[Tango-L] Live music

[Huck Kennedy]

Kace (tangosingapore.com) writes:
>
> But when a dancer is given a task to perform for an audience,
> he has an obligation to get off his high artistic horses and
> think satisfying the low-brow audience expectation as well. 
> 
> At the very least, this means wearing a suitable costume, and 
> choreographing a few technical moves to reflect the highlights
> of the music.
> 
> Most dancers won't even be able to pass this test, so what
> position are they in to criticize the musicians?

     Where on Earth did *this* come from.  We're social
dancers here, not professionals selling tickets.  And as
consumers with respect to the band, we'll criticize
musicians any way we feel like, thanks.

     As for me, I prefer dancing live to excellent Golden
Age musicians.  Since they all seem to be dead, and since
most local amateur tango bands don't even begin to approach
that quality, I usually (not always) prefer dancing with
recordings to dancing with live music.  I just do, and
I don't see why I or anyone else should have to feel guilty
about it.  Dancing to Color Tango live was wonderful,
definitely more exciting than dancing to a recording.  But
they are outstanding professional musicians, not amateurs.

     As an amateur musician myself, I do enjoy watching the
local tango bands play, and consider their presence at
tango festivals to be a positive thing.  I'll dance some,
but I usually spend more time just watching them play, interact
with each other, etc.  But most of the time (again, not
always--when a local band really does click on a particular
tango, it's great), I have better luck searching for my own
transcendent tango dancing moments with the classic recordings.
Most local bands just aren't tight enough, and they don't have
the intensity of the Golden Age orchestras (not to mention
they're missing the wonderful vocals).  Plus many of them pick
the "wrong" music to play.  I put "wrong" in quotes because,
of course, that is a very subjective thing, personal to each
dancer.

     I can scarcely imagine how thrilling it must have been
to dance to live music during the Golden Age, with the
classic orchestras and singers.  Out on the floor, dressed to
the nines.  Breathtaking.  Probably somewhere right up there
with dancing to The Beatles live in small clubs in Hamburg's
red-light district circa 1962.  Missed out on that, too.

Huck