This student has a significant chip on his shoulder about milonguero style due to a somewhat militant movement in town to crown milonguero as the only true style of tango! I am only somewhat exaggerating. We have a font of strong opinions about what constitutes right and wrong that comes with a developing community reaching out to the larger Northwest area. For those who don't tango much, a simplified tango-speak divides tango (and of course we mean Argentine, because the other styles are not even approaching the moniker) three dominant "styles" of tango - milonguero, salon, and nuevo. Of course that's a touch illusory a distinction as tango developed in hundreds of barrios all over Bs As and has evolved constantly. Most of us learn a mish-mash of differing "styles" and ideas which equally are evolving over time. But, I am not going to attempt a primer. This is a good read about "milonguero" and style names.
Still, no matter how you label things, there is a certain shudder in the shoulders of a few when their disfavored form of dance is mentioned.I think what my "student" sees in the local milonguero-movement is obstinate resistance: to new ideas, to new moves, to new music. He see grouches with plastered faces of serious and stylized concentration and acres of unwritten rules with no purpose beyond vetting the initiated and ostracizing those who do not take themselves quite so seriously. He also sees the small movements of a crowded floor and imagines that what is not apparent to the eye is not present. In other words - he sees boring and pompous and is not too shy about admitting this.
I haven't really been out dancing enough to agree or deny except to say I am sure this is an exaggeration (we're mostly a fun group here with a decent sense of adventure), but then tango also has always attracted a certain element pedantry and cliquishness that can make this depiction understandable. This seems a shame, since just the word milonguero used to have such saucy and dissolute undertones. These were the same types of guys wearing zoot suits and evolving lindy hop in underground jazz clubs in the US.
And I must say, some of the things that Argentine men senior to my grandparents have done with me on a dance floor with a mischievous grin and utter insouciance - aside from setting my heart surprisingly aflutter - doesn't really lend itself to the austerity of "elegance" and "grace" that some may ascribe to a more sedate style. I am entirely ensconced in ideas of the meditative tango and the "trance," but no form of reverence is entire without a sense of joy and maybe a childlike dose of cheekiness.
After past rants, I've had occasion to lecture him on these philosophies and insist that, no, milonguero was not merely an angry old person dance but often quite satisfying for lack of a more complete description.
I haven't really been out dancing enough to agree or deny except to say I am sure this is an exaggeration (we're mostly a fun group here with a decent sense of adventure), but then tango also has always attracted a certain element pedantry and cliquishness that can make this depiction understandable. This seems a shame, since just the word milonguero used to have such saucy and dissolute undertones. These were the same types of guys wearing zoot suits and evolving lindy hop in underground jazz clubs in the US.
And I must say, some of the things that Argentine men senior to my grandparents have done with me on a dance floor with a mischievous grin and utter insouciance - aside from setting my heart surprisingly aflutter - doesn't really lend itself to the austerity of "elegance" and "grace" that some may ascribe to a more sedate style. I am entirely ensconced in ideas of the meditative tango and the "trance," but no form of reverence is entire without a sense of joy and maybe a childlike dose of cheekiness.
After past rants, I've had occasion to lecture him on these philosophies and insist that, no, milonguero was not merely an angry old person dance but often quite satisfying for lack of a more complete description.
Last night - after grilling me for weeks on various nuevo postures and combinations - he expressed interest in finding out what the big deal is. He wanted moves - which is funny since I'm militantly focused on technique and musicality and rarely do much with moves. Not feeling inspired to change my approach just there, I suggested instead of working on "milongeuro" specifically (since lord knows I can't even define the word, despite having taught the "Milonguero Track" at the 8th Style), we worked on microtango (my analogy from micro blues, which is the ultimate dance made of succulently semi-subliminal synchronized twitches).
Instead of thinking about authenticity or conformance to any particular label, we focused on rhythmic subtleties and connection. We did a lot of listening to music - identifying the rhythmic line in the bass. He had been trying to dance to melody and vocal lines, getting lost when they flitted in and out. We experimented with variations, seeing which beats and parts of the beat various instruments were emphasizing and how he may want to play with or against those. Much of the lesson became an olio of check step drills. I have to say can be pretty darned athletic - poor guy was drenched in sweat by the end. It was a great forum to work on some technical fundamentals that have been a little mushy for him, was the first time I felt him really listening to the music and some of the best connection break-thoughs we've had. Kind of fun. So, yeah, I'd totally trademark microtango, except if I learned anything from my tangolates dreams, it's that somebody has already thought of everything under the sun. Oh... yep, Alex Krebs - of course! - has already done workshops in micro-tango movements. So fine. I'm just going to revert back to my old idea of Topless Tango Tuesdays and have done!
Instead of thinking about authenticity or conformance to any particular label, we focused on rhythmic subtleties and connection. We did a lot of listening to music - identifying the rhythmic line in the bass. He had been trying to dance to melody and vocal lines, getting lost when they flitted in and out. We experimented with variations, seeing which beats and parts of the beat various instruments were emphasizing and how he may want to play with or against those. Much of the lesson became an olio of check step drills. I have to say can be pretty darned athletic - poor guy was drenched in sweat by the end. It was a great forum to work on some technical fundamentals that have been a little mushy for him, was the first time I felt him really listening to the music and some of the best connection break-thoughs we've had. Kind of fun. So, yeah, I'd totally trademark microtango, except if I learned anything from my tangolates dreams, it's that somebody has already thought of everything under the sun. Oh... yep, Alex Krebs - of course! - has already done workshops in micro-tango movements. So fine. I'm just going to revert back to my old idea of Topless Tango Tuesdays and have done!
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