3986  Dancing The Classics

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 07:18:22 +0000
From: Russell Ranno <russellranno@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Dancing The Classics

Hello Hyla,

Great write up, and great experiences in BsAs. I agree with what you say,
except for a few details:

1. You were in a workshop environment were people were there to EXPLORE and
also had the space to do it. In a crowded milonga there is no space to do
the volcadas and colgadas that you describe (and boleos, etc.) without
obstructing others. Also, if you are dancing with unfamiliar partners, many
are unfortunately not too excited about "pushing the envelope". Under these
conditions especially, dancing the same classics all night can become
lifeless.

2. Many of the "classics" are inspirational works of beauty, but some are
duds. It is a matter of personal taste but Comparasita, for example, does
nothing for me (beyond it's historical significance, and out of respect for
tradition). Whereas, some non-tango music gives me GOOSEBUMPS and is
absolutely impossible not to dance to. It depends what your ear is about
and what you hear - how or what you dance isn't dependent upon a musical
TYPE.

Thanks for your passionate write up.

Russell

>From: H Dickinson <hyladlmp@YAHOO.COM>
>Reply-To: H Dickinson <hyladlmp@YAHOO.COM>
>To: TANGO-L@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
>Subject: Re: [TANGO-L] TANGO-L Digest - 18 Nov 2005 to 19 Nov 2005
>(#2005-317)
>Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 22:09:07 -0800
>
>Lucia wrote something along the lines of(I am probably
>misrepresenting a bit what she meant to say, I'm trying to get
>it from memory): "In TANGO DANCE, the music is just a
>catalyst...the important thing is what you do with the movement,
>so why not use whatever music you like to inspire you?"
>
>HUH? I guess it depends on who you talk to, who you dance with.
> For me and the people with whom I adore to dance, the music is
>absolutely key, essential, absolutely impossible to separate
>from the dance itself. It's not just some initial inspiration;
>the intricacies and interplay within the music itself are the
>whole lifeblood of the dance. You are not just using the music
>as a background to your movement, or a structure to embellish
>on. You are responding to the music, becoming involved in the
>music, making choices every second about which parts of the
>music you wish to highlight or play down or even contradict.
>Sometimes it is as if your feet or your heart or the movement of
>your body becomes another instrument, adding a little more
>music. Perhaps another rhythm with the feet, perhaps a
>deepening of the sweetness of the melody with the way you move
>your leg or torso...
>
>As a dancer, I am answering and expanding the music into the
>spatial and visual dimensions. I am also expanding the
>connection that I have with my partner into the music, and
>expanding the connection with the music to include my partner.
>I can think of at least a dozen dancers with whom I could
>happily dance hours at a time to a rotation of good, solid,
>classic D'Arienzo, Di Sarli, Tanturi, Rodriguez and Calo (just
>for expample), over and over and over, and never ever get bored
>because the two of us would keep finding new things in the
>music, or play differently with the "same old things", or
>inspire one another, on and on. My favorite dancers keep
>hearing and sharing new things, which then inspires me to hear
>new things, which then.....etc.
>
>The reason the classics are classics is because they have a
>depth and complexity such that the more that you listen and play
>with the music, the more you find in it. Someone recently
>mentioned to me that after a while you have all the music
>memorized, but I don't actually find that is so. About three
>years ago I was sure that I had that classic early instrumental
>D'Arienzo stuff down cold, at least the ones that were in heavy
>rotation where I dance. Then I danced with some visitor from
>out of town and realized I had so much to learn; he was dancing
>to things in the music I had never thought to listen for. Since
>then, I've found more and more and more in those same D'Arienzo
>tunes that I used to think I had down cold, and I am not sure
>any more that I will ever come to the end of it.
>
>Because if I ever finally do get the whole entire thing
>memorized, every rhythm of every instrument, each pause and
>syncopation and change in mood, intensity, instrumental balance
>etc., well, even then, I'll have lots of time to get creative
>with which aspects I wish to highlight at this particular moment
>of this particular dance with this particular person. I'm not
>just talking about highlighting rhythmically, but with the
>density/lightness of my movement, the dynamics of entering or
>leaving each weight change. So, in effect, I can become one or
>two new instruments in the music, and for that moment in time
>and that particular partner, I can create a new music that has
>never been experienced before and will never be experienced
>again.
>
>I recently took an intensive workshop with Luciana Valle in
>Buenos Aires (thanks Deb and Brian for a great great experience,
>check out Dance of the Heart for the one in Feb/March) where we
>were working with some of the young rising professionals as
>partners. A lot of the time, someone would just put a Di Sarli
>album on repeat, and we'd be dancing to it non-stop for a couple
>of hours, and then the same one next day, with every once in a
>while some D'agostino or Tanturi or what have you, then back to
>the same Di Sarli again. Guess what, I never got tired of it,
>because the enthusiasm and creativity that those kids brought to
>the interpretation and expression of the music was so thrilling
>and inspiring--one album over and over for hours and each time
>two or three particular songs came on, the third time, the
>tenth, the eighteenth, you could practically feel half the
>people in the class sigh "ohhh, wow". I was, too. Oh,
>wow--eighteen or however many times in a five day period and I
>can't wait to get to dance this again with this or that
>wonderful dancer who keeps hearing more and more in it each
>time. And this was during a class, with complex and difficult
>new vocabulary to learn and practice, and still that love for
>the music dripping out the pores even more than the sweat. A
>volcada done not just for the lovely free leg swooping feel, but
>because the music really really wants that deep glorious swoop
>right exactly here, and then an abrupt cutting sacada there, and
>then a breath holding suspenseful
>when-am-I-going-to-put-my-foot-down hanging colgada right at
>some sustained phrase.....
>
>Sure, if you've never danced with a partner who can hear the
>music like that, then you can't possibly appreciate it. If
>you've never tried to hear the music in any sort of depth, you
>won't appreciate this even if you do get to dance with one of
>those fabulously musical dancers, because you will just be
>confused, or it will just go right over your head. But the
>reason that so many of us get so cranky about the alternative
>music sometimes, is that there is so incredibly much richness in
>the classics that folks just never bother to listen for, and
>thus they guarantee themselves and their partners boring dances.
> And that richness does not exist in the same way in most of the
>newer tango music or alternative music. Sure, if you can't hear
>that richness, you get bored with the "same old thing" and
>require something new to excite you, some different rhythm or
>instrumentation. I do like some of the alternative--if there is
>music playing that inspires me to dance, I have a very hard time
>not dancing to it, and I'll usually find a way to enjoy it, too.
> But it crowds out what I really love, and I think it keeps a
>lot of people from taking the time to listen deeply enough to
>really dance to the complexity in the classics.
>
>Hyla
>
>
>
>

