[Tango-L] arrastre (musical)

[Huck Kennedy]

On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 7:22 PM, Joe Grohens <joe.grohens at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Well... this is fantastic. The "arrastre test" seems like kind of an
> idiosyncratic prerequisite for being a tango teacher,

     I agree.  I truly admire Jake for the way he's plunged these last
few years via research into the deepest depths of tango, but I'd be
willing to bet that if you asked 99 out of 100 tango teachers,
including the best from Argentina, what an arrastre was, they'd reply
that it was a foot drag and wouldn't have the slightest idea that it
was also a musical term.

     Dancers, even and especially the best ones, don't know diddly
about technical music theory.  Hell, they don't even know what
syncopation means (they think it means double-timing something), so
how are they to be expected to know what an arrastre means in the
musical world?

     I'd also like to ask Jake just exactly what purpose this
supposedly de rigueur knowledge serves to the new aspiring dancer.
I'm trying to imagine the dialogue:

     Official Arrastre-Certified Teacher:  "You hear the way this
music goes, "baaaaa-RUMP!!"  It is absolutely essential for you to
know that that is called an "arrastre."

     Student:   "Wow, cosmic, dude!!!  All of a sudden my balance is
great now, I'm dancing!!  That's all that was holding me back,
thanks!!!"       :-)

Huck