I'm writing a paper for my world music class on the Tango and Argentina. One of the requirements for the paper is to interview someone who knows something about the topic. I found a native of Argentina to interview, however, I really didn't get as much out of it as I was hoping. If you're from Argentina and/or you dance the Tango (or play the music), maybe you could help me out by answering some of the questions. The more detailed the answer, the better. Thanks in advance.
PS-please excuse the wording of my thesis, it's the way the professor wants it. I would have written it differently.
Thesis
Although the Argentine Tango is considered by many to be nothing more than a vulgar dance showcasing male dominance, in this paper I will show that the Tango is, in fact, the antithesis of “machismo” and that it is much more than a dance with incidental music accompanying it. Most importantly, I will disprove some of the most common misconceptions about Tango music and Argentine culture.
1)Do you agree with my thesis? Why or why not?
2)What can you tell me about the history and origin of the Tango (both the music and the dance)?
3)What are the most common misconceptions about the Tango? What are some stereotypes that you feel are wrong?
4)What is your view of the male and female roles in the Tango? Do you think people judge the Tango too quickly, based on what they see in the dance?
5)What is the role of the man? What is the role of the woman?
6)Where in Argentina were you born? What was it like growing up there? When did you move to the United States?
7)What was your first exposure to Tango music?
8)Did you learn Tango music from your parents and grandparents? Where did they learn it? Are they amateurs or professionals?
9)Did/does anyone in your family dance the Tango, or do they only play the music?
10)Did you play or sing Tango music as a child; do you still play/sing it now?
11)Do you feel that Tango music was a large part of your childhood and that it was a huge part of the culture in Argentina?
12)Can you tell me about the lyrics of the Tango songs you used to sing as a child?
13)Was there ever controversy surrounding Tango lyrics?
14)Is there a particular meter that is used for Tango music?
15)What instruments do you typically find in a Tango ensemble?
16)Did you study Tango music at all?
17)Do you find that mostly native Argentineans play Tango music, or do others play it as well?
18)Were you more exposed to the music of the Tango, or to the dance itself?
19)How does Tango fit into the culture of Buenos Aires?
20)Denniston mentions in her book The Meaning of the Tango that the younger generations dance the Tango differently than the older people because of a gap of more than two decades where no one learned the Tango, thus changing the way people learned it afterwards. Do you agree with her? Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think this change in the dance style has contributed to a negative view of the Tango from outsiders?
21)“The Tango had begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, mixing elements of music and dance brought to Argentina by the many small immigrant communities. It was one of the first dances to use the shocking new hold, popularized by the Viennese Waltz, in which a man and a woman stood in front of each other and put their arms around each other. A true street dance, it was not created by dancers and taught to people, as so many European dances have been. It was thrown together by people who might not have shared a common verbal language, but who wanted to move together to the pretty new music being made around them, and who were searching for a moment of joy in their often hard lives.” (14)
Is Tango (both the music and the dance) its own language? How so? Do you believe it brought immigrants together, who didn’t speak each other’s language?
22)What does Tango music symbolize?
23) Is there anything you can tell me that might be good to include in my paper?
PS-please excuse the wording of my thesis, it's the way the professor wants it. I would have written it differently.
Thesis
Although the Argentine Tango is considered by many to be nothing more than a vulgar dance showcasing male dominance, in this paper I will show that the Tango is, in fact, the antithesis of “machismo” and that it is much more than a dance with incidental music accompanying it. Most importantly, I will disprove some of the most common misconceptions about Tango music and Argentine culture.
1)Do you agree with my thesis? Why or why not?
2)What can you tell me about the history and origin of the Tango (both the music and the dance)?
3)What are the most common misconceptions about the Tango? What are some stereotypes that you feel are wrong?
4)What is your view of the male and female roles in the Tango? Do you think people judge the Tango too quickly, based on what they see in the dance?
5)What is the role of the man? What is the role of the woman?
6)Where in Argentina were you born? What was it like growing up there? When did you move to the United States?
7)What was your first exposure to Tango music?
8)Did you learn Tango music from your parents and grandparents? Where did they learn it? Are they amateurs or professionals?
9)Did/does anyone in your family dance the Tango, or do they only play the music?
10)Did you play or sing Tango music as a child; do you still play/sing it now?
11)Do you feel that Tango music was a large part of your childhood and that it was a huge part of the culture in Argentina?
12)Can you tell me about the lyrics of the Tango songs you used to sing as a child?
13)Was there ever controversy surrounding Tango lyrics?
14)Is there a particular meter that is used for Tango music?
15)What instruments do you typically find in a Tango ensemble?
16)Did you study Tango music at all?
17)Do you find that mostly native Argentineans play Tango music, or do others play it as well?
18)Were you more exposed to the music of the Tango, or to the dance itself?
19)How does Tango fit into the culture of Buenos Aires?
20)Denniston mentions in her book The Meaning of the Tango that the younger generations dance the Tango differently than the older people because of a gap of more than two decades where no one learned the Tango, thus changing the way people learned it afterwards. Do you agree with her? Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think this change in the dance style has contributed to a negative view of the Tango from outsiders?
21)“The Tango had begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, mixing elements of music and dance brought to Argentina by the many small immigrant communities. It was one of the first dances to use the shocking new hold, popularized by the Viennese Waltz, in which a man and a woman stood in front of each other and put their arms around each other. A true street dance, it was not created by dancers and taught to people, as so many European dances have been. It was thrown together by people who might not have shared a common verbal language, but who wanted to move together to the pretty new music being made around them, and who were searching for a moment of joy in their often hard lives.” (14)
Is Tango (both the music and the dance) its own language? How so? Do you believe it brought immigrants together, who didn’t speak each other’s language?
22)What does Tango music symbolize?
23) Is there anything you can tell me that might be good to include in my paper?