Milonguero (style) or no?
Nice video of Ricardo Viqueira & Maria Darritchon. Perhaps because of his continual use of circular energy, some of his movements (not just certain characteristic “Julio moves”) reminded me quite a bit of Julio Balmaceda. For me this video also highlights the ridiculousness of milonguero vs.salon labels some people somehow insist on using. Viquerira is regarded as a milonguero and yet, for me at least, he is clearly not dancing in the typically-recognised milonguero style. A paradox? Well, there really shouldn’t be one.
Beginners
Can’t explain why but this thought just popped into my head.
Objectively, there is really no shame to be associated with beginners – from the perspective of an organiser or teacher. If because of marketing or other technical reasons, someone needs to focus his/her efforts on beginners, a valuable contribution can still be made for contribution to the commuinty. Guilt or shame only comes into the picture when one is in fact the cause that beginners are leaving en mass for other interests! 🙂
Community leadership
Been reading a book on leadership lately. One of the key tenets of quality leadership, as advocated by the author, is credibility. In his words, credibility is the process of “earning the right to lead through character”. Reflecting on events over the past few years, this really struck a chord with me. In order to be a leader in the community (of anything, besides tango), one needs to operate with integrity and compassion. While “competence” (or skill) is another necessary quality of effective leaders, the starting point for those whom you ask to follow is to earn their trust.
Come to think of it, on a microscopic level, this is not unlike the interplay between partners in that 3-minute dance!?
Bad dancing is not a style
I happened upon an old post from one of my favourite bloggers Debbi “It’s another style..stupid”. After re-reading the post, I just could not shake off a sense of dejavu; it is amazing how what Debbie observed is applicable even two years later. 😉
Here’s a “classic” quote from this particular post:
“What is it about tango that people make so many excuses for it? When badly danced, they say it is another style.”
As a postscript, just to add a twist to the story two years on, nowadays a few trendy ways of dancing seems to be in vogue around the world, each proclaiming to be the “authentic” style from Buenos Aires.