[Tango-L] Tango-L] proportions

[Charles Roques]

<<<Similarily, the wonderful DJ's in BA are musical artists in their own 
rights...they study it as a scienct and art from from early in their 
youth..they know what rhythm of one orchestra will blend favorably with 
an upcoming rhythm of the next song in the sequence, so as not to 
disrupt the dancers dance style that he comitted himself to when he 
danced the first song of the tanda.  DJ'ing is so much more than a 
proportional collection of tangos vs, vals, vs milongas songs.  And the 
more one dances to the music of fine DJ's the more disruptive it is to 
dance to a sort of random collection of unmatched juxtaposed songs.  
This is just another cultural naivete and sort of insults the massive 
amount of expertise one must acquire in order to be a good DJ.>>

I agree with this point.  All DJs must have a sense of flow from one song to another, how similar tempos and rhythms match, the mood of the tanda and the dancers, etc.  But that is the part that comes with time and practice and knowledge of the music. 

<<As for proportions:  I thought the typical dance/song formula for a 
milonga was, tango, tango, vals--tango, tango, milonga, so that dancers 
can pretty much predict what is coming up next and start lining up the 
cabeceo for the next dancer they want to invite.  There is a huge 
function of prediction and known anticipation that operates on the BA 
dancefloor...things are not so random as they can be extra-culturally.>>

Actually this can vary from milonga to milonga. There is not a set formula there although it tends to more or less follow this with some variation.  Some DJs play four tangos then change, some play five then change.  My original point was for DJs who have not experienced Buenos Aires milongas, that aside from the important points above, was that the overall percentage of the three types of songs was a good rule of thumb for dividing up the evening. Which songs they actually choose is another matter. 
Cheers
Charles