[Tango-L] What is Tango/Tango Music

[marquerito tjanos]

i am quite a purist regaring tango. so this is biased.
   
  on the other hand i wonder why a lot of people keep arguing dancing "tango" to non tango music is tango. i actually started dancing salsa and merengue with my latino friends (who are from latino countries and not from the US) back in high school and asked them what makes salsa salsa and merengue merengue.
   
  they told me that they listen to the music. the music have distinctive feels. the music have distinctive beats. the music have distinctive rhythm. they have specific instruments. the music talks about specific themes. they told me "that is why your body moves differently with salsa as compared to merengue. that is why your feet move differently. you cannot really dance the salsa steps to merengue because it just do not feel right. you cannot force your body to move differently"
   
  i think that is well said. i don't dance tango to non tango music because "it just do not feel right" i may dance to non tango music, but i won't be dancing tango. i may have a "tango embrace", some of my "steps" may look like a tango step, but it won't be tango. i am just dancing. i am "busting a move"
   
  tango music has a distinctive feel. and for the danceable ones, a distinctive structure. i am not saying i don't dance to "nuevo music" but not all nuevo music is danceable, or good to dance to. not all nuevo music have that distincitive feel. that is why i only dance selectively to nuevo music. but never to "why this song is in a milonga"
   
  and there is also this talk about tango have to evolve (dancing to sometimes strange contemporary tango music,  or dancing to pop songs, dancing to i don't know what songs) i never heard anything about salsa people saying "lets dance to some weird music so salsa can evolve" when you go to a salsa club, you expect to hear salsa music. distinctive beat, distinctive rhythm. i will hear "tried and tested" salsa grooves, that i hear so many times in salsa club i know what notes is coming next.
   
  just my opinion. 
   
  M

       
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