It's easy to put oneself in a category, noticing that many other dancers are not the same.
We could be new or experienced; like to dance close, or not; prefer nuevo or not, etc.
Here is a category I am in: I don't really enjoy dancing if there is no partner "conversation." By that I mean - both people expressing themselves in the movement. (Not talking!)
For this to happen, the leader has to allow it - invite it. If he dances always doing what he wants without giving the woman space and time to decide little things for herself sometimes, the conversation cannot take place on a meaningful level of interaction.
Perhaps by my saying this you can tell I feel felicitously spoiled by living in a city with many, many wonderful dancers who also enjoy this conversational style of dancing. So spoiled by that enjoyment that anything else is to me sort of going through the motions - which I have always avoided doing. Once you are in the habit of letting yourself be surprised by what your partner initiates, you feel THAT is true tango and you want it that way all the time. Well, I do.
I encourage all men to seek ways of giving over the direction at appropraite moments for your partner to do as she pleases with you. It takes the experience to a whole new level.
And yes - it can be taught. One shows the man where in a song to get in a position that invites; and then the most important thing - how to wait. I have always thought "waiting" is a big part of tango. The many hesitations of the dance become invitational waiting when extended another instant.
One shows women how to respond to the leader waiting and inviting. How to tease with an embellishment or where to step to initiate another movement NOT chosen by the man. And then of course how to be in-tune to surrender to his guidance right away again so the dance continues in harmony with the music in the normal way.
If you do this already, you know what I'm talking about when I say it makes the tango experience much richer and seem like that was the original intention of it all along.
If you are going to go about incorporating it into your way, beware! Soon you will be more discriminating in who you choose to dance with because you will want the conversation all the time with everybody. And sadly, people hip to the conversation sparkle are in the minority at the present time.
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On Women Leading
Man though I am, I shall dare to offer another way of thinking about it all.
There is a very good reason why many women decide to give leading a go: so
they don't have to sit all night.
Typically, there are more good women dancers than men. Most of the women I
have seen, in many cities, giving lead a serious try is so that (as single
women) they don't get bored out of their minds every time they go out. I'm
on their side. Stay at home - or lead a bit? Why not? These tend to be women who have been dancing a long time and are good dancers.
No one should feel threatened.
Of course, they find me a willing partner and a help if they are seeking
that. The ladies who lead me are social friends and we are having fun for
a few minutes. Real tango fun.
It's a growing trend. 'Gonna happen whether people like it or not. Together with this is the trend of more men wanting to follow. It can only help their dancing.
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Milonga
A Gift From The Gods
Milonga WAS given to us by the gods to bless our souls with joy and happiness.
But, it seems to me, the essence of milonga is not immediately devined by
the new lover of tango. Milonga is like tango itself; also like what an
interesting woman may do to an ardent gentleman admirer: kind of retreat
behind a veil while the pilgrim makes his journey to a sufficient level of
understanding that the veil may be safely let down for admittance.
My personal intuition is that there is kind of a path a good many people
follow in getting all the way to "getting" tango. We fall in love with the
tango dance; we eventually discover the joys of vals; after that, the
milonga is more accessible.
But, few there seem to be in the lands outside of Argentina who have a
feel for milonga.
The reason for this could be that, being in 2/4, it has the feeling of
being "fast." Dancers who start to enjoy it and sense the fun tend to
"run." Many orchestras have recorded milonga at a tempo pushing the limit
because that's what one does for shows.
So, many will use milonga to kind-of show-off. Even before they have the
skills to do so. In North America, one sees many men just running and
pushing and flailing around - not providing much enjoyment for the
followers who have to run to keep up. Those men are having fun, which is
good. But, the milonga veil is still up for them - or they would not be
that way.
I can only speak of personal experience and that may not be worth much.
But for whatever it's worth, I offer that milonga reveals its true nature
when danced slowly.
Those who attend my milongas or dance milonga with me know that I favour
the slow and moderate-tempo milongas first of all. Canaro (the Master);
Donato (a Genius); and of course moving up the tempo scale to Di Sarli,
D'Arienzo and Troilo (Genius Masters as well).
