Queer tango: a lesson in dialogical embodiment

ABSTRACT

The central idea of this article is that bodily practices like queer tango contribute positively to societal change by facilitating the development of a more plurally oriented society. The argument rests primarily on queer tango’s inherent potential as a dialogic body practice. Along with what the practice implies in terms of subverting gender traditions and expanding freedom within the community, the case is made that it has an impact as well on the body schema. The body schema, understood as the individual’s initial, initiating point of action, is of course shaped by society and the individual’s history, but it is also open to change with every new experience. Drawing on the work of Sara Ahmed, Eve K. Sedgwick, Steffen Kitty Herrmann and Hans Joas, the article discusses queer tango as a practice that is multiple in orientation, intrinsically reparative, transgressive and significantly creative – a set of qualities that support change insofar as participants in the practice broaden their qualitative experiences and encounter others at once both bodily and dialogically.

KEYWORDS:

• Body schema
• queer tango
• plurality
• body practice
• dialogue

Notes on contributor

Arno Plass has a BA in Philosophy, an MA in Gender Studies and is a PhD researcher at the University of Art and Design, Linz, Austria, with focus on queer theories, body theories, dialogue studies and practice/arts-based research. His experience covers rehabilitation work in mental health and several body practices.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dan Geist, whose proofreading made it possible to present a fluent English text. He rephrased the various German constructions, suggested the right vocabulary instead of my clumsy expressions and offered wise commentaries on unclear passages.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The recommended trailer, which shows the perspectives of queer tango dancers on this topic, is available at https://vimeo.com/178193784?fbclid=IwAR3hjEDQtyYfRAYfxU-BSmpeNzQSwB2XaN_3zmbGHPZVao99gtHOnV7-XqQ [Accessed 25 May 2019].

2 For a wealth of additional information, see the Queer Tango Project website: http://queertangobook.org [Accessed 25 May 2019].

3 The question of the operating, embodied history within dancing bodies is part of my current PhD project, Sediments of the future: on the virtuality of the body schema along the body practice of queer tango.

4 This tango is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-gEhbq09_A [Accessed 25 May 2019].

5 Queer tango also has its blind spots and unquestioned norms that govern inclusion and exclusion. Queer communities are also affected by the structuring sediments and normative dynamics. But playfulness is still at the fore, as there is no set of heteronormative conventions at work that force people to come up with the standard gendered attitudes. Within queer tango, the dancers are to a certain extent aware of embodied normativities and recognize them as a critical topic within the community.