A friend who dances more “nuevo” said something over lunch that kinda sorta rubbed me the wrong way a few weeks ago - he apparently finds the “milonguero style” to be the “easiest” because, according to him it has “no technique”. Hum. Well, if that were the case then I think a bunch of us would have been the hottest milongueras in town after our first tango class! Easy, I don’t really think so. It’s over five years that I’ve been dancing and I’m still discovering so much in the realm of the milongueros.
I didn’t say much but I wish I could have told him that no, it is not the easiest, and that is because in my humble but strong opinion it goes beyond technique. I believe (from first-hand personal experience) that when you dance with a milonguero you are not merely dancing steps or patterns and you’re certainly not twisting your shoulders or hips exactly three-point-five degrees this way to execute the perfect ocho; no, no, no… when you dance with a milonguero you are entering into his entire musical world, as the following article will tell you.
And to me, that’s complex and simple at the same time. And beautiful. It goes beyond the merely physical-technical aspect of tango. It’s not a case of being “easy” or “hard”. It just is what it is.
And I think I have found somebody who might understand…her lovely article is here.
(And anyway…
...people don’t get the best tables at milongas from having “no technique”!) (So there!)
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Once I was dancing with this girl who has been dancing for over nine years. She told me that she’s found Nuevo more challenging. Therefore she likes Nuevo better. What I found more challenging was to dance with her. Because for nine years of dancing tango, she hasn’t been able to perfect a simple smooth walk to the music.Let alone back leading, pulling my left arm and a very uncomfortable embrace.
You know what I’ve found out, all these Nuevo dancers started tango without good and solid salon background. Their embraces are mostly uncomfortable. Straight torsos and connected from belly button and up. Can’t walk straight and long. Men dance like they have been starving for ages, and heads turning around like looking for loose changes on the floor. Women dance with bending knees and sagging hips.
Yikes!
Often you either you think the other style is easier to encourage yourself that what you tried to learn for so many years is worth something or you think the other style is hard if you envy the ones practicing it and you do not get a clue how to manage it yourself.
If you want to dance “cross-style” both have to adapt! Good and bad dancers exist in either style.
Unfortunately I have come to the opinion that far too many Contemporary dancers move on from Classic dance styles* quite simply because they just don’t get it. Of course they won’t admit this, they’ll go on about how the contemporary style gives them greater room for expression…
*speaking of dance in general, not just tango
More than once I have heard people say that they *used* to be into the milonguero style but then they saw the light. They talk about it like it’s a bad thing.
I don’t think styles are ever “more” challenging or “less” challenging. They are just different.
I don’t mind tango nuevo when it’s danced well. It can be beautiful when both partners are connected and dancing with soul.
What gets me is people who have been dancing for years but still don’t know how to WALK.
Thanks for your comments guys!
I practice “both” styles and I like them “both”. It depends for me on the moment (the music, the space, the partner (you can chose the order;)) Perhaps my partners could tell if they think one of the styles is my favorite.
Any way there are not two styles but a wide range between close embrace with an almost common axes and a very wide embrace that has to be connected nevertheless.
Hum. Actually, I have to say that I’ve moved back and forth… My first few lessons were in open embrace, and then, after a hiatus, I started closed–which I loved. Later (after another very long hiatus) I was prompted to move into open/nuevo (partly because a boyfriend I had at the time liked it, and I was so new that I went with it). I find that open/nuevo can be fun… but to me the heart of Tango is really in the milonguero style.
I don’t know whether I want to compare which one is more difficult–I think they both are, for different reasons. Nuevo may be slightly more athletic and effectively requires a certain type of connection and body dynamics that can be hard to master. But that doesn’t mean that the milonguero is not difficult or complex in its own right. Moving right, with the core, with the right energy, with the right weight, and with good musicality is challenging. As it is to be creative–it requires a subtlety that the nuevo doesn’t have, because it’s kept in closer quarters. In some sense, it’s beauty is more private–perhaps that’s why some may, sometimes, overlook it.
Nuevo and milonguero styles have their own challenges - like Tanguera - I believe the heart of tango is in the salon style. Nuevo looks like it can be fun to dance but I just don’t consider it tango. I consider it a dance form but not tango.
I think the problem of that guy is putting the focus on things like voleos, colgadas, volcadas, etc. Since that point of view, the milonguero style indeed seems easier.
The problem is: in tango, the simplest things are the hardest to manage. To find a good walk takes months, even years. Manage some kind of colgada, a few classes, maybe less.
To have good posture is very hard work, that never ends. Leading a voleo, is actually quite easy.
To have a good and comfortable lead in close embrace, is harder that to have it in open embrace.
But those things are more subtle than the steps and techniques of tango nuevo.
So no wonder the tango nuevo dancers can not even walk properly, and their posture is painful to see. Why? Because they focus on the “Shiny” things, and forget the more difficult - to learn basics.
Besos!
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