The veil has been lifted when one enjoys the SLOW milongas (if I may say).
Milonga danced well is very subtle. No wild movements. No running. I
always teach that - though it is very exciting music - the dancer should
be very calm and peaceful inside to dance it well. Purposefully put the
excitement meter on low. Slow the beating heart. Then everything opens up.
When I met with and interviewed maestro Roberto Alvarez of Color Tango, I
told him that to use his milongas when I dj, I slowed them down (without
changing the pitch) 4 B.P.M. so that they are danceable. (He did not take
offense).
You have to breathe when dancing milonga. You can't breathe properly if
your are running.
I recognize that fast milongas bring a lot of joy to many, many dancers. I
play them. But, I work my way up to them. Starting off a milonga tanda
with a really fast milonga doesn't make sense to me, musically. Start with
a slow one; go up in tempo; finish with a fast one. This is my way, at
least.
If the reader is not a milonga fan at this time, please know that your
tango will be much more satisfying to you when you have become a milonga
dancer whom others enjoy dancing it with.
To be a really good tango dancer, it seems one must have a beautiful vals
and a beautiful milonga in them as well. Then, you can dance tango.
All good tango dancers know this to be true.
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The Age Thing
Maturity Comes When?
"Tango has to be understood and that happens at least when you are 45 years old." - Lucio Demare (he composed "Malena" when he was 36).
Wow. What a revealing juxtaposition of words.
Pugliese composed "Recuerdo" when he was a fresh teenager. (And never had another one as good).
(If Demare actually said that ...) it's both true and not true. I agree with the theoretical proposition - but ...
Always depends on the person. (Old souls do exist and are born - meaning young people can dance tango).
But, one way or the other, it takes appreciation of life experience to "get" tango, for sure.
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On Our Judgements
And the Open Mind Helper
How well I remember how my mind has changed over the years about what I think of this or that orchestra. When tango is new to one, we bring our wants and desires to it as well as our preconceptions. So, we like this, but don't like that - but maybe only because we can't really hear it yet. We need more time for acclimatization, etc. I suggest.
If you're going to stick around tango, I promise you that over time your opinions about things will change. This has certainly been the case for me and every good dj I know. Surely a pro dj notices what people like and, when not sharing an opinion, objectively gives the music in question a new listen to see if an old opinion still holds for them TODAY. (It's been one of my tricks all my life to let my audience influence me. It's a great shortcut. I always take requests and file away the who-and-what in my memory).
It has happened quite a lot to me over the last couple of years as I spent my thousands of hours cleaning the old recordings. They started to sound so different than what I was used to hearing, I gained a new appreciation for a lot of classic tango that I wasn't much interested in years ago.
Of course, having more music to like enriches life, no?
So, every time you hear yourself telling someone you don't like something, I hope you'll make a mental note to revisit that opinion with an open mind one day. I especially wish this for the odd person who tells me they don't like Di Sarli, or don't like D'Arienzo, or don't like singers. If you love tango, I think that's not possible. Sorry! These quick judgements tend to (and should) haunt us in the future.
(See my piece on Caruso and the singers below).
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The Tango Music Universe
How Things Have Changed
Tango was just coming out of a long, cold and dark night when it captured me in 1989. For 40 years, not much had been happening.
This period of almost hibernation was brought on by the political and economic situation in Argentina which followed WWII. The once fabulously rich nation was brought to its knees by a military junta doing about everything possible the wrong way. The protectionism and disdain for international trading relationships had really taken traction through the '20's and '30's; the Generals then screwed the lid tight after that war.
Of course, Juan and Eva Peron had, during their dictatorship, affected a tango style. Juan copied the Gardel look. Eva the show-girl loved the night-life. When they were overthrown, the Generals stomped on the tango culture with a fierceness equal to their hatred of the Perons. You're not going to have a thriving tango culture when nightly curfews extend for decades.
So, we had Tango For Export as the face of tango around the world. And the Piazzolla phenomenon. And an Argentina pretty much in misery; beat down by its own.
And then, history repeated itself: the world outside of Argentina fell in love with tango again.
