Neotango rant (IV) OR tango fundamentalism

Just because you can't see the other side of the coin, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It only means you can't see it.

Back to La Negracha

One year on, I got convinced to go again to La Negracha! I had not many expectations other than maybe try and not get stabbed by a flying stilleto and maybe a few nice dances... So I got there and there were a few tables free at the stage-end bit. We knew those are usually used for the regulars but there isn't any sign so we got one right next to the DJ. You could see the milonga very well and could spot who you want and who you don't want to dance with.
There were a few familiar faces around, a few from Edinburgh and others that you meet in random milongas in the UK. I had really nice dances and, best of best, my feet came out of the milonga untouched! There was a close blow at some point but no fatal injuries! I also think that the floorcraft was much better than before. Not that many die-hard Pablo Véron wannabes and many more people actually going there to dance rather than show. The music was good at times although I'm still not convinced about the two floors with different types of music. I am confessedly a both traditional and neotango admirer but when I go to La Negracha I just can't stand go to the neotango floor. It may create a big argument here (because it always does) but I like when old is mixed with new. Obviously it has to be well mixed; eggs and sugar can make wonderful things when mixed together but they can also make quite disgusting experiments, it all depends HOW you mix it.
I am definitely going to come back to London more often to dance. Maybe I'll dance with some tangologuers. Or maybe I've already danced with some and don't know! That's even more interesting!

The importance of lyrics

La Tanguera has already posted a most insightful post about tango and lyrics. I do agree with her, eventhough my mind seems to pay 90% of the attention to the music itself, lyrics do matter and they do influence how you dance a tango, that is, if you understand them.
This weekend, I was just preparing to go to La negracha when I friend of mine told me that she preferred Neotango to tango because she couldn't understand the lyrics of tango and as a person that gives a lot of importance to lyrics, she gets cheesed off. I don't agree with her because I think you can pretty much guess what the lyrics say by the sound of music (ie, if it is a melancholic track then the lyrics are likely to be hitting the same tone). But her remarks made me think of something very curious.
I have talked about Daniel Melingo's concert at the Warwick Arts Centre but I haven't told you a little story. One of my students came out saying "it was disgraceful that he was so drunk on stage, I mean, he started to take his shoes off and threw them around!". H didn't pay very much attention to the shoes part, and tried to tell him that it was probably him just being theatrical rather than drunk. But when I thought a little bit over the situation he threw his shoes off when he was singing "Muleta de Burracho", a music in which the lyrics go on about how he has a stone in his shoes and are hurting him making him unable to walk and look like a crippled. Obviously I can understand this while dancing and that will give me many more cues on how to interpret it in my dance but I wonder, how does it feel to people that can't understand it? Are any non-Spanish speaking tangologuers that feel they are not getting the most of it because they can't understand lyrics?

Looking back

After 10 days of internet reclusion here I am again! This post is really not about tango (maybe the first since Tangologue's creation). It's about tangologue. It's been a year since I started properly writing here and I am so happy that I did so. I learnt a whole lot of things that i wouldn't have just by dancing. I got reminded of many things that I could be doing wrong and I managed to know quite a few bloggers that write blogs that I just love reading. Their input has been the fuel for this blog.
I would also like to drop a word to iislucas, supantheress, artur and eleni for chipping in with their input. They just made this blog even better!
So, one year on I would like to tell you which were the most visited posts
Arguments against cortinas
Tango LEGO
Raising the bar
Web 2.0 generation of tango
What we would like follower beginner to do

It's been a pleasure to write my thoughts and read your views. This is what I thing tango is all about sharing views. I don't think I am right all times, but this is how I think. And whatever you think, as long as it is not a dogma, it's valid!