[Tango-L] Cortinas (not the old car from the '70s)

[Jacob Eggers]

The united states isn't buenos aires. I don't know much about buenos
aires, but the US has a huge variety of dancers. Everyone dances
differently and for different reasons. I think that a dj here has the
opportunity to create virtually any environment that s/he desires. (If
it people like the environment, then the dj will be sucessful, if not
then the dj will quickly fade into history.)

There are a few ideas about cortinas that I've thought about while dancing:

Cortina Length:
I often like to dance multiple tandas with my favorite followers, so
cortinas longer than 30-40secs hurt my mood/momentum. However, if a dj
wants to play cortinas > 60sec, I have no problem with it, but I
probably wouldn't frequent those milongas.

Danceable Cortinas:
I dislike dancing to cortinas, but some djs will use very danceable
songs as cortinas. Songs that other djs will use in a tanda. Cortinas
should, in my opinion, be undanceable to even the most alternative
person in the room. (Actually, I know of one dj that would
occasionally play an entire danceable alternative song as a cortina.
It gives the traditional dancers a chance to rest their legs for a
couple of minutes, and gives the alternative crowd a moment of
happiness.)

Cortina moods:
One last pet peev, cortinas are sometimes picked too haphazardly.
Please pick nice songs that fit the mood at the moment. Often a dj
will play a loud jarring cortina in between a couple of beautiful
lyrical pieces. That can be disruptive to an otherwise very nice
night. Picking cortinas to fit or alter the mood can be a valuable
tool to an intelligent dj. I also like the idea of always playing the
same cortina before announcements.

Chau,
j


On 10/5/06, Christopher L. Everett <ceverett at ceverett.com> wrote:
> Club~Tango*La Dolce Vita~ wrote:
> > Hi Christopher, Jake, Manuel... everybody
> >
> > I think your suggestion is favourable with me, Christopher. Assess the
> > length required on a 'need-to-effect' basis.
> >
> > I was considering what you both suggest, Jake and Manuel. Trouble is
> > that with longer 'set' lengths, there is always the invariable numpty
> > who feels they have to get up and dance to the cortina... nothing more
> > annoying.
> Happens even in Buenos Aires.  Seen it with my own eyes.
>
> Play something absolutely undanceable.  Opening chords of Beethoven's
> 5th or something like that.
>
> I gave up on Piazzola and electrotango for cortinas for that same reason.
>
> Christopher
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Dani
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: Christopher L. Everett <ceverett at ceverett.com>
> > To: Dani Iannarelli <dani at tango-la-dolce-vita.eu>
> > Cc: Tango-L at mit.edu
> > Sent: Thursday, 5 October, 2006 8:49:09 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Cortinas (not the old car from the '70s)
> >
> > Dani Iannarelli wrote:
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > With regard to the 'refresh' button for the milonga dance floor :-) .ie
> > > cortinas :-)
> > >
> > > Just wondering what members would consider the optimum length?
> > >
> > However long it takes for people to clear the floor.  No
> > more, no less.  Big floor, lots of people with difficult egress,
> > you might need as much as 90 seconds.  Tiny floor, small
> > crowd, easy to get on/off the floor, 10-15 seconds.
> >
> > Christopher
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tango-L mailing list
> Tango-L at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
>