421  Tango: the dance and the music

Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 18:04:15 -0500
From: Tanguero Chino <tanguerochino@NETSCAPE.NET>
Subject: Tango: the dance and the music

Dear List,

The following is extracted and edited from a note I wrote for a private exchange.

There are two sides to learning the tango. The mechanical side, which is the physical act of dancing, and the emotional side, part of which is understanding and interpreting the music.

I have always described tango danza as a language, and the act of dancing as a conversation. The physical aspect of dancing is like the alphabet, the words and the gramma of a language. Without this, there will be no language, no communication.

However, what keeps us coming back (or keeps us addicted) to tango is the emotional side. This is where we match our physical movements to the music, and create tango phrases and sentences. Depending on our ability to interpret the music, some of us will reach tango nirvana and create beautiful proses and poetry, while others will be writing a news broadcast. :-(

Learning the mechanics of dancing without learning to appreciate the music does not allow one to become a complete artist, which, I think, is where all of us want to be.

Happy Tangos

Tanguero Chino

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