[Tango-L] Milonga music mix

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 1:41 AM,  <jb34528 at att.net> wrote:
> As Sergio Vandekier and Clay Nelson, among others, patiently explained, Argentine tango has been evolving.

Yes, tango has been evolving, but within certain boundaries that still
characterize tango as a social dance. Among these is a respect for the
other dancers on the floor, which means adhering to the line of dance
and not invading the space of  other dancers. Some of the more highly
evolved forms derived from tango, such as nuevo, have suspended such
rules.

> We should appreciate the wisdom of the Buenos Aires city fathers who obviously recognized that evolution.

There were probably some mothers involved in that decision making too.

> Why did they set the minimum of the traditional argentine tango music at 70% and not at 95% or 90%?

Because there are other dance rhythms played at Buenos Aires milongas,
such as cumbia, swing, and chacarera. This si part of the porten~o
culture. There are dances called 'bailes' where less than 70% of the
music is tango (milonga and vals). A 'milonga' will play no more than
30% of these other rhythms (to which tango is not danced).

> Accordingly, these days, an event called milonga should offer traditional tango music as well as some of the late music ( say Libedinsky, Gotan, etc ) and even offer some non-tango music to experiment with. Madeleine Peyroux or Frank Sinatra come to
mind, e.g.

'Should offer some non-tango music to experiment with'? This is a very
ethnocentric viewpoint. What plays in Peoria does not necessarily play
in Buenos Aires. Very few porten~os want to dance tango to tango
fusion music and thus there are very few places playing tango fusion
for dancing tango. Argentines do not want to go to a 'milonga' and
find out that 30% of the music is electrotango and the like. It is
mostly foreigners who connect with these non-Argentine rhythms who
want to do that. Of course, if you invade Buenos Aires and flood it
with dollars, euros, pounds, and yen, demanding neotango at the
milongas, you too will change the course of tango history.

> No need for segregation into afternoon(!) neo-milongas or alternative milongas.

Yes, there is. There are many, many people, including non-Argentines,
who do not like to dance tango to non-tango music (including the
mislabeled 'neotango', which lacks a tango rhythm). I suppose some
creative marketer could replace the accordion with a bandoneon in a
polka band and market that as 'tango fusion' and some mis-informed
individuals would think it is milonga.

We all benefit by correct labeling of so-called 'tango' events. I have
been to events advertised as 'milongas' where almost no or even ZERO
traditional tango music has been played. Language is intended to
communicate. Loose definitions of tango and milonga are what have
people on tango-l up in arms.

Ron