Lois Donnay wrote: > You didn't mention interpreting the music - I find when I zone into > the music, with the right partner who also hears it, I'm "in the > zone"! Yes. For me, at least, any high point or memorable tango dance has always been one where I and a partner "got tight" in the music, and improvised together mutually and musically.
If I were to define what "tangozone" means to me, it would _only_ mean having this musical synchrony with my partner. I would not call it a trance state, as many people do. Any more than I would call locking on during jazz improvising or afro-cuban drumming a "trance". I also would not describe tangozone dance moments as "unconscious". I think these are misuses of the words "trance" and "unconscious". Maybe I'm being too literal. What I desire and appreciate in a dance partner is that she hear the music like I hear it, to a certain extent, but also that she really dance the music as she herself hears it. If she is too "compliant", let's say, and merely dances my ideas, does what I lead, that can be nice, successful, pleasant, but it is not what hooked me on tango. I want to feel her interpretation and improvise with her on the music together. Also, it won't be "the zone" if she dances her own interpretation so strongly that she disregards mine. Sometimes tango partners won't hear music the same way. An extreme example might be when one partner hears a fast milonga and focuses primarily on the 16th notes of the melody instruments, and then wants to express all of them in a kind of frenzy. I would find it hard to join up with that kind of partner. The excitement and drama of tango music sometimes makes dancers want to jump out of their skin, and they are prone to moving big, or fast, or doing "a lot", when the other partner wants to express the same drama more minimally, through sublety of timing. I use to think of some failed dances as "she was not waiting for me," but that's really not it. It's more a matter of both partners being in agreement in their way of hearing the music. Which is why appreciation of tango music is such an important part of learning to dance well. I'm still amazed at the number of tango dancers I know who don't own any CDs of tango music. They don't listen to tango music outside of the dances, practicas, etc. They are often the ones asking the DJs to play alternative music at the milonga. If they do by some "tango" music, it is often Piazzolla or neotango. It's no wonder that they want to try to dance to that... it's what they are listening to at home. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
