What I would like to pass on to the next generation (Part II)

What I would like to pass on to the next generation

Part II: Tango Traps or what to avoid

The “subjective” opinion leaders

Some dancers can make their partners feel good while dancing. They can dance attentively and create a harmony that sometimes evokes a great deal of enthusiasm, so much so that it tempts people to say: That’s a great dancer!
There is also the case where a good, experienced dancer dances with a partner who has many technical mistakes in such a way that he or she compensates for these mistakes. This leads to the partner who makes the mistakes feeling very good and possibly overestimating their dancing abilities.
But subjective feelings can be deceptive. Harmony in dance is important, attentive dancing is highly valued, but this should not be confused with “dancing well”. Making your partner feel good is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for being a good dancer.
I think I can identify a similar tendency towards confusion with regard to dance couples and clips: Sometimes clips are liked and shared that make me wonder why people do that? Because the clip seems “0815” to me. Sometimes I wonder whether people think the music in the clip is great. Maybe the music makes them feel good and they confuse this with the dance. Marketing people know only too well that a good feeling is confused with the product itself: many advertising clips are based on this. Coca Cola, for example, is good at it. You only have to think of the following: “You can’t beat the feeling” (song), “Make yourself happy”, “Coca Cola is it”, etc.. And so you get the feeling that you’re doing something good for yourself when you drink a Coke. But we all know that Coke contains nothing but garbage.
One must not confuse the objective with the subjective. This also applies to the learning process in tango. Because here, too, you can often be mistaken. Some people think they are making good progress (e.g. with a teacher who may only pay attention to subjective feelings instead of using objective standards), but they are actually fumbling in the same place. I think it’s important to have a good feeling about something, but it can be a bad advisor if you don’t use objective standards. Because the subjective good feeling can be increased once you have penetrated certain spheres in dance – and then you will never want to go back. But subjectivity alone will not get you into these spheres.

The dogmatists

Just as knowledge is characterized and categorized in science, patterns of behaviour, routines and traditions are cultivated in culture. This is good on the one hand, but often statements are derived from them that are generalized, considered absolute and declared to be dogmas. If these are based on half-knowledge and people are not receptive to new insights, then I see a danger in this.
Behavioral patterns and cultural achievements can have a further disadvantage: They distance and isolate. When a new member joins a community, they first have to go through a lot of procedures and possibly commit to all the dogmas. This can pose a danger if it prevents development. And if this community of conservatives and dogmatists gets the upper hand, free spirits feel unwelcome. Tango, however, needs these free spirits for its development. Think of Piazzolla (or Pugliese) in music and Todaro (or Naveira) in dance, who have had a significant influence on tango.

The socializers

When you get to know other people while tangoing, when you network and move from one milonga to the next together, it’s certainly fun. But I also see a danger in this, I call it the “socializing trap”. Because if you want to be really good, you shouldn’t let yourself be taken in by people who want to move from event to event. Events are good if you are surrounded by people who are passionate about tango and are real experts. Otherwise you may have a nice evening, but you won’t develop as a dancer.
I don’t want to be misunderstood here: It’s not about dancing only with superstars and handing out baskets to all amateur dancers. That’s not what I would advise the next generation to do either. But I think that if the focus is solely on leisure activities, then you won’t get anywhere. There are also many young dancers who travel from one tango marathon to the next. Even if there are great marathons, in the long run it puts a strain on your wallet and doesn’t make you a professional dancer. If you don’t (!) have these ambitions to be able to tango properly, then I don’t see socializing as a trap.

The storytellers

Many women know the situation: she is new to tango, fascinated by this world, has made herself pretty and perhaps goes to a milonga for the first or second time. And then, of course, she is quickly surrounded by milongueros who want to impress her. Quite a few of them claim to have eaten tango wisdom with spoons. They refer to Buenos Aires, tell her that the “real” tango is danced there and will have a few tips for her (some even like to teach on the dance floor).
I would like to call out to the young tanguera: Open your eyes, watch how they dance and then decide whether you think they actually know anything about tango or not. Don’t give in to half-knowledgeable people who will only confuse you!
Of course, many great dancers come from BsAs (but there are also less good and many mediocre ones) and I don’t doubt that the dancers who went there had a great experience. But there are also great dancers in Europe and other parts of the world who embody and live a fascinating tango culture.
In addition to the storytellers, there are also the “lyricists”. These are often Argentinians or Europeans who have learned or are learning Spanish. They want to impress with the lyrics. That’s fine too, but you shouldn’t extrapolate from this ability to know song lyrics to dance. Again, don’t be confused and open your eyes when they dance … and then judge. I always think of a scene from the movie “The Tango Lesson”: Sally, the main actress, visits a milonga in Paris and sits down next to a man. The piece “Pensalo bien” by D’Arienzo is playing. The man asks her: “Do you know this song?” Sally, who is still new to the scene, can’t say anything and is confused. Then the man starts to repeat the lyrics – in a deep, very touching voice:
“Think hard before you take this step. Because once you’ve taken it there may be no turning back. Think hard because I’ve loved you so much and you’ve thrown it away, perhaps for another love…”
Sally looks deeply impressed into his eyes. Then the man asks her to dance. She stands up. The man is one and a half times her height and dances as if he has swallowed a stick – and unmusically. A failure in terms of dancing…. Knowing tango lyrics is one thing, knowing how to dance is another.
You can find storytellers and lyricists in every tango scene and without them the scene would really be missing something. I mean that quite seriously. But they don’t necessarily help you to develop as a dancer!

Dancing tango impersonally:

I think you should avoid the impersonal in tango. If you constantly change partners and dance tango with everyone in the same way, then you miss out on what it means to have an intense tango experience in symbiosis with a particular person. At the same time, you should change partners more often – especially at the beginning – so that you don’t fall into a routine. Clinging to a single person is therefore also not the right thing to do. However, once you have found a tango partner with whom you share an intense tango experience, you can continue to develop together.

Don’t just be a “Taker”:

In conclusion, I can only recommend to the next generation to be a “Giver”. Someone who is grateful is loyal and cares for their community. Don’t get into a pure consumer mindset. Be proud of the “stable” you come from and the scene you’ve grown into. If tango means something to you, ask yourself who you want to support. Ask yourself how you can give something back to tango and the scene. And if you want to give something back to tango and your community, then don’t be afraid to take risks. You have to take responsibility for the future of your tango region. Not just for yourself or for the dancers around you, but to keep tango alive in the long term!

Last but not least: Why I’m writing all this:

My tango traps may come across as a bit preachy. I also want to write here about why it is so important to me to address young dancers.
I recently picked up a book: “Alles kein Zufall” by Elke Heidenreich. At the beginning is a quote from Susan Sontag: “When one passion begins to wane, it is important to create another immediately, for the whole art of making life bearable is to retain an interest in everything.”
This got me thinking about my passion, TANGO: I’ve been dancing for 30 years now. My first festival was in 1988 and my passion has never waned. The fire is still strong – and perhaps even stronger today. So I asked myself where it comes from. I found the answer pretty quickly: it’s the new generation! New teachers, new dancers, new students, new team members and, as a result, new projects – all this keeps me going.
Working with Yağmur, who is only at the beginning of her career, challenges and inspires me enormously. Living with Teresa makes me “people-sensitive”. The projects I plan with Silvana require differentiated thinking. The same goes for the discussions with Dima, who questions every step, however trivial and obvious it may be. When Dima got on my nerves one day, I asked him to stop questioning the “trivial steps”. He replied strongly: “I learned that from you.” Then I thought: “Wow, Dima, 1 to 0 for you!”
On that note: thank you!