Music of The Week
Orchestra: Ricardo TanturiSinger: Alberto Castillo
Year Recorded: 1942
Tango Video of The Week
In this video, a milonguero by the name El Chino Perico dances a lovely Tango. He is dancing to the following:
"Oigo tu voz"
Orchestra: Ricardo Tanturi
Singer: Enrique Campos
Year Recorded: 1943
Orchestra: Ricardo Tanturi
Singer: Enrique Campos
Year Recorded: 1943
Blog Post of The Week
Here is a post at Hans Peter Meyer talking about how his Tango teacher is focusing on the walk in classes.
Quote of The Week
"It is the job of any foreigner (or Porteno for that matter) who wants to dance tango well, to search for this experience. Not to feel the music in terms of his own culture, or to try to take some of the "steps" of tango and dance them to some other music. You are welcome to do this, of course. And it may be fun and creative... and maybe even beautiful. But you will not be dancing Argentine tango if you do.
Why is this so? It is because the people who wrote this music, and the poetic words that go with much of it, are from the world of the Buenos Aires milongas. The things they are saying come from that world, and were written for it. Their words have the smell of the old clubs, and of the arrabal where they were written. They went to the milongas, and hung out and danced with the people there. The words and music they wrote are about struggling with life and survival, and love and loneliness in old time Buenos Aires. They affected the people in the milongas and the ways they danced, and more importantly the people and their dancing affected what they wrote and the way they played the music. These are the things you are supposed to feel when you dance tango."
Etiquette of The Week
ASK POLITELY When asking someone at a practica or a milonga to dance, do so politely. As well, do not assume the answer will be yes - accept rejection graciously. It is acceptable for a follower to initiate a dance offer when there is an absence of the traditional "cabaceo" (to be spoken about in future posts). Feel free to introduce yourself and then verbally ask for a dance. Do not stick out your hand without verbalizing the question - this is presumptuous on your part. Look for those who are interested in dancing and avoid bothering anyone who has no desire to dance. If you must interrupt a conversation for a dance, do so discreetly.
