699  Is tango evolving?

Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 00:39:18 -0700
From: Sergio <cachafaz@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject: Is tango evolving?

We dance tango, milonga and vals to music that was created many years ago,
(1930-1950), the more recent composers such as Astor Piazzolla wrote music
that does not follow the classical tango type. His music was created for
listening without any regard for the dancers.
The dance choreography that we use was also developed during that same
period. The rituals at the Milongas in Buenos Aires date from the same
golden era of tango.

Do you think that all that is enough to prove that tango is a reflection of
the society that developed it?. If so do you think that it is totally
divorced from modern life. Do you think that tango is evolving to reflect
life in the cities of our time.

Do you think that tango is an anachronism, a product of a more romantic
period and that it is precisely this what attracts some of us.

Do you think that tango in Argentina is different from that danced abroad?
In what way?

It seems that the Music of Piazzolla and Garello originates in the Modern
Buenos Aires but most of what we hear to and dance to comes from before our
time. The many new orchestras play golden era music as well. What do you
think?

Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 03:22:56 -0400
From: Daniel Saindon <gardien@TANGO.MONTREAL.QC.CA>
Subject: Re: Is tango evolving?

Good morning

As you know, evolution is one rule of life.

The struggle for life... the survival of the fittest (Darwin)
within the rules of the market: Supply & Demand (Adam Smith).
Evolution also come from the struggle of the Suppliers
to stay on top of their trades and the will of the
consumers to perfect their skills, to perform as well
as they can and the incentives to get the tango hits
the tanguero does not have in his collection.

Evolution may come slowly, one ssmall step at a time
or may come abrutly such as when a meteorite crashes
and kills everything on the planet to allow a
different species to become predominant on the planet.

The best example for an evolution one step at
a time is the evolution of the dance: Leaders
in the community try a new step that other try
to copy - the leaders try to maintain their edge
as long as they can but sooner or later the best
in the crowd catches up and so it goes down the ladder.

Piazzolla is an example of a meteorite that stroke
the planet and force the evolution of tango into
a new forray except that we see little and not very
convincing follow up to Piazzolla. There is a lot of
musicians that continue recording the music of
Piazzolla but how many follow the Master with
their own compositions? Very little and among the
few, I think I prefer The New Tango Orquesta of
Sweden. Who else? Denis Plante? To early to tell.

The one element aspect of tango that does not seem
to evolve is the "tango cancion", the cancion
that brought Carlos Gardel in the 1930s,
Susana Rinaldi in the 60s and the many other
interpreters like Valeria Munarriz, Milva,
( In Mtl, Mecha Gomez preapares the realease
of a new CD ) etc. I think the "tango cancion" is
considered as folklore.

I kept the subject of the evolution of the music
of tango for dancing last because it is unusual
in the history of evolution of species.
This evolution had a dormant period where nothing
happened between the 1970s and year 2000 a
lapse of about 30 years. The last development comes
with the style of Pugliese in the sixties.

What was fascinating in the 1990s and early 2000s
was the strength of the orquestas of 1930 to 50s.
I think the reason for this infatuation is that
there was no contemporary orquestas that could
align 3 bandoneons in a row, manage to keep
7 to 10 musicians on the payroll at a time
or simply had the knowledge to play tango
"a la parilla".

But this is changing. Horacio Salgan has
released a book for musicians on how
to play the tango. We see more and more
contemporary Bands that plays for the tangueros
(and the tangueros are alive enough to
maintain this trend going). There were sone
nice try but missed like El Arrenque, but
others are doing well and among the new ones,
Contratiempo is among my favorites.

Best regards

Daniel Saindon
gardien@tango.montreal.qc.ca

Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 23:00:51 -0700
From: Elemer Dubrovay <dubrovay@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Re: Is tango evolving?

On Wed, 21 Aug 2002 00:39:18 -0700 Sergio <cachafaz@ADELPHIA.NET> writes:

> We dance tango, milonga and vals to music that was created many years
> ago,
> (1930-1950), the more recent composers such as Astor Piazzolla
> wrote music
> that does not follow the classical tango type. His music was created
> for
> listening without any regard for the dancers.
> The dance choreography that we use was also developed during that
> same
> period. The rituals at the Milongas in Buenos Aires date from the
> same
> golden era of tango.

From what I can see the dancing is still developing with fancier new
steps.

They also are new orchestras in Argentina working on new interpretations
of the old tangos and are very good and nice for dancing.

What we don't need is to dance tangos to non-tango music, there is no
tango feeling in the dancers, and they look a little funny, unless they
are dancing in the stage with a nice choreography.
And we need new composers to create new tangos made for dancing and not
only for listening.

The difference I see in the dancing is that in Argentina the dancers
don't try to do stage steps in a crowded floor and the music is really
special for dancing.

Tango dancing and listening is what we need in this complicated world to
maintain our sanity.

Elemer in Redmond.