I will start my post with a phrase from one of my favourite books, ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’, by Robert Pirsing. Among other things, the author says that ‘the difference between fashion and style is quality..’. And this is what exactly tango is all about. Fashion, trends and lifestyle come and go, often pushing people to habits, lifestyles and tastes, driven by ephemerous aesthetic criteria. But…
Through the years, decades and centuries there is something that sustains through the whirls of time, a ‘sediment’ that is always in fashion, whether it is in architecture, clothes, art and manners… And this, according to my humble opinion, is because it has reached a perfect balance, it has achieved beauty and virtue, stripped by any ideological, or aesthetic trends. Parthenon and the Casa Mila will be always considered nice buildings, as the Adagio of Albinoni and Yesterday from the Beatles will always touch people’s souls. And this is the reason that tango has survived 40 years of prohibition in Argentina, to conquer the world from the 80s to now. Because it comprises one of the best miniatures of life, one of the most ‘real’ forms of human communication and contact…
The Italians on the other hand, they know very well what the term ‘sediment’ is all about. They walk every day to go to their homes or jobs next to architectural miracles from the Renaissance and the Romaic times. They had to design their modern houses, schools and churches in such a way, so that they would stand next to the older ones and they would look ok. In other words their sense of aesthetics and equilibrium has been fine tuned through the centuries, under the reference of the immortal beauty of their history. They were taught by history to respect the ‘sediment’. And in general they do it….
They know that the simple things are the beautiful ones and that to advance to more complex structures it is necessary to have communication and to take time. And they know that they have to respect tradition, as most of the times one can find there all the possible experimentations and future forms. And they will devote time and effort to comprehend it and they may even give up and find shelter there, as they have lived beautiful and pleasant lives in their old cities. Sometimes they try breakthroughs and they fail and others they succeed, but they cannot and don’t want to forget their references, as they have nice visions and experiences from there. Italy is a traditional and nostalgic country that can become really modern when it really finds a reason to do so; otherwise it enjoys the pleasure of living with the accumulated experience of the past. That's why Italy is famous for the style (and the fashion at the same time)…
And once Italians have conquered style they transformed it into lifestyle and they introduced it to all aspects of life, including tango. That’s a good reason that tango in Italy is brilliant; but it’s not the only one… It’s also because half of the citizens of Argentina in the 19th-20th century were Italian emigrants. It’s because when you listen to a canzoneta napoletana, you feel like you meet the grandfather of 'Malena '. It’s because Italians like to stay at home and the ‘creatures of the night’ find shelter only to organised dancing activities to stay out until after midnight. And it’s because the way the Italian women are…..
And they are really awesome; beautiful, sensual, interesting, polite, respectful, one could say that they are perfect… But they are not accessible… Italy is probably the only country where women are equal to men, they are respected in the society and they can be… women at the same time! They can act irrationally, they can have the time they need to do ‘their feminin things’, they can be fragile and sentimental and most of all, desired… But for some reason, they will say 'no' to men two times more, to what they would really like even themselves… (for an amazing text on Italian women see http://mediterranean-lifestyles.blogspot.com/2007/06/ageless-italian-beauty.html)
And the men… they've just learned to enjoy life separately from the women, to enjoy friendship, sports, their beautiful country and most of all they have learned to try! They work hard, they do the best they can to convince one of these awesome ‘ragazzas’ to come closer. And it is true that they have reached extremely high standards of communication skills, pleasant character, appearance and of course… dancing skills! Yes, the Italians dance well tango, salsa and everything, because… they have to!
Furthermore, it’s generally observed that when such ‘traditional’ ethics are dominant in a place's mentality, social forms and codes of interaction are favoured. And of course tango cannot be exempted, as it also fits perfectly to the prevailing Italian style and comportment. This small theatrical parenthesis of passion, lyricism and devotion is tailor made for the Italians. They love it and they can put there all the gathered energy from their (more) passive lives; they can have their perfect moment, with no guilt, as it is put into a frame of an acceptable social activity. And they dance tango like crazy and they dance really well!
Italians in general like communication. They know how to listen and they have a nice way to express themselves, with respect for their listener. And they have high standards for what is good or beautiful and they really care to make it perfect. It’s just like they eat pasta and gelato all through the year, but on the other hand they have transformed their preparation into a supreme form of art. But as they are simple and calm when they communicate, they are passionate in the spirit…
As a result, tango in Italy is rather simple and passionate. Lots of closed abrazos (milongero style), but perfect, smooth caminatas coupled with energy, passion and communication. The perfect moment of two people who meet, learn each other and live together strong emotions. And what is magic is that the level of the dancers is usually above a high threshold, so people dance with each other, they exchange a lot and they get better, bringing the milonga to the level of a real social gathering. It's difficult to dance a bad tango in Italy... No soltadas, volcadas and other acrobatic things are necessary, you just have to listen to the music and control your body well. And if you don’t, you don’t fit to this place, because quality is a prerequisite to participate. Avant-garde fantasy and breakthroughs should be perfectly expressed to be accepted, as people they don’t like to feel that they try to go beyond their capacities and most of all they don’t want the ‘invisible cord’ of perfect communication broken, as this is what they love. The feeling of bringing two bodies in one and they will not miss that for any fancy move… Tradition, equilibrium, measure, blended with pure passion, communication and musicality.... Ma tu balli il tango?
