[Tango-L] beginners |musica?

[andrea]

i am writing in response to:


> From: "Janis Kenyon" <Jantango at feedback.net.ar>
> Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Beginners and milongas
> "

> "...They aren't ready to dance for one important reason--they don't  
> know the music.  They
> want to take classes while they are in BsAs, but I pointed out that  
> it would
> be a waste of their time.  They need to know tango music first.   
> It's the
> music that makes them want to dance, the same as when they dance  
> ballroom or
> swing or salsa together.  One can't dance to music they don't know...

> A few weeks ago I received a phone call from an Argentine man who was
> interested in learning to dance.  He asked if Gotan and Piazzolla  
> music was
> appropriate for dancing.  I suggested tango orchestra recordings he  
> should
> buy and listen to for a year.  I told him that when he knows and  
> loves the
> music, his tango will come out of him.  He learned the eight-step  
> basic, so
> I told him to forget it.  He has to feel tango to dance well, not  
> think
> steps.
>
>
i have never been a fan of the old time tangos despite my favorite  
being 'poema'.

the cranky twangy music has never moved me, nor the big orchestras. i  
am a fan of pugliese and gotan and  i have danced tango to bach,  
african drums,
christmas carols, bob dylan, french 'musette', balkan music and now a  
nyc composer named blake leyh who wrote an album called 'xray yankee  
zulu tango' that i came across. i play tango music while we work in  
my studio and everyone there loved it, so i wrote to thank blake for  
the quirky and beautiful tangos. he knows nothing about tango- the  
dance, only tango the musical form and was thrilled that it moved  
people so.

i think that is my point. there are all kinds of music that move us.  
everyone is different. i am different depending on the day. i go  
through periods where i only want to waltz, only want to milonga.

we all move to a different drum (unintended pun) and there are no  
shoulds or should nots.

i heard a bandoneon and despite my having no prior knowledge of the  
instrument , no cultural connection, i wanted to move. i cannot stay  
seated if i hear piazolla's libertango, i have a friend who is a well  
known electronic musician who said in a radio intervew on npr, that  
it is the finest composition of the 20th century.

tango moves dancers and musicians alike.

i say to a beginner , 'learn tango from someone who loves the dance,  
then dance to the music that makes u want to love to move'.

andrea
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