Greetings Faithful Readers
It’s been three weeks since my hip replacement and I’m happy to report that things are going very well. I’ve started walking without a cane around the house, and the thought of being able to start dancing two or three weeks sooner than expected is exciting. Again, many, many thanks for the cards, emails, and homemade goodies. It’s those little things that really help make the down time more tolerable, and makes me impatient to get on the dance floor.
Which brings me to the point of this post. It’s the question that everyone ask. It’s the question that seems so simple, until I try to answer it. It’s the question where the answer begs more questions. Basically it’s the question that has my friends looking for an escape when they see me coming, kinda like dodging those bald headed folks in orange robes banging a tambourine at the airport.
Walt, why Tango?
I thought it was time for me to man up, and attempt to explain my, dare I say, obsession with Tango. My answer has two purposes; one, to help my readers gain a bit more understanding of my love of this dance. And two, maybe, hopefully, inspire others to try the dance for themselves.
First, the music.
Dance is music made visible, and Tango music is a rare treat. I started dancing about 25 years ago, and teaching a touch less than that. During that time I’ve worked on more than 15 different dances. That’s a lot of dancing, and a lot of different kinds of music. I love all kinds of music, more of some, less of others, from Mozart to Marilyn Manson, from a folk guitar to a stack of synthesizers, and many strange things in between. And while there’s great music to go with every dance, and we love to dance to our favorite songs, there tends to be a kind of predictability with most social dance music. Most of the time a Fox Trot needs to be, should be, a certain style, have an accepted tempo window, and be identifiable as a Fox Trot. This goes for most social dances, and I like that, even look forward to it, until it’s time for Tango.
In Tango all conventions are off. I can dance to a song written before the turn of the last century. Around the mid 1920’s the concept of the sexteto tipico formed, usually two violins, a piano, a counterbass, and two bandoneons, (the instrument of Tango) created music that we dance to today. But Tango music never stopped evolving. As the 50’s arrived Tango musicians began to break away from convention giving us a kind of Nuevo Tango music. New styles, new music, and new masters such as Pugliese and Piazzolla. And even today there are new faces as younger musicians make their mark, fusing traditional styles with a pop sensibility.
Tango music gives us the freedom to experience and experiment with a wide range of movement using only one dance. I might dance a very quick Tango to a song like Libertango, or dance a very driven and sharp Tango to La Yumba. I have been challenged many times by the incredible beauty and stillness found in a piece like Oblivion, suggesting a very slow, contemplative, and gentle approach to a Tango. And then we can push the boundaries when dancing Tango to non Tango music, such as Andrew Bird’s I.
So, if your someone who has more than a passing interest in music and music history as it pertains to social dance, then Tango will open a door to a world of music that is rich in history, with an impact that has been felt worldwide. Not ready to take the plunge? Jump on Amazon.com and go to the mp3 download section. There do a search for names like Di Sarli, D’Arienzo, Pugliese, Piazzolla, Troilo and Gardel. And for a more modern take, search for groups like Gotan, Tanghetto, Bajofondo, and Otros Aires. Listen to the samples, and if you find something you like, add a few to your collection. Tango just might be the antidote to the corporate produced, forced feed pop schmaltz that you’ve been looking for.
And then there’s the dance.
For me there’s one word that sums up the essence of Tango – improvisation. From a practical standpoint there’s no other dance that lets us choose to shift our dancing seamlessly from the beat to the melody or to a rhythm, and back again, during the same song. Tango allows us to do this because of a fundamental change in approach, basically, the size of the building blocks. Most social dance is approached from a standardized syllabus. For social dance a syllabus is simply a very detailed description of a combination of steps. The combination’s are used to form patterns, that are then used to form amalgamations, the linking of patterns. It would be a mistake to assume that this would eliminate the need for improvisation. A well trained Ballroom dancer can, and does, create new and exciting combination’s, in real time, based on the syllabus approach, and with a sense of musicality that is a joy to watch.
Tango has no syllabus, and I don’t think it will for a very long time, if ever. As I said before, it’s the size of the building blocks that gives us the key to Tango. People always say “show me the basic”, and while there is a loosely defined, so called basic, you would have no trouble with the dance if you never learned it. In a very real sense Tango can be thought of as having only three steps; forward, back or side. I always have some fun when someone ask about the Tango basic by asking them to step forward, side, and back, which they usually do with little problem, at which point I tell them they now know the Tango, and just need to work on technique! The simplicity of the step is at the same time freeing and confusing. I’m free to use those steps in any manner I wish, as long as it dose not interfere with other dancers, or cause my partner any discomfort. And yes, this same freedom has an inherent level of confusion. The new dancer faced with so many possibilities is often paralyzed by trying to make these choices in real time on a busy dance floor. But like any social dance, a good class or teacher will present material to ease the transition from pattern based dancing to this world of totally improvised dance.
So from three small steps comes a dance of infinite variety and challenge. No syllabus, patterns, combination’s, or amalgamations. It’s this freedom to create in the moment that for me makes Tango so addictive. Tango is an ongoing act of spontaneous creation with every step, with your partner.
It may sound like Tango is a one sided dance, that the lead has all the fun. If that is the case, then that’s not a Tango. Tango is the intimate conversation between the lead and follow. (note: I use lead and follow simply as a convention, a way to make the roles distinct, and not as a suggestion of a particular technique, or way of dancing). The famous Tango teacher Carlos Gavito says “I lead and follow”. A good lead can and will, and I say must, create openings and opportunities for the follow to express themselves. This in turn gives the lead new and unexpected chances to react and modify the relationship of the dancers to the dance. Again freedom of expression through improvisation.
For those who are ready to give this dance a try, let me say this. Give the dance some time. This dance tends to sneak up on you slowly, then all at once. It requires most of the techniques of any social dance, and then layers on a few unexpected twist and turns, no pun intended 
Well, that’s it for now. Check back often for schedule and event updates. I’ll have new classes starting as soon as I’m mobile, and I’ll be finishing the Salsa and Tango classes that had to be put on hold, so a quick shout out to my students, see ya soon
W
