Revision: the Salon/Milonguero argument

Shoot me, but I have to open Pandora‘s box again.

Remember the discussion that evolved around the definition of Tango (de) Salón: For me, it is a generic term describing social Tango in contrast to Tango Escenario. For others, it is one particular style compared to Tango Milonguero, Apilado, del Centro, Orillero and many more. This style defines itself by its elegant walk, intricate decorations, complex turns in open embrace and a very distinct musical interpretation. It is mostly danced in the Milongas outside the city centre and nowadays all over Europe. The name „Villa Urquiza“ keeps popping up, but that‘s not the only barrio where they dance like this.

As I was lying in bed and remembering another reference to this topic, a couple of questions formed in my mind. Why have I not asked them earlier?

If Tango Salón is a particular style and not a generic term...

... why does the city of Buenos Aires organise a championship in which couples from all over the world compete in two categories: Tango Salón and Tango Escenario?  Is it not a tad discriminating to chose one style as the antagonist of Tango Escenario and exclude all other styles in this worldwide celebration of Tango? Why was there no uproar in the Tango community of Buenos Aires, especially from the „Milongueros“ of the centre?

... does the Campeonato explicitly exclude dancers who do not open the embrace for elegant turns from the competition because they do not dance Salón? (They forbid high boleos and ganchos, so why not forbid dancing in a close embrace?)

... how come they hold the Campeonato Metropolitano in different Milongas all over the city, also in the city centre, where many people dance in an unbroken close embrace? Why don‘t they exclude Milongas like, say, Club Gricel? 

... how come Cherie Magnus, my dear blogger-colleague and her partner Ruben made it to the finals of the IV Campeonato Metropolitano? They do not dance „Villa Urquiza“ style. 

... how come a couple like Osvaldo and Coca won the Campeonato Mundial in the Salón category in 2004? They certainly do not dance in the way described above. 

... what is - according to the representatives of this style - the Argentine generic term for social Tango in contrast to Tango Escenario and why did the organisers of the Campeonato Mundial not chose this expression?

Ok. These are my questions. If anyone can answer all of them in a satisfactory and logical manner, I will never again contradict your opinion.

Try!

I‘m a blogger - not anymore!

Exactly one year ago, I started blogging. I was planning to write about Tango, my studies and whatever is important to me. This turned out to be one of my most intensive Tango-years ever and the blog contributed to it. Writing about Tango so much kept me from doing other stuff. I even decided to give up my studies. I do not regret this step, but I would have wished to present a more diverse blog.

These were my most popular posts (by number of visits):

Good news. Really. 

Let‘s talk about sex! 

The eternal question: Salon or Milonguero? 

We have to try harder! 

Making choices: women‘s active participation in Tango. 

My personal favourites are the posts in which I wrote about my European Milonguero friends and the great Encuentros for Milongueros. Not just, because it was fun to write them, but because I really want to promote the philosophy of Tango as an embrace. Tango is a social event, an intimate encounter with friends all over the world. And thus very, very dear to me!

All in all, I liked blogging a lot. Mostly I wrote down, what I‘ve been discussing with other dancers and phrasing my ideas helped me to substantiate them. And I just love analyzing situations and writing "manuals" (kleine Leitfäden") like this one. 


I‘m also glad, that I stayed honest and spoke out about what really bothered or moved me. Even when it may have cost me some contracts. Many posts resulted in lively discussions and I got in contact with interesting new thoughts and people. I‘m proud to say, that my blog reached many dancers all over the world. In total, it was viewed over 44.000 times. Thank you all, my faithful readers!

But: the blog also attracted the usual crazies and trolls. I will never get over the fact, that someone who does not even know me personally, can hate me so much, that he (or she) will start attacking or insulting me publicly. Very often I was tempted to reply in a likewise rude manner but restrained myself. This nevertheless cost me a lot of energy and time, so they got what they wanted! Such people really can take the fun out of things. Maybe I‘m going to examine this peculiar online-behaviour one day... in case I ever return to Psychology. 

But for now, I‘m done with blogging about Tango. I‘ve written about everything, that is relevant to me and that is not already covered by other bloggers. I don‘t want to start reviewing music or writing poetry... Others can do that much better.. Also, I will not visit any new interesting Milonguero events coming year - I‘ll just go to the same ones again. Never change a winning team! 

So, there‘s nothing left to say at the moment. The blog is going to stay online, so that you can still ready my posts or link to them. And maybe I‘ll get new inspiration in the future. Or I‘m going to write about something completely different... I‘m already shifting my focus...

Just stay tuned. I might be back!

Goodbye.

Me in the blogs (updated 2013)

Some interviews with me or blog entries related to my work:

Interview with Melina as DJ by SuperSabino
Interview with Melina as a teacher on CamTango
Interview with Melina on Cassiels blog (part 1, part 2, part 3, german)
Translation of Cassiels interview on Tangocommuters blog (part 1, part 2, part 3, english)
Transcript and english explanation of a short teaching video on Ms. Hedgehogs blog
Reviews of some of our classes in Switzerland and a Tangoholiday in the south of France (No register on Patric's blog. A helpful reader posted the links to the reviews in the comments below.)
Review of the same Tangoholiday, from the point of view of a french participant.

There might be more that I don't know of. If you find one, please write me a note.

Post inbetween posts 6 - End of pause

I've been inactive for a couple of weeks. Due to work, studying, sewing, running and a lot of other activities I did not find the time to post on my blog.
I was also lacking the inspiration for a meaningful article. I know, that some bloggers use it as a kind of journal where they note random thoughts or scraps of ideas, things they find on the net... That's very fine, but I do that on Facebook already and wanna keep the blog for longer posts.
But do not worry: I'm back and my next post will surely lead to another lively discussion. 
It's about sex.

