The first pair covered by the program used to be a couple in private life. Both of them are in their early 20s. Since they realized that their private relationship always influenced their dancing, they intentionally broke up to make their dancing better. As for the second pair, the male dancer is 37 years old. He did very well with his previous partner, who was also his girlfriend, every time he attended the world championship. But right before this world championship, she walked away from him. It broke his heart. However, he was determined to attend this championship with a new young partner not only to win it but also to overcome the difficulty. The third pair is a couple in private life. They are in their early 20s.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Are Japanese women seeking for an opportunity to rely on men and to express their passion??
The annual world tango championship called "Mundial de Tango" was introduced by a Japanese TV program yesterday. It's held every August in Buenos Aires, Argentina where tango is very popular. The program tried to understand what tango was by means of examining three Argentinian couples who attended the 8th annual world tango championship held last August (408 couples from 16 counties attended it). According to the program, tango is a dance which requires dancers to present a love story and express their passion; so tango deeply reflects how a pair of dancers are feeling while they are dancing.
I enjoyed the three different love stories presented by the three pairs in the championship, although I didn't see many technical differences among them. I found it interesting. Only the third pair couldn't get into the final. The results made us think about whether or not tango dance partners should be a couple in private life. Since tango seems to be sensual, I was wondering how many people didn't care about their boyfriends/girlfriends dancing tango with their dance partner.
Anyway, the TV program mentioned that this time, a pair consisting of a 42-year-old Japanese woman and a 21-year-old Argentine man won the world championship in the category of “Stage Tango”. Last time, a Japanese pair won it in the category of "Salon Tango" (There seems to be these two categories). The remarkable accomplishments really surprised me because I don't think that Japanese people are good at expressing their passion, which is an essential element of tango. I wondered if tango performed by Japanese women seemed attractive to foreigners since they usually express themselves in different ways: indirectly.
According to the program, in Japan, tango had been very popular especially among women, which also surprised me. However, the main reason reported was convincing: Many women who are fascinated by tango feel that they can rely on their male partner while they are dancing tango. This feeling attracts them. It seems that tango requires male dancers to lead their partners more aggressively than other kinds of dancing do.
These days, in Japan, many young men don't express themselves to their girlfriends. Women are often forced to put themselves in a situation where they have to be forward and take initiative in a relationship. Under these circumstances, Japanese women seem to be seeking for an opportunity both to rely on men and to be allowed to express their passion while responding to men's passion. Dancing the tango may be that opportunity.
