Tango is not only a fascinating dance but also a fascinating philosophy, culture and lifestyle. The search of tango is the search of connection, love, fellowship, unity, harmony and beauty, i.e., an idealism that is not consistent with the dehumanizing reality of the modern world. The world divides us into individuals, but tango unites us into a team, community and species. In tango we are not individualists, feminists, nationalists, Democrats, Republicans, etc., but interconnected and interdependent members of the human family. Tango calls us to tear down the walls, to build bridges, and to regain humanity through affinity, altruism, cooperation, and accommodation. It is a dance that teaches the world to love.



April 29, 2014

The Chivalry of the Milongueros


A century ago, during Argentina's peak immigration wave, Buenos Aires had a staggering gender imbalance: five men for every woman. Picture this: in a standard milonga, fifty men vied for the chance to dance with just ten women. The odds were stacked against men, leaving many too hesitant to even ask a woman for a dance. Instead, they watched from a distance, waiting for a woman's nod. Only then did they dare to dance with the goddess. That's the origin of cabeceo. (See Women's Role in Cabeceo.) Prior to dancing with a real woman, a man had to spend years to practice with other guys until he had completely grasped the craft. He had to be extremely careful with the woman also, fearing to lose the favor of the goddess if she felt slightest discomfort. This deep appreciation and respect for women have evolved into a distinctive hallmark of the tango culture in Argentina.

Given the gender imbalance, the opportunity to dance with a woman was reserved for men who could genuinely satisfy her. Those focused solely on themselves had minimal chances against the milongueros who mastered a comfortable embrace, exquisite musicality, and impeccable dance skills. Laymen may think of milongueros as goof-offs. (See Tango and the Outlook on Life.) But if you think those goddesses surrounded by a battalion of admirers would pick a mediocre as dance partner, you certainly underestimated the goddesses. Even today, women cast their eyes only on the best. They don't want men who are sloppy, who feel insecure, who do not have a comfortable embrace, whose musicality is poor, who lead with arms and hands, who can't do cabeceo, who don't follow the codes, and who are short in manner, not to mention in those days. Therefore, the milongueros are a group of sophisticated tango elites with great knowledge and skills on the dance, music, codes, culture, lunfardo and the ways of the milonga world. Like the knights in the medieval Europe who were gallant, honorable, generous, kind and respectful especially to women, and like the samurais in feudal Japan who were loyal, courageous, simple in living and preferring death to dishonor, the Argentine milongueros are a group of sophysiticated specialists who follow certain tenets also. For them, tango is the religion and milonga codes are not only guild regulations but life principles as well. One may say that, though without the title, the Argentine milongueros are a comparable class to European knights, Japanese samurais and Chinese literati. Their doctrine is the chivalry, bushido and Confucian orthodoxy of Argentina.

Times have shifted. Today the gender ratio in milongas becomes one man to one point three women. Moreover, the traditional gallantry of milongueros faces criticism from feminists, who encourage women to vie with men for dominance. (See Tango and Gender Equality.) Consequently, men no longer hold the same level of admiration and respect for women as before. Nowadays, even beginners who can't walk stably dare to obligate women to dance with them, using these opportunities as a stage for their self-centered displays. One has to reckon that a failure of feminism. Feminists thought that the two sexes would be equal if women were strong and aggressive like men, little did they realize that once women lose their femininity, they are no longer the goddesses in men's eyes.

Men and women today need to draw lessons from history and contemplate their interactions. Masculinity and femininity, resulted from millions of years of human evolution, serve as nature's mechanism to unite the two genders. (See Tango and Interdependence between the Sexes.) To ensure the well-being of the human species, it is essential for women to retain their femininity, and men to preserve their affection for women. Gender roles play a crucial part in sustaining harmony between the two sexes. Deranging the natural law that regulates the opposite sexes can lead to significant repercussions. (See Tango and Gender Relations.) I hope that men continue to value women as they did when the ratio was five men to one woman. I wish for women to refrain from relinquishing their femininity and emulating masculine traits. Tango was created to be a bridge uniting the two sexes. I wish it remains that way.



April 19, 2014

Cadencia and the Flow of Tango


When we dance tango our body oscillates as our weight shifts from one foot to the other. The oscillation can be enhanced by accelerating the motion of the body. This technique is called cadencia. It feels like riding back and forth on a swing, which is a cozy feeling for both dancers but especially for the woman, as she is the one being swayed by the man.

The man swings the woman's body to one side and then to the other side alternately. Since their torsos are connected in the embrace, the woman needs to swivel her hips after each swing to allow him to reverse the swing in the opposit diraction. (See Dissociation and Gear Effect.)

In fact, that is how ocho is danced. When teaching ocho, tango teachers often emphasize dissociation or the swivel of the hips, but overlook cadencia or the swing of the body. However, if dissociation and cadencia are combined, it will not only increase the elegance of the ocho movement but also produce a rocking feeling, making the movement more enjoyable.




