Wednesday, September 11, 2013

R/evolutionary

They are one of the most popular itinerant teaching couples in my area; they come through frequently and draw increasingly large crowds to their classes and milongas. And with their personal friendliness, energy, and humor, in addition to their graceful dancing--which is also warm, energetic, and humorous--it is little wonder why.

As I watch them perform at the milonga, a contrast occurs to me, and I can't seem to get the idea out of my mind. It is based on a phrase I read recently in the comments on a tango blog, which I have since been unable to relocate. Someone remarked, as I recall, that a particular couple was really trying to push the limits of what tango could be. (I really, really wish I could find it again, to rewatch the video they were referring to and check exactly what was said! Alas, I cannot spend the entire night searching tonight, so I'll have to try again later.)

The couple I was now watching, I thought, was not trying to push the limits of what tango could be. What they seemed to me to be doing was taking what tango already is and perform it as beautifully, with as much expression of their feeling for the music and for each other, as possible. Which is, perhaps, itself a kind of revolution.