TANGO STYLES
What milonguero extremists say | What salon extremists say | What nuevo extremists say | |
...about the milonguero style | The only true tango, danced from time immemorial in the milongas of Buenos Aires. All else is mere superficiality. There's nothing like the inten- sity, the contact and the presence of tango milon- guero. Ahh...! | For the hoi-polloi. What happens when space is at a premium. It certainly isn't elegant. They huddle up and tip-toe around with tiny steps, sacrificing the expression for the embrace. Doesn't anybody hug these people in their daily lives? | For dodderers! A compensation for a lack of body con- tact. They only like staccato mu- sic recorded be- fore 1930. And why must everything always be as in Buenos Aires? The tango must change and adapt to new times and places. |
...about the salon style | Elegant, perhaps, but aren't they really afraid of touching each other? You can do all the figures you need with full contact. All they want to do is glide around the hall with long strides to drama- tic music like Pugliese, who is played rather spa- ringly in BsAs, anyway. | The tango has ne- ver been as ele- gant and stylish as in the 40s. Salon is the most all-round and ex- pressive of all styles. There's nothing like the intensity, the contact and the presence of tango salon. Ahh...! | The root of nuevo, but they have lost themselves in a bygone time of tuxedos and cigar- ette holders. We do all they do in tango salon and much more - in a tracksuit if need be. And there is a lot of music from other periods than just the 40s. |
...about the nuevo style | Unmanageable exhibitionists who kick at everything in sight! Of no use whatsoever for social tango. And they disrupt the communication on the pista. Also, they only want to dance to impossi- ble music which nobody in BsAs would dance to, like Piazzolla. Hrrrmph! | They mostly seem to want to do aw- kward, "inventive" figures. "Tango Lesson" has done more damage than good. Do they sec- retly dream of be- coming stage dan- cers? It's too much - we don't need all that. | Nuevo is the next step in a natural process of deve- lopment. The tango will die unless it grows and changes - and there's more than just social tango. There's no- thing like the in- tensity, the con- tact and the pre- sence of tango nuevo. Ahh...! |
Peter writes:
Maybe it's time we open our eyes and try to see things a little differently...? Perhaps it's time to draw up a second table listing what each style could learn from other styles. I have one, but I thought I'd leave it as an exercise for the reader ...
Peter Bengtson is a composer, musician, teacher and programmer.
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