New German Dance Studies

15. Toward a Theory of Cultural Translation in Dance

15. Toward a Theory of Cultural Translation in Dance Gabriele Klein Looking at the history of dance in the modern West, and especially in Europe, where aesthetic modernism began around 1900, there are two characteristics of dance. Whether it is so-called popular dance or a more artistic form, from a sociological perspective, the history of dance is the history of globalization and transnationalism. It is also the record of how urban experiences have been expressed physically. The artistic avant-garde of the twentieth century thrived in large cities, and even folk dances rarely originated in the countryside. Whether tango from Buenos Aires, samba from Rio de Janiero, punk from London, techno from Detroit, house from Chicago, or hip-hop from New York: Popular dance culture, as it arose in European cities in the course of the twentieth century, was always subject to ethnic and social influences such as the urban middle and lower classes, cultural traditions outside Europe, or trends in popular culture. Assimilating these, dance spread globally, representing experiences of urban living that stretch from the white middle class, with their particular ethical code, to the active rebelliousness of black adolescents. Dance and the city are connected by a secret link: Dances represent urban ways of life; they capture the spirit of a city, which, in performance, is turned into a sensual experience. Cities, with their dynamic energy, their social density, and cultural diversity, are in turn fertile ground for new dances. In the modern era, dances always reveal the changeable history of urban places, caught between restoration and revolution, mainstream and opposition, social in- and exclusion, globalization and locality. Popular dances tell this story as a physical exercise, as a sensual history of controlling and releasing body movements. It considers the traditional hierarchy of gender and its reorganization, as well as social difference and cultural heterogeneity. It takes into account resistance to i-xii_1-284_Mann.indd 247 4/5/12 3:30 PM 248 gabriele klein one’s basic instincts and surrender to the drive, the longing for affiliation and solitude, the affirmation of and resistance against Western consumer culture. The following will address tango as a specific example of urban transnationalism in dance. In particular, it will explore the relevance of a theory of cultural translation for the analysis and historiography of dance and show how such a theory can arise from the embodied practice of tango. Global Dances, Local Practices: Ethnographic Reports on Tango Buenos Aires is mythical place of origin and a mecca for global tango tourism . It offers multiple tango-locations, milongas and practicás as diverse as the cultural hybridity of tango itself. Male and, more often, female tourists frequent places like the Niňo Bien, a renovated turn-of-the-century ballroom with bright lights and elegant tables; or the Club Espanol and the Confitería Ideal, art nouveau halls decorated in gold, complete with chandeliers, tarnished mirrors, and old-fashioned bistro tables and chairs. So called “taxi dancers” will find plenty of customers here. This profession witnessed a short-lived boom during the Roaring Twenties in Germany due to the First World War’s many male casualties; in today’s Buenos Aires, it is an important source of income for mostly older, good-looking Argentinean men who embody the type of the authentic milonguero. Taxi dancers can be hired by women. Doubts about the decency or political correctness of such deals are swept away by the desire for authentic experience that can be found in the retained passion and sustained tension of the milonguero’s embrace. Cheek to cheek with “her” man, the woman-turned-into-goddess glides across the dance floor. In her film The Tango Lesson, which once more fueled tango’s mythical attractiveness for tourists, Sally Potter tells precisely this tale: a white middle-class woman discovers the power of tango. Next to the taxi dancers, prominent local dance teachers take on female tourists for marketing reasons; after the dance, they distribute their flyers and take reservations for private lessons. The situation is different in places less frequently visited by tourists. Here, the global and allegedly “authentic” sign system of tango is lacking. No red velvet, roses, black chairs, or dimmed lights. A different kind of production of authenticity is provided, for instance, by El Arranque, an afternoon milonga at La Argentina: a room without windows in a 1970s building with a tiled floor, neon light, walls covered in a faded brown color, tables in green and...