Tango is a very passionate dance. It can also be intricate and complicated. Is this why tango, as a dance form, can be promoted commercially? Is tango a legitimate artform?<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited 10-26-1999).]

I'd love to respond to this question, because I have been involved in social tango (not the performance kind)and have come to appreciate it in all its forms. I'm afraid that I really don't understand the question, though. How could anybody say that Tango is NOT a legitimate artform? What are the criteria that make any form of dance an artform? Tango has steps, choreography, and individual expression just like any other danceform.

Azlan, tango is not only legit, I believe it has a unique intricateness that captures your attention no matter your background. In Argentina, tango is taught in school starting in elementary, and it is perceived as a performing art as well as folk art. Would it not be art, I don't see how Julio Bocca would tour the world with his Argentinian ensemble.

Okay, so tango is legit. But there's only so much of it I enjoy on stage because after awhile I find it repetitious. Is this because the type of moves (or whatever you call it) are limited? Or is there a whole world of tango subtleties that I am not understanding?<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited 10-27-1999).]

Azlan, it is possible that you haven't seen a good performance, or that you just don't like Tango that much. Tango, like any other dance form, has a wealth of subtlties that you appreciate more as you know it better. It can be danced in a wide variety of ways by different people. Have you seen the movie Forever Tango? That shows tango as life (or life as tango) - and it is definitely NOT boring.

Azlan,<P>Are you just trying to start a fight? I feel the same way about _most_ flamenco as you do about Tango, but I recognize that it must be my lack of knowledge, because if everybody thought it was as bad as I do, I wouldn't have to see it so often.

Pick a fight? Me? No. I'm too nice. <P>But, shag, you bring up an interesting comparison there with flamenco, another dance form that I enjoy, for the passion and joy, but only for a brief evening before I get bored. So, maybe I am just clueless when it comes to these dance forms. It's like watching chess I suppose. If you know what to look for, it actually becomes thrilling to watch two grandmasters go at it. But then again, this is not a chess board ... err I mean a discussion board for chess.

Guys, you just gotta love it I guess. It's the same as watching football for four hours. If you understand it and you like it, you will sit in front of the TV for whatever long. I could watch Flamenco or Tango for hours although I admit they are repetitive. How do you like ballroom dancing (you know, cha-cha and rumba, etc)?

I'd rather eat broken glass.

Shag, now I know what to serve you when you come visit.

All joking aside,my lack of enjoyment for Ballroom, Tango,or whatever can only be chalked up to my lack of knowledge. The reason I point this out is this mentality that needs to be addressed to reach out to non dance fans for all types.<P>Prior to my great fortune of meeting my wife, I would have been able to talk about ballet the way any limousene liberal can at a cocktail party. Being brought up just outside of Ottawa, Canada and was bused in for big story ballets as a school kid. When "Billboards" came to Miami, it was a great date opportunity to show how urbane I was. Despite all of this, dance was an anethama as a "fun" option. I'm a sports guy ... why would I want to go to a performance.<P>I was sucked in, not because my wife was a dancer or the fact that most of the people I see on stage I have some personal connection to through history or friendship, but because it enriches me to my very core. <P>Back to the thread, my wife and many of her fellow dancer friends adore tango, ballroom and the like. I will have to educate myself to enjoy it (although Flamenco may be a lost cause for me)but it that same reaching out that we need for ballet, modern etc to expand viewership and relevence. If it takes human interest stories, another Billboards, or 500 Draculas, so be it. I know others have a different view, which I welcome the opportunity to debate this in an open fashion, but get people like me in the door and good dance will win out.

<P>There's a Tango Festival at the Barbican coming up. It concentrates on the music rather than the dance, but this preview article looks at the origins and some of the key figures in its development. I didn't know that Piazzola received death threats because of his attempts to apply classical structures to Tango. His music is some of the most listenable of the 20th Century, in my view.<P><A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=000148269364269&rtmo=lnAASQHt&atmo=99999999&pg=/et/00/9/23/batang23.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Tango Festival preview </B></A><P>This was one of our earliest discussion topics. Tango continues to be very popular in London and I enjoy seeing about 1 show per year. Particularly as the performance standards are going up. The speed and dynamism is great and the ability of the boys in solo or ensemble work means that there can be a change from the duets which also have a fair bit of variety. <P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited September 24, 2000).]

Reply 1: To chalk the dislike of an artform strictly to ignorance is pretty broadbrush. As I have said in other threads, I know little of dance, but I feel much more knowledgeable about guitar (it's going to be a little digressive, but bear with me). I love all sorts of guitar styles, from Metal to Blues to Jazz to Flamenco to pretty much whatever. And I am pretty knowledgable on the technical level, being something of a hack myself. However, there are several varieties which I just don't appreciate (primarily Grunge and Country/Western). It is not a matter of knowledge or understanding the subtleties; on a technical level I can appreciate the skill of particular artists, I just don't appreciate the music on an aesthetic level (which I think is FAR more important).<P>Reply 2: Back to the topic. In my more or less Philistine ignorance, I actually appreciate Tango, Flamenco, and heck, even the Foxtrot more so than I do Ballet or most Modern/Jazz dancing. Again, I think it comes back to my personal aesthetics...there is a level of sexual tension, however sublimated it may be, that I find more gripping (poor choice of words?). It is not that I find Ballet aesthetically unpleasant, but when trying to define a relationship between people, I think Tango and Flamenco is more successful (strictly my opinion).<P>And I'll back out now...<BR> Bob/"Red"<P><P>------------------<BR>"Learn from the Past.<BR> Prepare for the Future.<BR> Act in the Present."<BR> -the Rogue Wolf

I think it's perfectly acceptable to prefer flamenco and tango to ballet. Tango I see as good fun, flamenco comes higher in my preferences I can see several peformences a year.<P>About ballet's 'lack of sexual tension', maybe you should try some more ballet as some work, 'Herman Schmermann' or 'Manon' can really turn up the temperature. And as for some of the dancers, like Guillem or Durante, phew!!

Stuart,<BR>It could very well be. In any case, it's my intent to attend more perfomances in the near future. This is one of those situations that I will be quite content if proven wrong.<P>Enjoy,<BR> Bob/"Red"<P>------------------<BR>"Learn from the Past.<BR> Prepare for the Future.<BR> Act in the Present."<BR> -the Rogue Wolf