Mugre

[opendoor]

AS1. Tango Mugre . Looks like the same instructors also have a caminata and mugre workshop...

What leaves me speechless is the constant reference to the terminally ill Carlos Gavito, reducing him to this one poster. The man danced folk and rock. In the tango stage shows, he was responsible for lifts and acrobatics. Isn't that strange:

By Florencia Hwayi Han
In 2004, I saw the late great Carlos Gavito perform in Buenos Aires. I still cannot forget the emotion I felt..

 

[Brummbaer]

Looks like the same instructors also have a caminata and mugre workshop —- Esteban & Claudia Codega

So, the latest 'USP'?

You know it when you see it, but can they market it? Is it just an 'Argentinian' product? Perhaps more important, do you actually 'get' something afterwards?

 

[Miradamiranda]

I think it’s a newer idea but here is a workshop as to how to use musical mugre and apply it to the dance interpretation - AS1. Tango Mugre .

I think that article describes it well. I see it as the opposite of sterile perfection. I see Ignacio Varchausky is mentioned there too. I’ve done a series of seminars of his, and he often points out how some musical imperfections add to the quality. Things that are hard to precisely notate but a feel that develops collectively among the musicians, or learned by ear.

 

[Bailango]

I had never heard of the term “mugre” before this thread, but it made me realise that it is how I dance, and it explains something that I didn’t previously understand properly. I danced with a woman from Uruguay last year who dances a lot in Buenos Aires. She danced with me and said that she was surprised to find someone in Europe dancing what she termed “traditional Buenos Aires Milonguero tango” and demanded to know who my teacher was as she “didn’t think there were any Argentinians currently actually teaching in this style”. I didn’t understand this at the time but I’m now sure that she was referring to this “mugre” aesthetic.

I had exact same experience twice with a lady who is her 60s. First time I danced with her, after first or second song she asked where I learnt. She was very surprised that I learnt locally. She said I dances like they lead in BsAs. After third song she said my musicality reminded her of dancing in BsAs. At end of the Tanda she said she was one of the instructors (I later found out that she and her partner have been teaching for 15-20 years) and she was hosting an encuentro and extended an invitation to me as her guest.

Two years later I again ran into her. She said the repeated the same thing after first song. She didn’t recognize me. I was again invited to Encuentro she and her partner were hosting.

I developed my own style. I never been to BsAs. I reject what she said had anything to do with aesthetic.

“Authentic” is an adjective that often gets weaponised by those who fall into the trap of “one true way”. Every dance that has a cultural origins - has a certain flavor, certain aesthetic, certain style that by the way of osmosis is absorbed by the natives. It is hard for outsiders to be able to cultivate it. It is like a language. You could be fluent, but you may not be able to have same accent and flow like a native would.

 

[Rabbit]

. It is like a language. You could be fluent, but you may not be able to have same accent and flow like a native would.

But your anecdote in the first paragraph suggests that the accent isn't actually important

 

[Bailango]

But your anecdote in the first paragraph suggests that the accent isn't actually important

I never said and no one says it is important. I was drawing an analogy. Fluency and speaking like a local/native are two different things. Corollary is that speaking natively doesn’t necessary mean you are fluent.The bottomline is that “authentic” is a fig leaf.

 

[opendoor]

...First time I danced with her.. She said I dances like they lead in BsAs.. she was one of the instructors.. teaching for 15-20 years..

(I know you're a very good dancer, this ahead)

But to set the record straight: In general, this feedback means in a veiled way that one is a bad dancer!

 

[Brummbaer]

In general, this feedback means in a veiled way that one is a bad dancer!

In general because one sees good and bad as binary opposites.

There's, at least, a progression (maybe):

• Bad
• Poor
• Mediocre
• Fair
• Decent
• Fine
• Good

And we also get 'good enough'.

But I don't think that perspective gets us very far. We have a historic situation of dancers with a 'bad boy' (or 'girl'!) background, but talented. We then have those (students) who seek to build in some of that 'style' into their own dance such that it becomes a way, or style, of dancing like that. Then we get to teachers marketing aspects of that style as their add-on - that aspect which sets them apart.

It also gets to: What is seen as 'good'?

 

[opendoor]

What a coincidence, because I'm currently at a workshop on NVC. I didn't take my post too seriously. Of course, that doesn't necessarily apply to every reader.
So, tanks for the reminder!

 

[Bailango]

But to set the record straight: In general, this feedback means in a veiled way that one is a bad dancer!

May be to them bad dancing is what they think is good dancing