[Tango-L] Milonga music mix

[Tango Society of Central Illinois]

On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 10:28 AM, Vince Bagusauskas <vytis at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>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).
>
> Fascinating. Was this generally known before I posted the law extract a few
> days ago?
>
> Which begs the question, if foreigners are to be true to the culture of the
> portenos and Argentine tango should there be an expectation that up to 30%
> non-tango music be played at milongas?
>

In Buenos Aires milongas, the non-tango music played is typically
swing (jazz, rock n' roll), cumbia, and chacarera, i.e., music for
dancing dances other than tango. Tango is only danced to traditional
tango music, either Golden Age or, rarely, a more modern recording in
the style of the Golden Age.

With respect tot eh percentage of non-tango music played at a milonga,
that varies somewhat. The most I recall hearing was at a Saturday
night milonga at Glorias Argentinas, where the music program followed
the format TVTO TMTO, where O represents the other, non-tango rhythms
played, so about 25% non-tango music. In contrast, at El Beso there
could be as little as 2 tandas of non-tango music in 4 hours, so
something like TTV TTM TTV TTM O, i.e., less than 10% non-tango music.
Most other milongas are somewhere in between. However, I do believe I
have been to a few milongas in Buenos Aires where no 'other rhythms'
have been played. Perhaps I wasn't there long enough. My subjective
impression is that there is more non-tango music on weekends, perhaps
because weekend milongas appeal to an audience with a wider diversity
of dancing experiences, but still no tango fusion or non-tango music
to which tango is danced.

La Viruta and La Marshall are apparent exceptions to this. (I didn't
hear tango fusion or non-tango music when I was at La Viruta in 2007.
I have not been to La Marshall.)

Ron