[Tango-L] Live cortinas

[TangoDC.com]

Hello all,

I don't know if this is what Keith meant, but here's another angle on 
the live music thing...

I'm currently guest-hosting a large milonga in DC, and have introduced a 
couple incidental changes to bring it some variety, without interfering 
with the dancing. The first experiment involved a live (classical) 
guitarist playing cortinas.

The experiment kinda failed on some level, because we couldn't amp him 
loud enough to match the DJ's level. (There were some issues running his 
line through the house sound system, and the guitar amps we had weren't 
powerful enough to boost him. That's an issue with an answer, but I've 
just been too busy/lazy to push a solution through.)

It was a complete success, however, during the milonga intro. There's a 
5-minute break between the group classes and the milonga at this venue, 
and he gave us a delightful (I believe) Renaissance piece, with enough 
atmosphere to take our minds off the furnace-level heat in the room. 
There, the low volume didn't matter, and probably contributed to the moment.

Anyway, I plan to push the idea as much as I personally can, because I 
think it's a great way to include area talents in our tango events. 
Logistically, it requires the DJ and the musician(s) to work out a kind 
of schedule, so they can take turns doing their thing, dancing, and so 
forth. From what I've seen, it's pretty easy to manage.* It also makes 
things casual and creative, and lends the entire event the flavor of a 
relaxed bohemian party.

* (I recently made my DJ debut at a house party, and swapped off with a 
Brazilian trio playing one 30-minute set. Piece of cake. Doing it for 
cortinas would be quite easy, I now know first-hand.)

So, I felt like sharing the idea here, in case any milonga hosts want to 
give it a shot. It's kinda fun to have someone playing live for 30 
seconds. It's a sweet little challenge for the musician too, opening up 
a lot of stylistic possibilities, since there are tons of non-tango 
styles that can work for a cortina. So long as the dancers don't get 
stuck standing on the floor listening, and it's kept a background 
element, I think it's a great way to integrate arts and set a good tone 
for the evening.

Jake Spatz
DC