Traditional tango
Keep coming across the term “traditional tango” on a number of tango teachers’ websites. The use of the term plus the sample video clips got me thinking: just like tango Nuevo was difficult to give a concise definition, what is traditional tango really?
The following is generally accepted as a good demonstration of social dancing by a respected milonguero/a (I am not using the term “milonguero style” here, which admittedly is somewhat ambiguous):
But is this the elusive traditional tango mentioned by the those teachers? Come to think of it, the pace at which tango is changing means what we consider revolutionary or modern will probably become the classic/traditional in, say, 5-6 years’ time? 😉
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I don’t know what “those” teachers are referring to, but Ruben and I dance and teach what we think of as “traditional” tango in BsAs, and this is it. Of course everyone dances his/her own way, and we don’t dance like this, but it is the same “style” of social tango.
To us, traditional tango is defined as inspired by the music, is improvised, is all about the connection,
embrace, elegance, and sensuality.
But perhaps “those” teachers have another definition.
Totally agree with you there!