[TANGO-L] Cortes y quebradas II

[Sergio Vandekier <sergiovandekier990 @HOTMAIL.COM>]

Tom says:

            "I don't see from the given definition how you get Tango con
Cortes to  refer to sacada, gancho, boleo or a amague."

You are right, in modern times the meaning of "cortes" has nothing to do
with the original one.

The same as what can be called "quebrada" today has very little or nothing
to do with what a quebrada was at the beginning of the 20th. century. The
original corte and quebrada was performed by the dancers separated as blacks
danced apart from each other. Later on this moves of cortes or sudden pauses
and quebradas or sudden jerky movements were included in the dance with
embrace.

Nowadays we say: tango with cortes is the one with embellishments. We call
"cortes" the embellishments.  Tango liso is a form without cortes, with no
embellishments.

Collier's definition is correct en reference to its original meaning :  "The
quebrada was simply an improvised, jerky semi-athletic
contortion, the more dramatic the better, while the corte was a sudden
suggestive pause, a break in the standard figures of the dance, not in
itself a particular movement so much as the prelude to a quebrada. The true
novelty ... was that cortes and quebradas were incorporated into dances in
which the partners danced together, not, as in the African-Argentine
'tango', that was done apart"

Those of us that grew up in Argentina and took part in parades for carnival
called "Murgas" (also called comparsas) know what the above definition
refers to.

Murgas are groups of boys and girls that dress with colorful attire like the
blacks dressed for their candombes. These boys and girls dance to the rhythm
of a big drum with timbales (platillos) carried by one musician who plays as
he dances. They all parade and compete against other groups during the days
of carnival.

The dance is done in a formation, like a marching band, individually , with
big jumps and sudden contortions. All this along with singing picaresque
songs created for the occasion.

This year for the first time at CITA THERE WERE LESSONS IN MILONGA MURGUERA.
A type of milonga where you introduce movements proper of our murgas such as
kiks in the air and body contorsions.

"Corte" literally means -cut- a reference to stopping what you were doing
such as in movie making the director ordering "cut" stop.

"Quebrada" literally means - broquen- as a reference to braking the line of
the body or of the direction you were carrying as you performed it.

So if when you dance tango, lets say you are walking forward in close
embrace as the woman walks backwards, all of a sudden you stop, you pause
exactly as we do today, that is a "corte" , then if you do a ripple with
your entire body sideways or from up down or from down up  or something
similar that is a quebrada.  The originality of these movements is that they
were introduced at a time when all the known dances were done with
continuous activity, without pauses. This is still the case for most
ballroom dances.

Those movements, cortes and quebradas, were considered to be vulgar and were
removed from the social tango.  In time when people talked about  tango con
"cortes y quebradas" they meant with embellishments that nothing had to do
with the original ones.

I hope that this helps to clarify this matter somewhat.

Have a good day.

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