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 03:47:21 -0800
From: Igor Polk <ipolk@VIRTUAR.COM>
Subject: Re: Dancing The Classics

I was born in a common family of the most low class origin. My parents could
not educate me about music at all. They did not know it. All they were able
to listen to - simplistic melodies from TV.

May be not surprisingly I came to love of the classical music through
popular between youngsters hard rock. Sometimes rock musicians make
something which reflects simple classical music. And fans said
"OOOOOOUUUUUUHHHHHH, is it so Cooooooooooool!!!!!"
So, I have not stopped, and started to listen to real classical music,
contrary to my school friends who never overcame the barrier.

I immensely enjoy classical music now.
I put it on when I work. This is the only music I am now able to listen when
I work.

And I never put tango on.

Because I can not stand it!

Because I can not work while it is playing!

Because I jump into dance.

Tango music ( classical, before 1952 ) is magical. The more I listen to it
the more I can feel.. I do not understand how it was possible to create such
music, which is so dense, so reach, the more I listen to it the more I
deepen into it..

It was some sort of God's blessing upon Argentina to make so much of such
incredible music, which we can actually dance too. It brings us up, with
every minute, with every dance.
Holy music!

Igor Polk
PS. Thank you Hyla. I just came from my favorite milonga where there were no
piece after 1952. I am such hyper now. And it was so pleasant to find your
fabulous letter!!!

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 09:23:42 -0800
From: Oleh Kovalchuke <tangospring@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Dancing The Classics

Russell Ranno wrote:

"Also, if you are dancing with unfamiliar partners, many are
unfortunately not too excited about "pushing the envelope". "

There is a good reason for that. Pushing the envelope is spice of the
dance. If you start to push the boundaries right away the _unfamiliar
partner_ might decide that this is your usual style of dance, that
your style is too spicy to her/his taste and will stop dancing with
you. All of this is written from personal experience.

The solution is simple: start simple, establish connection (first of
all) and the boundaries - build mutual trust in other words. Then
start pushing those boundaries depending on responsiveness and skills
of your partner.

Caveat. With some exceptional dancers the connection is so obvious
from the embrace you do not have to build the trust - it is there from
the start - Laura, milonguera from Buenos Aires, who lives and teaches
in Rome at the moment is one recent example that comes to mind.

--
Oleh Kovalchuke
https://TangoSpring.com


On 11/19/05, Russell Ranno <russellranno@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Hyla,
>
> Great write up, and great experiences in BsAs. I agree with what you say,
> except for a few details:
>
> 1. You were in a workshop environment were people were there to EXPLORE and
> also had the space to do it. In a crowded milonga there is no space to do
> the volcadas and colgadas that you describe (and boleos, etc.) without
> obstructing others. Also, if you are dancing with unfamiliar partners, many
> are unfortunately not too excited about "pushing the envelope". Under these
> conditions especially, dancing the same classics all night can become
> lifeless.
>
> 2. Many of the "classics" are inspirational works of beauty, but some are
> duds. It is a matter of personal taste but Comparasita, for example, does
> nothing for me (beyond it's historical significance, and out of respect for
> tradition). Whereas, some non-tango music gives me GOOSEBUMPS and is
> absolutely impossible not to dance to. It depends what your ear is about
> and what you hear - how or what you dance isn't dependent upon a musical
> TYPE.
>
> Thanks for your passionate write up.
>
> Russell
>
>

Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2005 21:46:52 +0000
From: Lucia <curvasreales@YAHOO.COM.AR>
Subject: Re: Dancing The Classics

Russell Ranno <russellranno@HOTMAIL.COM> escribis:
2. Many of the "classics" are inspirational works of beauty, but some are
duds. It is a matter of personal taste but Comparasita, for example, does
nothing for me (beyond it's historical significance, and out of respect for
tradition).

But there are so many arrangements and interpretations of "La Cumparsita"! Not to speak of the other Great Tangos written by Eduardo Arolas and Vicente Greco and many other in the beginning of the last century. EVERY Tango orchestra played these in their peculiar way. Sure you could find one that raises your goosebumps!

As regarding 1950 as the end of classical tangos, I would suggest to listen to Piazzola's Triunfal, Para Lucirse and others of his 1950 -1953 talent run (I prefer Troilo's interpretations to those of Piazzola's own).

Lucia




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