|
|||
Home | Monday Night Tango in Ojai | Ventura | Esalen | Nevada City | Workshops | | Contact
Background
on Argentine Tango
Sensibility and Practice of Tango
Part of tango's fascination is surely its reputation for sensuality and passion — qualities which emerged early on, first as a creation of marginalized immigrants and laborers in the rough dance halls and clubs of the Río de la Plata in the late 19th Century, and later as an exotic import to the salons of Europe in the early 20th Century.
Today, that legacy continues in the intimate mind/body/spirit connection between partners that's still the foundation of a successful dance. As the Argentines are fond of saying,
"Tango is a dance with four legs, two heads, and one heart ..."
In the land of its origin, tango is also widely seen as an evocative synthesis of feeling, philosophy and culture that comes very close to expressing the collective soul and imagination of its people.
Non-Argentines who embrace the possibility of tango quickly discover a river that not only runs deep and strong with tradition, but one that is still defining its banks — and still adding new branches and fresh tributaries — as it contributes a rich current to the wider sea where all forms of dance share and blend their waters.
Improvisation and Creativity in Tango
The other aspect that dancers find both compelling and challenging is tango's improvisational nature, which has several implications:
- There are no "steps" or patterns to memorize or execute — dancing tango is more like having a conversation or taking a journey ... the outcome is always in doubt, dancers work without a script or net, and no one ever dances the same tango twice.
- Dancers interpret the music, but are not "married" to the music — dancers are free to step or move on the beat, between the beat, around the beat, against the beat ... or any combination thereof, at any moment, and different again from one moment the next.
- The partners do not "do the same thing" — they don't (necessarily) "mirror" or echo each other, or any other dancer or couple in the room ... instead the individual partners in tango create what are essentially two different but nevertheless highly integrated and coordinated dances, then offer these to each other in order to blend and create a third, more elusive entity: Our dance.
- And the partners somehow manage to do all of this together, at the same time, in the same moment — something which demands a kind of trust, openness, awareness, and courage that goes well beyond the basics of good technique.
Add all this up, and you have the basis for a very provocative and challenging mode of expression — a rich "kinetic language" with pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, syntax — which blossoms into an art form as the dancers begin to access and communicate ever deeper layers of feeling through ever greater levels of skill, experience, sensitivity and insight.
More Perspective on Argentine Tango
New to Argentine Tango:
For more on Tango's history, culture and aesthetic, as well as some advice on getting started as a beginning dancer in tango, try "Beginner's Guide to Argentine Tango" by Susan Brown ...
Philosophy & Aesthetic of Tango:
For a cut at some of the deeper and more elusive issues at play in Tango — philosophical, spiritual and otherwise — try these articles by Sharna Fabiano, "The Essential Tango" and "Tango: A Deeper Look" ...
Learning Tango & Other Forms of Dance:
For some incisive discussion about creative improvisation, effective partnering, how the human brain learns a thing like Tango, and the "lateral thinking" used in this and other "freestyle" forms of dance, see Richard Powers' interlocking essays ...
20th Century Tango Music & History:
To hear classic Tango music, and for additional insight into its history and culture, try this excellent three-part radio documentary, "This Is the Tango" -- originally from the CBC, now available only as an .mp3 archive ...
Tango's Deeper History & West African Roots:
For an overview on some of the many currents, influences, traditions and cultures that have blended together to help inform and create Tango, check out this interview with Robert Farris Thompson of Yale, who wrote "Tango: The Art History of Love" ...
Studying Tango on Video:
Tango video is all over the web these days, with thousands of examples available on youtube. Among our favorites are the didactic class demos offered by Homer + Cristina Ladas and other dancers in the Bay Area.
Tango pioneer Daniel Trenner has also started to re-release some of the learning videos he produced back in the 1990s and early 2000s, many with legendary older dancers who are no longer with us. Find excerpts and download .MP4 files at iTangoCafe ...
Tango on Film:
You can see some enticing Tango in several forms -- lessons, social dancing in Argentina and Paris, stage performance, fantasy, etc. -- in THE TANGO LESSON, a 1997 feature film by Sally Potter. Although it can be difficult to locate as a rental, several scenes with dancing are available on youtube ...
Also online, you can find "La Confiteria Ideal: The Tango Salon," a 2005 documentary from the BBC. Centered around a famous tango venue in Buenos Aires, it features interviews with several well known dancers, and helps sketch the bridge between Tango's fabled past and evolving present.
And you can catch a little bit of the flavor, passion and devotion that Tango often inspires in the amusing TANGHI ARGENTINI from Belgium, nominated for an Academy Award in 2008 as "Best Live Action Short."
Wide World of Tango:
To get a small taste of the ever-expanding reach and vibrancy of Tango as a worldwide phenomenon, try browsing a few of the many thousands of international links available at Cyber-Tango or Tango Club ...
Wednesday Night Classes + Milonga - in Santa Barbara:
Closer to home, one of the best places explore Tango is in Santa Barbara on Wednesday nights — a weekly tradition that goes back to 1997, making it one of the longest-running evenings of Tango on the West Coast.
For newer dancers, look for Tango Santa Barbara's three levels of classes at the Carrillo Recreation Center, starting at 6:00 pm.
Later in the evening, there's Milonga Cambiante, a collaborative creation of several local tangueros who have started hosting weekly gatherings. Alternating between Alcazar, an intimate bistro on the Mesa, and various private residences around town, the location changes each week, so be sure to check the latest schedule and details on Tango Mango - or - look for their announcement on the Yahoo Group for Tango Santa Barbara.
(Milonga Cambiante fills a void left by the March 2011 sale of the beloved Cafe Buenos Aires — for nearly 14 years, both the heart and epicenter of social dancing in Santa Barbara.)
More Tango in Southern California & Elsewhere:
For an overview on Tango in and around Southern California, one of the best resources is Tango Afficionado, the creation of Los Angeles-based tanguero, teacher and aficionado, Vladimir Estrin ...
For more on venues and events in Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, try TangoVoice ...
And for Tango in the Bay Area, San Diego, and other cities, Tango Mango lets you sift local listings by geography, date, and type of event, and offers handy links to Google maps to help you find your way ...
Home | Monday Night Tango in Ojai | Ventura | Esalen | Nevada City | Workshops | Resources | Contact