It's interesting to me to compare the tango situation to the situation for contradance, which is danced entirely to live music and has a thriving population of dance bands who play very well for dancers.
I wonder what makes the difference? Contradance to me is a dance which is inextricably linked to its music. However, I did recently see a flyer for an "alternative music contradance," which leaves me thinking very much "ugh!". I am learning, after twenty years of dancing tango on and off, to really hear the music. I used to like dancing to non-traditional music because I could hear the beat better, but I find that the more I listen to tango music, the less I like dancing tango steps to non-traditional music because it lacks all the things that makes tango music beautiful (including surge and suspension). --Sharon On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Tango22 <[email protected]> wrote: > Keeping Tango bands alive is very difficult, because there is insufficient > money in it for struggling musicians. When one member leaves a band, the > growth in repertoire stops until the new member is up to speed, so it's vey > hard to develop a good dance repertoire. Getting sufficient gigs to maintain > interest is hard. So it's a chicken & egg situation. > > We all like to give aspiring bands a go, but it can be risky. Even then, I'm > not inclined to lecture people who have put in many hours of rehearsal about > how and what they should play. I prefer not to overuse a local band, with > plenty of recorded classics in the dance mix, until I'm happy that they can > hold a crowd. > > Unfortunately , many bands drift off into too much Piazzolla. Perhaps it > suits their classical instruments and classical inclinations, or maybe the > arrangements are easier to acquire. One Sydney band of very good musicians > recently got a severe caning for doing this at a milonga. Many bands > valiantly attempt to arrange their own music. It's often a disaster. > Arrangements from an experienced arranger work better, but they must be paid > for. On the other hand, bands also want to be innovative and interesting, > but it's hard to innovate without a background steeped in tradition. > > I do not subscribe to musicians being required to dance. Playing and dancing > Tango are very different things. In fact, musicians of all kinds rarely > dance, because they are too busy playing, or practicing. > > Joaquin Amenabar's Australian Quartet is outstanding and a great example of > live traditional dance music. They are playing again at Milonga Para Los > Niños in Brisbane, early August They train for at least 6 months, under his > remote-control guidance. Last year I was delighted to watch the pre-ball > rehearsal where he spent 2 hours converting the band from concert mode to > dance-band mode. A really impressive display from Amenabar and some very > accomplished musicians. See last years band at www.paralosninos.net. > Listening to this band should be compulsory for aspiring Tango musicians. > It's worth the trip. > > Joaquin also does some collaborative work with the Qld. Conservatorium during > his visit. > > Ignacio Varauschky (El Arranque, Tango Via & Escuela De Tango Orquesta) also > did a very creditable job with SYO students at a special Sydney milonga after > his student workshops in Canberra and Sydney. What happened to the Canberra > students, I wonder? Are they encouraged to play at milongas. > > Maggie Ferguson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Ferguson, is also a > driving force for new Tango musicians in Australia. Do Sydney and Canberra > Tango communities support her huge effort? I hope so. > > John, > Brisbane, Australia > > > > > > > > > >>> >> I have to wonder, if these bands are so awful, who is hiring them to >> play at milongas? Who is telling them about the lack in their music? Are >> they willing to accept advice about dance music from dancers? If not, >> they shouldn't be playing dance music. >>> However, experienced improvising musicians can certainly deliver the >>> goods,& I've seen it done. Tango is a FEEL. You don't learn it at the >>> conservatory, or by rehearsing until you're blue in the face. >> True. My first piece of advice to aspiring tango musicians is to learn >> to dance tango, to appreciate the music as a dancer, so they know what >> makes good dance music. >> >> Myk, >> in Canberra > > _______________________________________________ > Tango-L mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l > _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
