Why technique in tango really matters and why often it really doesn't
Veronica Toumanova, original text is here
Does technique matter in tango? Yes. When you want to enjoy an activity, learning a skill and then perfecting it will give you more joy. Technique gives you - primarily - a certain comfort in what you do. It makes you move with less effort. It allows for a dance that is richer, more complex. It moves you to the next level in the hierarchy of dancers in your community. It makes you enjoy the dance much more. The formula "better technique = better experience" is valid. However, the formula "good technique = good tango" is incorrect. Or rather, it is incomplete.
The remark I hear most often from a dancer about another dancer is this: "You know, I really enjoyed dancing with him/her. S/he might not be the best dancer in the room, or maybe even far from it, but s/he has a really nice�" (here follows an aspect of the person's dance such as embrace, connection, musicality, presence, energy, passion, and so on).
As you see, some of it IS technique, but most of it is not. Often people stress that it is enjoyable DESPITE a lack of technique. So what makes people want to dance with someone who might be below their technical level, or with hardly any technique at all? What makes them stick to the dancer they know instead of trying someone new? What makes them pick a new dancer from all the others sitting around?
I call it the "human factor". For me, the correct formula is "human factor + technique = good tango experience". So, what is "human factor" in tango?
First, it is the way you relate to yourself. The way you see, feel and present yourself. The way you like, dislike, love or despise yourself. The way you feel about your dance, your technique, your looks, femininity, masculinity, posture, level and so on. Human factor is about how much you love yourself and how much of this love shines through your presence. It is about how confident your are in showing yourself, because when you dance, everyone will see the whole person that you are. It takes courage to show yourself in this way. As one flamenco teacher said: "You cannot learn to move beautifully if deep inside you are convinced of your ugliness". No teacher can teach you good tango if you don't love your body. If you are struggling with technique, maybe the right thing to do is not to learn a better ocho, but to learn how to love and admire your body first. How ready are you to enjoy your dance, or are you only looking for errors? Did you bring yourself in a good mood before coming to the milonga? Are you taking responsibility for HOW YOU FEEL at any moment?
The second important component in "human factor" is how you relate to others. Which is directly linked to how you relate to yourself. Love produces love. In specific tango terms this means: how able you are to embrace another person comfortably and stay with the person throughout the dance? How able are you to listen to another body, to another musicality? How sensitive are you to your own balance and his/her? How forgiving are you when the other person does not live up to your expectations? Do you use another person for your own pleasure only? The difference between just dancing and dancing together is the same as between having sex and making love. Both can be very enjoyable, but they are not the same. And yes, being sexually attractive (and attracted) to other people is also part of relating to others, part of tango, part of this experience. As is respecting the other person's right to not want to dance with you.
The human factor in tango is about connecting to yourself and connecting to the other. But there is also another important component: connecting to the dance itself. The connection to the dance happens through music. Dance is not execution of movements by specific body parts. Dance is expressing the musical imagery (energy, mood, texture, rhythm, melody) by your whole being. Some people have a natural ability to do this, and for them learning the technique will only improve this ability. Other people do not have this ability naturally, and for tango teachers the most difficult thing is actually not how to teach the correct movement, but how to teach people to REALLY DANCE.
Can you enjoy tango with almost no technique? Absolutely! If you are an advanced dancer, this only means that as beginner you had enormous fun. Otherwise you would not have stayed. Do you have to learn technique to enjoy tango? Let's put it this way: no one has ever suffered from an excess in technique, but I meet dancers suffering from lack of it every day. But a good teacher will help you improve both your technique AND the human factor. As dancer and teacher Eric Franklin writes: "The most important technique in dance is love for the dance."
An old friend once told me: "You know, I remember how we first met, all these years ago. You were this new pretty girl watching the dancefloor, mesmerized at all those cool dancers. I was one of them, I was cool, I was experienced, I had been dancing for so long - two years! I felt so old that I was starting to forget why I should enjoy it. I invited you. You were so obviously a total beginner, you didn't even know what an ocho was. But dancing with you made me understand what I was looking for in tango. There was so much dance in you. You were so intense, you gave yourself so fully. I remember coming off the dancefloor saying to myself: from now on, THIS is what I want."
