A life of tango

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“Take your time. Tango is too precious not to enjoy the learning.
First learn the technique, then forget about it. The body will have it, but it’s only your spirit which makes the tango. As my friend Gavito used to say “ lo limpio no sirve. Hay que ensuciarlo,(…) tu personalidad tiene que dictar el baile, eso es que le falta al europeo ” – the clean, correct is no good, you have to get it dirty, let your own personality design the dance, this is what Europeans miss.
Posture, technique can be taught, even something of music, but subtlety and improvisation are inside you or not, you must be born with them.

It’s good that so many people now started to dance tango, but look also at what they dance. They dance moves, instead of feeling (‘bailan movimiento, y no sentimiento’), they look at the floor, they don’t care about the woman in their arms. Many look like clones. This is sad to me, I learned that tango is respect, maybe I’m old fashioned, but then why so many young people come to my classes?
Nothing is really new, all had been invented already, if you watch Todaro dancing in 1953 you see that I am right.
Tango is about subtlety. I am afraid you have it or not – it says so much about you, the way one embraces the woman, the way you make pauses.
Tango happens step by step literally, the less you do, more tango it is.” (Flaco Dany)

Interview with Tango Maestro Flaco Dany – read here