[Tango-L] Teacup tango

[c.roques@mchsi.com]

Since the response to the video seemed sparse but positive, perhaps the sparsity implied that people did not like it.  So instead of being silent, I will offer a negative response for balance. Not to be mean-spirited or nasty, but constructive.  No, I didn't like it, and of course I realize that it was meant to be light-hearted and even tongue-in-cheek.  I am also a tea lover and like very much Okakura's classic "The Book of Tea."   It was cute but it doesn't really sound like tango at all. The song was just more or less "Hernando's Hideaway" with different words.  It sounded like a Broadway musical version of one.  Music like this just propagates  the confusion among non-tango dancers about what the music really sounds like and the cultural roots of tango (not that any non-tango people actually follow this list.) 

But the real reason I am offering this is that it seems hypocritical for people to decry the confusion of people who don't know the difference between Ballroom tango and Argentine tango on the dance floor, but will excuse something like this.  Unless of course the video makers are Ballroom tango dancers, then it makes sense that they would choose to write music like this, but this is an Argentine Tango list, right?   Why not try to write one that follows tango musical norms, like leaving out the drum machine, for one (we have enough of them already at nuevo-tango festivals.)  Classic tango orchestras don't have drums, and never did, with a few rare exceptions.  The line between Ballroom tango and nuevo tango is getting thinner and thinner every day and so is the music.  It would be nice to see someone try to work within the tango tradition, even with humor, instead of working within another tradition but just putting a tango spin on it. Maybe you should just post it on a Ballroom list. 

Curmudgeonly yours,
Charles