more tango nuevo

jhpark said:
so, this is probably a stupid question, but what makes the first video tango nuevo? okay, i only watched the first two minutes (the song bored me pretty quickly), but i saw lots of sacadas, ganchos, blocks, leg wraps, colgadas, etc. all in open.

wasn't all that done in 'traditional' tango as well? what's new about it? is it the predominance of those kinds of motions?

i guess i'm curious because i don't see myself as adhering to any particular style, at least not consciously. definitely not 'milongeuro' -- definitely not nuevo. elements of both, probably... but whenever i read that such and such is supposed to be a distinctive of one style or other, i end up thinking, isn't that just a subset of tango?

when i care to think about it, i get confused...
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my impression was that ganchos, leg wraps, big sacadas and definately colgadas are all nuevo tango, or things that are social faux pas in traditional tango. I'm no expert, and happy to accept that I'm wrong, but friends who have come back from BA say they only see those at places like practica X.
 
Peaches said:
Heh...that debate... I think it depends on the audience.
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Though your post is understood, it is indeed about the audience, but more about the intent. If one is dancing socially, the intent (making the audience feel involved is moot). If one is performing, then the intent (making the audience feel involved is of the utmost importance. And, it should be mentioned that a good couple can do this w/wo flashy nonsense.

spectator said:
my impression was that ganchos, leg wraps, big sacadas and definately colgadas are all nuevo tango, or things that are social faux pas in traditional tango. .... but friends who have come back from BA say they only see those at places like practica X.
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Partly correct. Voleos/ganchos/wee sacadas are mainstays of traditional tango, though not as prevalent in all styles. The big, flashy crap that most people "think" is impressive is a social faux pas in most places. In BsAs, all of it is done. It's just that, in many places, there is a time and place for doing it, and unlike many places in the U.S., this is respected.
 
Angel HI said:
Voleos/ganchos/wee sacadas are mainstays of traditional tango, though not as prevalent in all styles. The big, flashy crap that most people "think" is impressive is a social faux pas in most places. In BsAs, all of it is done. It's just that, in many places, there is a time and place for doing it, and unlike many places in the U.S., this is respected.
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i would agree with this but I would say that the 'fancy stuff' is more done on stage;
Small sacadas and boloes are very nice but here is hard to find dancers who do them well enough to keep them as a small fiure suitable for a busy dance floor
 
I finally had a chance to look at "Tango Bar" again. I seemed to remember that there was an awful lot of the moves that are usually thought of as nuevo in there. There is in particluar one scene in which dancers dance to "La Comparsita'. They appear to be in very close proximity to each other, based on the positions of their feet. You see, the first 2/3 of the scene shows only their feet and legs. Again, many many, very complicated movements and "foot play". Finally, we see the dancers from the chest up and note they they are all probably in their 60s or older.
The film has a 1988 copyright.
Fabian Salas states that the first meetings of their "Tango Investigations" happened "before 1990", and most sources list the years 1995 - 1997 as the years for the Tango Investigation Group". So it is extremely unlikely that the filmed performances were influenced by "Nuevo".
One thing to take away is that it is possible to do these things on the social dance floor by taking small steps and small movements. But it would take both partners would have to be pretty good to pull it off. What is very difficult is to do these things precisely enough to not run into or kick others. And what is probably most difficult is to do them as an expression of the music.
 
Welcome to the DF opendoor!

I LOVE your avatar. :) Where did you find that hilarious picture? It reminds me so much of Buster Keaton.
 
Re: Keaton

Me said:
... Where did you find that hilarious picture? It reminds me so much of Buster Keaton.
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Hi Me,

you are right, that is Buster Keaton, and thats the story: I´m just dancing for a short time (2 years) and I am an autodidact. That means, I am my own teacher. About Christmas I saw a couple dancing the carpa and I knew that it would be my next lesson. So I browsed the web to get the steps and the vids. And somehow, with the keywords carpa, calesita e.g. I came across that picture of Keaton. The day over I tried out the steps with socks on the floor alone and in the evening with shoes in a milonga...

Greetings from Hamburg
Andreas
 
Oh my goodness! It is the great stone face himself? I would love to have that image! Can you remember where you found it? If so, would you mind sending me the link?

Thank you for the reply. :) It is great to meet you.
 
Peaches said:
Regarding the deadpan expression--I see that on the vast majority of dancers, regardless of style. I know I'm the same way. It's not lack of emotion, necessarily, just concentration on anything and everything other than what my face is doing. If I wanted to think about facial expressions and emoting for other people, I'd be interested in ballroom. Which I'm not. (In fact, I hate the ballroom emoting.)

I don't see how it's a big deal, though, that they look like they're not enjoying it. I'm sure they probably are enjoying themselves--else, why would they spend enough.
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REreading this thread I am reminded of "Strictly Ballroom"
and the hairspray smiles that Ballroom dancers have to have!
 
Me said:
... It is great to meet you...
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. . . and I am disappointing you: everthing lost, the copy, the link. Searched the web over, last night, but I could not find the image again. I remember it was on a tango page concerning "calesita" or "carpa" or "steps". I deleted the file after writing opendoor to it with photoshop - great mistake ! And the avatar is to small to get the writing off.

So sorry, Me !

Andreas
 
opendoor said:
. . . everthing lost, the copy, the link. Searched the web over, last night, but I could not find the image again. I remember it was on a tango page concerning "calesita" or "carpa" or "steps".

Andreas
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Aw, well thank you for trying! I will search for it... Maybe one day I will find it. :)

I just absolutely love Buster Keaton. Always have! I have videos of his dancing but don't have one of a tango situation. Maybe he falls into a carpa in one of them as a joke... I will go look!
 
Beautiful!

So much connection. And, despite it being nuevo with the reputation that nuevo has, I could see the vast majority of that being danced socially.

Thank you.
 
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