611 Dancing to something other than music of the goldenage
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 13:28:10 -0500
From: "Frank G. Williams" <frankw@MAIL.AHC.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Dancing to something other than music of the goldenage
Greetings Jai and Friends,
Jai Jeffryes wrote:
> Tango and milonga have a lot of different rhythms,
> like quick-quick-slow's and traspie dotted rhythms
> with little short note values in them. The placement
> of those short values gives tango and (almost all)
> milonga a straight rhythmic feel.
It is really fun to watch the best dancers of milonga in
Bs.As. Their dance is relatively 'small' in the face of
energetic rhythmic drive from the music, but it is also quick.
They are certainly not putting on a show. According to the
lucky followers whom they select for milongas, these guys
are FULL of little, subtle rhythmic play. Particularly, they
'bite the beat' if the music is too 'straight' (like a march).
That is, they play little syncopation games and sometimes make
the follower step after the prominent beats and then the
uncertain feeling of playing 'catch up' is used for amusement.
...toss a sharp traspie at the big beat here and there...
Lots of surprise, but not without rhythmic (or musical) logic!
I'm *trying* to milonga like that. There have been glimmers
of hope. When you have a follower who waits and trusts
and enjoys the off-beats and is amused by when and how you
drop her back into 'straight' time, it can be so delightful ...
a 'running joke' as it were! Every follower has a certain
tolerance for rhythmic 'dissonance', so what is amusing to one
may be frustrating or impossible to another. Also, it requires
a really quintessential close, quiet connection. The key to
the fun is making things work by relaxation, which is counter-
intuitive to beginners. IMHO, quiet, close, playful milonga is
the best practical training for the techniques of close embrace
tango.
Best,
Frank - Mpls.
Frank G. Williams, Ph.D. University of Minnesota
frankw@mail.ahc.umn.edu Dept. of Neuroscience
(612) 625-6441 (office) 321 Church Street SE
(612) 624-4436 (lab) Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 281-3860 (cellular/home)
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 16:25:25 -0500
From: "Frank G. Williams" <frankw@MAIL.AHC.UMN.EDU>
Subject: Re: Dancing to something other than music of the goldenage
Jai and friends,
> I guess I should forget about developing a music
> theory class on an email list!
Your music theory class will be more successful than my
milonga class! ;-)
> All milonga is straight, no matter how many
> syncopations, off-beats, pauses, and shuffles you do.
> Straight vs. swing has nothing to do with what rhythms
> you select, but rather what feel you perform them
> with, which is to say how you place the small time
> values. Count Basie vs. Biagi.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that... dotted 16th note? ;-)
Help me out here. Are we saying that a swing rhythm can't
be annotated in a straight time signature? Out of 8, isn't
there a primary emphasis on the 1+2 and the 5+6, a minor
emphasis on the 4 and the 8, and no more than minor emphasis on the
3 and the 6? Or, OK, cut the 4 and 8 and hit it however you want.
Still, didn't Count Basie score those notes for his guys?
Are we saying that *everything* that doesn't swing is straight?
That could be where I'm lost. I feel lots of stuff that I didn't
when I first heard tango and milonga. Certainly, with milonga,
if you only feel the 1,1,1 then you haven't yet struck gold.
But I think you should try to feel things that you often shouldn't
try to do with your feet. ...and again, the fun is when, with
relaxation, some of that subtle stuff DOES get put on the floor...
For further clarification, how about some good chacarara?
...syncopated to the hilt, it gives you a real challenge
to find and stay on the primary beat. That challenge gives
you a different feeling of the same genre', I surmise, as the
'swing feeling' we all know. So, what 'feeling about the rhythm'
is sufficient to take one out of 'straight' time?
'Straighten' me out here. ;-)
...and keep the milonga dancing 'dry'...
Frank - Mpls.
--
Frank G. Williams, Ph.D. University of Minnesota
frankw@mail.ahc.umn.edu Dept. of Neuroscience
(612) 625-6441 (office) 321 Church Street SE
(612) 624-4436 (lab) Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 281-3860 (cellular/home)
