Goulet.pdf

Anahí Viladrich
In various conferences and seminars, almost every time I present
my research on tango immigrants, I am either invited to demonstrate
my tango skills, or asked to teach a tango workshop afterward. My
answer has always been, and still is, that what distinguishes my work
from that of others is that I focus on tango as a distinctive epiphe-
nomenon of the entertainment field, or as the stargate that leads into
the realm of unique social relationships built upon tango dancing.
My work on tango has become a metaphor to represent the social re-
lationships concealed behind dancing, which reveals the exchange of
social resources and the construction (and reaffirmation) of identity
through the recreation of unique tango personas.
By being a non-dancing observer, I have allowed myself to expe-
rience a certain emotional detachment from the feverish intensity of
the tango coupling, what some people in the tango world call the ad-
diction to the tango’s embrace. This is defined as a sort of tango ob-
session that takes on those who are being initiated into the tango as a
powerful communicator of passion. Many of the Argentines I inter-
viewed call it an obsession, a fever, a high, which may last from a few
days to weeks or even years. In some cases, it never reaches its illu-
sory target; in others, it turns into a nirvana of unearthly feelings. For
many, it is characterized by a sort of intoxicating urge to hold (and be
held) while keeping the magic embrace for as long as possible. This
ecstasy is also supported by the need to be out there showing off, re-
hearsing steps, figures, kicks, movements, touches, while sharing sub-
tle caresses with a tango partner for a brief period.
Savigliano ( 1995 , 2003 ), the female tango anthropologist par ex-
cellence (who has extensively written about tango and the global po-
litical economy), describes the addiction to the tango embrace as a
passion, referring to the endless search for it rather than its consum-
mation. Like other anthropologists who have researched tango, Sav-
igliano has merged with her object of study not only intellectually
but also sensitively, enabling her to establish meaningful liaisons be-
tween the emotional and the sociopolitical aspects of the genre. For
example, speaking from her own experience as a researcher–dancer,
she challenges conventional wisdom regarding the tango’s gender re-
lationships by suggesting that women have subtle roles as leaders of