Dancing in Context - Part 1

Like personal engagements with many forms of art,"what really happened" in any culture's history), it is
deciding whether to learn about the history ofgenerally understood that dancing tango during this
Argentine Tango depends largely on what type oftime was the most common form of social
relationship one wants with the dance. One need notexpression; that is, going out to milongas is just what
be an expert on the difference in time signature orpeople did. Various styles of dancing and music
tempo between valses and milongas or on thedeveloped, accessible and specialized, and they were
effects of the anti-Peronist political coup on theshared and mystified, but they existed and drew
popularity and accessibility of tango music and socialpeople to dance and socialize nightly. Although we are
dancing, for example, to be attracted to and enjoyin a very different cultural moment now in the United
taking tango classes or dancing socially or toStates, understanding tango with this frame--as one
spectating dance or musical performances. And itmethod to express sociality--takes the pressure off
would be reductive to argue that knowing thisme to compete with other dancers and, most simply
information equates to more proficient dancing. Thisand most importantly, makes dancing and learning
does not mean, however, that there is little value inmore fun.
historical and contextual investigation. In fact, I argueUnderstanding this social context has also helped me
that knowing about the historical and rhetoricalbetter determine with what type of teacher I want
context of any part of our lives better equips us toto study. I want to learn with instructors who
articulate the reasons for our life choices. And this isemphasize physical technique and vocabulary that are
exactly the point. Having access to knowledge canuseful in a social and improvised environment instead
help us establish, however tentatively, what kind ofof those who load up students with memorized
relationship we want with the dance, what kind ofsteps that ignore the pragmatics of dancing with
students and teachers and dancers we are and wantdifferent partners outside of that particular class.
to be, and what tango adds to our lives. This, ofAlthough I may have been able to figure this out on
course, can change as our dancing experiences andmy own, my formal knowledge has certainly
dancing relationships change, and it is within thiscomplemented the inexpressible feelings I have in my
adventure that the beauty of the art lies.gut about what constitutes a "good" learning
Creating a framework for how to think about myexperience from a "weird" one, and it gives me a
involvement with Argentine Tango has becomecontext for decisions based on those experiences.
particularly useful to me as I continue to study andI first wanted to learn to dance Argentine Tango out
dance. For example, thinking about tango as socialof curiosity. I became romantically involved with a
expression has helped me ground my study asdance teacher, and I wanted to know more about
anti-competitive. This may seem a bit counterintuitive.what his life was like--as much as I could as a
One might think that emphasizing the socialbeginning student. This wasn't very long ago, and I
interactions--meeting new people, connecting withcontinue to study as a beginning learner, having
friends and enemies, developing dancing andalready satiated my inquiry into my steady's line of
community relationships--encourages dancers towork. I realize this story isn't very interesting, but
compare abilities and styles in a competitive manner.what I think is worth discussing are the reasons one
And perhaps, for some, it does. But what is usefulcontinues to study Argentine Tango despite its
for me here is thinking about the way people dancedphysical and sociocultural inaccessibility. Understanding
in Argentina during what is referred to as the Goldena bit about our relationships with tango through
Age of Tango, roughly mid-1930's to mid-1950's.learning about its history is perhaps one avenue into
Although the cultural memory of Argentine Tango isfeeling encouraged and motivated to continue learning
at times uncertain (like many other discussions ofand, eventually, to finding our own voices.