Bravo, Martin (wrote)! << Tango is not about a "beat". It is a music rich in nuance and texture. You can dance rhythm, melody, or the narrative theme of the piece, the linea de fuerza.>>
I once overheard a tango dancer comment, during intermission at a classical ballet that the dancers were not dancing on the beat. I think we often tend to think of dancing as “on the beat.” In Argentine tango, due to the many layers of the music, we find that we may prefer to dance to the melody or play with the various instruments which give body, nuance, and drama to the melody, such as those comprising an orquestra tipica. What overlies this play may be referred to as phrasing. A dancer may use a musical phrase to add an individual bit of interpretation of character and drama by playing within the 8 (or 16, etc.) counts. At first, this may be somewhat disconcerting to the observer, until one sees that the dancer is in control of the movement showing clarity and precision. Antony Tudor, known for his influence in contemporary ballet, would often say “Dance lies in the transitions.” Between the first note and the 16th, one may instinctively succumb to the feeling emanating from how the music moves one. Whether the leg quickly moves to and then pauses on, and then lingers beyoud a note, or slowly moves across 2 notes expanding them together giving texture to the movement. Beats, whether on the 1st or 3rd, are a single element in a musical phrase as a step is only one element of movement. Placing too much focus on stepping on the beat may detract us from enjoying the journey of tango. Richard _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
