i am writing in response to:
> From: "Janis Kenyon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Beginners and milongas > " > "...They aren't ready to dance for one important reason--they don't > know the music. They > want to take classes while they are in BsAs, but I pointed out that > it would > be a waste of their time. They need to know tango music first. > It's the > music that makes them want to dance, the same as when they dance > ballroom or > swing or salsa together. One can't dance to music they don't know... > A few weeks ago I received a phone call from an Argentine man who was > interested in learning to dance. He asked if Gotan and Piazzolla > music was > appropriate for dancing. I suggested tango orchestra recordings he > should > buy and listen to for a year. I told him that when he knows and > loves the > music, his tango will come out of him. He learned the eight-step > basic, so > I told him to forget it. He has to feel tango to dance well, not > think > steps. > > i have never been a fan of the old time tangos despite my favorite being 'poema'. the cranky twangy music has never moved me, nor the big orchestras. i am a fan of pugliese and gotan and i have danced tango to bach, african drums, christmas carols, bob dylan, french 'musette', balkan music and now a nyc composer named blake leyh who wrote an album called 'xray yankee zulu tango' that i came across. i play tango music while we work in my studio and everyone there loved it, so i wrote to thank blake for the quirky and beautiful tangos. he knows nothing about tango- the dance, only tango the musical form and was thrilled that it moved people so. i think that is my point. there are all kinds of music that move us. everyone is different. i am different depending on the day. i go through periods where i only want to waltz, only want to milonga. we all move to a different drum (unintended pun) and there are no shoulds or should nots. i heard a bandoneon and despite my having no prior knowledge of the instrument , no cultural connection, i wanted to move. i cannot stay seated if i hear piazolla's libertango, i have a friend who is a well known electronic musician who said in a radio intervew on npr, that it is the finest composition of the 20th century. tango moves dancers and musicians alike. i say to a beginner , 'learn tango from someone who loves the dance, then dance to the music that makes u want to love to move'. andrea ____________ do art | be art _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
