Tradition 'versus' neo or experimental tango

6/22/20160 Comments Traditional tango versus the more modern ways. I have always wondered why there is this 'versus'... tango is a dance, a way of life perhaps. Something developed by simple people who had lots of trouble and found solace and escape from their daily struggles by being close together. All of us, the tango community, know how much impact that feeling has. This feeling of being one with someone else that can be found in the language called tango.I wonder why then in a small Dutch community I feel there is this gap between neo and traditional. Somehow there are different ideas about what tango is. Is it a way of connecting to another human being that is almost a shared meditation? Or is it a sort of 'boy meets girl' thing? A way of seducing? Or both? Is it maybe that one only wants to be seduced by someone speaking the same dialect? But weren't the greatest deepest romances not those between people from a different corner? Romeo and Juliette... Are not exactly those people that are so different from who we are, the ones that inspire us most... that can give us new outlook on life.So here is my invitation to you all. At your next milonga... try to find someone from the 'versus' side of your own tango preference. Look well... you need to be able to make that connection. Then dance with them... maybe you'll need more that a tanda. Fight against your own mind (it will tell you a lot of shit) and open your heart and your mind to the 'versus'-person. May this be a way of using tango to learn about life...about connection and about unity. And  away to make our small tango community a welcome warm bath to new dancers and visitors from abroad.