Richard Powers

Richard Powers

by Jackie Ling Wong

Scene: I've known Richard since college when we were both living and growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. I didn't realize until 2 years ago the role he played in the development of Argentine Tango in the States. As I understand it, from the numerous discussions I have had with American Argentine tango "old timers", the Stanford Tango Weeks that he hosted were key in promoting Tango. The men and women who taught at Stanford are now counted as among the most famous tango instructors. They include Graciela Gonzales, Juan Copes, Eduardo Arquimbau,Daniel Trenner, Rebecca Shulman, and Pablo Pugliese, among others.

Our interview took place at his home where we sampled the lovely wine that we now serve at the milonga..Salmon Creek Merlot. From a personal perspective Richard hadn't changed much. He still reminded me of his afghan dog from college. Long, lean and graceful.

Q: Richard, what motivated you to include tango at the Stanford vintage dance weeks?

Richard: Two things. One was my long-standing love of the tango, which had fascinated me ever since I started studying historic social dances in the 1970s. The tango has a greater depth and complexity than most social dances, including an emotional complexity.

Secondly I wanted to do what I could to help the U.S. catch more of an interest in living tradition Argentine tango. I was hopeful when the"Tango Argentino" show hit Broadway around 1980, but after a brief flurry of attention at that time, interest was dwindling, with only a few small groups nationwide nine years later.

Q: Where were these groups located? Were there any dominant personalities?

Richard: The Argentines in the "Tango Argentino" show had returned home by the end of the eighties, but while I was still in Cincinnati a friend told me he had discovered a small tango community in San Francisco, the students of Argentines Raul and Nora Dinzelbacher. There may have been others teaching tango Argentino in the States, I don't know, but the Dinzelbachers were the only ones I knew of at the time. And yes, their following was indeed driven by their generous, enthusiastic and supportive personalities, which emphasized the spirit as much as the technique of tango. In 1989 I hired them to teach at my Vintage Dance Week in Cincinnati.

Then in 1990 I hired Raul and Nora to teach at the Stanford vintage dance weeks, which I also directed. Unfortunately Raul passed away in the middle of the 1990 Stanford dance week, but we were able to see that full dance weeks were a better way of spreading Argentine tango than weekend workshops.

So I started the first Tango Week in 1991. I guessed that bringing masters like Juan Carlos Copes for a total immersion week of Argentine tango would help the dance take off. It did. The participants loved it, and Copes was also thrilled to be teaching in the States again. He handed out his business cards to everyone at that first Tango Week and asked everyone there to visit him at his home... ah those were the days.

The Tango Week also helped build a network of tango enthusiasts. The Tango-L list was created from this participant core; participants became future group leaders, instructors and tango week organizers.

That was the first of nine Stanford Tango Weeks. Four years later other organizers began to run tango weeks, based on the Stanford prototype, so in a continued mission to offer dance opportunities not offered elsewhere, I added an emphasis on personal vernacular styles. That was the 1995 "Year of the Milongueros" when I brought in seven Argentine tangueros to teach their personal styles. One of these milonguero styles came to be called "close embrace" style, while others still call it "milonguero style."

Q: What feedback did you receive from the participants? I ask because there is the opinion that Americans are less comfortable with the more intimate close embrace. Do you agree?

Richard: It was mixed. That's one thing I've always loved about the tango community. Each dancer has his or own individual reasons for liking the dance. It's not a uniform fad dynamic. So some thought it was too close and some loved it. Even though your question was about North Americans being less comfortable with close embrace, I should also mention that back then several of the Argentine masters also thought close embrace tango was too close.

Q: Have you noticed any differences between cultures in their approach to tango? To dance?

Richard: Yes, but also subcultures within cultures. For instance Argentines can be from German, Italian or other cultural traditions. But I can mention one dynamic I often see in Argentines. The men are often quick to anger and quick to forgive. It is said that Americans are slower to anger and slower to forgive, but I've also heard that NYC tangueros combine the worst of both: quick to anger and slow to forgive. (Richard smiles and winks)

Q: If you can generalize, what type of person - man, woman- is attracted to tango?

Richard: The reason for my reaction after my comment about NYC is that in truth tango lovers can't be generalized, as I mentioned before. Some are drawn to the tango's legendary passion and other emotional expressiveness. Others may like it for the opposite reason: they identify with the almost dispassionate Argentine spirit of mufarse. Some like the mental challenge of its complexity like a chess game with the feet. Some older dancers are happy to find a dance that you don't have to be young, thin or athletic to master. Some are drawn to the music. Then there are personal relationships -- some come with their friends, or more often with a specific friend they are dating. After sampling more superficial fad dances, some find a more lasting satisfaction the depth and complexity that is all of these factors, and more, combined in one dance.

