Mike found another one.
http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm
One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia. There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind. There was one important exception: the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.
Reading - 35% reduced risk of dementia
Bicycling and swimming - 0%
Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week - 47%
Playing golf - 0%
Dancing frequently - 76%.
That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Getting the Music Right- a GOOD ORDER for Learning Musicality
* A Few of My Favorites *
1. Francisco Canaro- clear and simple beat, slow
*Cuartito Azul *Gloria
2. Miquel Calo- clear and simple beat, slow
*Al Compas del Corazon * A La Gran Muneca
3. Carlos DiSarli- clear and simple beat- you can add a vocal dimension
* Nido Gaucho *La Capilla Blanca
4. Juan D'Arienzo- (the rhythm king) hear and learn to move to the 2x4 rhythms
* Pampa * El Flete
5. Anibal Troilo- subtle rhythms or add the vocals of Fransisco Fiorentino
6. Ricardo Tanturi- subtle rhythms or add the vocals of Alberto Castillo
7. Alfredo De Angelis-solid music between smoothness of DiSarli and the drama of Pugliese
8. Osvaldo Pugliese- challenging rhythms in his later years, but wonderfully compelling
9. Rodolfo Biagi.- 2x4 rhythms with striking elements of his own.
PS Don't forget to DANCE the side step.
1. Francisco Canaro- clear and simple beat, slow
*Cuartito Azul *Gloria
2. Miquel Calo- clear and simple beat, slow
*Al Compas del Corazon * A La Gran Muneca
3. Carlos DiSarli- clear and simple beat- you can add a vocal dimension
* Nido Gaucho *La Capilla Blanca
4. Juan D'Arienzo- (the rhythm king) hear and learn to move to the 2x4 rhythms
* Pampa * El Flete
5. Anibal Troilo- subtle rhythms or add the vocals of Fransisco Fiorentino
6. Ricardo Tanturi- subtle rhythms or add the vocals of Alberto Castillo
7. Alfredo De Angelis-solid music between smoothness of DiSarli and the drama of Pugliese
8. Osvaldo Pugliese- challenging rhythms in his later years, but wonderfully compelling
9. Rodolfo Biagi.- 2x4 rhythms with striking elements of his own.
PS Don't forget to DANCE the side step.
Monday, January 2, 2012
From TANGO-E-VITA
Now that Mike is taking the musicality to a new and much more serious level he has been searching the internet for a connection to the mysteries of the beat. The following 3 entries are not from me, but from TANGO-E-VIDA.
FIRST ENTRY:
The concept of leading and following in tango is radically different then in predictable dances. The woman follows by "feeling" her partner's chest-changes. Inside the dance-hold which is a spiral, the partners feel the circular movements. The more the other is sensitive towards you, the more the experience will be intensified. The tanguero's movements which must be clear and simple, giving one step-direction at the time, and he should go about it with a quiet and relaxed manner, and he has to be relaxed to be fast. The movement power is generated from the lower abdomen and legs. Upper body strength and muscle-tonus can extent the elastic guiding, especially when the tanguera is doing a boleo. There is no pushing or pulling by the man and he also must listen and respond to the way the lady moves. She has the abilities and capacities to sabotage, to delay and to dislocate the effect of leading. This gives the man a dynamic dimension of uncertainty, which is a good test for his frustration level. This is the addictive thing, for both.
ENTRY 2:
The woman gives the freedom to the man to express herself by forming the dance, he is responsible for giving to her a safe, structured space in which she can express herself freely according to his playing and she can play back. The goal is a pleasant dance experience that gives memories.
ENTRY 3:
In Argentine tango, the act of stepping is philosophy, physically walking a fluent stream of energy, continuously flowing and graceful in shape. But beauty is more than being graceful, if tango is erotic, it is manipulative and violent too. A passion needs unpredictable surprises and breathless rhythmic accumulations, as in Mozart. It deepens the contact and gives an energy-kick, physically. This can be seen in the stepping. The tango rhythm is based on the 2x4, 2 strong beats on 4:
1 2 3 4
A way to make this 1-2 -mark visible in the act of stepping is ...
on 1 : lifting the knee and the heel of the foot, and slowly starting moving = expanding like a bandoneón.
on 2 : stretching the leg, fast like a clasp-knife, and putting the foot down like a knife-thrust, a thrusting flash, a strong stab to the heart, una puñalada with an Argentinian Facón.
As stabbing happens fast, quick, the duration of the marking moment is extremely much shorter than the earlier lifting of the knee, the extending. That contrast gives a striking tension, a noticeable suspense.
It looks like:
_______1_______ ... /2\ _______3_______ ... /4\
etc...
It sounds like La Yumba ...
In dancing, as in knife-fighting and boxing, it is nice to know that the flexibility of the body increases when the feet are in a more open \ /-position rather than close together, stiff.
http://users.telenet.be/Tango-E-Vita/go2_bestanden/Tango-E-Vita.htm Tango-Evita
FIRST ENTRY:
The concept of leading and following in tango is radically different then in predictable dances. The woman follows by "feeling" her partner's chest-changes. Inside the dance-hold which is a spiral, the partners feel the circular movements. The more the other is sensitive towards you, the more the experience will be intensified. The tanguero's movements which must be clear and simple, giving one step-direction at the time, and he should go about it with a quiet and relaxed manner, and he has to be relaxed to be fast. The movement power is generated from the lower abdomen and legs. Upper body strength and muscle-tonus can extent the elastic guiding, especially when the tanguera is doing a boleo. There is no pushing or pulling by the man and he also must listen and respond to the way the lady moves. She has the abilities and capacities to sabotage, to delay and to dislocate the effect of leading. This gives the man a dynamic dimension of uncertainty, which is a good test for his frustration level. This is the addictive thing, for both.
