4778  Tango Connect-Improv

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:50:32 -0700
From: Tom Stermitz <stermitz@tango.org>
Subject: [Tango-L] Tango Connect-Improv
To: Tango-L <tango-L@mit.edu>
Cc: TC Discuss List <tangocolorado@yahoogroups.com>

Tango came out of an Oral/Aural tradion. Tango isn't contained in the
sheet music. We've lost something because we no longer have the tango
tradition of passing ideas down the generations. We've also lost
something because musicians usually want to artists (fair enough)
rather than dance-orchestras.


Metaphorical History story:

I get the feeling that tango originated with musicians tucked into a
corner of the bar, like an irish jam session. Musicans trading ideas
and melodies. Then a few people get up from the tables and start
dancing. The musicians scoot back from just looking at each other,
and start to watch the dancers' feet. The guitarist catches the eyes
of one of the leaders, flashes a grin, then gives him a litlle frill
in the treble line. The leader does a zapateo, and the flutist echoes
back the frill.

The follower? The follower might be the audience. (Yeah, she can be a
whole lot more, but I'm following a metaphor here).


TANGO CONNECT-IMPROV EXERCISE

(TM... I Just made the term up)

As an exercise in creating a more inclusive and improvisational
conversation between dancers and orchestra,

(1) Imagine taking the orchestra off the stage and placing it on a
little riser in the middle of the dance floor, so the musicians are
head level with the dancers. Maybe we leave a symbolic empty chair
within the orchestra.

(2) Let the orchestra play something in the style of D'Agostino, way
more sparse than they are used to. They can't use sheet music,
instead should catch the eyes of each other and the dancers.

(3) I wonder if they could use this method to create new, totally
improvisational music, and we could call it tango.



Tom Stermitz
https://www.tango.org

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:22:48 -0800
From: romerob@telusplanet.net
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Tango Connect-Improv
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Quoting Tom Stermitz <stermitz@tango.org>:

Tango came out of an Oral/Aural tradion. Tango isn't contained in the
sheet music. We've lost something because we no longer have the tango
tradition of passing ideas down the generations. We've also lost
something because musicians usually want to artists (fair enough)
rather than dance-orchestras.

my 2 cents:

If I am not off the point on this issue, the tango to be classified as
traditional it would have required to be passed orally/aurally to a next
generation. I am not sure this condition was met.

Regards,

Bruno