Re: [TANGO-L] Musicality

[astrid <astrid @RUBY.PLALA.OR.JP>]

Bruce wrote:
 One teacher who influenced me strongly likened tango to a
> language, and suggested that learning patterns is something like
> learning and reciting poetry (or perhaps memorising phrases from a
> phrase book).  Both of those can be valuable, but there are probably
> more effective ways to learn a language.
>
A long time ago, somebody wrote on this list something like: "Some people
have a sequential memory, and some people have an analytical memory."
I believe, that those, who think that learning patterns is like learning and
reciting poetry, are those with the sequential memory. 'The poem ideally
must be recited in it's complete form, no line should be forgotten, it
should not be interrupted or broken off before the end. Any other ways of
executing parts of the patterns are thought of as less than successful.'
If you think about it, this concepts severely impairs your ability to dance.
You cannot react to the moment, you cannot go with the flow, because you are
in the middle of reciting something that exists inside your head, but may
neither fit with the space you have on the floor, nor the way the dancers
around you are moving, maybe not even the music. Or the ability of the woman
you just asked to dance.

On the other hand, if you think of tango as a language, and of the steps not
as whole sentences,but simply words and grammatical structures, your whole
dance becomes much more responsive, flexible and spontaneous. It becomes a
dialogue instead of a lecture. The woman (if she knows tango that way, but
women tend to do, if they dance with many different men) feels like:"If he
says this, I will answer with that. If I express this, he will (hopefully)
respond with that. Oh, no, he responded differently ! Interesting !", and so
it goes.
But for this, the patterns have to be broken up into smaller parts, with
"entrances" and "exits" and possible "links".

In this scenario, tango can be likened to an anecdote about the Japanese
language. In my early days here, I once asked a Japanese friend, why in
their language the verb comes at the end of the sentence. He replied:"You
see, this is because of our culture. We watch our conversation partner's
face very carefully while we talk. If we notice a change in his expression,
like he is going to be hurt or angered by what we intend to say, we still
have time to quickly exchange the verb at the end for another one, and thus,
change the meaning of the whole sentence to something more agreeable."
So, if, while you are dancing tango, you notice that the woman does not know
the step, or that another couple starts encroaching on your space, or the
unfamiliar music changes in an unexpected way, you can alter the step you
intended. If you thought of it as language, not as whole poems.
I believe, that Gustavo and Fabian analysed tango with this in mind, and
learning with them helps understanding this approach to the dance.

Astrid

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