tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post2516122995640396935..comments2024-03-21T05:39:38.636-04:00Comments on Tango Therapist: In favor of bad techniqueTango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-38645843747452804522012-03-10T10:49:44.550-05:002012-03-10T10:49:44.550-05:00Ooops, for some reason my original comment (which ...Ooops, for some reason my original comment (which was on the old Tango Beat website) has disappeared. I wonder why. A technical glitch, I guess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-73711804956667626902012-01-31T16:37:03.364-05:002012-01-31T16:37:03.364-05:00Thanks Señorita Anonima! What Picasso said in one...Thanks Señorita Anonima! What Picasso said in one sentence says what I tried to say in far too many words.Tango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-59613148688378367292012-01-30T09:48:22.040-05:002012-01-30T09:48:22.040-05:00"It took me four years to paint like Raphael,..."It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." Pablo PicassoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-65685213497389337582012-01-29T06:38:50.276-05:002012-01-29T06:38:50.276-05:00Eric: Just as I agreed 100% wih Terpsi, I agree w...Eric: Just as I agreed 100% wih Terpsi, I agree with you. I even agree with Dieter who says technique is "alles." But this reasoning is also 100% incorrect. There are great artists, musicians, theologians, people who don't have the right ingredients to be great. But they are. Some musicians don't hold their instruments correctly; singers who have gravelly voices, artists who cannot paint a great portrait, lovers who don't have the right technique or equipment to be great. But they give from the deepest part of their heart in their art. They have something that cannot be bought but can be LOST by pursuing technique. I will not give this "quality" a name because it is unnameable. Perhaps "soul" comes closest. People lose their soul by searching for technique, and sometimes people find their soul by chasing technique. You and Terpsi both have perfect reasoning and a better platform of philosophy. I was being an iconoclast here, speaking to all the people who feel they have to give up tango because they will never be as good as you or Terpsi. They do not have discipline or talent. Dancing is no longer for their soul but a performance objective. Is there some value in challenging what everyone seems to be saying in classes? Is it worth it to wonder about the money machine of tango technique? 00zog00 and I are talking about soulfulness as musicians. I stand with the iconoclasts, knowing that you are right. Join me in being wrong.Tango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-78179830705054562852012-01-28T13:17:03.286-05:002012-01-28T13:17:03.286-05:00I totally agree with Terpsi here. You are confusin...I totally agree with Terpsi here. You are confusing the idea of technique with the idea of fancy steps.<br><br>Technique is required, because technique is what we use to communicate with our partner. It is our language. There are a plethora of details starting with body awareness that we must be capable of. Among them we must be able to internalize movement, keep our spines stretched and our free hip free. We must know how to articulate our hips and use our tailbone for stable and fluid movement within our body. We must know how to stay on our axis and move through our line of gravity. And we must be able to relax while doing all of that and more. Ganchos, boleos, leg wraps, event collection, those are all things that just happen as a result of proper technique in walking and movement. <br><br>If a partner is contorting themselves because of poor body awareness and technique, the dance will be unpleasant at best. If they are concentrating on "moves" rather than movement, the dance cannot be<br>smooth, or fluid. It will be contrived. <br><br>The dance should not be about who is watching you and learning moves to impress them. Moves and steps are not technique, maybe that is the confusion here.<br><br>You did say you were a technique nut but you also said that led you to high flying sticks, and more equipment than you actually needed. Take away the external showmanship, concentrate on good technique and being in the music, and that is the drummer you became. Lots of technique there. You were just able to relax into the music, and that revealed a better drummer than the one that had big drums and high flying sticks.<br><br>There are plenty of people that think steps and moves, are what tango is all about. There are also plenty of teachers willing to teach "Fast Food" tango, with all the shortcuts to give the impression of being able to dance, with none of the yumminess that proper technique brings.<br><br>The dance is about communicating with your partner and being in the moment with them and the music, to the point that the outside world disappears. There is nothing to show off, nothing to prove, only your partner and the music matter. Good technique is a requirement for that to happen. And with good technique, what feels good actually looks good.<br><br>Any "moves" that happen in this situation, are a result of the music, your partner, good technique and natural movement which makes every movement even more beautiful. <br><br>Moves and steps are not technique, so we should try not to confuse them.