[Tango-L] beginners |musica?

Tango Society of Central Illinois tango.society at gmail.com
Sat Feb 16 12:28:08 EST 2008


On 2/16/08, andrea <ako31 at nyc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> 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 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.
>

There are places for people who hate tango music. They are called
'alternative milongas'. Unfortunately at most of them the DJ doesn't
get it and still plays sometimes as much as 50% old out-dated
irrelevant cranky scratchy whiney classic tango music. Fortunately
most people sit out, but when Gotan or Bajo Fondo comes on, everyone
joyfully gets up and dances their heart out.

At milongas in Buenos Aires you will hear only classic tango music.
But then, what does these stupid porten~os know? They may have have
created the music out of their culture to represent the pain of their
daily lives, and I've heard rumors that the dance reflects that music,
but now tango belongs to the world, and the rest of us have the right
to shape it into whatever we want, however we feel that day when we
wake up in the morning. As long as we retain the name 'tango', it is
still 'tango', whatever some narrow-minded snobs may say.

Yes, as international ambassadors of tango, we can spread tango around
the world, by dancing ochos, giros, ganchos, barridas, boleos,
volcadas, and colgadas in the polka halls of central Europe, in the
honky tonks of Texas, in the cantinas of Mexicali, wherever and
whenever the music and mood move us.

What is this you say? That dancing tango is not just doing tango
steps, but connection to the tango music is primary? Hey, I'm
connected to my music. Does it have to be tango music? So why is that
not tango if I'm doing tango steps to interpret the music I like?
That's pretty intolerant of your part. We live in a demoncracy, don't
we, and I have the right to free expression.

Someone once asked me how I would feel if some central European
immigrants came to a milonga and danced polka. That's absurd! You
can't dance polka to tango music. Polka is not that felexible. On the
other hand, tango is. Don't get confused about that.

So bring it on - polka, salsa, swing, hip-hop, reggae, Beethoven,
Mozart, and Brahms. Tango steps are waiting for you.

(Not) Ron



More information about the Tango-L mailing list