[Tango-L] What to call the normal tango walking beat?

[Sergio Vandekier]

A characterisstic of Argentine Tango is that it allows you to dance as you wish with respect to speed or timing, to make an interpretation of the music and your feelings. So you may dance slowly, faster, in between or pause as it is required by your feelings and the music.

 

It is convenient to use the tango terminology that is used by most people in Argentina and all over the world in order not to create anarchy in our tango vocabulary,such as exists in other fields of knwledge like chemistry for instance where in some countries fuel for your car is called gasoline, and bencine or nafta in others, etc. In Argentina car fuel is Naphta and Bencina is something else close to cigarette lighter fluid.

 

So to use your terminology a "regular" walk (stepping every third beat, every three negras) is called single time walking (caminar a tiempo) and when you step faster like in a corrida (you step twice in the time that you normally would have stepped once, one negra plus one corchea) this is called double time (doble tiempo).

 

Best regards, Sergio