5820  Tango to SLOW waltz?

Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:43:42 -0700
From: Phil Seyer <professionalsguild@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Tango to SLOW waltz?
To: tango-l@mit.edu
<b074f1780910211843p69cd6fb4o2b591f2e31e685b9@mail.gmail.com>

I was surprised a while back by a beautiful tango sounding slow waltz
played by a guest DJ from Argentina. Instrumentation definitely had a
Buenos tango quality, but it wasn't really tango in my mind because it
was in a very slow tempo and in 3/4 meter -- like a ballroom waltz,
only with bandoneon and other instruments used in tango. There were 3
clear beats per measure. Since I had never experienced this kind of
music at a milonga I wasn't quite sure how to dance to it. The usual
tango moves didn't seem to fit.

Sorry I don't know the tune, I tried to find out, but didn't get the
name of the music.

When I called this to the attention of the organizer of the milonga
some time later, she explained to me that it was a vals. I had to
explain to her that it was definitely not a vals because it was much
too slow for that.

Many people, it seems, aren't able to distinguish between 4/4 and 3/4
time. I've heard ballroom dance teachers, who should know better,
introduce a tune as Foxtrot (4 beats per measure) when it was actually
a waltz with 3 beats per measure.

Has anyone else heard a *slow* tango sounding tune with 3 very slow
beats per measure? How did you dance to it? What are your thoughts?

Phil Seyer
www.Argentine-tango.com

Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:42:42 +0000
From: c.roques@mchsi.com
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Tango to SLOW waltz?
To: TANGO-L@mit.edu (Tango-L)
<102320091942.19430.4AE20731000D6F5900004BE6223245003003010CD2079C080C03BF9C0A9A9E019DD20C@mchsi.com>


Phil wrote:


<<<Has anyone else heard a *slow* tango sounding tune with 3 very slow

beats per measure? How did you dance to it? What are your thoughts?>>>


Actually there have been quite a few tango waltzes over the years that were slow. They just were not the popular ones and DJs tend to not play them. If you dig into more and more tango music eventually you will hear slow ones. I have always like dancing to waltzes so I have purposefully searched for CDs that have them and have made some interesting discoveries over the years. Most of the ones we know, like those by D'Arienzo and Tanturi, for example, tend to be faster but two that come to mind, Juan de Dios Filiberto's "Tus Ojos Me Embelesan" and Roberto Firpo's "Ondas Sonoras" are both very slow. What obviously defines a waltz is the 3/4 tempo, not the speed. It is probably about dancing at a comfortable pace and very slow tango waltzes "seem" to drag out so it was natural evolution to speed them up to the pace of other tangos. It might depend on your dancing style and choice of steps, because there are some tango steps that don't work well in waltz. I have choreog!
raphed to a slow Firpo waltz and like to dance to slow ones as well as fast ones, but admittedly you don't hear the slow ones very often.
Cheers
Charles,

Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:07:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mel Roddie <melroyr@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Slow waltz



Francisco Canaro's??? ?'Amor y primavera' ?? ?is a slower vals than most 'Tango Valses'.
Almost as slow as a?ballroom waltz if I remember rightly. Probably not as slow as you are talking about tho'.
Anyway it's quite nice and danceable with a strong walking beat.
Thanks, Mel
(NZ)

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:45:32 +1000
From: Tango22 <tango22@gmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Tango to SLOW waltz?
To: tango-L@mit.edu


Phil wrote......
Has anyone else heard a *slow* tango sounding tune with 3 very slow
beats per measure? How did you dance to it? What are your thoughts?

Vals moved from slow to faster rhythm, over time. Listen to any of
the old Canaro valses to hear slow. Rodolfo Cieri delighed in dancing
his "canyengue" style valses to these old valses, with lots of foot-
clicking decoration. Slow vals gives much more opportunity for
"double-double" timing (for want of a better expression). It is much
more challenging to create an interesting slow vals, but once
mastered, it can be very beautiful. You will also notice a number of
distinctly Viennese valses, such as the beautiful Dolores (Canaro),
available from ToTango.net.
Enjoy,
John