"Argentinean tango is a global phenomenon. Since its origin among immigrants from the slums of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, it has crossed and re-crossed many borders.Yet, never before has tango been danced by so many people and in so many different places as today. Argentinean tango is more than a specific music and style of dancing. It is also a cultural imaginary which embodies intense passion, hyper-heterosexuality, and dangerous exoticism. In the wake of its latest revival, tango has become both a cultural symbol of Argentinean national identity and a transnational cultural space in which a modest, yet growing number of dancers from different parts of the globe meet on the dance floor. Through interviews and ethnographical research in Amsterdam and Buenos Aires, Kathy Davis shows why a dance from another era and another place appeals to men and women from different parts of the world and what happens to them as they become caught up in the tango salon culture. She shows how they negotiate the ambivalences, contradictions, and hierarchies of gender, sexuality, and global relations of power between North and South in which Argentinean tango is - and has always been - embroiled. Davis also explores her uneasiness about her own passion for a dance which- when seen through the lens of contemporary critical feminist and postcolonial theories - seems, at best, odd, and, at worst, disreputable and even a bit shameful. She uses the disjuncture between the incorrect pleasures and complicated politics of dancing tango as a resource for exploring the workings of passion as experience, as performance, and as cultural discourse. She concludes that dancing tango should be viewed less as a love/hate embrace with colonial overtones than a passionate encounter across many different borders between dancers who share a desire for difference and a taste of the 'elsewhere.'Dancing Tango is a vivid, intriguing account of an important global cultural phenomenon"--
Argentinean tango originated in the slums of Buenos Aires and Montevideo but has evolved into a complex dance form that people from many different cultures participate in today. People are drawn to it for a variety of reasons but many people find its characteristic intense passion, hyper-sexuality and exoticism particularly appealing. In this ethnographic exploration of tango, Kathy Davis, senior research fellow at the UV University in Amsterdam, examines the appeal of the dance in Amsterdam and Buenos Aires. In particular she considers issues of gender, sexuality and power between the North and South in the context of dance. The book is particularly interesting as she considers her personal experience with the alluring dance from the perspective of contemporary critical feminism and postcolonial theories. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Argentineantangois a global phenomenon. Since its origin among immigrants from the slums ofBuenos Aires and Montevideo, it has crossed and re-crossed many borders.Yet, never before has tango been danced by somany people and in so many different places as today. Argentinean tango is morethan a specific music and style of dancing. It is also a cultural imaginarywhich embodies intense passion, hyper-heterosexuality, and dangerous exoticism.In the wake of its latest revival, tango has become both a cultural symbol ofArgentinean national identity and a transnational cultural space in which a modest, yet growing number of dancers from differentparts of the globe meet on the dance floor.
Through interviews and ethnographical research inAmsterdam and Buenos Aires, Kathy Davis shows why a dance from another era andanother place appeals to men and women from different parts of the world andwhat happens to them as they become caught up in the tango salon culture. Sheshows how they negotiate the ambivalences, contradictions, and hierarchies ofgender, sexuality, and global relations of power between North and South inwhich Argentinean tango isand has always beenembroiled.
Davisalso explores her uneasiness about her own passion for a dance whichwhen seen through the lens of contemporary criticalfeminist and postcolonial theoriesseems, at best, odd, and, at worst,disreputable and even a bit shameful. She uses the disjuncture between theincorrect pleasures and complicated politics of dancing tango as a resource forexploring the workings of passion as experience, as performance, and ascultural discourse. She concludes thatdancing tango should be viewed less as a love/hate embrace with colonialovertones than a passionate encounter across many different borders betweendancers who share a desire for difference and a taste of the elsewhere.DancingTango is a vivid, intriguing account of an important global culturalphenomenon.