with Graham and Nathalie
For many people, tango is not just a dance. It is defined by the music, the clothes, and the environment in which it is danced as much as by the dance itself. Old musical recordings from the Golden Age of Tango set down by famous tango musicians set the tone and atmosphere, and everyone attending the venues is expected to dress in a way that at least gives a passing nod to the styles of 1950s Buenos Aires. But this approach is not universally appreciated, and for a lot of people new to tango this orthodox traditional atmosphere is what keeps them away. If tango is to survive and grow it needs to learn how to cater to these new people as well as the existing dancers. I talk to a lot of people about tango and encourage them to come along to one of our classes [read more...]
When preparing for a tango class or an event, the music the DJ chooses to play throughout the evening is probably the most important thing there is to decide. It doesn't matter if you provide a bar, free food, a fabulously ornate building with a perfect dance floor, or even a view across the Serengeti for the dancers to enjoy between tracks, if the music isn't danceable then you might as well not have bothered. But therein lies a big problem, as whilst for some people the music is just there to provide a background for the dancing, others consider tango (the dance) and tango (the music) to be inextricably linked and intertwined. If it isn't the right music, it isn't tango. I grew up watching contemporary ballet and street dancers performing to everything from Rachmaninov to Run DMC, and so the concept of there being a 'right' [read more...]
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