[TANGO-L] re ?-count basic

[Crrtango @AOL.COM]

Philip Seyer wrote:

>One disadvantage is that the pattern doesn't match musical phrasing as well
>as an 8 count basic.<

I wrote:

>It isn't always necessary to
>begin and end
>figures within the set musical structure or phrasing, either instrumental or
>vocal. Perhaps for a performance and choreography but on a busy social
dance...<

Tom Stermitz wrote:

>So are you advocating NOT dancing to the music? That beginners should
not bother trying to hear the phrasing because the phrasing is
irrelevant? That on a busy social dance floor the phrasing is even
LESS important?<

I believe "relative" and "irrelevant" are two different words. I never said
irrelevant nor to not dance to the music. I'm referring to making a connection
between the number of steps in a figure (like any of the basic ones) and the 8
count phrases in a song. The fact that the basic has at times 8 counts and a
musical phrase has eight counts doesn't mean they should fit together when
dancing. You can be in the middle of a figure when a phrase ends. Besides,
learning to hear the phrasing in a song is not as simple as one thinks for
beginners, at least in my teaching experience. If anything is irrelevant though, it is
the number of steps in the basic. Tying it in to the musical phrasing is
misleading and confusing because it implies that the figures should begin and end
with the phrases. A crowded floor doesn't give one the freedom to always do
structured steps and think about ending at certain places. It often is avoiding
other dancers and reconstructing your steps to fit into a constantly changing
floor space.

Cheers,
Charles