[Tango-L] No dancing before...

Heather Whitehead heatherwhite3 at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 22 15:53:10 EST 2008


"Defining the dance strictly by the music creates a very slippery slope.
Tell me - what is tango?  Is it only OT Victor and the Old Guard?  Does it
move forward in time to D'Arienzo (who still played a lot of 2/4 time just
as did the old guard)?  What about the Golden Age orchestras that played
primarily in 4/4 rather than 2/4?  Perhaps tango only means Old Guard and
Golden Age?  What about D'Arienzo of the '50s?  Or later years DiSarli. On
what day did they quit playing tango and start playing non-tango?  Piazzolla
was a bandoneon player in Troilo's orchestra.  Did he play tango when he
played with Triolo?  And on what day did Piazzolla quit playing tango?  Etc.
I don't get black and white."- Doug


There's nothing really that slippery about it. Don't miss the obvious. The term "golden Age" implies something crucial.
If you are being sincere with the question- "What is tango?" and not just trying to be cleaver take this term seriously.
It isn't used lightly. It is used to indicate a period within any field where it flourishes and outstanding accomplishments
are achieved. A golden age is a good place to begin to understand the essence of any artform. There is a reason we mainly
dance from this era and it's not just for traditions sake. Remember intention and creative motivation of any given orchestra
is not to be overlooked. There was a strong relationship between the music and the milonga floors/dancers. These orchestras
still speak to dancers the most effectively.

"Nowadays, we dance to orchestras and singers that are long gone. The
sons of the great orchestra leaders, as children do, did not listen to
their parents. Today, unfortunately, there isn't really any new music
to dance to. The orchestras now knock themselves out to follow the
singers, whereas in the old days the singer was just another instrument."

-Cacho Dante

 

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