Well, a bit. Have been watching some videos, and following discussions about old milongueros, people like Tete, about how musical they are and how their posture is the way it is because they are, you know, old milongueros, caring more about the connection then what they look like, and, well, let´s face it, they are also quite old, so I guess they can´t be expected to stand perfectly straight and their movements simply aren´t as sharp and elegant as they might have been in their youth (although – you saw how Gavito danced, just a few months before his death? he must have been ill and everything, but as straight and elegant as you can imagine, with unfailing precision of movement; I don´t know how he did it.. of course, he was el grande Gavito.. just a thought).
I like the way these people dance. I love their musicality. I don´t mind the slightly hunched, head-forward posture (Julio Balmaceda has it too, and he is divine). I understand that sharp movements become less sharp as age imposes its physical limitations.
However -
watching these videos I have only just realized something very disconcerting: the women they dance with are always young and sharp and quick and muy elegante... why is that? If these old men are considered the living proof that tango is all about musicality and feeling, then why is it that they do not dance with women of their own age, just as musical, with decades of experience, but with a less-than-perfect posture, women whose sharp steps have become blunt with age?
Why?
Because, frankly, the contrast between the old milongueros and their young partners doesn´t make their dance look better. On the contrary, I think.
And it worries me, because I love tango. And I am a woman.
The Tango Goddess wrote about this in the first part of her post Of Milongueros y Milongueras. If it is true, well... it is sad.
But maybe it´s just the bleak November weather. And who knows, we might not be dancing tango anymore, forty or fifty years from now...
:) Not likely, I know.