ENTRY 2:
The woman gives the freedom to the man to express herself by forming the dance, he is responsible for giving to her a safe, structured space in which she can express herself freely according to his playing and she can play back. The goal is a pleasant dance experience that gives memories.
ENTRY 3:
In Argentine tango, the act of stepping is philosophy, physically walking a fluent stream of energy, continuously flowing and graceful in shape. But beauty is more than being graceful, if tango is erotic, it is manipulative and violent too. A passion needs unpredictable surprises and breathless rhythmic accumulations, as in Mozart. It deepens the contact and gives an energy-kick, physically. This can be seen in the stepping. The tango rhythm is based on the 2x4, 2 strong beats on 4:
1 2 3 4
A way to make this 1-2 -mark visible in the act of stepping is ...
on 1 : lifting the knee and the heel of the foot, and slowly starting moving = expanding like a bandoneón.
on 2 : stretching the leg, fast like a clasp-knife, and putting the foot down like a knife-thrust, a thrusting flash, a strong stab to the heart, una puñalada with an Argentinian Facón.
As stabbing happens fast, quick, the duration of the marking moment is extremely much shorter than the earlier lifting of the knee, the extending. That contrast gives a striking tension, a noticeable suspense.
It looks like:
_______1_______ ... /2\ _______3_______ ... /4\
etc...
It sounds like La Yumba ...
In dancing, as in knife-fighting and boxing, it is nice to know that the flexibility of the body increases when the feet are in a more open \ /-position rather than close together, stiff.
http://users.telenet.be/Tango-E-Vita/go2_bestanden/Tango-E-Vita.htm Tango-Evita
Sunday, January 1, 2012
DiSarli, Pugliese, D'Arienzo
Salon-Style Tango- Our dance.. It takes practice to understand it, find it and keep it.
Salon-style tango is typically danced to the most strongly accented beat of tango music played in 4x4 time, such as DiSarli. Those who dance salon-style tango to Juan D'Arienzo or Rodolfo Biagi typically ignore the strong "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that characterizes the music. Salon-style tango requires that dancers exercise respect for the line of dance.
Ric-Tic-Tic Rhythm
Ric-tic-tic is onomatopoeia for the staccato rhythms that are prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo, Rodolfo Biagi, and some other golden-era orchestras. With Biagi on the piano, D'Arienzo's orchestra debuted in the 1930s with the ric-tic-tic rhythm. Although some describe music with the ric-tic-tic rhythm as 2x4, the characteristic rhythm of this music is actually created through a variation in accented beats that yields an alternation of single-time and double-time rhythms. For example, the music might be played one and two and, one and two and, one and two and, one and two and (where boldface represents the accented beats), and the dancers might respond slow, slow; quick, quick, slow; slow, slow; quick, quick, slow. One might express the chararacteristic stacatto rhythm of this music as one, two; ric, tic, tic; one, two; ric, tic, tic.
Some tangos contain more complex rhythms and longer phrases of double-time staccato accents. Juan D'Arienzo's "El Flete" contains a rhythmic figure of one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and. For the dancer adhering strictly to the accents, that rhythmic figure becomes the demanding and rapid fire slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause. For a dancer taking the music at half speed, the rhythmic figure becomes the familiar slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause (where boldface represents the beats used for dancing).
Salon-style tango is typically danced to the most strongly accented beat of tango music played in 4x4 time, such as DiSarli. Those who dance salon-style tango to Juan D'Arienzo or Rodolfo Biagi typically ignore the strong "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that characterizes the music. Salon-style tango requires that dancers exercise respect for the line of dance.
Ric-Tic-Tic Rhythm
Ric-tic-tic is onomatopoeia for the staccato rhythms that are prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo, Rodolfo Biagi, and some other golden-era orchestras. With Biagi on the piano, D'Arienzo's orchestra debuted in the 1930s with the ric-tic-tic rhythm. Although some describe music with the ric-tic-tic rhythm as 2x4, the characteristic rhythm of this music is actually created through a variation in accented beats that yields an alternation of single-time and double-time rhythms. For example, the music might be played one and two and, one and two and, one and two and, one and two and (where boldface represents the accented beats), and the dancers might respond slow, slow; quick, quick, slow; slow, slow; quick, quick, slow. One might express the chararacteristic stacatto rhythm of this music as one, two; ric, tic, tic; one, two; ric, tic, tic.
Some tangos contain more complex rhythms and longer phrases of double-time staccato accents. Juan D'Arienzo's "El Flete" contains a rhythmic figure of one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and. For the dancer adhering strictly to the accents, that rhythmic figure becomes the demanding and rapid fire slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause. For a dancer taking the music at half speed, the rhythmic figure becomes the familiar slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause (where boldface represents the beats used for dancing).
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