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"The
dancers body is simply
the luminous manifestation of their soul. This is the truly creative
dancer, natural but not imitative, speaking in movement out of self and
out of something greater than all selves"
Isadora Duncan
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Tango
Physics
"The
laws of physics apply to tango
just as they
do to other phenomena. Here is a summary of current
knowledge, obtained from leading text books and recent research
papers. Some of the more advanced theories must remain
speculative, pending further research."
Basics
Tango consists of the
interaction of electrically charged particles
operating within a musical energy field. There exist just two types of
elementary
particle: the tanguera
particle and the complementary tanguero particle.
The tanguera particle (or simply tanguera)
is electrically charged by
the addition of high heeled shoes and a glamorous dress. The
quantity of charge is directly proportional to the height of the heels
and inversely to the quantity of material in the dress.
In contrast to the
tanguera, the tanguero
particle is more easily and
economically charged. The very appearance of a suitably
charged tanguera is usually sufficient to charge the
tanguero. Some tangueros find themselves already charged on
waking up in the morning, for no apparent reason. The
quantity of charge appears totally unrelated to the
tanguero’s shoes or apparel. Indeed, it also seems
to be based on the tanguera’s shoe height and dress material.
Having complementary charges, the tanguera
and tanguero are naturally
attracted to each other. The force of attraction is
proportional to the product of their individual charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them (the inverse
square law). As this distance approaches zero (the so-called
close embrace) the attraction increases without limit, leading to
important and potentially unstable quantum effects (see below). The
charges of two such particles in a close
embrace cancel each other
(being of opposite polarity) and the couple become electrically
neutral, thus attracting no further particles. This is why
you hardly ever see three particles dancing together.
Two
tanguera particles have
charges of the same polarity and are
therefore likely to repel each other, especially if wearing similar
shoes or dress.
Two tanguero particles are
able to happily co-exist in spite of the
similarity of their charges. The exception to this occurs in
the presence of a single tanguera particle, when one of the tangueros
attaches to the tanguera and the other is ejected.
Interactions
of particles
Tango particles interact
within a chamber known as a milonga under the
influence of musical energy supplied by an orquestra or, more cheaply,
a portable CD player. The
particles resonate with the application of the musical
energy. Ideally the particles resonate in proportion to the
energy supplied (the basic energy of Argentine tango, or beat for
short). However, not all particles resonate at the
appropriate frequency. Those which do are said to possess the
property of musicality. Tanguera particles are particularly
strongly attracted to tangueros possessing this property.
A tanguero at the extreme
of the distribution, usually resonating at an
excessively high frequency relative to the beat is known as the null
tanguero particle. Continued contact with the null tanguero
will usually cause the tanguera particle to become completely
electrically discharged and to leave the dance floor.
Newton’s
laws of
tango
A tanguera particle will
remain at rest or continue in constant motion
unless acted upon by a force, usually applied by the tanguero
particle.
A tanguera of mass m, acted upon by a
force f
exerted by the tanguero
will move with an acceleration a
according to a = f/m.
Beyond
this, it is generally unwise to refer to the mass of the tanguera
particle.
For every tango teacher
there is an equal and opposite tango
teacher. E.g. if a teacher says one should never lead with
the left hand, then there exists somewhere a teacher who says this is
permitted or even encouraged. If one teacher says the cross
should be led, there is another who says it isn’t.
This is why one should never change teacher, except in extremis.
Tango and
chaos theory
The discovery of the
mathematical theory of chaos in the 1980s shed new
light on some unresolved mysteries in tango. Just as a
butterfly flapping its wings in South America can cause a cyclone in
Europe, so a misplaced step in one part of the dance floor can cause,
through a consequential series of collisions, avoidances and sudden
changes of direction, several particles to trip over each other some
time later in another part of the milonga.
This is particularly
likely if a new (i.e. inexperienced) tanguero
particle enters the dance floor, holding an excessive charge due to the
close proximity of so many charged tangueras. Attempting to
restore its equilibrium and shed excess energy, it moves at high
velocity with many sudden and unanticipated changes of
direction. This initiates a series of collisions which turns
an initially orderly dance floor (low entropy) into one of disorder
(high entropy).
Chaos also reveals itself
at the level of individual particles, for
example when executing a giro. The giro normally progresses
according to the well known Salas-Naveira equations of
motion. However, a tiny perturbation to the initial step can
become magnified in subsequent steps such that the two particles
complete the giro in totally the wrong positions or, in the worst
scenario, fly apart completely. This solves the mystery of
why the tango is so difficult.
Why tango
particles exist
Very occasionally two
particles resonate together with perfect symmetry
and harmony, in time with the beat. The force of attraction
between them increases as the distance between them decreases until
they effectively become, for a short time, a single particle (a
singularity in mathematical terms). These are the quantum
effects referred to above and they lead to a tear in the very fabric of
space-time itself and the particles disappear from view, into a state
known as nirvana (in the popular imagination this is often located in
the Buenos Aires area of Latin America). No communication
with the particles is possible during this time. The
particles only reappear when the energy supplied by the musical field
is turned off.
We can only speculate
where the tango particles go. The
particles themselves are quite unable to explain since, for them, time
has slowed to a standstill (in accordance with Einstein’s
theory of relativity). Indeed, some of them are incapable of
speech for several minutes on their return. However, there is
general agreement that this state of nirvana is the very reason for the
tango particles’ existence.
Published
by kind permission of Mike Barrow
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