3538  Songs you like but don't hear at Milongas

Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:48:11 -0700
From: Yale Tango Club <yaletangoclub@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Songs you like but don't hear at Milongas

Hello A,

Sounds like what you need is a DJ (or a different DJ).
Nothing wrong with La Bruja, although it's not in my
top 1600 (songs I use at milongas; I will not list my
1600 recommendations here). I think it gets played
because El Rey del Compas is often one of the first
albums new people buy. It was for me, at least, and no
regrets of course.

My issue with Oblivion etc. for dancing is that the
beat is so slow that you either need excellent balance
control (and your follower too), or depraved
indifference to the rhythm (by far the most commonly
used solution). Also you need coffee to stay awake.
Otherwise it's very pretty, and I'll admit I've used
it twice or so over the past year for the cooldown at
the end.

I have often wondered why some people so like to dance
to Piazzolla & other concert tango? Is it because it's
brain trip tango, or is it because the rhythm is so
challenging and changing that by consensus it becomes
OK to just disregard it altogether, thereby removing a
whole level of complexity for musically challenged
dancers? I know a teacher who uses elevator tango
music during class because in this teacher's opinion
the students have so much to worry about already that
it's better not to additionally burden them with
having to listen to the music. Seriously, I am not
making this up.

Rather than seeking the average opinion of a
self-selected group of respondents on this list, may I
offer a perfect solution to your troubles, found here:
https://www.tejastango.com/tandas.html
With Stephen Brown's recommendations there is no way
on earth you can go wrong. And he provides enough
variety to keep the witch at bay.

Whereabouts do you dance?

Best regards
Tine


--- A Coleman <gurps_npc@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Often we hear the same songs over and over again at
> a milonga.
>
> Everywhere I go, I hear La Bruja, for example.
>
> I would like to expand our play list a bit.
>
> Could people list songs that they like, that are
> easy to dance Tango to?
>
> I will start it off:
>
> Oblivion, by Astor Piazzolla.
>
> This very sad song has a nice, slow beat, easy to
> dance to.
>

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Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 16:23:58 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Dancing without rhythm [was: Songs you like but don't hear at Milongas]

Tine wrote:

>I have often wondered why some people so like to dance
>to Piazzolla & other concert tango? Is it because it's
>brain trip tango, or is it because the rhythm is so
>challenging and changing that by consensus it becomes
>OK to just disregard it altogether, thereby removing a
>whole level of complexity for musically challenged
>dancers?

In some cases, it may be the better fidelity of the recordings or the
challenge of dancing to relatively complex rhythms that attracts dancers
to concert tango. It my observation, however, that many of the people who
prefer dancing to tango music with an amorphous/complex beat like it
precisely because they feel safe in treating the rhythms in the music only
as a rough guideline to the rhythm of their own dancing. Unfortunately
for these feelings of safety, the lack of rhythm in the dancing is no less
noticeable to anyone who is watching. The amorphous/complex beat may make
most of the other dancers at a milonga equally bad in their musical
interpretation, however, and provide some cover in numbers.

If you are trying to escape from a bear, you don't have to out run it. You
only have to out run one of the other people with you. ;-)

With best regards,
Steve

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
https://www.tejastango.com/


By the way, in putting together the list of tandas that Tine recommends, I
relied heavily on a list of classic tangos for social dancing that I put
together with the input of many contributors.
https://www.tejastango.com/classic_tangos.html
https://www.tejastango.com/tandas.html