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00980050967497930198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-71510472715440979202011-11-22T10:22:52.642-05:002011-11-22T10:22:52.642-05:00I still disagree. What you dislike is tango escena...I still disagree. What you dislike is tango escenario (stage tango). So why not just say so, rather than pretending that the debate is somehow about technique, when it's clearly not.Terpsichoralhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12150778504060694415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-45792117077907825572011-11-21T06:10:53.238-05:002011-11-21T06:10:53.238-05:00Hi,I think of dance and music as a kind of communi...Hi,<br>I think of dance and music as a kind of communication. Technique is what enables you to express yourself, but most important of all is having something to say.<br>In my teen-age I used to be a heavy metal guitar player, I liked much especially Randy Rhoads and Kirk Hammett. Then people like Yngwie Malmsteen came, great technicians but they had nothing to say and you hardly spot the difference between two songs of theirs. We had a big bunch of "nothing" wonderfully said.<br>Boring.<br>But, on the other hand, the richer your technique is wider are your opportunities to express yourself.<br>I think the point is having something to say.<br><br>I'm enjoying your posts, keep writing!00zog00@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04406843279914007718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-37208014069962199182011-11-19T12:34:43.142-05:002011-11-19T12:34:43.142-05:00@ Terpsi... I think my title threw you off. I was...@ Terpsi... I think my title threw you off. I was hoping to catch the eye of people who do not think technique is not important, or those who LOVE technique for the wrong reasons. You are neither of these persons. I think if you read it again, you will see that we are in agreement. Technique has a very dark side, which I know that you have seen. It can be the way to pure showmanship that is a psychological dead-end (like a person who only values themselves through their beauty). It also can be a physical dead end. A performance focus in any physical or athletic event can ADD to the risk of injury. I was arguing for the art of long-distance social dancing and its outward and inward beauty. So, read it again. You LOVE my post! You just don't know it yet. :-)Tango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-71567332564408333052011-11-17T10:48:04.035-05:002011-11-17T10:48:04.035-05:00You won't wriggle out of this that easily :-)You won't wriggle out of this that easily :-)Terpsichoralhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12150778504060694415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-86078860200167924662011-11-17T01:31:34.853-05:002011-11-17T01:31:34.853-05:00Terpsi: I agree with everything you say in your c...Terpsi: I agree with everything you say in your comment. Who wrote that article on my blog? I am sure that whoever did it was trying to keep you up late at night and irritate the hell out of you! Please forgive. I have been hacked! And now the delete button fell off my computer. :-)Tango Therapisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12548118004604256736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035244062520832583.post-60765800169379652132011-11-16T13:56:09.181-05:002011-11-16T13:56:09.181-05:00Aaaaaaargh! I HATE this post! :-) But then, you kn...Aaaaaaargh! I HATE this post! :-) But then, you knew I would. (Full disclosure: Mark and I know each other as people, not just as bloggers and our disagreements are friendly, productive ones). <br><br>Technique has nothing whatsoever to do with fancy steps, or with being a former ballet dancer. Technique begins with walking comfortably in close embrace. And it continues with walking comfortably in close embrace...basically, well, for ever. The other main element of technique is dissociated movement. Most other elements in tango (including the boleos, ganchos, etc. you mention) are built on those two basic elements and don't necessarily require separate technique as such. Jumps and a few other stage moves are an exception, but, frankly, I don't know many technique classes which focus on those. <br><br>Technique for me is fundamentally about a) being able to internalise a way of moving so that it is fully incorporated and instinctual and when you are actually dancing you don't have to think about your technique but can focus on the music, connection with your partner, artistic expression in the widest sense, etc. This is analogous to a pianist practising scales so that when he or she is actually playing a piece they can focus on musical expression and not spend the whole time worrying "shall I play that C sharp with my little finger or my ring finger?" or "or no, my fingers are cramping up. I hate playing presto." <br><br>And b) it's about making the tango experience a physically pleasant experience for both of you: being able to manage your own weight and axis, not gripping, leaning, squeezing, hurting. <br><br>Most tango dancers I came across outside Buenos Aires cared about their technique way too little. They paid lip service to it, but how many of them actually practised it seriously? <br><br>Talk is cheap. It's easy to say you prefer connection or the artistic freedom or what have you. But practising your walk every day takes discipline. And shows that you care about your tango experience and that of other people.Terpsichoralhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12150778504060694415noreply@blogger.com