In order to do cadencia there has to be some speed, without which the body cannot swing. That is why experienced dancers like to dance in the flow. When the floor is full of experienced dancers, you can see a counterclockwise flow of people like the waves surge forward in correspondence with the rhythmic flow of music, and the speed of the flow is quite fast. But if there are too many novices on the dance floor, then the speed of flow is slowed down. Sometimes it even becomes like a pool of stagnant water.

Novices who have no sense of flow often stay in place practicing steps, disregarding the people behind them waiting for them to move forward. In an empty room that may cause no problem, but on a crowded dance floor, that could obstruct the traffic. Mark Word calls such people "rocks in the stream." You drive to work in the morning and suddenly there is a car blocking your way, that is the same kind of feeling. People dancing on a crowded dance floor must not be such "rocks in the stream." I'm not saying that you cannot slow down or pause for a moment, which experienced dancers also do. But they do so only when there is enough space or when the music tells everyone to slow down. If the dancers behind you are approaching, then you must keep moving to avoid causing obstruction to traffic. This is the code, which all dancers have to follow.



April 1, 2014

The Characteristics of Classic Tango


Dancing tango is not just stepping to the beat of the music being played - that perhaps is how disco is danced, but not tango. Dancing tango is dancing the sentiment and feelings of the music. Sentimentalism is a notable feature of classic tango. Created by early immigrants to Argentina, tango contains the homesickness and nostalgia of its creators and reflects their thirst for love and longing for a better life. (See Tango: The Historical and Cultural Impacts.) Modern rock bands with electronically amplified instruments might be able to create a more majestic sound, but they can't replicate the lingering sentiment of classic tango. That is not only because electronic instruments are short on expressing the mood of tango, but also because the contemporary rockers lack the experience of the early immigrants. Classic tango is a product of that particular era in Argetina. The environment of its mass production has ceased to exist in modern times, but the human emotions expressed in classic tango are universal and timeless, which people of the contemporary age, especially those struggling at the bottom, can still understand and resonate. (See Why People Dance Tango.) Dancing tango, one should not just dance the steps and ignore the feelings of the music, because only by understanding and resonating with these feelings can one dance tango well.

The feelings expressed in classic tango are the feelings of the men and women of the time, represented by two different but intertwined moods. Classic tango is heterosexual rather than homosexual in nature. It has a rhythm that is masculine - strong, steady,predictable and resolute, and a melody that is feminine - soft, emotional, moody and beautiful. Each note or phrase expresses the strength, courage and determination of men, or tenderness, affection and obedience of women. The two opposite moods intertwine with each other, reflecting the two sexes in the dance. Dancing tango, you have to imagine that you are playing music with your body. The man and the woman are different instruments. One is like the bandoneon, the other is like the violin. One is the passion of the drums, the other the beauty of the melody. One is philosophy, the other poem. Each with a unique sound, expresses a different emotion. Both are indispensable and irreplaceable, and they must collaborate harmoniously and complement each other in order to create a beautiful tango. (See The Gender Expression in Tango.)

Those who deny gender roles do not know what they are doing. (See The Gender Roles in Tango.) The so-called new tango or alternative music promoted by them often lacks an opposite theme. (See The Signature of Tango.) It is either too soft, without a lucid rhythm, or too monotonic, short of rhythmic diversity. In contrast, classic tango is created in line with the characteristics of the dance. Unlike mush soft-music and monotonous march, classic tango not only has a recognizable rhythm but also is rich in syncopation, therefore is very danceable. Syncopation means changing the location of an accented beat by stressing an upbeat, or beginning a tone on an upbeat and continue it through the next downbeat. Syncopation modifies the rhythm and makes it more adaptable to a rich variety of footwork possibilities to express complex emotions. (See Tango Music and Its Daceability.) This feature of classic tango, however, may cause a difficulty for beginners to grasp the rhythm of the song. As a result, some people prefer monotonous alternative music instead. The taste of the beginners will evolve with their education and experience. Tango dancers need to study tango music, understand its emotions and be familiar with its melody, rhythm, tempo, syncopation, pause, extension, etc., in order to dance tango well.

Most classical tango music has a vocal part, which usually is not throughout but appears only in certain parts of the song, as if it is an instrument collaborating with other instruments. The lyrics are commonly written in lunfardo, the old street slang of the lower classes in Buenos Aires, expressing nostalgia, homesickness and the pain of lost love. These are songs of the immigrants. Only old milongueros and a small number of portenos today can fully understand them. Those who do not understand the lyrics may not always feel easy to grasp the syncopated and extended syllables, thus could have a difficulty to follow them. But these beautiful lyrics express delicate feelings and are favored by the milongueros. Many of whom can sing the lyrics and dance to them with facility, which is one of the reasons why the milongueros perceive their dance quite differently from the foreigners. Not understanding the lyrics is a disadvantage of the foreigners, but that is not an insurmountable obstacle. The dancers' education can compensate for their inadequacy in language, because as long as one is willing to listen, the sentiment and emotions of the song can be perceived through the melody, rhythm, tempo, tone and mood of the music. Of course, learning the language can help to better understand the feelings of the songs. By the way, some foreigners understood neither the culture nor the language of tango, but they thought they knew tango better than the milongueros, which to me is arrogant and ridiculous. (See Tango and Gender Equality.)