Aesthetics in tango
By Nicolás Bottega
There is much that can be said about what something must have to be beautiful. I do not propose a philosophical debate, nor will I elaborate about the history of this long-standing debate. I will simply explain my summarized point of view about aesthetics, this word that for me refers to the pursuit of beauty. In my opinion, the appreciation of beauty for human is fed from three aspects: one intrinsic to the object, one that depends on the personal history of the subject and a social aspect.
The intrinsic beauty
The factor which is intrinsic to the object in itself is related to proportions. Apparently we are born with an innate ability to detect an efficient space distribution, a good setting of proportions, to which we unconsciously characterize as "beautiful". It is the beauty which was popularized by Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which is based on the golden ratio described first by Euclid.
The ability to grasp this proportion is not only possessed by Man, on the contrary, it has been detected in numerous animal species, and this proportion is found throughout nature, and even the universe.
Golden ratio: Beauty (Short) Golden ratio: Universe (Long)
The personal history of the subject
That what in our personal history influenced us, also plays a role in our appreciation of what we consider beautiful. For instance, you may know better how to appreciate the poetic beauty of a winter drizzle if we grew up in Britain where they are so common, or vice versa, hate them for that same reason. This is just one example of how past life experiences can affect our judgment about beauty. Lastly, the ideals of beauty that we take from our parents by identification also play a very important role.
The social factor
But there is also a social factor that plays a role when it comes to perceiving beauty. Personally I understand it from the models imposed by the alpha males and females, which generate ideals for the rest of the individuals in a social setting. In our society, alpha males and females are the film and television actors, musicians, athletes, etc. We take from them the ways of dressing, hairstyling, makeup, and even the way of talking and interacting. They become our ideals of beauty. This works at a "macrosocial" level, but there are alpha personalities in "microsocial" environments, such as in a work environment, a school, and of course in a tango environment.
These are the three factors that I believe that play a significant role in the appreciation of beauty.
The beauty in Tango
But how does this affect the appreciation of beauty in the dance of tango? Well, first of all, it is easy to understand how the social factor works when it comes to judging the beauty of a couple in their movements. That is, what the social environment where each one develops their tango says about what it should be considered beautiful and what is not, motivated mostly by the "alpha tangueros". It is also easy to understand how our personal history can affect our judgment as to what we consider beautiful. But on the other hand I think there is also an instinctive understanding of what we consider beautiful in tango dancing. From my point of view, this relates with the efficiency of movement, efficiency that as we said earlier it is also related to good proportions, and therefore to beauty. For example, when we watch somebody run, jump, walk or perform any movement, we can appreciate when their movements are harmonious, meaning efficient, which we find pleasant.
Conclusion
Therefore, you can achieve an ideal of beauty in the dance of tango, aiming to achieve efficiency in motion, efficiency is related to naturalness, with harmony, with good proportion, therefore, with beauty.
But besides the beauty of motion in a tango couple, I think there's more important factors for their art to be more meaningful, more beautiful, and it has to do with the emotional expression. The Mona Lisa, for example, is not only a good technical execution, but also what generate to us her smile, something difficult to explain, that relates with the emotional expressivity of Da Vinci that moves us. In the same way a tango couple, must be able to emotionally mobilize the audience from the expression of their own emotions, being the music their common stimulus. This goes beyond the beauty of movement, and it is, according to how I see it, much more important.
