This dialogue relates to the advert that was for a social dance event where the idea was to dance tango style movements to non-tango music.
Extract from the advert:
"I love the tempo and feel of slow Blues music which really suits the mood of a tango dance."
A: "I love the taste of a good curry which really suits the flavour of an Italian meal."
B: :) No, come on, if he wants to have an alternative milonga, that should be positively encouraged.
[How patronising is that word, ‘encourage’]
A: I welcome what he's doing. But it is not an alternative milonga. It is an alternative to a milonga.
B: Different restaurants, different dances. You can dance tango to different music.
A "You can eat curry to different food."
B: Some people enjoy it & they can all do that together. I enjoyed it, last time I did it. I spent a good part of an evening dancing tandas to Nina Simone and similarly alternative music after a grandfather from Hackney persuaded me into it and actually, I had a really nice time. Gone is such innocence!
A: You didn't dance tango. You danced Nina Simone. Nina Simone is not tango.
It's very effortless to find out any topic on web as compared to books, as I found this post at this web
ReplyDeletesite.
The problem is with a false equivalency of "curry" and "tango". I mean of course it's a cool metaphor, but as with every neat metaphor, it only goes this far. Both have regional origins yet worldwide reach; both have classic implementation, traditional but derived implementations, and fusions. But tango has a wider range of facets, not limited to the subset music (there are also poetry and etiquette, culture of non-verbal communication and a toolkit of dance moves, lineage of teachers and cultural influences and a tradition of rebellion and reinterpretation...) There is a tradition of fiery purism, so "A" is perfectly within the framework of tango even when denying that "X" is still a part of its wider fabric :D
ReplyDeleteI think "You can eat curry to different food" uses curry as just an example. Substitute any particular food and the core meaning remains.
Delete"But tango has a wider range of facets, not limited to the subset music (there are also poetry and etiquette, culture of non-verbal communication and a toolkit of dance moves, lineage of teachers and cultural influences and a tradition of rebellion and reinterpretation..."
But none of these 'facets' are specifically of tango. They're merely about tango ... just as they are about many other musical genres.
Tango (the music) isn't a subset, a facet. It's the thing. The other 'facets' aren't.
There might be a false equivalency of "curry" and "tango" if A was referring to "tango" as anything other than music. There are tango teachers, tango dance moves, milonga (not tango) etiquette. But on its own, what else does tango refer to, but to music?
ReplyDeleteto dance.
DeleteIf that were true there would be no incoherence when people talk about dancing 'tango' when the music is not tango music.
DeleteIndeed.
ReplyDelete