Ballroom style

[JohnEm]

It ALWAYS depends upon the teachers approach to training. As to making money, nothing wrong with that, IF it is in concert with good teaching .

We could have a long debate about the effect of commercialism
on dance evolution, little of which I've seen is favourable.

As to the "kids", thats exactly what they are.. doing what they were told to do. Children have little discernment,( and even many adults ! ) .

Children have little choice, doesn't mean they don't have discernment
though the basis of that is different and more limited than that of adults.

I think more to the point is this.. getting children involved at an early age ( as I did ) may keep them in the "fold " for many yrs to come.

And it may not, in fact just that effectively repulsed me for decades.
Even now I cannot bear to watch ballet. Nor can I tolerate seeing children
dressed up as little adults in suits pseudo adult dresses "performing"
though I never actually had to do that thankfully.

Too many adults live out their dreams through their children
so I would never artificially encourage such involvement.

 

[tangotime]

We could have a long debate about the effect of commercialism
on dance evolution, little of which I've seen is favourable.


Children have little choice, doesn't mean they don't have discernment
though the basis of that is different and more limited than that of adults.


And it may not, in fact just that effectively repulsed me for decades.
Even now I cannot bear to watch ballet. Nor can I tolerate seeing children
dressed up as little adults in suits pseudo adult dresses "performing"
though I never actually had to do that thankfully.

Too many adults live out their dreams through their children
so I would never artificially encourage such involvement.

I see you are able to find a negative in pretty much all of the post.. they were generalisations, and to speak to specific points, there maybe some validity in some of your posits.. But..I can only speak to my experiences in the profession as Amat. and Prof. over 9 decades ( a fair sampling, I believe ) .Of course, there is room for improvement over several areas, but some established practices are difficult to change .

Does the overall good, way out the bad ?.. I believe so, and , you of course ,are entitled to your opinion based upon your experiences perceived or otherwise .

 

[tangotime]

What do others think is the 'right' age to start dancing AT?

Thats a very good Q.. my experiences are primarily thru the world of B/room.. and, like most particiapatory art forms, it would depend upon the individual ; in a perfect scenario, possibly early teens .

 

[JohnEm]

I see you are able to find a negative in pretty much all of the post.. they were generalisations, and to speak to specific points, there maybe some validity in some of your posits.. But..I can only speak to my experiences in the profession as Amat. and Prof. over 9 decades ( a fair sampling, I believe ) .Of course, there is room for improvement over several areas, but some established practices are difficult to change .

Does the overall good, way out the bad ?.. I believe so, and , you of course ,are entitled to your opinion based upon your experiences perceived or otherwise .

I seem to have more sympathy with UKDancer's approach to this than yours.

I've been on the receiving end so yes, it's personal and it's my experience.
You did make sweeping and somewhat self-serving generalisations, my
opposing view hopefully helps balance yours. I object to your demeaning
attempt to belittle it with an accusation of negativity.

If we didn't have opposing views there would be no debate here.
On this subject I can really let loose, and it's of little real relevance to AT,
so I'm stopping here. I also suggest you take your debate about ballroom
syllabuses, teaching, exams, medals and suchlike, elsewhere.

 

[tangotime]

On this subject I can really let loose, and it's of little real relevance to AT,
so I'm stopping here.
I also suggest you take your debate about ballroom
syllabuses, teaching, exams, medals and suchlike, elsewhere

.

I was NOT the one who brought up B/room into the debate, I was only responding to some of the posts making comparisons etc.

 

[fascination]

I would suggest that tangotime be able to post wherever in this forum that he sees fit...and I see no "demeaning attempt to belittle" anyone going on in that quote...

I am hopeful that we can simply stick to agreeing or disagreeing with one another in an agreeable fashion...thx

 

[Joe]

"I'm shocked, shocked that cliquishness is going on here..."
(Sir, that amazing follower over there sent you this note to dance with you)
"Oh, Thank you. "
quickly pockets note and hurries over to follower.

Bwhahahaha! "Round up the usual suspects!"

 

[nottomention]

I agree, but we should only whisper such things here. It just sounds too much like another dance, and you will upset the locals...

The locals would have a lot less to complain about if they had the opportunity to compare and understand the real forms of two dance styles, instead of the real form of one to the marketed form of the other.

 

[dchester]

Bwhahahaha! "Round up the usual suspects!"

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 

[UKDancer]

The locals would have a lot less to complain about if they had the opportunity to compare and understand the real forms of two dance styles, instead of the real form of one to the marketed form of the other.

Do they have a legitimate cause for complaint, at all? What's the issue?

And you sound very sure that the distinction exists. Given that nearly everyone who dances AT now, learned it from someone who learned it from one of the cast of an 80's tango show, none of whom danced in BsAs before 1955, I'm not at all sure that we have a 'real' form, just a 'current' one. Who is the arbiter: you? As for the 'marketed form' of those other dances, is there (and was there ever) any other sort of Slow Foxtrot, or Tango or Quickstep or Waltz or ...

AT & BR Tango diverged, from a common root, from around the time of the export of pre-Golden Age tango to Paris c1910. They have moved in different directions ever since. So?

 

[Zoopsia59]

Bwhahahaha! "Round up the usual suspects!"

The usual suspects seem to round themselves up here on the AT forum.

 

[AndaBien]

The usual suspects seem to round themselves up here on the AT forum.

I represent that!

 

[Zoopsia59]

Given that nearly everyone who dances AT now, learned it from someone who learned it from one of the cast of an 80's tango show, none of whom danced in BsAs before 1955, I'm not at all sure that we have a 'real' form, just a 'current' one.

Luckily "nearly everyone" is not everyone.

It's probably true that the majority, at least in the US, are heavily influenced by dancers from tango shows and/or alternative style (here usually referred to as nuevo, rightly or wrongly)

But it's not everyone thankfully. Unless of course, you consider Tete, Omar Vega and Ruben Terbalca to be 80's tango show dancers. There are others too, but I list only the ones I have personal experience of. Then there are those teachers who don't fit the description of someone who danced in BA prior to 1950 themselves, but who studied with those who did.

However, market demand drives supply. If no one wants a product, the suppliers of that product go out of business. Since it's very difficult to make a living teaching only a very traditional milonguero style learned in BA, (especially for a non-Argentine) then there are fewer and fewer people who will be specializing in it.

And of course, Tete and Omar are dead. (not sure about Ruben)

 

[Subliminal]

And you sound very sure that the distinction exists. Given that nearly everyone who dances AT now, learned it from someone who learned it from one of the cast of an 80's tango show, none of whom danced in BsAs before 1955, I'm not at all sure that we have a 'real' form, just a 'current' one. Who is the arbiter: you? As for the 'marketed form' of those other dances, is there (and was there ever) any other sort of Slow Foxtrot, or Tango or Quickstep or Waltz or ...

I'm not sure where you're coming from with that first comment... that's definitely not true in my area. I think Tete and some of the older milongueros had a bigger influence than you think.

Interestingly enough, I remember reading somewhere that Foxtrot as a social dance started out much like social AT. More freeform, and everyone had their own style.

 

[Lilly_of_the_valley]

Given that nearly everyone who dances AT now, learned it from someone who learned it from one of the cast of an 80's tango show, none of whom danced in BsAs before 1955

It is not a given, at least not in the majority of my community.
Some teachers like that are still existing and operating, but they become more and more isolated.