社交探戈与表演探戈

我越思考探戈所面临的挑战，越觉得需要把社交探戈与表演探戈区分开。表演探戈的推销者往往说：“为什么要划一条线？它们都是探戈。探戈是一个东西。”但事 实并非如此。社交探戈和表演探戈是不同的舞蹈，服务于不同的场合，满足不同的需要。它们几乎在包括外观，拥抱，连接，步法，技巧，带领，跟随，感觉，哲学 等的所有方面都是不同的。对其中一种舞的任何定义都是对另一种舞的自然否定。事实上，只学过其中一种舞的人，如果未经学习就不会跳另一种舞。与其把表演探 戈当社交探戈兜销给初学者，倒不如说实话好，让他们知道实际上买的是什么。

社交探戈是一种大众舞。它简单易跳，适合普通百姓的口味，需求和能力。它是在拥挤的舞会上为取乐而不是为作秀跳的，并且受舞会规则的约束。它是一种亲密的 舞蹈，通常采用贴身拥抱以满足异性亲昵的需要，舞伴之间有许多身体接触。它是一种凭感觉即兴发挥的舞蹈，简单，紧凑，所以舞者能专注于音乐，拥抱，感受， 交流和同步运动。跳社交探戈舞是一种亲切，深情和个人的经验。对它来说，要紧的是感觉如何，而不是看上去如何。

表演探戈则是一种为舞台表演设计的精英舞。它是探戈的一种花哨而戏剧性的版本，其步法和技巧有相当难度，适合专业舞者而不适合普通百姓。它是一种经过编排 的运动型舞蹈，通常采用开式拥抱以增加运动的可能性。它的步子幅度大，花俏，眩目，危险，需要很大空间来跳。它不是旨在给舞者以亲密深情的个人体验，而是 以展示花哨步子和华丽动作来作秀为目的。它既不受舞会规则约束，也不适合在拥挤的舞会上跳。安全，舒适和简易并非其所关注。对它来说，要紧的是看上去如 何，而不是感觉如何。

我认为学习表演探戈对大多数社交舞者，特别在其学好社交探戈之前，没有太大益处。这不仅因为他们是在浪费时间和金钱——他们中很少有人会成为专业舞者，也因为没有社交探戈的基础, 他们不可能成为优秀的舞台探戈表演家。更糟的是，因学习表演探戈而养成的坏习惯，如用手带领和跟随，缺乏用身体交流的能力，重视外观而不重视感觉，无视他人的安全和舒适，华而不实的危险步法等，不仅妨碍他们自己享受社交探戈，也会在舞会上造成对他人的滋扰。

对于大多数人来说，社交探戈应该是他们学习探戈时的注重所在，因为他们跳探戈是为了在舞会上取悦自己和舞伴，而不是在舞台上取悦观众；因为他们想学一个简 单易跳，适合自己能力的舞蹈，而不是复杂难跳，遥不可及的舞蹈；因为他们想要一个亲密舒适，能满足他们与另一颗心灵交流之需要的舞蹈，而不是一个华而不 实，不舒服，表现自我的舞蹈；因为他们需要先成为一个好的社交舞者，并在学习表演探戈之前打下坚实的基础，如果他们最终决定学习表演探戈的话。

在美国，社交探戈和表演探戈被混为一谈，这是我们的舞会中问题很多的原因。在布宜诺斯艾利斯，两种舞是分开的。社交探戈是在舞会（沙笼，俱乐部，舞厅）里 跳的。表演探戈是在舞台上跳的。在舞台上跳表演探戈的专业舞者在舞会里也只跳社交探戈。教社交探戈的老师会说他们教社交探戈。教表演探戈的老师会说他们教 表演探戈。他们不挂羊头卖狗肉。两种舞蹈各组织独立的比赛。我认为世界其他地方也应该如此。

Social Tango and Performance Tango

The more I think about the challenges that tango is facing, the more I feel the need to draw a distinction between social tango and performance tango. People who promote performance tango often say, “Why draw a line? They are all tango. The tango is one.” But that is not true. Social tango and performance tango are different dances serving different occasions and for different purposes. They are different in almost every aspects, including appearance, embrace, connection, steps, techniques, lead/follow methods, feeling, and philosophy. Any definition describing one dance automatically rejects the other. In fact, people who only learn one dance are not able to dance the other dance. Instead of palming performance tango off onto beginners, it would be better to tell the truth, so students know what they actually get into.

Social tango is a popular dance. It is a simple and user-friendly dance, suited to the tastes, needs and abilities of ordinary people. It is danced on a crowded dance floor for pleasure and not for show, and is administered by the milonga codes. It is an intimate dance typically danced in a close embrace with considerable body contact between the partners to serve the need for intimacy between the opposite sexes. Improvised and feeling-oriented, it is danced in simple and compact steps so the dancers may concentrate on the feeling stirred by the music, the comfort and sensation of the embrace, the communication through torso contact between them, and the harmony of movement in unison with the music. Dancing social tango is an intimate, soulful and personal experience. What matters is how it feels and not how it looks.

Performance tango, on the other hand, is a highbrow dance. It is designed for show on the stage. It is a fancy and dramatized version of tango involving difficult steps and techniques not suited to ordinary people, but professionals with expert skills. It is a choreographed and movement-oriented dance, typically danced in an open embrace for broader movement possibilities. Its steps are wide, flashy, dazzling, often dangerous and requiring a lot of space to do. It is not intended to be an intimate, soulful and personal experience, but an exhibition of fancy steps and showy movements to impress the audience. It does not abide by the milonga codes and is not suited to dancing on a crowded dance floor. Safety, comfort and user-friendliness are not its concerns. What matters is how it looks and not how it feels.

I believe it is not for the best interest of most people to learn performance tango, especially before they have mastered social tango. Not only because it’s a waste of time and money, as very few of them will ever be performers on the stage, but also because without the foundation of social tango, it is impossible for them to be good performers anyway. Worse still, the bad habits acquired from learning performance tango, such as using arms and hands to lead and follow, the inability to use the torso to communicate, the focus on appearance rather than feeling, the disregard of the safety and comfort of others, and the showy and dangerous footwork, will not only hinder their own enjoyment of social tango, but also cause disturbance to others in the milonga.

For most people, social tango is what they should focus their attention to in their study of tango, because they want to dance in the milonga for personal enjoyment and not on the stage to entertain others; because they want a simple and user-friendly dance suited to their ability, not a complicated and difficult dance beyond their reach; because they want an intimate, soulful and comfortable dance that serves their need for contact with another soul, not a gaudy and uncomfortable dance to show their ego; and because they want to be a good social dancer and lay a solid foundation before, if ever, they decide to learn performance tango.

In the U.S., social tango and performance tango are mixed, which is the cause of many problems in our milongas. In Buenos Aires, the two dances are separated. Social tango (Tango de Salon) is danced in the milongas. Performance tango (Tango Fantasia) is danced on the stage. Professionals who dance show tango on the stage will dance social tango when they go to a milonga. Those who teach social tango will say they teach social tango, and those who teach performance tango will say they teach performance tango. They don’t hang up a sheep’s head and sell dog meat. Separate competitions are organized for each dance. I believe this is how it should be elsewhere in the world as well.