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

[Igor Polk]

I like what Jake says.

In any way,  even annoyingly long courtina time is mostly not enough to
select a partner and invite each other.
Sometimes - may be, but often - not. Imagine you want to have a sip of wine
in-between, go to a restroom? Or chat a little? So, then you have to wait a
whole tanda to start dancing? While other ladies are waiting? Hmmm.. not for
me. So more often than not, one have to stay with a partner to continue
their 4 dances. To separate just because it is a courtina - sorry, I never
do it. For example, dancing a milonga or vals with a new partner, I like to
continue and finish with at least one tango.

Courtina music should definitely break the current tanda style, tempo, and
gradually prepare for the next one. I do not like when courtinas are
danceable. Often, especially at alternative events they are more calling me
for a dance than the music itself.

If people in the dancing room have other purpose to gather than just
dancing, that is another matter. Long curtinas are pretty appropriate.

You are free! You DO NOT HAVE TO separate if it is a courtina ! Nonsense!

It is pretty rare when courtinas work very well. It has to be a very high
class of tango party there. Like in Portland, or Broadway Studios..
Collective meditation. Courtinas there are like breath of fresh air before
the jump to the next meditation cycle. Courtinas are the part of the whole
dancing pulse, they connect tandas together, serving as a thread for the
event. Tanda - high, courtina - relief. It is a part of the dance, it mixes
everything: legs, senses, surroundings, dresses, faces.. It has its own
rhythm: antirhythm. And then tango music starts and from the chaos new dance
is born. Magic! That what courtinas are for..

Igor.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hi Dani (and Neil),

Well, I look at it like this... Not everyone is going to clear the
floor, since people sometimes dance more than a tanda together. So it's
not my job as a DJ to _force_ them off. It's my job to mark the change
between tandas. That's how I (and others) deal with the context we've
got. To dictate a different manner of conduct, when it doesn't really
matter all that much, is simply rude. After all, some of us aren't
acting out of ignorance: we're adapting to the conditions at hand.

As for people who dance to the cortinas... Well, if the DJ plays salsa
or swing or whatever, who really cares? People come to dance, and even
if they annoy me a little, it's hardly worth condemning them for the way
they have fun. Honestly, I pay more attention to picking out my socks.

Another matter, however, are the cortinas played before or after
alternative sets... These can get genuinely confusing. Some DJs, I
notice, don't even play a cortina before an alternative set-- a breaking
of the pattern that just throws people off. After an alternative set,
the cortina, I think, should be markedly NOT dance music, so that
dancers understand what's going on.

But for that matter, alternative sets also need to be selected with a
bit of care... I once heard a DJ play an obscure Piazzolla number at a
very well-attended milonga, and my partner and I were the only ones who
started dancing to it. Everyone else just stood around confused.
Reacting to the crowd, as he should have, the DJ faded it out after 45
seconds, pretended it was a cortina, and played a traditional tanda. I
wanted to dance to the song, sure; but he acted appropriately, and
clarified matters for the other 80 or so people present-- which is every
DJ's primary function, once they've got their tandas and cortinas worked
out.

The crowd at hand comes first. Everything else comes third.

Jake Spatz
DC