[Tango-L] What is choreography

[Igor Polk]

I am not going to talk much about it: take a book teaching choreography and
read it.
I am sure you will be surprised with the vastness of the material to know to
be able to choreograph a dance.

I am going to talk only about something related to the myth (yeah, a myth
again ) that choreography is memorizing and doing patterns like a monkey.

When you talk about a choreography you can choose from what position to
think about it.
>From a position of a chorus member, from a position of a soloist, or from a
position of a choreographer who during the performance sits behind the
curtains.

By the way, nobody assigns you a position in tango. You choose it yourself!

Let examine the choreographer's view. For him choreography is highly
creative and challenging process of creation of a great impact dance
considering the abilities of involved dancers.
It must satisfy the tastes of a broad range of public: from newbie to
aficionados. From those who know nothing about it, and to experts who are
always ego to criticize "No, No, this is not right, it sucks ! Another guy
around the corner is better, I remember one performance 50 years ago. That
was tango !", and at the same time introduce an idea in the dance and convey
it successfully without words.

Creating the dance, a serious chorographer might spend hours or even days
per a minute of a dance IMPROVISING, trying this and that, looking for the
cornerstones, and new moves, or well forgotten ones. It is especially
difficult when the dance must portray the social dance. Because in this
task, the chorographer much grab the essence of it, churning tons of
material, and staying in this boundaries of the real staff, impress the
public with an image and technique which makes an imprint in their memories
forever.

The less ambitious choreographer still has complex creative task, and a lot
of skills and knowledge are necessary to create a wonderful dance which at
least one person might enjoy - a partner.

Chorus girls. Yeah, they just should memorize it and do it. Correctly and
nicely. Again, nobody asks you to be a chorus girl. You choose yourself whom
to be in tango ! 

Soloists, ah !
That is another matter !
They do not just move along memorized lines. They have roles ! They perform
! They are actors. They express feeling, grace, technique beyond average,
and doing so they should make sure that the dance just flows out of them.
Naturally and as if it is improvised. Otherwise public will not believe them
and they will go back - to chorus. Have your ever tried to dance
choreographed dance as if it is improvised? Try it.. And remember: a
slightest mistake will blow everything. I am not making a discovery saying
that to achieve that, besides everything else, they must truly feel the
truth, and truly improvise on stage. In their own way.

I hope now you will have more respect to great masters, and less respect for
those who pretend to be them - who just dance simplistic memorized patterns
and sell it to you as "a truly improvised social dance"


Igor Polk.
PS. Now the question might arise. What is improvisation. Someone dare to
dive into answering?