We invite serious tango-lovers, current and aspiring tango professionals and experienced tango dancing/performing/teaching/organizing veterans who wish to share the fruits of their work with their colleagues and peers to join with us in this innovative new event. 

Tango360™ 2011 CONFERENCE THEMES

From Wikipedia: An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work.

For 2011, the Tango360™ conference will have four main themes -

“Tango as an Academic Pursuit” – Can one expect to soon see Argentine Tango as an undergraduate degree program at the University level in the United States? What progress is being made towards this goal? What would such a program look like? Can we develop a consensus on what to include? What to discard? Are there existing historical models of a street art becoming “academically respectable”? Is such respectability even desirable? Is it inevitable? What can we do to accelerate the processes that seem already to be underway at various institutions?

-    “Tango as a Spiritual Practice” – Many people already view their tango involvement as containing many elements of a spiritual practice – but, uniquely among mainstream spiritual traditions, a spiritual practice for those in couple relationships of varying duration. How can individuals, tango partners and tango communities best advance the tantalizing promise of tango as a powerful arena for individual and collective spiritual development? What practices are available and practical within the domain of tango that would let one maximize its “spiritual development potential”? To what degree are approaches like “emotional authenticity” practices from theatrical improvisation able to provide useful models that lead to more profound connections in the social dance?

-    “Tango as a Commercial Enterprise” – What’s it like in the trenches of the USA (and world) tango economy? Tons of teachers everywhere, festivals growing like weeds – what are the realities behind the myths and dreams? Can someone make a living as a full-time tango teacher/organizer? What about the “nonprofit model” of tango? How does the essence of tango thrive in (or suffer from) attempts to make tango activities commercially successful today? What kinds of commercial activities best foster the healthy growth of local communities which can become the bedrock of the emergent tango culture? What’s the best way to cooperate with other aspiring professionals in what often appears to be a fiercely competitive environment? What are the success stories and the cautionary tales, and what can we learn from each?

     “Tango: The Shadow Side” – We all know the high-voltage current that a powerful tango encounter can generate within our minds and hearts. For many of us, our tango experiences with this high-voltage current include some "meltdown" experiences, where our circuits get overloaded to some degree, and the sweet perfume of tango heaven mixes with the smell of burning insulation in our psychic wiring. Of course, we all have places in our internal circuitry where an overload of "tango current" might have results that aren't pretty, and of which we are not particularly proud. In Jungian psychology, the shadow or “shadow aspect” is part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings and instincts. More generally, it represents any aspect of the self ( both “light” and “dark”) that tends to reside, analysis-resistant,  beneath our conscious awareness, often projected outward on others (with various negative consequences) in an attempt to disown it. For all the pleasure that many of us draw from tango, why are so many tango aficionados so unhappy so much of the time? Does tango make you meaner and less compassionate, or the opposite – or both? Is tango actually a fantastic tool for exploring and coming to grips with the shadow side within each of us, whether or not we see such a quest in spiritual terms? What level of responsibility for the “shadow side” would it be useful to expect of ourselves and of serious fellow tango dancers? How can we facilitate this taking of responsibility? Are there systematic ways of mastering some predictably encountered emotional pitfalls of the dance experience? What can we learn from those willing to share the details of their shadow tango experiences?

 DOES THIS SOUND LIKE FUN TO YOU?

- If you are a tango lover who would jump at the chance to participate in explorations of these themes...

- If your current work in tango could truly benefit from discussing these themes with some VERY experienced veterans of the tango scene...

- If you don’t feel you have anything to contribute on these themes (except your interest and curiosity), but would really like to meet and dance with those who do...

…whatever your motives or interests, JOIN US in exploring this exciting new direction in tango!

 WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING UNSOLICITED CONFERENCE PRESENTATION PROPOSALS - Please contact us for possible inclusion in the works-in-progress reports, and for inclusion in the building of topic-oriented "working groups".

While the goal of the event is to promote face-to-face contact, discussion and ongoing networking around topics of shared interest, we expect to publish at least partial proceedings of the conference in some form.

This website page and our accompanying Facebook page will be the primary sources of a steady flow of updates - so stay tuned!

Abrazos,