Post inbetween posts 5 - Sin Tango

So... I'm a couple of weeks into studying and as some of you may know, I took a month off from my Tango work. No teaching or dancing since mid February, so that I can concentrate on the studies. Kind of an intensive kick-off phase. That worked out nicely for me, although there is still a lot of Tango-organising and planning to do. That's why I'm never really Tango-free. ;-)

Do I miss dancing or teaching? No. There's too much other things to do, to read and to think. And as I know that I'll be travelling for the rest of the year without pause, I rather cherish the time at home. It's nice. And I'll be refreshed and newly motivated for work.

But, there's a problem: I've got nothing new to write about. Not about Tango anyway. My thoughts are evolving about the definition of modernity in history and literature, about the difference of historicism and historic social sciences, about the long 19th century, the industrial revolution and about Mr. Marx. My head is spinning and I cannot imagine how I can my thoughts in order to pass the exam. I am kinda scared.

Sometimes, I really ask myself: Why am I doing this? I do not need another qualification, I do not need another academic title... I am doing it for the sheer pleasure of learning and yet I am condemming myself to years of studying in my rare free time. That's no fun anymore. I must be crazy. Ok. I can live with that. 

But do not dispair: I'll be back in the Tango world from next weekend on and there'll be much more to write about...

No rest for the wicked!

Post inbetween posts 4 - I'm not a cheerful blogger

Since I've started this blogging business, I‘ve visited lots of other blogs. Most of the Tangueros write about music or famous Maestros, share their lovely experiences or review the Milongas, that they have visited. I‘ve read so many great stories, that make me feel like Ebenezer Scrooge, always nagging ... I‘m really sorry.

But: That‘s just me. I‘m not the cheerful, romantic person who gets all googly eyed, when seeing a new dancer enter the room and compliments him on his super technique. I‘m the gal who complains about that same guy showing off on the dance floor. 

Believe me, I‘ve had lots of wonderful experiences in Tango, at Milongas, during classes, in the exchange with friends. If not, I would not keep on doing it. But I will most likely not write about these moments of bliss. There are enough people who do that.

I want to go on writing about the stuff, that many do not care to express. Sometimes, this may be provocative, contradictory to other people's opinion and not "tango-politically correct". I know that there are quite a few, who share my opinions, but don't dare to make a statement, because they are scared of "loosing contracts" or making enemies. I‘m not and I believe that talking about all aspects of a phenomenon - also the negative ones - leads to development! 

I nevertheless do stay polite and try not to insult other people's feelings.

And this is what I ask from people who comment on my blog as well. I do accept critique and lively discussions with Tangueros, who do not share my opinion, as you can very well see in the commentaries. But now people start threatening or insulting me anonymously or by using pseudonyms. I can cope with them personally, but I do not have to give them a voice on my blog. This is why, from now on, commentaries will be moderated. This is not an open forum, but my private blog. Do not hesitate to comment though. Usually I read the blog once per day and if you do stick to the rules of polite conversation, I will of course post you commentary.

Everyone else, readers and commentators, I thank with all my heart for taking the time to read my blog.

Post in between posts 3 - get to the point!

Ok... I already mentioned, that I like to lecture and my posts tend to get a little longer, did I not? The last one got much longer, than I intendet it to be. I vow to shorten my posts in future! At least, when writing about Tango.... which I do most of the time. ;-)
My next post will nevertheless NOT be about Tango. It's gonna deal with the long 19th century and you're gonna see, that this one was longer than others... no kidding.

Post in between posts 1

I'm currently reviewing my first post and preparing some new ones. But in between posts, I just wanted to point out some banal and in the same time crucial facts about me and my writing:

1. Whatever I write is subjective, because I can only observe things from my point of view. But I try nevertheless to approach objectivity as much as possible.
2. Not everything, that I write will be new. You may have heard similar thoughts from other people or even from me. If you know me personally, we may have already talked about certain topics. I do not aspire originality, I just write about stuff, that matters to me.
3. I am not insulted by critical comments, if you keep them polite. I do not own the truth and there are differing opinions to almost every topic. Being a tangoteacher and dancing awhile does not make me omniscient. I am well aware of that.
4. I have got nevertheless a tendency to "lecturing". That comes from my scientific background and a general disposition to know-it-all. I just like writing - as Detlef likes to call them - "small manuals". When I was ten, I wrote a manual about Vampires (how to become a vampire, how to reject one, how to destroy them etc.). It's somehow in the genes. Please forgive me.

So, that's it for the moment.
Wish you all a pleasant day.

I'm a blogger

As of now, I'm a blogger.
Or better: I'm trying it out.

I definetely like writing and I've got opinions. Lots. And I'm travelling all over the world, meeting people, experiencing good and bad situations. So some of the stuff might be interesting for other people as well.

The problems are:

1. I'm not a english native speaker, my mother language is german. So I may not be able to express myself well enough, to make the reading agreeable. But I'll try my best.

2. I'm kind of known in the Tango community, but don't want to stay anoymous. So I will try to write about my experiences without hurting or insulting the feelings and opinions of the people I work with: organizers, Tango clubs, collegues and students. But I want to be honest as well. I might therefore write things, that critique what I encounter. I will have to live with the results.
3. I don't want to limit myself to writing about Tango, as I'm interested in other things as well: literature, history, TV shows, people, everyday life... And I don't know, if this mix is interesting enough for the Tango community who knows me and who is mainly interested in Tango. But hey - you don't have to read it. ;-)

Why blog now?
I recently gave an interview with the german Tangoblogger Cassiel, that was also translated and posted by Tangocommuter. Up until then, I had very rarely read blogs and did not feel comfortable with the format. But I kinda got hooked up, when I noticed, how interested readers are and how they respond to blogs. You can really reach a lot of people....

So, here you go...