I didn't know it at the time, but I was part of the renaissance that happened after Tango Argentino toured the world. For when I started, there were enough people around interested in classes and shows that a scene was about to become established throughout the world.
My interests from the first were to learn how to dance and to collect the music. Both were to take a long time before I could feel satisfied with what I had - for times were really different then before the web shrunk the world.
In the dancing part, there were no milongas where I lived until we started our own after 5 years of only dancing in weekly classes. Pretty hard to get good that way. And of course, all the teachers I encountered taught Tango Por Export.
There were a few CD's around, but not much danceable music on them. And the quality was pretty terrible. After discovering that the Columbians had always loved tango music, I frequented Latin-American book stores where I could find Columbian-manufactured lp's and cassettes of Argentine tango music.
I was obssessed with collecting and learning about this wondrous, heavenly music that had been recorded before I was born. I wanted to know "everything" about it and have it all in my hands.
I married my first tango teacher, and through her was able to beg her Argentino compatriots living near me to let me copy their cassettes. That was the only way to find what wasn't available in stores.
Juan Carlos Copes actually gave me my first great tango music collection. He gave me 2 90 minute cassettes he used for teaching. It was unbelievably great music I had never heard before! There was, however a big problem with it (aside from being cassette copies of bad pressings): there was no list of titles or artists. I remember assuming that many of the orchestras were D'Arienzo! (Well, I knew his name now - and Canaro and Di Sarli. How excited I was the day I found out about Miguel Calo and could then identify his music).
So that's how I began. Not a clue. No internet research tools. Just Argentine friends and family to pester with questions. Thank god for them and their generous indulgence!
But what joy I felt when I could find a cassette or two or an lp or CD I didn't have. From day one I had a purpose, because I would compile the music my wife would use in her classes and eventually our milonga. With my radio programming background, I essentially became a tango dj day from the day I began to learn how to dance.
What a contrast between those years and how things are now. I often think how lucky the people are who get me to ship them my restoration library. One day they open the mail and have 1700 beautiful tangos made for dancing fall into their lap. I would have died to have found a source like that 20 years ago. But then - I wouldn't have had the fabulous journey of discovery from being lost to being found ...
Lately, my interest is in uncovering great recordings from the 1920's - well, as far back as there are records. The music from this era is glorious beyond description.
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"It Takes Two" (Another Take)
Tango & Jazz
Music means SO much to a person alive. It certainly has to me. In so many ways, so many forms, always.
To say that my life changed drastically and forever when I discovered Argentine Tango is mild understatement. At one and the same time, it gave me a new life while simply allowing me to get in touch with who I am and had always been. On multiple levels.
How much the "discovery" of the New World changed life on the planet. I've always enjoyed moments of contemplation of the 2 Sublime forms of music that the New World then created and gave back; and they both came about in the same way and at the same time: Tango and Jazz.
Two great cities at the mouth of 2 great rivers which drained much of both continents. Port cities inhabited by immigrants from all over and constantly visited by ships carrying more. In touch because of the sea - how the world worked then. Facilitating growth and sustenance. Blending; seething; incubating, developing. Brazen, profane, creative, profound. Finding a way to make life's sorrows feed life's possibilities and the hungry human spirit everywhere.
And in those two great cities, unlike any other, music and culture was born which changed the world.
New Orleans. Buenos Aires.
Do you remember the first book you ever read that made you fall in love with words, stories, information - the outside world - that gave you a thirst for more?
I was 10 years old growing up in a rural Canadian farming/vacation community (a town of 10,000 people) when all this happened to me. The first book for me was a biography of a Saint - Louis Armstrong. How blessed I have always felt that my first hero was that genius. It's like my whole life of passion for music of all kinds that is Good was given to me in a context I could judge it by because knowing about "Pops" taught me everything I needed to "know" intuitively, right off-the-bat.
Being so young, it would be years before I knew of Mozart, Bach (the first great improvisationalists) or Beethoven nor certainly Gerardo Matos Rodriguez or Fancisco Canaro; but I had a true compass inside from that early age. More than I knew, of course.
