Tango to Tango

One of the things it took me a long time to accept is that I like some tangos better than others. This might seem obvious, but when we start off dancing, we're so full of enthusiasm that we tend to program ourselves to think that all tango is fabulous, and if the music doesn't make us want to move, it's because we're not good enough yet. The truth is that each of us has our own particular take on the music; some tangos make us want to dance, some make us want to sit and listen, and some make us want to turn the CD player off and go do something else.

In order to develop our tastes, we have to listen to tango a lot. But choosing what to listen to is important. There's a lot of tango out there, but if you want to improve your dancing, listening to tangos that you'd hear at the milonga is important. You want to listen so much that you know what's coming next, because the ability to see a few beats into the future of the tango is one of the things that can make a big difference to the dance. Listening to Piazzolla's Simple may be a moving experience, but you'll probably never get an opportunity to dance to it. On the other hand, D'Arienzo's La Cumparsita is almost guaranteed to crop up, and knowing where those pauses are coming can be a real help.

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 text: robert©fromont.net.nz August 2008

The following music was harmed in the production of this article:

(you can buy the CD from amazon.com by clicking the picture of the album)