I went to Tulsa for a milonga a few days ago, and met a couple who just moved in to the area from Mexico City.
He has been an Argentine Tango instructor. She said she has been an assistant, but it was understatement. They were, really, really, good together.
When I watch dancing, I can be relentless. My basic attitude is like some Hip hop dancers; "Show me what you got".
And I admire them if what they got is good. It's that simple.
When watching dancing, I tend to trust what I see here and now. For performing arts, I believe it is a good way to go. All past reputation, history, talk....they may be important to some, but they are not what I primarily base my judgment on. Sorry.
In this case, what made me think they are good was their dance vocabulary and body usage. They had rich patterns, good musicality, moved well and showed sense of enjoyment. And I could tell they came from years of partnership.
In a social dance, we can dance for a Tanda or two, and understand each other to a certain depth. But the depth cannot go past the point reached after such a long term partnership.
I envy such an eloquently expressed Tango vocabulary the couple is achieving after years together.
February 23, 2014
February 13, 2014
Life: Thoughts on Love on (almost) Valentine's day
It's almost Valentine's day. Thinking about love may be seasonal.
There are many kinds of Love.
I learned in Greek philosophy class that there are three different kinds of love as they described.
God's unconditional love (agape)
Physical/sexual love (eros)
Friendship/family love (phila)
...but I'm not going to discuss them here. Instead,......
During a discussion with my wife I came to another categorization.
They are, Motherly love and Fatherly love.
(Stereotypical or sexist? Probably. But let's start from this categorization for now for the ease of presentation. Actually, we touched this topic during a parenting discussion.)
Motherly love is more hands-on, kiss-kiss-hug-hug-I-watch-and-care-you-dear-kind of love. It may be likened to the touch and feel, sensuality-rich love. Babies and young kids need these kind of love.
Fatherly love is more hands-off, watchful but not very intervening. It may look more stern and cold from a mother's standpoint. I can see why Christian God is refereed to be "Father". He may be loving, but the love is not necessarily through motherly touch. They even said "God is Word". The love may be expressed through command and direction.
There is a reasonable role difference in these love.
Now I point out here that we are only human. We tend to forget there are many kinds of love. We tend to judge love by the kind of love we practice.
A mother who loves her child very much might overlook the presence of another kind, fatherly love, by the father. She can see her kind of love. But fatherly love by the father may not be acknowledged or appreciated well enough by her, if she measures love only by how many times he hugs the kid.
Especially, if she grew up in a fatherless family (or he grew up in a motherless home), and has not seen much of the other kind of love in action, it may not be easy for him/her to recognize or appreciate another kind of love.
I believe it is good to have a good balance in these motherly love and fatherly love in a family. Each gender or each person may have a "natural" preference, but both love can be practiced by one person. Sometimes a mother has to be stern, and a father has to be hugging. It's a role differentiation. Associating them to genders may be misleading.
After all, I may be cheering for a person who can recognize and practice both and balance them well. The person would be a good parent, not only a good mother or a good father.
Or, I may be cheering for a couple who can balance them well.
Well, it is a little hard to conclude this post. And no, I am not writing this post as a feeble rebuttal to my wife who outargued me. Absolutely not.
[A note. I am not exactly advocating so called traditional mother-father-kid family here. I know there are many other forms of family, and such avocation seems too judgmental or bigot for my taste. What I advocate here is a good mix of Motherly love and Fatherly love. And I believe it can be achieved by many forms of parent(s) (traditional, gay or single).]
There are many kinds of Love.
I learned in Greek philosophy class that there are three different kinds of love as they described.
God's unconditional love (agape)
Physical/sexual love (eros)
Friendship/family love (phila)
...but I'm not going to discuss them here. Instead,......
During a discussion with my wife I came to another categorization.
They are, Motherly love and Fatherly love.
(Stereotypical or sexist? Probably. But let's start from this categorization for now for the ease of presentation. Actually, we touched this topic during a parenting discussion.)
Motherly love is more hands-on, kiss-kiss-hug-hug-I-watch-and-care-you-dear-kind of love. It may be likened to the touch and feel, sensuality-rich love. Babies and young kids need these kind of love.
Fatherly love is more hands-off, watchful but not very intervening. It may look more stern and cold from a mother's standpoint. I can see why Christian God is refereed to be "Father". He may be loving, but the love is not necessarily through motherly touch. They even said "God is Word". The love may be expressed through command and direction.
There is a reasonable role difference in these love.
Now I point out here that we are only human. We tend to forget there are many kinds of love. We tend to judge love by the kind of love we practice.
A mother who loves her child very much might overlook the presence of another kind, fatherly love, by the father. She can see her kind of love. But fatherly love by the father may not be acknowledged or appreciated well enough by her, if she measures love only by how many times he hugs the kid.
Especially, if she grew up in a fatherless family (or he grew up in a motherless home), and has not seen much of the other kind of love in action, it may not be easy for him/her to recognize or appreciate another kind of love.
