You shouldnt dance to the late instrumental Puglieses. Its not right to dance to non-tango. You shouldnt do ganchos during those Canaros.You shouldnt open the embrace for giros. You shouldnt do too many adornos. You shouldnt lead cross in milonga. You should walk 40% and giro 60% of the time. You shouldnt dance elaborate figures during the singers line. I always feel a little antsy when I hear someone uttering one of these tango commandments (unless its in jest). To me, tango is an art form. I dont mean that to sound grandiose or pretentious -- I firmly believe that everyone can both appreciate and practise art. At whatever level of expertise you create your art, its life enriching. Art thrives on *freely chosen* restrictions, on the voluntary following of traditions, on stylistic and aesthetic allegiances chosen out of personal conviction, individual taste and temperament, out of love. Of course, if you choose to dance tango, you are electing to speak a specific language and you will have to choose from within a vocabulary and employ a syntax other speakers will understand. Your dance cant be too idiosyncratic because you have to communicate your intentions to a partner. And, since this is a social dance, you also have to dance in a way that doesnt obstruct or injure others. But, within those constraints, you are free and should exercise that freedom, should think for yourself, make informed choices, understand *why* you might wish to dance in certain ways. And respect the choices of others. So far, I only dance to traditional music; I dont dance fusion; I dont role swap within a song. Im conservative -- but its by choice. Not because I respect some arbitrary proscription: whether uttered by the most venerable eminence grise of the milonga or parroted by a narrow-minded student. I write my poetry in sonnet form, because I find it enjoyable and inspiring to craft my thoughts in that genre. Not because someone told me that all poems must always have fourteen lines. In fact, if a bunch of judgemental busybodies starting claiming that all poetry should be written as three quatrains and a couple, I would probably start writing free verse right away.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 23:04:57 +0000
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