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

[Brian Dunn <Brian @DANCEOFTHEHEART.COM>]

In this thread so far, most of the discussion has focused on which styles of
music are appropriate for community growth. Tom's image about dancing as if
you're a member of the orchestra was especially vivid for me, and got me
thinking about how dancers begin to get that feeling for the first time...
because that's one of the experiences that will make them come back, I
think, and become real community members.

Stephen Brown wrote:
>>>>
As a DJ who is also working toward community development, however, the
issue is a little different.  What music will appeal to the broad range of
dancers?  It depends on the venue and the dancers.
<<<<
The appeal of the music also greatly depends, not just on the selected
style, but on what specific tangos, milongas, and valses the community
really KNOWS at the level of individual recorded arrangements. There's a
difference between being comfortable with a given rhythmic style, on the one
hand, and actually being familiar enough with a given arrangement of a given
tango that you are actually CAPABLE of "being another instrument in the
orchestra" for that tango.

The problem from the dancer's side:
Most of the great teachers I've had eventually make the point that,
especially for leaders, there comes a time when in order to get better, you
have to start "mastering" the music - listening to it in the shower, in the
car, all the time.  They tell us that this is the only way for the 900+
members of this list who are not from Argentina to begin to approximate the
effortless awareness of the "Tango Top 40" that is the birthright of many
Argentines, and to really KNOW the details of the music in our dancing
bones. Do you know where the pauses are going to be? Do you know the ending?
Are there tricks in this number like a DiSarli piano flourish at the end, or
a Pugliese "skipped beat" ending?  Or how about the timing of the long
pauses in DeAngelis' "Pavadita"?  Can you land your follower's next step
right when the music returns? The musicians all need to know the
arrangements at this level.  Similarly, dancers who know a given arrangement
really well will tend to prefer that paricular arrangement at a milonga
because they will be able to express more of the details of that arrangement
with their partner.  But how can I know whether the arrangements I like will
be played at a given milonga, and give me some return for the effort I put
in to learn them in detail?

The problem from the DJ's side:
Do I stick to the "Top 40 hits" arrangements of frequently played tango,
with which I personally am getting bored, or do I instead relieve the tedium
I perceive by bringing in more "interesting" arrangements of the standards
within the same style that will be less familiar to the ears of the leaders
on the floor?  How do I help "educate" my particular community to a wider
variety of "stylistically valid" music (pick your favorite style) without
posing the problem of unfamiliar arrangements for leaders in milonga
settings?

Let's assume we agree with the Argentine teachers who say that this level of
musical mastery is what makes for great tango. So, how to develop this level
of detailed awareness of the music as fast as possible within a given
community? Teachers, organizers and DJs have a special responsibility here,
because they frequently find themselves answering the beginner's question
"What tango music should I buy?"

Our solution:
For the last six months of so, in our classes and milongas, and in practicas
we DJ for, Deb and I have taken the following multifaceted approach:

1) We have standardized on what music we use in classes.  We use the 2-CD
set "Pa' Que Bailen Los Muchachos" (from the "Maestros del Tango Argentino"
series, reasonably widely available from various web sources) as workshop
music for all our fundamentals and continuing classes.  While I'm sure there
are other collections some would prefer, and while your favorite tango may
well not be on this set, it's a well-thought-out collection of 40 dance
standards (24 tangos, 8 milongas, 8 waltzes) which at least touches on most
of the important styles and feature many familiar arrangements (Calo,
Canaro, DiSarli, DeAngelis, D'Arienzo, Firpo, Fresedo, Gobbi, Pugliese,
Troilo - sorry, modernists, no Piazzolla!). Each time we teach some
material, we also mention the name of the song we played, the orchestra, and
where it is on the 2-CD set.

2) As we develop the basic tango vocabulary, we hold periodic "musicality
classes" where we focus for an entire class on ONE song from this
collection.  The students learn from experience that, if they REALLY know a
song, they can have a much wider repertoire of technically simple, socially
appropriate, yet charming vocabulary to share with their partner.  A useful
side effect is that students learn to really listen to the music sooner that
they would if they were focusing only on the steps.

3) We tell the students that, if they continue with tango, they'll need to
invest some time in REALLY LEARNING the music, as they just did with this
one song.  We keep a few of these 2-CD sets on hand (at least, we try to!).

4) Then we GUARANTEE them that, at our milongas, we will play at least 75%
of the arrangements from this collection. Of course, 30 tangos aren't enough
for five hours of music, but we space them through the evening so no one has
to wait too long before hearing something guaranteed to be familiar.  When
we have a guest DJ (and many thanks to Dave Schmitz for his frequent
services!), we work with them to be able to fulfill our "guarantee". We (or
our guest DJ's) still have room to get creative with the rest of the
evening.


In this way, beginning leaders are given a decent subset of tangos for their
first purchase, and are simultaneously given lots of "musicality-oriented"
dance vocabulary sooner to enjoy the music with their followers.  They can
also count on hearing the songs they've learned well when they go social
dancing. The followers are treated to more expressive interpretations of the
music, and (if they themselves are familiar with the arrangement) can add
their own musicalities within the lead.

The feedback we're getting from our milongas confirms that this approach
works very well for everybody.


This leaves open the question of how best to introduce
unfamiliar/avant-garde/modern tango music in a growing community.  To me the
(general) answer is the same as with trying out new dance vocabulary -
better to do it at a practica than at a milonga!  (Of course there are
always exceptions...) That way, innovation continues, aspiring DJs can try
their ideas at practicas and get the feedback they need on unfamiliar music
in an informal setting.  But more importantly IMHO, the high-value "milonga
time" for beginners isn't consumed with hearing unfamiliar arrangements
"once only", right when a beginning leader might have been really looking
forward to a great tanda of familiar music with that special partner...

The other alternative for unfamiliar music is, of course, late at night at
the milonga when things get a little wacky anyway...but then those who stay
that late know what to expect!  And by then, the beginners have had their
satisfying night with lots of familiar music, and will be ready for more and
better tango adventures when they come back again...and again and again...

Thanks to all for a great discussion!

Abrazos all around,
Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado  USA
1(303)938-0716
http://www.danceoftheheart.com

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