Through the years, decades and centuries there is something that sustains through the whirls of time, a ‘sediment’ that is always in fashion, whether it is in architecture, clothes, art and manners… And this, according to my humble opinion, is because it has reached a perfect balance, it has achieved beauty and virtue, stripped by any ideological, or aesthetic trends. Parthenon and the Casa Mila will be always considered nice buildings, as the Adagio of Albinoni and Yesterday from the Beatles will always touch people’s souls. And this is the reason that tango has survived 40 years of prohibition in Argentina, to conquer the world from the 80s to now. Because it comprises one of the best miniatures of life, one of the most ‘real’ forms of human communication and contact…
The Italians on the other hand, they know very well what the term ‘sediment’ is all about. They walk every day to go to their homes or jobs next to architectural miracles from the Renaissance and the Romaic times. They had to design their modern houses, schools and churches in such a way, so that they would stand next to the older ones and they would look ok. In other words their sense of aesthetics and equilibrium has been fine tuned through the centuries, under the reference of the immortal beauty of their history. They were taught by history to respect the ‘sediment’. And in general they do it….
They know that the simple things are the beautiful ones and that to advance to more complex structures it is necessary to have communication and to take time. And they know that they have to respect tradition, as most of the times one can find there all the possible experimentations and future forms. And they will devote time and effort to comprehend it and they may even give up and find shelter there, as they have lived beautiful and pleasant lives in their old cities. Sometimes they try breakthroughs and they fail and others they succeed, but they cannot and don’t want to forget their references, as they have nice visions and experiences from there. Italy is a traditional and nostalgic country that can become really modern when it really finds a reason to do so; otherwise it enjoys the pleasure of living with the accumulated experience of the past. That's why Italy is famous for the style (and the fashion at the same time)…
And once Italians have conquered style they transformed it into lifestyle and they introduced it to all aspects of life, including tango. That’s a good reason that tango in Italy is brilliant; but it’s not the only one… It’s also because half of the citizens of Argentina in the 19th-20th century were Italian emigrants. It’s because when you listen to a canzoneta napoletana, you feel like you meet the grandfather of 'Malena '. It’s because Italians like to stay at home and the ‘creatures of the night’ find shelter only to organised dancing activities to stay out until after midnight. And it’s because the way the Italian women are…..
And they are really awesome; beautiful, sensual, interesting, polite, respectful, one could say that they are perfect… But they are not accessible… Italy is probably the only country where women are equal to men, they are respected in the society and they can be… women at the same time! They can act irrationally, they can have the time they need to do ‘their feminin things’, they can be fragile and sentimental and most of all, desired… But for some reason, they will say 'no' to men two times more, to what they would really like even themselves… (for an amazing text on Italian women see http://mediterranean-lifestyles.blogspot.com/2007/06/ageless-italian-beauty.html)And the men… they've just learned to enjoy life separately from the women, to enjoy friendship, sports, their beautiful country and most of all they have learned to try! They work hard, they do the best they can to convince one of these awesome ‘ragazzas’ to come closer. And it is true that they have reached extremely high standards of communication skills, pleasant character, appearance and of course… dancing skills! Yes, the Italians dance well tango, salsa and everything, because… they have to!
Furthermore, it’s generally observed that when such ‘traditional’ ethics are dominant in a place's mentality, social forms and codes of interaction are favoured. And of course tango cannot be exempted, as it also fits perfectly to the prevailing Italian style and comportment. This small theatrical parenthesis of passion, lyricism and devotion is tailor made for the Italians. They love it and they can put there all the gathered energy from their (more) passive lives; they can have their perfect moment, with no guilt, as it is put into a frame of an acceptable social activity. And they dance tango like crazy and they dance really well!Italians in general like communication. They know how to listen and they have a nice way to express themselves, with respect for their listener. And they have high standards for what is good or beautiful and they really care to make it perfect. It’s just like they eat pasta and gelato all through the year, but on the other hand they have transformed their preparation into a supreme form of art. But as they are simple and calm when they communicate, they are passionate in the spirit…
As a result, tango in Italy is rather simple and passionate. Lots of closed abrazos (milongero style), but perfect, smooth caminatas coupled with energy, passion and communication. The perfect moment of two people who meet, learn each other and live together strong emotions. And what is magic is that the level of the dancers is usually above a high threshold, so people dance with each other, they exchange a lot and they get better, bringing the milonga to the level of a real social gathering. It's difficult to dance a bad tango in Italy... No soltadas, volcadas and other acrobatic things are necessary, you just have to listen to the music and control your body well. And if you don’t, you don’t fit to this place, because quality is a prerequisite to participate. Avant-garde fantasy and breakthroughs should be perfectly expressed to be accepted, as people they don’t like to feel that they try to go beyond their capacities and most of all they don’t want the ‘invisible cord’ of perfect communication broken, as this is what they love. The feeling of bringing two bodies in one and they will not miss that for any fancy move… Tradition, equilibrium, measure, blended with pure passion, communication and musicality.... Ma tu balli il tango?
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