[TANGO-L] Developing Musicality Skills for Dancing Tango

[Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>]

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Following up on an two posts by Tom Stermitz and my response,
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2003/msg06151.html
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2003/msg06159.html
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2003/msg06164.html

It would seem that the basic skills for interpreting Argentine tango music
while dancing are:
1) Moving to the slow, walking beat;
2) Moving to the staccato rhythms;
3) Working with pauses (while beats slip away);
4) Moving with musical phrasing;
5) Moving with musical phrasing for lyrical tangos.

Some of the more advanced skills for interpreting Argentine tango music
while dancing would be:
1) Interpreting changes in tempo;
2) Moving to syncopated rhythms (those of Troilo in particular);
3) Dancing to the rhythms of individual instruments rather than working
just with the beat;
4) Using repitition and variation;
5) Using movements whose rhythms play against those in the music.

Tom and I have offered some comments about developing skills for the first
two items on these lists.
http://pythia.uoregon.edu/~llynch/Tango-L/2003/msg06159.html
http://www.tejastango.com/inside_2004archive.html#0006
http://www.tejastango.com/inside_2004archive.html#0063

It would be interesting to exchange ideas about the remaining items on
these lists.

With best wishes for 2005,
Steve (de Tejas)

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
 http://www.tejastango.com/