I believe it is good to have a good balance in these motherly love and fatherly love in a family. Each gender or each person may have a "natural" preference, but both love can be practiced by one person. Sometimes a mother has to be stern, and a father has to be hugging. It's a role differentiation. Associating them to genders may be misleading.
After all, I may be cheering for a person who can recognize and practice both and balance them well. The person would be a good parent, not only a good mother or a good father.
Or, I may be cheering for a couple who can balance them well.
Well, it is a little hard to conclude this post. And no, I am not writing this post as a feeble rebuttal to my wife who outargued me. Absolutely not.
[A note. I am not exactly advocating so called traditional mother-father-kid family here. I know there are many other forms of family, and such avocation seems too judgmental or bigot for my taste. What I advocate here is a good mix of Motherly love and Fatherly love. And I believe it can be achieved by many forms of parent(s) (traditional, gay or single).]
February 10, 2014
Dance: Act Tango
A dance video popped up in my Facebook feed. Without a sound, at first I thought it was a country-western.
Soon I realized my mistake. No. It was a milonga (party). The dance was Argentine Tango.
They were mistaken because they were walking so (too) casually.
Tango is a simple, walking based dance. So, if you want to add an air of Tango, you got to add it. Or, you got to act Tango.
A little bit of pretentiousness, or acting, is a fine thing on the dance floor. Then, I suggest Tango dancers do it.
A Tango looking like country western? Even though I sometimes joke and refer these dances as cowboy's dance, it is a joke. Duh.
PS
I feel like a little more elaboration is needed for this post. What I meant by adding "Acting" or "pretentiousness" is something close to expressing cherish or respect to the dance.
When you do something, you can just do and let it slide. Or, you can do it with great care, respect, enjoyment, and cherish the moment. I meant the latter.
And Tango dancing has a format to express the respect. Some would call it styling in a physical sense, others may call it gaze or connection with more spiritual or emotional emphasis.
What I disliked was a lack of "care". "Care" to add styling, or "care" to add spiritual concentration. I never saw a mechanical-looking dance as my favorite.
Soon I realized my mistake. No. It was a milonga (party). The dance was Argentine Tango.
They were mistaken because they were walking so (too) casually.
Tango is a simple, walking based dance. So, if you want to add an air of Tango, you got to add it. Or, you got to act Tango.
A little bit of pretentiousness, or acting, is a fine thing on the dance floor. Then, I suggest Tango dancers do it.
A Tango looking like country western? Even though I sometimes joke and refer these dances as cowboy's dance, it is a joke. Duh.
PS
I feel like a little more elaboration is needed for this post. What I meant by adding "Acting" or "pretentiousness" is something close to expressing cherish or respect to the dance.
When you do something, you can just do and let it slide. Or, you can do it with great care, respect, enjoyment, and cherish the moment. I meant the latter.
And Tango dancing has a format to express the respect. Some would call it styling in a physical sense, others may call it gaze or connection with more spiritual or emotional emphasis.
What I disliked was a lack of "care". "Care" to add styling, or "care" to add spiritual concentration. I never saw a mechanical-looking dance as my favorite.
February 4, 2014
Life: Panamanian frog rescue
My coworker is going to take one month off from the lab soon. So I asked her what she is going to do.
Her answer,"I'm going to Panama to save frogs".
"What?!?"
It turned out that in Panama, a tropical country with rain forests full of exotic frogs, there is an ongoing fungus disease spreading and killing frogs. The fungus disease is sweeping the country from the west part.
From the standpoint of the ecosystem, it is a serious threat. And in Panama, frogs are like a national symbol.
So there came the frog rescue mission.
The rescuers catch frogs in the wild, check whether they are infected, and if they are, send them to the lab and treat them, so that they can recover. After recovery they may be sent back to the wild.
How awesome is that.
Frankly, the cause is somewhat different type of cause from my choice. But I say it is a good cause. I hope she enjoys the mission. Or, I know she will enjoy the mission.
Time spent on a cause meaningful to a person can be very precious to the person.
The link to the amphibian rescue is below.
http://amphibianrescue.org/about/
Her answer,"I'm going to Panama to save frogs".
"What?!?"
It turned out that in Panama, a tropical country with rain forests full of exotic frogs, there is an ongoing fungus disease spreading and killing frogs. The fungus disease is sweeping the country from the west part.
From the standpoint of the ecosystem, it is a serious threat. And in Panama, frogs are like a national symbol.
So there came the frog rescue mission.
The rescuers catch frogs in the wild, check whether they are infected, and if they are, send them to the lab and treat them, so that they can recover. After recovery they may be sent back to the wild.
How awesome is that.
Frankly, the cause is somewhat different type of cause from my choice. But I say it is a good cause. I hope she enjoys the mission. Or, I know she will enjoy the mission.
Time spent on a cause meaningful to a person can be very precious to the person.
The link to the amphibian rescue is below.
http://amphibianrescue.org/about/
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