简单是一种美

在一个贫穷的社会，人们习惯于节约和简朴，而在象我们这样的富裕社会，奢华和铺张浪费是一种常规。别人用一把简单的菜刀就可以做的事，我们却发明了一个器械来切鸡蛋，另一个剁肉，另一个切西红柿，另一个削苹果皮，另一个刨黄瓜丝，等等。我们的厨房里堆满了废物，我们的家里越来越杂乱，我们巨型的商场，庞大的政府机构，繁琐的税收法规等也是如此。我们的国债已超过16万亿美元（年利以1%计算是160亿美元！），而我们仍然花钱似流水，好象没有明天。我们的商业文化完全靠印象吸引人们注意。这就是为什么电视广告越做越离奇。我不认为一些人把怪异与美丽混为一谈是一种巧合。瞧那朋克头，纹身，鼻环，唇环，眼环，几乎脱落的裤子，诸如此类，都是为了引人注目，并不是真正的美。

我们跳探戈的方式也反映了这种文化。与生活一样，探戈原本是非常简单的，但我们却坚持要把它弄得花哨复杂。虽然在阿根廷探人们是用正常，自然，简单和舒适的步子跳探戈，我们的探戈却充斥着显摆，俗气，过分和不自然的动作。我们缺乏简单自然的品味，而把复杂怪异当作美丽。在阿根廷，探戈注重的是音乐，感情，舞伴和舒适。我们的探戈所注重的却是漂亮的服饰，昂贵的舞鞋，花哨的动作，惊险刺激的表演，豪华的酒店和盛大的舞会。我们太注重肤浅表面的东西了。

我主张一种不同的，崇尚简单和自然的美学。大自然是朴素而美丽的。淡妆看起来比浓妆艳抹更好看。陈设简单的房间比过分装潢的屋子住着更舒适。简练的写作优于冗长的表达。功夫大师的表演显得简单容易。探戈也是如此。简单是最高的成熟，是只注重外表的人所缺乏的一种内在品质。探戈不是一种奢侈，而是一个简单的乐趣，不该花费巨款才能享受。享受探戈并不需要把钱花在花哨的舞步和华丽的服饰上。探戈可以用简单，适度，自然的跳法来跳，就象阿根廷人所跳的那样。热爱探戈的人应该保持它的本真不受商业文化和轻浮世风的污染。我们应该把注意力从表面文章转到内在品质。外平内秀的女人比外秀内平的女人更有吸引力。探戈也一样，它是一种感觉而不是做秀。当探戈不再是做秀时，它就会变得更简单，更有深度，更好，也更让人享受。

Simple Is Beautiful

In a scarce society people are used to frugality and simplicity, while in an affluent society such as ours, lavishness and extravagantness are the norm. For tasks that other people do with a simple kitchen knife, we created one equipment to chop eggs, another to cut meats, another to slice tomatoes, another to peel apples, another to shred cucumbers, etc. Our kitchens are crammed with junks. Our houses are more and more cluttered, and so are our massive shopping malls, huge governments, and gigantic tax codes. Our national debt has passed $14 trillion (an annual interest at 1% of which is $14 thousand million!), and we still spend like there is no tomorrow. Our commercial culture is all about catching and impressing. That’s why TV ads are made increasingly weird. I don’t think it is coincident that some of us confuse weirdness with beauty. Just look at the punk hairdos, tattoos, rings on noses, lips and eyelids, and pants that are about to fall down… Everything is about catching eyes rather than genuine beauty.

The way we dance tango reflects this culture. Like life, tango is really simple, but we insist on making it fancy and complicated. While in Argentina tango is danced in normal, natural, simple and comfortable steps, our tango is cluttered with showy, gaudy, farfetched, overdone and awkward movements. Simplicity and naturalness are acquired taste that we don’t have. We regard complexity and bizarreness as beautiful. While in Argentina tango is all about music, feeling, relationship and physical pleasure, our tango is all about pretty dresses, expensive shoes, fancy footwork, thrilling acts, luxurious hotels and pricey festivals. We are too focused on the superficial things.

Let me proclaim a different aesthetics that values simplicity and naturalness. Nature is simple and it is beautiful. Light makeup looks better than heavy and queer one. A house simply decorated is more pleasant than that cluttered with ostentatious ornaments. Concise writing is superior to redundant expression. A kung fu master performs his skill with great ease and simplicity. It is same in tango. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It is an inner quality that those who focus only on superficial things do not have. Tango is not a luxury. It is a simple pleasure that should not cost an absurd amount of money to enjoy. People who love tango should keep it original and free from contamination of the commercial world and the frivolous custom of the time. There is no need to spend on fancy steps and flashy dresses to enjoy tango. Tango can be danced in a simple, moderate and natural way, like the Argentinians dance it. We need to change focus from what is without to what is within. An ordinary-looking woman with refined inner quality is much more attractive than a pretty woman without it. Tango is the same. It is for feeling and not for looking. When tango stops to be a show, it will be simpler, deeper, better, and more enjoyable.