And of course - even though I was studying piano soon thereafter, it was the trumpet that I really wanted to play (so in awe of Satchmo). I started on cornet in a marching band with uniforms and all that playing John Phillip Sousa (how stirring); then Herb Alpert (!) and the school orchestra standard repetoire from Broadway and Europe. Then, my love of radio took over and I became more a producer/ story-teller than a musician.
Tango didn't enter my life until I was 40. But the moment it did and I began to study it, it captivated immediately because it was touching something in me so powerful I was lost in it before I knew. Then grew to recognize that tango took me to the soul of music as my love for Louis had once done.
The parallels in the development and then influence of Tango and Jazz are so striking. Both anticipated and became the music of the modern world of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics (another great duo). Both were like nuclear bombs in culture. As were the other 2!
Always I want to go on and on about the parallels, the open, ensemble perfection, the essence of what these two contributions to life from the New World mean, portend, deliver. But, that would take a book.
But, it's about joy. Dialogue. Working out all the complications of the inner self in a negotiation with others human beings.
If you're ever in a milonga where I'm doing the music and you've found that late at night I have lead-up to playing "It Takes Two To Tango" or, "Kiss Of Fire" (an English version of El Choclo) or "La Vie En Rose" by Louis Armstrong, I hope you will laugh and dance for joy because you sense the connection between the Saints and the "sinners" (us) - who know how to be passionate in life in the way only Tango can allow.
For we share a secret, don't we? Tango is even deeper and more intricate than jazz. Jazz lost it's way as a provider of a connection between 2 moving bodies in harmony as WWII was ending. This, of course, is why Piazzolla was a pariah in Argentina to dancers. Same thing.
By the mid-70's, both had kind of "died." (Ha!) The greats went to their graves one-by-one, too fast. The times had changed.
But, the great rivers formed varied tributaries. And were born again.
If you like the ways of the old tango and the old jazz, it's all there forever. And to a heart seeking the essence of communication, both will always be young and keep us young.
An open mind (an open ear, an open heart) is a beautiful thing. As is courage.
And respect for the people whose shoulders we stand (or dance!) on.
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(To get a beautiful picture/understanding of how Louis Armstrong changed the world, I highly recommend the 2001 PBS documentary by Ken Burns, JAZZ).
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Love Is ... What We DO
(Not about tango, but -
What about tango doesn't call for love)?
Love
Is a command to rise to one's highest potential
The best and noblest vision of ourselves
Love is a reward; the greatest we can earn
Granted to us for
The moral qualities we have achieved in our lives.
These lines, delivered by the wonderful actor Helen Mirren, close a nice little film I recently saw which was made in Toronto in 1999.
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Trends And Things
We're all in the same boat
I'm in touch with promoters, teachers, dj's and dancers around the world. We talk.
And I find it really interesting how local situations tend to be quite similar no matter where you are. This is comforting when in your own community you despair about a development - only to find that your pals in other places are seeing the same things happen. Helps one to relax a bit
We've all been dealing with the issue of churning; old fav partners not coming out anymore because new people aren't being taught to be respectful of the ronda and other people's spaces, etc. If there's no one you want to dance with, you start staying home, too. I would like to think that time is slowly erasing that problem and people are learning. Then the problem becomes: how to get the stay-at-homes back out after they've decided they are interested anymore?
The current issue most everywhere is also a result of the tremendous growth in popularity of tango: too many places happening - so all the usual places have less people. Blessing and curse all at once.
The fact is: people go where there are people. No people - no fun. So numbers make the night happen.
In the "good old days" before 2004, organizers used to work together. They didn't have to like each other, but things just worked best when communicating in advance about plans and doing things so that conflicts in scheduling were avoided.
This was a tradition which got lost when a a free-for-all attitude came along during the Moron Bush years. Lots of new people fell in love with tango and decided they should have their own milonga or be a teacher. Everybody became a cowboy in that sense. I'll do whatever I want, **** you! Ouch.
OK. We're free to do what we want. Can't argue.
