Re: [TANGO-L] DJing in smaller communities

[Tom Stermitz <Stermitz @RAGTIME.ORG>]

>DJing in a small, young community is dramatically different than DJing
>for the big festivals or in mature communities.  Those who DJ in a young
>community have a very important, demanding job.  The dancers are new to
>the dance and still wondering how much they like it, they are generally
>not skilled/experienced enough to dance well to lots of different types
>of music, the DJ is probably also busy/distracted organizing events, and
>there are not enough people dancing at one time to create that magic
>crowd energy.  It can be a lot of work and even frustrating at times.
>Further, the DJ in a small community has the responsibility of educating
>the dancers about tango music, because the music you play has a very
>high impact on the experience of the newer dancers - they will assume
>that they are hearing good tango dance music because they don't know any
>better.  That means the DJs in the smaller communities have a
>responsibility to find out what the good music is when they're pretty
>new to the dance themselves, so there can be quite a bit of pressure.
>My strong belief is that a new DJ is going to be way ahead by visiting a

I couldn't agree with Dan more.

The DJ in a small community has an extreme influence that will mark
that community down the road for good or ill.

  * I've attended a milonga where Gotan was played from beginning to
end. (Were they trying to attract the younger crowd by tangoing to
Frank Zappa!? Yes, one of the Gotan pieces was composed by Frank
Zappa.).
  * I've attended milongas where the DJ played an entire evening of
modern tangos that meandered from melody to melody, as if clear beat
and staccato rhythm were INTENTIONALLY being avoided.
  * I've also seen Pugliese played constantly. How does a beginner
even begin to interpret Pugliese? If they do this for months, what
kind of dancer do they become?

It takes a while for a newcomer to recognize and make sense of the
music. The DJs role is to make it easier for them. In new communities
I would suggest that the DJ play a MUCH SMALLER range of songs than
experienced dancers like. If there are 6000 tangos, and 600 are
considered appropriate for a milonga in Buenos Aires, maybe 60 are
reasonably accessible for newcomers in the US.

Your newcomers will fit in much faster if you play these 60 songs
frequently and regularly until they start to become familiar.

  * A big collection is NOT better.
  * Obscure is NOT a feature.

As Stephen points out at his Classics of Tango Dance Music website:
<http://www.tejastango.com/classic_tangos.html>, when you have a lot
of beginners it is so much better to stick with more obvious rhythms
and simpler music.



>On a related note, don't fall into the trap of worrying about playing
>music for certain "styles" of dancing - that's absolute nonsense and
>it's not the DJ's business.  Besides that, in a small community,
>worrying too much about dance styles is the surest way to break a
>community into sub-groups, which is the last thing a young community
>needs.  Just play good tango dance music and let people dance whatever
>style they choose.  I have seen good dancers of various styles happily
>dancing to the same music on the same floor more than enough to convince
>myself to dismiss this academic categorization of music and dancing.
>The good dancers dance to the good music, period, and the DJ's job ends
>at playing a variety of good music.  Let the dancers take it from there.


I disagree somewhat that music is completely style neutral. It is
true that a good dancer can dance to a wide variety of music, but
DiSarli lends itself to a more walking style of dance, and D'Arienzo
is a more staccato, rhythmic style.

I agree with Dan that a small community can ill-afford to split over
stylistic issues. Teachers may have their own preference, but they
should make sure their students receive the tools they need to dance
when they step out into the bigger world.

Clearly we don't have a consistent curriculum among tango teachers,
but to be fair to your students they need to show both rhythmic and
walking vocabulary. Likewise, they need close and open style
techniques.


--

Tom Stermitz
http://www.tango.org/
stermitz @tango.org
303-388-2560

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