Q: Didn't you study one of the sciences in college? So what led you to dance?

Richard: Yes, my degrees were in engineering design (Purdue) and a Masters from Stanford in the creative process. I have seven patents and a bunch of design awards, all from the seventies. But then I discovered something much better.

I never danced at all until I was 26. I'm often asked what led me to dancing and I always tell them that it was you who introduced me to movement with Tai Chi. I had wanted to gain a greater understanding of Chinese calligraphy through Tai Chi. That led to Kendo, then to contra dancing, folk dance, historic dance and contemporary social dances.

Q: Thank you for the credit. It was a fun period of my life..... but I guess I'm curious to know how a "scientific" mind can be comfortable with dance?

Richard: I think we're all seeking balance and ways to become whole. Our culture doesn't support the development of all facets of self-actualization so we're each on our own in developing neglected areas of personal growth. It's not as simple as a "techie" personality discovering missing "fuzzy" elements or vice-versa, or the similarly oversimplified balancing of masculine and feminine qualities, but it's something like that. Carl Jung was one of many who focused on this seeking of personal balance.

So it's more than my being comfortable with a different mindset, it's an attraction to it, in this seeking of balance and fulfillment. And it's not just me. I see this often in my students here at Stanford. 20% of Stanford students are in engineering but 40% of my dance students are engineers. So proportionally twice as many engineers are drawn to dance as other majors. Many of them tell me they are intentionally looking to balance their left-brain analytical work with a nonverbal, intuitive, musical and physical experience.

Q: What role does dance play in your personal life?

Richard: Many different roles, not just one. I think the primary role these days is as energy renewal (emotional and spiritual), connections with other people, amazing dance music, and passing on this spirit to others through teaching. But other roles include the archeology-like puzzle work of reconstructing past dances, moving meditation (my involvement with the psy-trance collective Koinonea) and play.

Q: psy-trance collective Koinonea?

Richard: They used to be called raves, now we call them psy-trance parties. Koinonea has the reputation of being the most spiritual of the San Francisco rave collectives, a wonderful group of generous and talented individuals who create some amazing dances. I've been working with them for seven years -- I sometimes lead the guided meditation in our opening rituals. Koinonea is not a drug scene at all -- the focus is on community -- moving meditation and great music, with a wide range of other personal motivations, just like with tango. Some photos are at http://dance.stanford.edu/koinonea/koin2.htm

Q: One final question. I'm interested in your perspective of the argentine tango community because you are not immersed in it exclusively. You have a broader view, which encompasses the entire dance spectrum.

Richard: I can't generalize one entity called "the argentine tango community." Each local tango community has it's own character and personality and these vary widely. Unfortunately the negative "tango attitude" seems to outnumber the friendlier groups, with many groups embodying a competitive, demanding, judgmental atmosphere, highly critical and unforgiving of anyone who strays outside a very narrow spectrum of what they deem to be "correct" styles and steps. I always find this amusing, to see dancers who hypothetically are critical of British ("International") competition ballroom dance, adopting all of the ballroom dance attitude of "correct" styles and allowable steps. They seem to have forgotten the original spirit of the tango, as a dance of individuality and resistance against authority, and instead are vying with each other to become the Tango Authority.

But the good news is the tango groups, which embrace personal variations, personal expression and flexibility, encouraging their members to adapt to their various partners from different tango traditions.

As a dance historian, I have seen, over and over again, a dance form die out when it became too rigidly standardized. The dances that thrive over time are the ones that keep evolving to incorporate aspects from current culture. The tango underwent great changes in Buenos Aires during the 20th century because it was a healthy, living, evolving form. Even though some groups want to kill this evolutionary process with their insistence that dancers conform to their one "correct" style, there are enough enlightened groups out there to keep the tango alive and thriving.

It's no surprise that the membership base of the more rigid authority-based groups are aging and dwindling, while the flexible and accepting groups are younger and growing. That's the way it's always been.

Please click on the following link to a very interesting piece

written by Richard on the roles of follower and leader.

A quote from the article

"The main reason I don't like the term following is that it doesn't accurately describe the role. Women do not "follow," they interpret signals they're given, with a keen responsiveness that is not passive. The follow role is mentally and physically active, like the flow state in sports."

http://dance.stanford.edu/syllabi/partnering.htm

Argentine Tango Pulse · Classes for Tango Pulse Calendar · Regional Argentine Tango Dance Calendar · Jackie Ling Wong Biography · DJ Jackie Wong Neotango Zone · Tango Organizers, Teachers, DJs · Argentine Tango History by Bill Matthiesen · Eyes and Words by Sabine and Jackie · Tango Moments · Tango Interviews · Dance Attire · Photos · Lichtenstein Center for the Arts Directions · Berkshire Pulse Directions · Links