Music taking the lead?
A recent visiting teacher Chan Park raised an interesting point while fielding questions on his opinions of the development of Tango music.
According to Park, danceable Tango music stopped evolving by the mid-80’s, as evidenced by the fact that most of the modern and major milongas worldwide plays predominantly music from the 40’s, the so-called Golden Age music. Why?
Technique
Recently heard someone comment (yet again) that too much emphasis on the perfecting techniques in Tango can actually be detrimental to the overall enjoyment of the dance. Have to say that I am grudgingly agreeing with the statement. However, perhaps due to my nature as a engineer/scientist, the temptation of reaching greater heights in technical sufficiency is always too alluring!? So, in the final analysis, in reference to the recent Technique vs Passion debate on Tango-L list, personally I am tipping the scale towards Technique, no matter what the general consensus is.
Incremental improvement
A Swedish Tango instructor couple Jan and Marta is currently visiting Singapore. Since their website expressly highlighted that they teach a social style in the “milonguero close-embrace” – in their words, “a mixture of tango milonguero and traditional tango de salon” – I was naturally quite keen and decided to attend their classes. Personally I feel that in order to become a well-rounded dancer, it is necessary for me to be aware and familiar with the social form as well as the more athletic forms of Tango.
Simplification
I have observed the following pattern in the development of leaders (especially those who have managed to stay with Tango for at least one year) in our Tango community in Singapore.