Commentary and announcements about tangophilia and Argentine Tango.
In classes, you’ll often hear me remind people that there are “no wrong steps.” I also believe that the improvisational and exploratory possibilities make Argentine Tango the jazz of social dance. The following quote from Thelonius Monk brings those two ideas together nicely.
There are no wrong notes; some are just more right than others.
– Thelonius Monk (source)
Regardless of tradition, stereotypes, and a preponderance of examples of Man-Leader and Woman-Follower relationships, the roles of Leader and Follower are not the same as being a Man or Woman, Male or Female. Leader and Followers are roles that are adopted during the dance to provide a structure for interaction. They are not necessarily connected to who you are in life, what you do to earn an income, or how you interact with people off the dance floor. Otherwise quiet and unassuming people can dance as good leaders, and take charge, type-A personalities can be good followers during a dance, then revert to type afterward. Exploring the role of leader and follower, unencumbered by gender roles and stereotypes can give everybody a better appreciation of the roles in the dance, and provide insight on how to enhance the communication and interaction of leader/follower roles outside of the dance.
Even if you’re normally a leader in day-to-day affairs, if you choose to follow in tango, you must learn to follow. If you’re normally a follower at your place of employment, assuming the role of leader requires donning a different attitude and outlook on doing things. When you develop a more complete understanding of the roles, you’ll find that switching between them is not as difficult as you thought, and the roles are not as confining as commonly believed. Choosing to lead or choosing to follow is just another choice that we make as people interacting with other people, and they are not necessarily permanent parts of our identity.
The most important ideas in any discipline are those that are considered “beautiful". In math and science, these are the ideas that demonstrate parsimony, but are also very powerful in that they make it possible to both describe and predict an array of theories and observations. When you tie these ideas together, you make it possible to understand so much more than just the one situation you may be applying it to. You can immediately see the relevance of the idea to other situations and examples. Tango is composed of these ideas as well. At least, it can be.
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So, here’s an idea that can help guide your thinking about the role of the follower. Followers are not empty vessels to be filled up with whatever ideas you think are so important for them to know to be able to follow your leading. Followers are not tabula rasa. Followers can instead be thought of as a medium, and as any artist knows, the final product will be strongly influenced by and dependent on the medium.
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Coincidentally enough, this article shows some recent conclusions by some researcher claiming to have found the perfect mix of elements to make a “perfect” (read: popular) film.
Quote: “Her research has revealed that the blueprint for a perfect feature must have: action 30pc, comedy 17pc, good v evil 13pc, love/sex/romance 12pc, special effects 10pc, plot 10pc and music 8pc.”
So, increase the music, and probably drop the special effects (glow in the dark follower, whoo-hoo) and do you think you might have a “perfect” tango?
A few weeks ago, a student asked about learning the “dramatic stuff” in tango. It’s not an unusual idea, since tango is frequently perceived on stage and screen as a drama in itself. The problem is that in tango, audiences have lost a sense of the difference between “drama” and “action.” The distinction isn’t much different than the distinction we make in films. Lots of leg action, lifts, spins, hooks, kicks, blowing shit up - these simply represent action. Drama requires timing, anticipation, build-up, intensity, an array of human emotion, and of course, PAUSES. Sure, the most exciting films and tangos to watch will combine both action and drama, but one can still tell the difference between Rambo and Rain Man.
[note: I’m sure there’s a better comparison pair, but I can’t think of it right now. if you think of some, leave them in the comments. Rules: give me the titles of two similar-sounding films starting with the same letter where one is a drama and the other an action film.]