Tango en china . 探戈在中国

Tango in China Tango en china . docx - Portfolio https://portfolio.du.edu/portfolio/getportfoliofile?uid ... CompartirFormato de Archivo: Microsoft Word - Vista Rápida Tango en china . 探戈在中国. FSEM: La retórica de Tango . Documento Final. Lian Duan. 1 FSEM: The Rhetoric of Tango Final Paper Lian Duan November 10, 2008 Tango in China Love, emotion, exoticism, dance, music, poetry, Argentina, history, politics, pampas, bandoneon, hegemony, colonialism, nostalgia…It’s difficult for us to find a word with so many meanings in a dictionary, but there is one word which can string all of these together, and that is tango. Tango, originating in Buenos Aires, Argentina, stretches its steps all the way to Europe, North American and Asian in the past century. When the dance first appeared in Argentina, tango was an erotic and sexual dance which was danced secretly. In the early 1900s, it came to the entertainment center of the world?Paris, where tango became popular immediately. Tango was reshaped and promoted by Paris, and became more elegant and more fashionable. And then, with tango dancers travelling around the world and tango movies coming up to the screen, the exotic dance was soon known by people in London and New York, and in many other countries in the world. What about tango in China? The two books we use for this course didn’t mention it. So I searched the internet for it. To my surprise, information about Tango on Chinese websites is very limited. Fortunately, I still found some interesting things about the exotic tango in China, a country which is also quite exotic to tango. Tango dance mainly appears in four big cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. In the two metropolises of mainland China, Shanghai and Beijing, there are some tango societies which were founded by people who are attracted to Argentine culture, love tango, dance tango and teach tango. There is a famous tango bar in Shanghai, TangoBang (“bang” means gang in Chinese). TangoBang was created by a Chinese couple, Vivian and Charles, through the love of Argentina Tango. Vivian and Charles have been dancing as a couple since 2005. They were inspired by teachers in the Taipei Tango Association (TTA, a well-known tango society to many Asian tango dancers, I’ll mention it later), have been to Argentina to learn more and deeper about tango, and have attended workshop and private lessons from tango masters from Argentina. TangoBang is a bar and restaurant, as well as training studio, which is inspired by the Argentine Tango. The decoration, wines list and menu here are all inspired by Argentina Tango. It not only provides a perfect place for tango dancers in Shanghai to gather and dance, but also provides various levels of Argentine tango class and holds tango events. As a result, according to Vivian’s words, many tango dancers from different countries all over the world see TangoBang as their dream place. However, all these tango societies are very young (TangoBang was just founded in this April), and the development of tango in mainland China has only just begun. To know more about it, I sent an email to Vivian. According to her reply, Argentine tango has been gaining prominence in Shanghai since about 6 years ago when a couple from Taiwan, Super and Eva, called on those who share their interest in tango to practice the dance with them, and thus started the spread of the culture of Argentine tango in Shanghai. Tango came to Beijing 1 or 2 years later than Shanghai. Shanghai city is fond of this Argentine tango today. However, the amount of people who dance Argentine tango is still limited, much less than those who dance Salsa and Swing, of which the requirements for beginners are lower than Argentine tango. Usually there are 30 dancers or so in a weekly milonga, which is almost the same in Beijing, where there would be 3 different organizers holding milongas each week. Compared to the situation in Shanghai and Beijing, tango in Hong Kong and Taipei developed much quickly. There are a lot of wonderful tango societies and tango dancers in these two cities, such as the Taipei Tango Association (TTA). TTA was constructed at the beginning of 2000, and it is the first non-profit organization in Taiwan that focuses on popularizing traditional Argentine tango and devotes itself to expressing and spreading the original flavor of tango. Many tango teachers in mainland China learned tango from the tango dancers in TTA, and then went back to mainland China to teach. As a result, the Tango societies in Taiwan and Hong Kong are key factors in promoting Tango in mainland China. Is Tango new to China? In fact, tango did not just appear in China in past few years. Chinese know the word “tango” for many years. And there was even a song called “Chinese Tango” sung by a Japanese singer in 1939. But why have people in mainland China just started to learn the dance in recent years? I guess it is because of several reasons. First, at the early 1900s, when it was a golden age for Argentine tango spreading around the world, China was suffering a lot of terrible changes, conflicts and wars, both domestic and international. The things which Chinese people at that time mostly worried about were where to live, what to eat and even whether they could survive, rather than looking for ways to enjoy themselves, relax and express emotions. So it was impossible for tango to become popular in China at that time. Second, Chinese traditional culture is so conservative that a woman would be considered raffish if she walked too close to a man before reform and openness. Although after reshaped by Paris, Argentine tango now is not as erotic as before, it is still a sexy dance with close touching and flirtation, too sexy for many traditional Chinese. Third, there have already been a variety of dances in China, so Chinese people have their own dances to relax and express their feelings, thus they don’t need the exotic Argentine tango so badly. Why has tango in Taipei and Hong Kong developed much better than in mainland China? I think it is because these two places had been colonially governed by western countries for many years. During the colonialism, Western culture penetrated into every corner of the local culture. There were also many Western people too, some of whom may have brought exotic dances in to these two cities. As a result, it was much easier for the culture of Argentine tango to enter the two cities and become popular. Taiwan even has its own tango. There are 5 kinds of tango in the world, according to several websites on the internet. Argentine tango, British tango, American tango, Taiwanese tango and ballroom tango. The following four tangos originate from Argentine tango, but include some different developments and changes. Taiwanese tango was imported by an American army that was staying in Taiwan during the Korean War and Vietnam War. In other words, American tango is the predecessor of Taiwanese tango, and it developed into Taiwanese tango through the creativity of Taiwanese dancers. Taiwanese tango is not as romantic and passionate as Argentine tango, but its dance step is so diverse and complicated that it makes Taiwanese tango so unique. Some people also say that Taiwanese tango is a combination of Argentine tango, British tango and American tango. However, Taiwanese tango is not just a combination but a sui generis tango because it compromise tango with the tempo and the speed of Taiwan local music. While tango in China is still not as frequently danced as it is in western countries, the word “tango” has been used more frequently throughout recent decades. One of the extended meanings for “dance tango” in Chinese is similar to “it takes two to tango” in English. When we say two parties are dancing tango together, we mean that these two parties are competing with each other as well as cooperating with each other, or that two competing parties are doing something simultaneously. When “tango” is mentioned in China, most people would think of elegance and grace. I found a chain hotel in Taiwan called “the Tango Hotel” on the internet. I thought it might be like some place as TangoBang, that held tango events, gave tango lessons, and provided a place for people who travel for tango to live. But after I read trough all its websites, I realized that I was totally wrong. This hotel has nothing to do with tango. So I sent an email to its manager, asking why they use this name. “We would like to use the word 'Tango' because it represents a graceful life style,” he answered. The Tango Hotel provides guests with an experience of elegance and glamour, and a place to relax and settle their spirit after tons of work in the hustle and bustle city. It is just the feeling that tango brings to Chinese. REFERENCES http://tangobang.cn/ http://www.dance168.com/say_dance/show_single_publish.asp?writings=31 http://www.tostudy.com.cn/news/199