[Tango-L] No dancing before the music

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

Hello Janis,

Out of genuine curiosity, did you listen to tango music for
a year before you began dancing?  If I think about those I
know who have done very well in tango, I honestly don't
think that they would wait for a year before hitting the
dance floor.  They're much too accomplished to let a
certain lack of knowledge keep them from their goals.  

As one who knew zero about the music when I first learned
to dance, I think I did alright.  It took me years to learn
to love the music.  It took Sean longer because he is
completely tone-deaf (he never could clap at the same time
as everyone else), though most people can't tell now.

While I can see where you're coming from, I don't quite
understand how you think this is at all a practical way to
grow tango.

Trini de Pittsburgh


--- Janis Kenyon <Jantango at feedback.net.ar> wrote:

> Tango For Her wrote:
> <So, a general statement that you would have to listen to
> the music for a
> year before dancing just isn't true across the board.>
> 
> 
> The American way of life is instant gratification, so a
> year seems like an
> eternity.  It takes years to know any music well enough
> to recognize the
> composer or orchestra, etc.  The musicians on Tango-L who
> dance know what I
> mean.  Tango is from another culture, so it requires time
> and effort to
> learn.
> 
> I recorded an interview with milonguero Ricardo Suarez in
> which he relates
> how he went to watch the dancers in the clubs and
> confiterias every night of
> the week for two years before he set foot on the dance
> floor.  He knew the
> music well.  Then he began to dance what he felt.
> 
> I just returned home from Salon Canning where Gente de
> Tango and Los Reyes
> de Tango played.  I didn't go to dance.  I went to enjoy
> the music of both
> orchestras which have entirely different styles.  I
> listened to music that I
> know and love hearing again and again.  The music
> resonates in my body and
> comes out my fingers as I play the notes on the table.  I
> could hardly sit
> still in my chair while listening to such powerful music
> which I have grown
> to love.  And a live performance is exhilarating.
> 
> Tango is a feeling that is danced.  If you don't know the
> music, you are
> merely going through the motions.  When one really knows
> the music, one
> doesn't think.  One feels.  The music takes over.
> 
> 
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PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
  Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh’s most popular social dance!
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