[Tango-L] Tango without music?

[Gordon Erlebacher]

I also believe that any movement, sequence, should be able to be 
executed in slow motion to make
sure that balance is maintained at all stages (excluding volcadas and 
colgadas, even those too can
be performed in slow motion). Obviously music is not required. On the 
other hand, one can always find
"slow" music to achieve this slow motion practice (slower than Di Sarli).

      Gordon



On 4/25/11 2:28 PM, Huck Kennedy wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 10:57 AM, Nussbaum, Martin<mnussbau at law.nyc.gov>  wrote:
>> Totally disagree with all those who want to isolate tango instruction
>> from the music.  The only reason to dance IS the music.
>        While I absolutely agree that music is the only reason to dance,
> learning a movement and practicing aren't dancing.  So overall I
> disagree with Martin, and believe those who say learning technique
> should come separately from trying to apply musicality are correct.
> When trying to master basic movement, musicality can be a distraction.
>
>        I remember a workshop long ago when I was still a beginner, and
> the female half of the Argentine couple was scolding the class as the
> male danced.  "See how musical he is?  See how he is so expressive?
> Why can't all of you do that?"
>
>        I thought to myself, "Lady, I'm a musician, and I have more
> musicality in my little finger than your partner has in his whole
> body.  I have the technique down to express that musicality with a
> violin, but I haven't yet mastered enough dance technique to be able
> to express it in the tango."
>
>        When at a lesson or practicing and feeling a bit overwhelmed,
> don't be afraid to put aside the music when you need to in order to
> get your technique down.    There's nothing wrong with saying to your
> practice partner, "Do you mind if we ignore the music at first and
> slow it down until I feel a bit more confident with this particular
> move?"
>
>         We only have so much brainpower, and trying to put the icing
> (musicality) on the cake (mastering the movement) before the cake is
> baked can be counter-productive.  Once the movement is mastered and we
> get into muscle memory territory, then we can concentrate on the
> musicality.
>
>         Now having said all that, and at the risk of sounding like I'm
> contradicting myself, I agree with Martin that musicality still needs
> to be introduced from the very beginning, even if it's just practicing
> simple walking expressed musically.
>
> Huck
>
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