed description is not surprising since anyone can add, edit articles at wiki - it's the nature of these sites. I have edited the article too. A few things I wasn't aware of:
- apparently similar to Finnish tango there is Chinese variety of the dance.
- link between fashion and dance style: tango canyengue was danced in the 1920s and 30s when the long tight fashion in dresses restricted the follower's movements. Consequently, the style involves short steps.
July 20, 2005 - Tango history.
Here is consize history of tango online by Christine Denniston.
September 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 a 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.
January 25, 2008 - Kizomba, tango's Angolan cousin
How can anyone deny African roots of tango after watching this clip?
From Wikipedia: Kizomba is one of the most popular genres of dance and music from Angola. Sung generally in Portuguese, it is a genre of music with a romantic flow mixed with African rhythm. The kizomba dancing style is also known to be very sensual.
Kizomba is native to Angola, derived directly from zouk music with influences from other Lusophone countries.
Jan. 15, 2005 - Women in tango, 100 years later
Ch, the frustrations of emancipation:
I still, as I stated 5 years ago, wish we could go back to those days where men had to buy tickets to get a chance to take a milonguera out on the dance floor at all. Where men trained in secret and competed with each other in order to impress those few women present, and raise their chances with them.
Sorry the days we have reached now, where it is actually the other way round: where women now compete with each other to impress the few guys present, but are limited to their mediocre lead in the dance in spite of all their training and where, I have been told, at one ballroom dance hall in Tokyo, it is actually the ladies who have to buy tickets and give them to a few gigolos to get their turn on the dance floor..
I, for one, would certainly prefer to go to a milonga, have the 300% or so surplus of eager men line up to take turns to dance with the few of us, and where I would, for a small fee, oblige them and have them take me out on the floor as "una mina para variar". And make a small bundle, while I do.
And:
Having always heard about those multitudes of men working so hard on their moves and competing so fiercely over the few women in the milongas (who were prostitutes), it had never occurred to me that these men would have to pay for a dance, to boot!
I'm probbly naive, but I sort of always assumed that the milongas were where those prostitutes would go hang out after a long day's work, to relax and kick back and finally have some FUN where THEY get to pick the very best dancer to dance a tango with. It sure beats needlepoint! [this is a very true statement - OK] Man, this beats going to dinner or the movies, rock climbing, golf, watching reality shows, going to a milonga with modern demographics.
It makes me wonder, if those "prostitutes" were in a position to make a living off the milongas, maybe at least some of them weren't actual prostitutes in the literal sense, but rather taxi dancers. This was a common practice in the dance halls of Europe even in my parents' and grandparents' generation. Of course that would not have kept the classes who get to write history to turn up their noses and call them prostitutes.
What's to be done? Why, women should start dancing with women of course! Or is it already done?
Personnally I agree with both and think prostitutes were better off than housewifes with comparable income. Better educated, more exposed to the world beyond the needlepoint. The note about classes who get to write history explains a lot. It's different nowdays of course since women do not have to rely on sex as the only tool of survival be it in marriage or on the street.
January 5, 2005 - Evolution of follower's role (leader's perception of it, actually)
Some striking parallels in the evolution of social perception of women's role in sex (see The Hite Report) and in couple dancing (see Richard Power's article on following) in the last century:
From:
Never should the so-called gentler sex be quite so gentle and acquiescent as when dancing. No matter what her views on suffrage and feminism may be, it is a woman's duty to let the man lead on the ballroom floor. His is the guiding spirit; hers, the following. He is the pace-maker; she is his shadow.
To:
The best dance partners now know that a part of great leading is following. This means he is perceptive and responsive to her situation. He visualizes where his partner is going, where her feet are, where her momentum is heading, which steps flow smoothly from her current step. He knows and he cares what is comfortable for her, what is pleasurable or fun. He dances for his partner's ability and comfort.
Jan. 12, 2005 - The future of tango
The future looks bright as long as students embrace it:
East Coast (Yale): http://www.geocities.com/yaletangoclub/Tine.html
West Coast (Stanford): http://www.stanford.edu/group/tango/
North (Ann Arbor): http://www.umich.edu/~umtango/
and smack in the middle (Boulder): http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~tango/Talking of Ann Arbor, Ramu Pyreddy is visiting Denver and had DJed yesterday at practica in Turnverine. Good if not surprising selection of songs. A bit of trivia: Tom told me that there are as many dancers in Ann Arbor as in Denver.
Denver is experiencing a surge in tango interest in January: about one third increase in attendance at practicas and milongas - New Year, fresh expectations, I guess.
Jan. 10, 2005 - Nuevo style - a perspective from the mist of olden times
Stephen Brown posted link to some discussion on Nuevo tango on Tango-L from 1999. Some quotes:
close embrace tango *forces* you to dance in a more simple but subtle way (which can become playful, unles you make it bland), while open frame tango seems to induce some leaders into a folly of complicated steps (giros with enrosques, a few ganchos thrown in for the leader, lots of saccadas -- wait, I've forgotten to insert a barrida somewhere ;) ).
I dance both forms of tango with equal pleasure, and there is a fundamental difference (at least, I *feel* entirely different -- I can't dance close embrace with people I don't trust entirely either). But it is not in the way it allows for this subtle interplay of leader, follower, and music.
It looks to me that what is called "new tango" is merely an analysis of movement, which regenerated steps milongueros (many of them gone by now) were able to do in much less casual fashion, but on the positive side does indeed offer a good method for generating new steps.
Above all, term "new tango" is tightly connected with the emergence of "tango business", and has more to do with the ways people are making their living with tango than with the music which dictated the emergence of tango styles in the past. I think TangoKinetics would be a much more appropriate name, and might one day find its way into the ballet classroom as well...
The only thing I find new is the total ignorance of the other partner (by man), and the introduction of a kind of aerobic or gymnastic rhythmic... I once shaw Chicho in La Estrella. He might as well have dancing with a plastic doll. It would have had the same effect.
There you go. The more we change, the more things stay the same.
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