So, new places spring up. Competition on every night. Just too much going on. Everybody's numbers down. Less fun. (No fun to endure). The curious circumstance that the community is actually growing - but not so's you can see anywhere just any time.
Endure is the word. Time has to go by and things shake out naturally. And in that way, progress is made. The strong will survive and all of that. But hopefully without killing each other!
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"Thanks - I Needed That"
Oh, those sweet little words
Any time those words are spoken, it's a good bet that both parties feel to say it to each other - even if only one says it. The whole it-takes-two thing.
I hope it happens at every level of proficiency in the dance; but I know assuredly that it happens most pleasingly at a certain level of advancement.
It's one of the most beautiful moments tango gives.
For it has come after two people who probably don't know each other or who haven't seen each other for some time finish a dance that engaged and enveloped and soothed them both. Unexpectedly. Totally. They lost time while they were lost in the embrace and the music. It gave them each what they most love about tango. Some crazy, creative, locked-in transportation to tango heaven. The surprise that satifies.
When those words are spoken, one can trust that there is fervor in them.
What spoils one about tango has just been experienced. It is to die for.
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Stages
And re-inventing oneself
The more one learns of tango, the more one can grow.
As the ways to deal with the mysteries are negotiated, the inner smile feels OK to take on more assurance.
A regular re-invention of the self seems to be called for. Incorporate; internalize in that process; then stand on your shoulders and be open for the next break-through. Let things take natural-for-you time.
The teacher (of various things) in me has always thought one of the most insightful lines ever written was:
Rome wasn't built in a day.
All my tango teaching seems these days to be about showing leaders how to take the follower with them (while leaving spaces to be a follower himself so a conversation can be had) and followers what responsiveness is and how to take the moment for their own when appropriate.
Tango-tango is so richly rewarding, mysterious and comprising the wisdom of the ages that it surely is the only religion ;-) which doesn't ask a tithe nor threaten with damnation nor pretend to know everything no one can possibly ever know.
It just allows sublime commuinication with another in this moment.
Why the astonished-by-tango mayor of Paris once famously said: "In France, we do it lying down."
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Thoughts on Learning/Teaching
My personal view
I don't trust either-or categorizations, but we do have the fact of 1 or 0 in today's digital world. So, in that sense, I am comfortable categorizing tango dancers as mostly being interested in either "inside" tango or "outside" tango, if you will. Realizing that I think it is perfectly normal for one to want to blur those lines any time one feels like it.
Outside dancers use an open embrace. They are always thinking. They like figures and on-going complicated sequences. The leader must use his arms to move the follower around. They like a lot of room on the dance-floor so they can do all their tricky stuff. They are always "doing" something.
Inside dancers want to shut their mind off and dance in a close embrace where the lead is given with the torso. They enjoy moving in harmony in a way the music suggests, but they don't think of their dance as "doing" things. The arms don't do anything but provide support. They love a crowded dance floor.
For the last few years, it has been difficult for many to fully enjoy themselves if these two types of dancers are both present. The outside dancers have a way of disprupting the inside dancers' trance.
One intuits that outside dancers don't think inside dancers "get it" - and vice versa.
It's probably obvious I enjoy the close embrace. But, when it's late at night and I have a knowledgable dancer in my arms, I can have great fun dancing "outside" to crazy music for a few minutes. I can do it - it just isn't what speaks to me in the loudest voice about tango.
Dancers who have been seduced by the trance typically wonder why one would bother trying to show-off and get all cerebral and athletic when inside tango is so intoxicating and peaceful. This has lead me to believe, after years of observation, that many "outside" dancers seem to have an inner aversion to being close to other people. To each his own.
I spent years as an assistant teacher - to a top pro - of the Copes open-embrace method, which is all I knew. It was great experience.
When I decided that style wasn't for me, I stopped teaching altogether. I had myself to teach and I knew anything else would be b.s.
After a few years of developing my own style, I was drawn by others into teaching my way. But, I played a word game about it all. I didn't feel comfortable passing myself off as a "teacher." I liked to call myself a coach. Just trying to move people forward if I could. (I'm a teacher in my other lives and have had students go on to national prominence).
