828  Dance presence

Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 21:29:41 -0700
From: luda_r1 <luda_r1@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Dance presence

Pursuant to Jai's and Jonathan's discussion on
musicality, can musicality be taught to a person who's
tone deaf, the kind of person who can't carry a tune?
Is that the same thing as not being on the beat? It
seems that you can be on the beat, but sing off key,
and you can carry a tune, but simply not on the beat.

Also, how is "dance presence" defined in tango? Is it
elusive, like stage presence, and cannot be taught?
How does it relate to dance technique? Can you have
dance presence and not much of a technique/routine,
and can you have an elaborate technique without much
of a dance presence? And which is more important?

Luda

Y! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your web site

Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 23:02:59 +0900
From: astrid <astrid@RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>
Subject: Re: Dance presence and hitting the beat

Luda asked:
can musicality be taught to a person who's

> tone deaf, the kind of person who can't carry a tune?
> Is that the same thing as not being on the beat?> Also, how is "dance

presence" defined in tango? Is it

> elusive, like stage presence, and cannot be taught?
> How does it relate to dance technique?

I will try to answer your question, even though it is a difficult one.
One can probably get by in a limited way by just hearing the rhythm, but
even being able to hear the rhythm does not automatically translate into
being a good dancer.
In my experience a person can very well be musical, and hear the music, and
still not be able to step on the beat, for technical reasons. This problem
is most pronounced in dancing milonga, which has a very fast, intricate
rhythm, which does not allow pauses in the dance. For a beginner, and even
an intermediate, who is still struggling with the walk, the balance, the
connection and the steps, this can be hard, because he/she may be so
preoccupied with getting all the other things coordinated, that his/her body
is not able to move fast and smoothly enough to hit the floor right on the
beat all the time. The other thing is, one needs to develop a feel for how
long it takes to shift the weight onto the other foot, bend the knee, glide
forward, and arrive just on the beat after doing all that. After all, this
is no ordinary walk, it supposively being the natural thing to do for
compadritos notwithstanding. For a milonga, the walking may be more simple,
but then the music is all the faster.
It does help to listen to lots of tango at home, so you get the idea what to
expect, and to start the class with walking exercises.


Can you have

> dance presence and not much of a technique/routine,
> and can you have an elaborate technique without much
> of a dance presence? And which is more important?
>

I think, neither is likely, but the second one is more unlikely. Just think
of someone who loves dancing, and dances with a lot of feeling and
musicality, but has not taken many expensive lessons, opposed to someone who
may be a ballerina or a jazz or ballroom dancer, who dances tango without
warmth or spontaneity. The first one may look touching, or at least
interesting, the second one will simply look clean and sterile.
I have seen a few professional dancers in tango shows, who were like the
second type, and I experienced their dance, though technically well
developped, as rather boring, and not really befitting the music.

Astrid

Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 08:30:55 -0700
From: Andrew Allison <andrew@AALLISON.COM>
Subject: Dance presence and hitting the beat

>Luda asked:
> can musicality be taught to a person who's
> > tone deaf, the kind of person who can't carry a tune?

I don't know whether it can be taught, but I'm tone deaf and am told I have
great musicality (I took to the milonga like a duck to water).

Andrew

From: Andrew Allison [mailto:andrew@AALLISON.COM]
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 10:31 AM
To: TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: [TANGO-L] Dance presence and hitting the beat

>Luda asked:
> can musicality be taught to a person who's
> > tone deaf, the kind of person who can't carry a tune?

I don't know whether it can be taught, but I'm tone deaf and am told I have
great musicality (I took to the milonga like a duck to water).

Andrew