Not being a fan of the 8cb, I got to wondering where it came from. Not so much who came up with it, or when; but why, and does it make any sense?
Then it struck me. The 8cb follows the structure of tango music, in that tango is composed in phrases of 8 beats, with the phrases arranged in particular sequences. Each phrase ends with a pause or a signal. This structure is carefully explained in Amenabar's book "Dance Tango to the Music" (currently only available in Australia, NZ and Europe). Amenabar is currently touring Europe and will be touring Australia in July where he will conduct "music for dance" workshops for the Milonga Para Los Niños charity ball. So the 8cb may have some value, in that it encourages the beginner to dance the phrases of the music, pausing at the end of each, or some phrases. The problem in my experience is that (a) beginners "lock in" to the sequence and find it an extremely difficult habit to break and, (b) most dancers and teachers do not understand the structure of the music or how to recognise the phrasing. I find it more convenient to impart this knowledge in a series of listening and simple walking exercises rather than a fixed sequence because students, especially beginners, do not have to concentrate on two things at once and it avoids the "lock-in" habit. It is very important for teachers of Tango to have a clear understanding of the structure of Tango music and to impart to their students the ability to hear (and dance to) the phrasing. Without the ability to interpret and dance to the music (phrasing) it is difficult to progress beyond a flat, dull dance. Tomorrow it's Saturday. Let's dance. John _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
