ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
But there is, of course, and it's a big one. Several factors are involved.
Leaders. How was your Tango journey?
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ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Craft is the least of it. Craft is simply a fundamental requirement.
Well, I consider my social dancing to be art since I am constantly making conscious interpretative choices both on a macro level (what are the principles of my style) and micro level (how to express this musical passage with this partner in this space)
You could argue that dancers just following a template laid out for them by others aren't engaged artistically though. Although I'm not sure how to classify symphony orchestra players or ballet dancers in that case?
What they do at the level they do can’t be replicated easily. Talent + years of practice.
Professions players play sports at the highest level. People play for leisure. Some people playing for leisure participate in competitive leagues. Messi or Ronaldo is a soccer player. If you play soccer you are a soccer player too. Only adjective used to differentiate is “professional player”. The “professional” not is only about getting paid or doing so full time like a job (a professional player could be neither) but also having attained a certain degree of competence that many can’t match.
opendoor
Forum Master
In the alternative milonga about 50 with little deviation, and in the other twenty something.
LadyLeader
Forum Master
For me dance becomes art when a step/movement is combined with a feeling/emotion.
So a dance can be art for a single person, a couple or a group of audience: if their feelings/emotions are activated by it. Great art activates a world wide audience but the personal art is important for that person.
I monitor my musicality by this. At the very beginning I used to walk to tango and formed a rule of empty steps and meaningful steps. When I had a feeling of meaning I thought I was relating to the music in the correct way and if the steps were empty, random I had to change timing/something. By now my peers and teachers appreciate my timing and several music trained persons have positively commented on it so my dancing is ok for them also. In this way I try to check if my internal feeling has value to my peers too or if it is valuable only for me.
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If you are interested I have written about similar aspects of dance earlier
Actors advice to a tango dancer
leadingladyl.blogspot.com
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
You're free, of course, to classify what you do any way you like. But that's a purely personal estimation of what you're doing. There is certainly intentionality and design in choreography in the case of modern dance. There is also the matter of concept and expression. I don't want to get bogged down in a pointless discussion of what art is, but we don't need to consider any of the well-known milongueros as artists in order to appreciate what they have done. Performers all believe they are artists. As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on that. It's a label I don't use lightly.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
A rather individualistic definition of "art."
Be Present
Well-Known Member
But you started it based on your own personal definition, and the personal belief systems are actually relevant because they ultimately define how people dance and whom we are compatible with
LadyLeader
Forum Master
I think I maybe agree with you on this!
A lot of people are doing wood work and schools have classes for children. But you are called for a carpenter when it is your profession or a great activity in your life.
In the same way art work can be part of a persons life but s/he is not an artist.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Did I? I believe that was in response to another comment. I don't believe it defines how we dance though unless you specifically set out to be a performer, which I am not. (I don't believe that makes one an artist, simply that the goals would be different.) Be that as it may, it's not a question we're going to resolve here.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
That's a more nuanced view. I prefer to think of it as artistry when it comes to dance. And for social dance, for most people, even that is more of an aspiration than anything else given the skill set involved. That's not a criticism of social dancers by the way.I think I maybe agree with you on this!
A lot of people are doing wood work and schools have classes for children. But you are called for a carpenter when it is your profession or a great activity in your life.
In the same way art work can be part of a persons life but s/he is not an artist.
Mr. Moustachio
Active Member
I guess "projection" means "extending the leg." The teachers teach different things. One says, "Don't bend the knee." Another says, "Bend the knee." One walks with his head at a constant level. Another walks with his head bobbing up and down. Each teacher acts as if his/her way is the only way.
The problem with videos is that even if you agree with the video, the video doesn't tell you what you're doing wrong.
I don't think that one has to consider themselves (or be) an artist to create art - for me dance is in the same vaguely defined space as cooking (or woodworking) is - mostly an artisan craft that has a component of art, but where often people who try too hard to push the art aspect are at risk of losing the practicalities of the craft, and where the most impressive experiences manage to be valid both as art and utilitarian craft. Some people do amazing things with foams, but people who get fascinated with the foam part can create amazingly unsatisfactory experiences.
But then for me tango is the social dance at a milonga, and everything else is either prep for the social dance, or hypertrophied demonstrations of social dance skills.