[Tango-L] Choreography

[WHITE 95 R]

Hi everybody!

With some trepidation I decided to wade into this choreography/improvisation 
debate. I think that what most tango dancers who can dance even just a 
little bit, realize that the show tango exhibitions consist of steps and 
movements that are practiced in a certain sequence and with a particular 
piece of music. This produces a more polished and interesting performance 
with some elaborate and intricate moves. The rehearsed performance looks 
good and it matches the music. If the performers are good enough it it's 
actually quite beautiful and shows great musicality and skill. If the 
dancers are not so good, the results can be less than impressive.

Now, there is a widespread use of the word "improvised" as it refers to the 
tango. To my thinking, this means that it's unrehearsed and spontaneous. 
However, if you look at it a little more deeply, you can see that the 
"improvised" part applies only to the order and variety of the 
sub-choreographies that everyone has learned as the basic steps of tango.

Practically everybody dances a short walk, a partial turn to the right, the 
"ocho cortado", a partial turn to the left, back ochos, etc. The more 
advanced dancers complete turns to both sides and perform other more 
difficult steps. Basically all those steps and moves are learned and 
rehearsed (choreographed ?) little sequences of steps. Most of us try to put 
these little sequences in places where the music seems to "fit" better. 
Basically, this is all the improvisation that I've seen in tango dancing.

IMHO, to be totally improvised and spontaneous, the dance would have to be 
made from unplanned, unlearned, brand new movements. When I think of 
improvisation in the dance, I think of "contact improv" where things just 
sort of develop without preconceived notions (or motions). I think all tango 
dancers dance choreographies. Some of these are many very small 
choreographies more or less strung together in fairly predictable fashion 
done within the length of the song. The biggest difference between the 
"show" choreographies and the "improvised" dancing is that the show dancers 
practice and rehearse longer and more complicated sequences of tango steps 
which more rigidly follow the music.

Respectfully,

Manuel