[Tango-L] An exciting time, One community, Alex & Korey

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

What an exciting time to be a dancer!

A few years ago, some on this list voiced concerns that
without new tango music being developed, tango might die. 
Well, new tango music is being developed for dancing, and
some are pooh-poohing that process.  If one recalls,  the
tangos we all know and love took over 40 years to develop,
and a lot of tangos don't even make it to the milongas.  I
see the same process happening with alternative music,
which has been around for, what, 5,6,7 years?  Trying to
compare these new musicians to DiSarli is like trying to
compare a 2-year dancer with Miguel Zotto.

Rather than tell these musicians and dancers, "No, this is
not tango", I'd rather take a proactive approach and say
"Nice start, but can you add xyz and maybe less abc"?

If you keep telling a child "no, no, no, no no", what kind
of person does he become?  If you keep telling a child
"yes, yes, yes, yes, yes", what type of person does he
become?  Of course, one needs to balance the yes's and
no's.  It's great that we can debate the yes's and no's in
this digital age.  But it's useful to keep an eye on the
prize - keeping Argentine tango alive and healthy - Dealing
in absolutes is simply not productive.


ONE COMMUNITY'S EXPERIENCE
--------------------------
The discussion of alternative music has brought divisions
on this list.  I find that a little amusing because it did
the exact opposite here.  When we introduced alternative
music and nuevo in the summer of 2005, the community was
pretty divided.  That changed in part because it was pretty
obvious that people were having fun with it, and the
not-so-fun people decided they really wanted to join in.  

Oh, and the community is comprised largely of those in
their 50's and 60's, but does have a sizable segment of
grad students under 30.  It's the older crowd, though, that
asks for alternative music at the milongas.  They
particularly like ballads and valses, and we have younger
people wanting to learn close-embrace now so that they can
dance to those ballads.  

If some folks want to encourage division in their own
communities, whatever...


Alex Kreb's & Korey Ireland
---------------------------
If folks have heard Alex Kreb's new CD or Korey Ireland's,
I'd be interested in hearing your reviews.

At a recent milonga, I was dancing to a piece (I think it
was Korey Ireland's) and my partner surprised me by
following a different rhythm than what I was hearing.  He
was more familiar with the piece, and I found his
interpretation to be similar to the complex rhythms of
traditional tango.  I was hearing a more simple rhythm.  I
don't have the piece, so I can't be more specific.  Isn't
this the counterpointing rhythms that Gregory talks about?


Trini de Pittsburgh




PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society 
Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh's most popular social dance. 
http://patangos.home.comcast.net/ 



 
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