This is how Melville described the fiery debate of his day*:
On a good day, the sailors kill two kinds of whales: After slaughtering, the sperm-whale’s head hangs off the right side of the boat, and the right-whale’s head hangs off the left. With both heads in place, the boat is balanced. But the sailors are stumped as to how to cut each one loose without capsizing the ship.
Brian says: Tango is big enough to accommodate more than one style of music.
Tom says: Appreciate each style of music for what it is, and use each accordingly.
I say: Be careful of the ship, too. The Colorado tango scene is a unique and beautiful thing. Other communities are partitioned and sorely divided. Schisms have a way of turning into feuds. Have a care.
*(Locke and Kant, empiricist and idealist, duking it out.)
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2 comments:
Is there a current danger of schism in Denver's tango scene? As an outsider, I have no ear to the ground, no idea of what currents flow through this scene... only a love of the tango life I've learned about through OneHeartDancing. So, I ask, what's happening?
M
When Jeff Brenman, our current president, was running for office, a vociferous disagreement broke out over his campaign promise/commitment to incorporate more alternative tango music into Tango Colorado events.
Tango Colorado is unique among the communities I have visited in its cohesiveness. It is more teacher-neutral than other cities I have visited. There is a large core group that does not have exclusive allegiance to any teacher or style, and there are at least two events each week that gather dancers from all along the Front Range (Fort Collins, Boulder, Denver, etc.). This is the strength of Tango Colorado.
The disagreement about alternative music is not in itself divisive; we could agree to disagree on that. It is the rancor and especially the harangues of hecklers that threaten to create hard feelings that won't be easily mended.
That's the danger of schism.
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