Re: [TANGO-L] Community Growth - The Next Generation

[Korey Ireland <korey @KODAIR.COM>]

>
>
> Suppose the next generation of young Tango dancers, worldwide, start
> applying pressure for changes in music at dances, that speaks to them. For
> the sake of this argument, the music will have a clear beat, that
> anyone can
> dance to. It could be modern Tango music or alternative Tango music. Is
> there a way to address that issue, without sending them somewhere else to
> dance? I imagine this sort of thing has being going on, from generation to
> generation, for as long as humans have been around. Those darn kids... :o)
>
>
I've been following this thread for a bit, and feel compelled to weigh
in.  Lots of great comments about diversity, subjectivity, danceability,
so I'll leave all this alone.  But I wonder about history, and tango as
an art form/social dance.  People change.  Temperments and fashions
shift, aesthetics evolve, and this seems to present constant drama for
tango.  Its certainly nothing new.  I'm sure that dancers reacted the
same way to Salgan, or Pugliese; probably even Calo and DiSarli at one
point had their detractors who proclaimed the 'new music' as
"undanceable."  Tango music had a strong run of progressive development,
but somewhere along the lines it left then dance hall, or maybe it was
the dancers who left the music?  As the music became more dynamic, more
syncopated, less predictable, perhaps the dancers opted for the
familiar, and turned away from the contemporary?  There are probably
lots of interesting perspectives on how this came about, but what we all
seem to be able to agree on is that for several decades, we have gone
without substantial new tango music for dancing.  Recently, as the dance
finds renewed popularity, there has been a surge of interest in creating
new tango music for dancing, but those of us who are interested in this
face some peculiar challenges.  How to create music of our day, which
feels like tango?  How to embrace the heritage of tango music without
being anachronistic?  There are a wide range of approaches, many
embracing or exploring other musical forms.  For those who are
interested in these experiments, check out Sera Una Noche, Gotan, New
York Tango Trio, Pablo Ziegler, Cuarteto Almagro, La Chicana, Trio
Obscur, Tango Lorca...(I'm sure many of you could add to this list -
please do...)  These projects all have an element of fusion: tango meets
jazz, tango meets club music, tango meets klezmer....and I think this is
a very natural path for tango music.  Seems very much in line with what
Piazolla was doing late in his career.  But then we're back to the
question: is it dance music?  And to me the answer has to do with our
conception of tango.  If we look at tango music as a wholly seperate
phenomena from tango dancing, then this becomes a pivotal question, a
litmus test for any new "tango" music.  Can we dance to it the same way
we dance to D'Arienzo or (insert your favorite classic orchestra here)?
 But if we conceive of tango music and dance as two expressions of the
same impulse, two limbs of the same body, then we can rethink/rephrase
the question -- "how do we dance to *this* tango music?"

    I realize there are many who prefer for tango to be a time capsule,
frozen in a glorious slice of history where the music and the dance
traditions seemed to syncronize effortlessly.  I think thats fine, it
certainly has a place in a "living history" context.  In fact, I think
its a lovely idea.  But there is also an artform and social phenomenon
of tango that won't sit still.  It is as dynamic as we are.
    So, my questions to the collective wisdom:
Are we ready to look at music and dance as integral parts of one tango
tradition?
Is it possible/desireable for that tradition to continue to evolve to
reflect the changes in our world?
If so, how do we foster this development?

For myself, its "yes", "yes", and "wholeheartedly" :-)
I think a big part of the answer is for each "limb" of  the tango body
to take a greater interest in the body as a whole.  Dancers can seek out
and support the musicians in their community who are devoted to tango.
 Musicians can focus their efforts on creating music that dances well.
 We can learn alot from each other and grow alot together.  In my
community, we are very fortunate to have a fabulous, young tango
ensemble (Tango Lorca) that has a reperatory of standards from the
golden era, as well as contemporary pieces, and many originals.  The
band developed in the center of the dance community,  and the dance
community developed along side the band.  I've had a long standing
policy of encouraging the musicians to attend workshops for free and
more recently, I've been offering dance lessons to band members, and its
been very fruitful.  As they become more interested (and more
proficient) in dancing, their music becomes more accesible for dancers.
    But I'm very interested to hear how other communities address this,
and how these issues resonate with the larger tango world.  Are we
preserving history, or are we creating it?
respectfully,
Korey Ireland

PS, I'm contemplating developing a web page on contemporary tango music
for dancing, please contact me if you'd like to contribute...

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