Not everyone is going to take to my way. I want people who are into dancing social tango. My method is to forget about levels and all that stuff schools do because that's how they run their business. I don't run it to be a business. I don't do it for money. That's for others. I impart to people what they would learn if they took private classes. That's where one learns the important stuff: posture, embrace possibilities, walks, turns, composition, etc. How to have impromptu conversation as opposed to memory rote. Tasty little things for expression. What orquestas they are listening to. Not so much how to "do" things as how to move with all the styles of music and develop their own personality.
When I was taught in the beginning, I could really only dance with someone who has been in the same classes with me. Everything was memorized.
I teach so that people can go to any milonga in the world and dance nicely with anybody. Not "steps" per se, but movement appropriate to what the music is asking for.
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Thoughts after a class
Gawd help me, I love showing proper posture and movement and how to make it work with the music.
It's supposed to be (and properly is) called "teaching;" but I am more comfortable saying I share and coach. I like to take it far away from a structured "class" where you are supposed to "learn" and "remember" things and make it a social dance experience where your body gets it and remembers and your being gets it and naturally moves that way from now on. Fun - not work.
I openly declare my bias: I am a social tango dancer and I want to propagate that. I believe that direction benefits tango dancers the most.
However, it happens that my formative training came from top professional stage tango dancers who taught me how to do all the fancy movements with my body in the right position. I love them dearly for teaching me the right stuff - even if I personally decided years later that I love tango tango - NOT tango por export.
So, my basis was in the normal way you learn: memorizing "steps" and using your arms to push your partner around.
At some point, after a few years, I just said, this ain't for me. I stopped taking any classes from all the wonderful teachers I knew from Argentina and set-about re-inventing myself.
Was I ever lucky in my timing. If I had made this move three years later, I wouldn't have had the necessary cocoon I fed upon. By that I mean: a thriving, exciting social dance scene with DOZENS of wonderful partners in it.
I took my time, but basically I just danced my ass off for the next years. I found and developed me. I became entirely comfortable following as well as leading in a social dance situation (because a real teacher must be able to do both well. How much I owe Montreal women who love to lead even if there's 100 people around!).
So, it's true ... a lot of what I share with people is a de-bunking of what/how people learn in traditional tango classes. I like to get right to it instead of assuming people will never get it. (Of course they won't with that attitude). I joked tonight with my "students" that I was giving them a mixture of Level 1 part 4, Level 8 part 6 and level 12 part 2. I was only half-joking. It's supposed to be more organic than it is traditionally taught. And I am always talking about the orquestas and showing how to move with this-or-that kind of music.
I tell people: no one ever took a "class" in Argentina. You just danced with your family and neighbours on the weekend and learned by doing it with guidance and suggestions.
I wish to keep that spirit and tradition alive.
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Dancing "In the Moment"
Sharna Fabiano writes: in tango and meditation, tango and yoga, tango and family relationships, and even tango and business management, observing and reacting "in the moment" takes top priority.
Sharna's The Essential Tango - Dancing "In the Moment".
Jonathan Thornton (Eugene, Oregon): "I don't think he was thinking of dancing, but his thoughts on music speak
to me of the best dance. Does this poetry speak to anyone else?"
from THE DRY SALVAGES
(No. 3 of 'Four Quartets')
T.S. Eliot ( 1888-1965 )
Men's curiosity searches past and future
And clings to that dimension. But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint;
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime's death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.
Why do tango communities find it so hard to recruit and retain men? Perhaps
here's a clue. A recent (short) piece in the New York Times about tango in
movies managed to include all of the following:
torrid ... smoldered ... sexually charged ... sultry ... entwined limbs ...
sexual heat ... provocative ... feverish ... erotic ... destructive ... scantily
dressed ... menacing partners
Reading this sort of thing, men who might make fine social dancers may
dismiss tango as a bit too ... hot. So we lose those potential recruits.
Meanwhile, men drawn to the flame tend to drop out a short time later when
they confront the reality of tango as a social dance.
Maybe we need to re-focus our marketing - more emphasis on the (spiced)
meat, and less on the sizzle.
Lynn
NYC
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