Anybody want to tango with me?
Since I decided to learn to dance in the beginning of 1999, I've been watching and asking questions. Now, I usually can identify the tango music and when somebody is actually dancing tango. But, I think there must be a broad usage of the word TANGO!?! I've heard the words Tango, Tango milongo, Tango vals, Tango Argentino to describe what dancers are doing. So, I've read up a bit using the internet and found some answers. It seems that when some people talk about tango, they want it understood that to be dancing a REAL TANGO then you have to dance it in it's timeless fashion danced during the 1930s. Err, I don't have much respect for dead dances, but maybe I've misunderstood what they meant. It also could be that I'm on the wrong track and should come out from behind the moon. Please, can somebody help me out, here? I feel that a particular music needs to be interpreted by the ones dancing. This means that they might dance to this music always the same or that they might differently on other occassions and therefore dance to that music a little different. This could also mean that no two dances need be the same. I feel that the basic step is to be learned in order that one has the possibility to speak (in the language of dance body movements) in a form that the other dance partner understands what you are trying to express. It is also my belief that languages were invented to influence your partner in a very positive manner (it seems we often abuse the languages to gather information). Having these bases to work from, I don't expect to be able to perform at any competition, as I'm sure that would be the wrong place for me.
Can somebody make a suggestion as to where I should go (don't be rude) to find out more about tango? The ballroomdancers site seems to be aimed at strictly ballroom when it comes to tango. My wife has seen too much TV and thinks that tango has to be sad to be good and she wants to have fun when we dance.
I wanted to learn tango after the first time I saw it (my first impression: When looking from above, tango dancers looked like cockroaches running around on the floor. When the tango music starts the women rushed to the dance floor so that they can clean their shoes on their partner's trousers). It happened to be that those dancers were very good dancers and since then I've seen others dancing but they looked so sad and boringly showy. The first couple looked as if they were totally alone on the floor (they weren't...) and totally enjoying the passion of each other's company. This is something I would love to experience with my wife. Unfortunately, I saw this when my wife wasn't with me. How would you suggest I approach this dance?
Steve