Delusions

I think, as in all walks of life, any tango communities can have people who are delusional.

I believe it all goes back to how differently people grapple with new concepts, or in some cases how they have been led “up the creek” by one or more teacher-figures, as it were. 🙂 It is often amusing to see the consequences because of these slightly skewed interpretations.

For example, it may not be uncommon to see a couple practicing hard at some fixed choreographies. This, even if executed awkwardly, is fine by me as long as the couple is not under the illusion that the same steps can be tried out on a unsuspecting partner on a social dance floor. Or that they think that they are actually preparing for social dancing, where each part in a dancing couple moves by listening to the proper leads/follows of the other. Otherwise, to each their own!

Another common misconception about Golden Age tango music is that it’s really only for beginners, and full of rhythmic stuff*? Or so people interested in using alternative music would have you believe… Actually I have no specific disdain for using alternative music – as long as it is the music that can bring people to dance, to the music that is. After all, tango is a dance which yearns for an emotional connection to the music you dance to. However, I do take issues when people consider alternative music as something superior and essential for “survival” of tango music, or that tango nuevo is somehow more “interesting” for the masses when the very same advocates still have trouble walking in flats to the beat… 😯

* The irony is that the same people who made these claims don’t seem to notice the heavy rhythm in techno-style music from Gotan Project, for example.