Miguelito
He sits at the computer and watches Marcela Duran on YouTube.
He had the real and lovely Marcela in his arms on Saturday in NYC and the dancing was passionate but simple. We all cried at some point during the hour. There was no "step".
This is and was the tango that Gavito described below.
Un tal Gavito
"If I could suggest a theme for our walk it would be : Tango es entre paso y paso. Tango is between one step and the next. Steps are not tango, steps are memory and choreography. Tango can never be in the things that are said. It is in the improvisation. The steps learned in dance schools are not improvisation, they are choreography. Small choreographies, brief ones. Then you learn how to connect one figure to another but one thing is still missing – tango. There is no step." Gavito in “El Farolito”, Oct. 2003
When Walter comes to the Tango TENT early to help us prepare food, etc., we often have an extra 30 minutes to practice some walking or his favorite milonga steps.
Last time he was here, he was scratching his head and saying with some concern, "You are dancing tango on the UPBEAT!"
That's right and I think it confuses others who watch us dance.
Here's a little explanation, though I've modified it by taking out the videos that were in his original blog. closembracetango.com
With a little research I can hopefully find the name of the owner of this excellent blog.
Can someone help me learn how to embed videos? 5 Types of MusicalityWaiting" vs. "Listening" How to 'Hit' the 'UPBEAT'!
PublishedMay 15, 2011
Finding the beat in a piece of music is a daunting task for some, but can be done with practice, time, and patience. I’ve already written a treatise on how to do just that. However, there are times when you as a lead and or as a follower will want to go OFF-BEAT for a reason. Which is not the same as going counter rhythm, but is a kissin’ cousin, which is a whole other animal.
First find a flat surface, and place your hand flat, fingers together, palm down on the surface.
Start a song from the beginning and find that same beat again, and this time, what I want you to do is pay attention to something that’s happening all by itself…without you doing anything at all. With your hand flat on the table Tap out the beat with the palm of the hand. As you’re tapping out the beat, note that your hand goes UP and then DOWN on the beat ? Notice that in the tapping you have to take your hand off the table, or go UP, and then down. That UP part is the UP beat that we’re wanting!
Now that we’ve identified the UP Beat. Now we actually want to hit it. This is a 3 step process to getting you into the upbeat. Try it first with any sample piece of music where its so clearly defined what the beat is!
Step 1.) Find the Beat.
Step 2.) Double Time IT! What you’re going to do is instead of going up to lift your hand off the table, your going to double tap twice. That second tap, is NOW the upbeat!
Step 3.) Hold this upbeat steadily throughout the rest of the song.
This method takes time, patience, and at first a lot of mental energy to NOT tap on the downbeat or the 1. The first few times you do it, its gonna really throw you for a loop and seem like a daunting task. The reason for this is simple, because of the need for the mind to conform to order, and the beat is ORDER, the UPBEAT or OFF beat is CHAOS, the seemingly opposite of order. I have found that this method will get your mind around the process….and that’s the starting point, getting your mind around the process of learning the upbeat!
Ok, if you’ve gotten *THAT* far. Now we try this with a piece of tango music! Start with something VERY VERY simple and very rhythmical. Juan D’Arienzo’s “Pensalo Bien”
I’m not asking you to watch the video, I just wanted you to hear the same version of music that I’m hearing when I’m talking about this stuff.
Take a break, walk around a bit with this stuff in your head. Because the last step in this process is to walk with your partner on the off beat CONSISTENTLY
