Musical Breakdown

17 Feb

Wonders of the Internet! ExuberantFilms has shared with us his musical breakdown of La Melodía de Nuestro Adios by Francisco Canaro.  To those of us who don’t speak music, ignore the numbers and do your best to hear his description in the music.  For example if he describes a part of the music where the “violin drives the beat,” do your best to hear that.  Also, don’t worry about counting, keep your place by tracking the “transitions” that he describes.  If you have trouble hearing/understanding any of this, please don’t hesitate to schedule a lesson!

-Nicholas

4/4 time per measure
32 beat major phrase (i.e. 4 x 8). * I like to count the beats in a major phrase like this:
<1>,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
<2>,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
<3>,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
<4>,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Major Phrases (32 beats)

Major Phrases 1 & 2 are similar
1. Staccato. Violin drives beat
1 – 16 baseline energy
17 – 32 elevated energy
Last 8 beats:
* Pause on 6
* crash on last 5-8, horn transition

2. Staccato. Violin drives beat
1 – 16 baseline energy
17 – 32 elevated energy
Last 8 beats:
* Ease on 1-4
* No pause on 6
* Rise on last 5-8, Piano transition

Major Phrases 3 & 4 are similar
3. Smooth melodic. accordian melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* Piano crash 1-4
* Violin lift 5-8

4. Smooth melodic. Violin melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* Piano transition 1-4
* Violin lift 5-8

Major Phrases 5 & 6 are similar
5. energized melodic. orchestral melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* Accordian crash 1-4
* Violin lift 5-8

6. energized melodic. orchestral melody (This is an unusual Transition 1:45 timecode almost like end of song)
1 – 32 even energy
beats 17-24:
* silent 5-6
* falloff 7-8
Last 8 beats 1-8:
* 1-2-3 highlight
* 4 quiet
* beats 5-8 skipped

=== these following phrases are basically a repeat of the song

Major Phrases 7 & 8 are similar and similar to Phrases 1 & 2
7. Chorus. Staccato. Violin drives beat and accordian melody
1 – 16 baseline energy
17 – 32 elevated energy
Last 8 beats:
* No pause on 6
* crash on last 5-8, piano transition

8. Chorus. Staccato. Violin drives beat and accordian melody
1 – 16 baseline energy
17 – 32 slightly elevated energy
Last 8 beats:
* No pause on 6
* Rise on last 5-8, Piano transition

Major Phrases 9 & 10 are similar and similar to Phrases 3 & 4
9. Verse. Smooth melodic. oboe melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* horn lift 5-8

10. Verse. Smooth melodic. horn melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* accordian transition 1-4
* Violin lift 5-8

Major Phrases 5 & 6 are similar and similar to Phrases 5 & 6
11. Verse. energized melodic. orchestral melody
1 – 32 even energy
Last 8 beats:
* piano crash 1-4
* Violin lift 5-8

12. Verse. energized melodic. accordian melody (This is an unusual Transition 1:45 timecode almost like end of song)
1 – 32 even energy
beats 17-24:
* silent 5-6
* falloff 7-8
Last 8 beats 1-8:
* 1-2-3 highlight
* 4 quiet
* beats 5-8 skipped

More Photos!

29 Jan

I talked with an instructor here and he gave me some interesting advice.  He spoke of the rhythm of Buenos Aires.  He asked, “How can you dance like an Argentine if you don’t know this rhythm?”

Your Milonga

26 Jan

Buenos Aires has lots of milongas.  (Milongas are the social/dance events for Argentine Tango.)  And they all have their own character.

Some milongas are snooty.  While some are relaxed and fun, others are far too relaxed (think flip-flops, tattered jeans, and body odor).  Each has its own flavor for you to taste and enjoy.

Tango has its own social codes and every milonga has its own interpretation of these codes.  It’s very important that you are fluent in these social norms.  Or at the very least make an attempt to respect them.  If you notice people glaring at you and whispering to each other…its not about how you’re doing your ocho…its you breaking the milonga’s social codes.

News from Abroad

12 Dec

Hello Everyone!

Upon arrival I promptly got sick.  I went out anyway and got worse…stayed in and got worse…went to the doctor, got antibiotics, and got better.  These photos are the touristy things from the day time during the recovery period since dancing all night long can be a hinderance to your health.  They are of a Folkloric performance at La Catedral, La Boca, San Telmo, and a Palermo Jazz Club.

-Nicholas

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Video Lesson #1: Finding and Dancing to the Beat

27 Nov

Hello Everyone,

Delmar Tango happily announces its first instructional video!  If you have suggestions, please let us know.  This is a long term project so your feedback is extremely important.

If you like it, please share it: spread the word!

 

 

 

Enjoy!

-Nicholas

Milonga Photos

17 Nov

Photos by Laura V. Mingo at El Milonga Floridita

(Click for a larger view.)

Ventura,

16 Nov

Thank You! Thank you to each and everyone of you who made my time special in the area. I came with acquaintances and left with friends. Everyone is so small-town generous and welcoming…it made my life just that much more wonderful.

So, thank you again!

-Nicholas

PS I know I haven’t posted anything in a long while. I’m back in the Bay Area for a minute so I’ll finally have some time!

Your Tango Is All Wrong

28 Sep

With so many teachers out there in Tangolandia preaching the “truth,” many a disciple is left confused.  Frequently said by these prophets, the phrase, “There is no one right way to dance tango,” provides little relief.  This phrase idea misleads many.  Quizzically, often these same instructors will tell you the “correct” way to do an ocho.

There are elements fundamentally tango and others, like clogging, that are not.  In this sense, there is a correct way to tango.  The confusion comes about when tango instructors have different styles and interpretations of these fundamentals.  One instructor may teach those falling ochos a-la milongero style and another may teach an ocho like competitors dance it with lots of disassociation (a twisting action where the hips and the toros point different directions).  Since both instructors say, “This is the way to do an ocho!” students are left to wonder…who’s correct?

They both are!  They’re just different versions of the same move.  And thus the famous “no one right way” phrase become more appropriate.  To explain further with language as a metaphor, the milongero style, competition style, salon, and whatever style, all become different dialects.  They’re the same…but different.  If you’re trained in solely academic Castilian Spanish, understanding people on the streets of Buenos Aires or Mexico City can be near impossible. If you speak American English, understanding Irish English can task your abilities of comprehension.  But is anybody wrong?  Nope. (Except for spelling color, colour.  That’s wrong for sure.)

What’s the answer here?  The more dialects you understand, the better you speak the language, the more people you can communicate with.  The more styles you learn and understand, the more people you can dance with, the better a dancer you become.  Don’t argue with your instructor, s/he’s right (hopefully).  But do remember, there’s more than one path to tango salvation.

-Nicholas

The Not So Basic Eight

6 Sep

Hello Readers,

Imagine its your first day of high school math.  But you’re not starting with arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or basic calculus oh no no no, you’re starting with linear algebra.  This terrifying proposition happens all the time in tango. Beginners often start in large group classes with the basic eight (aka salida), the linear algebra of math.  There’s just too much to it.  While any step can be made complicated through layered technique, the number of skills required to execute the salida makes the step far from basic.

Other dances have a basic step that’s truly basic.  Waltz for example begins with the box: forward side together, back side together.  The basic eight would be something like…right foot back, side and outside partner, forward outside partner with right foot, forward outside partner with left foot, while placing feet together the lead does a non mirroring move to place the follower in front and you close your feet and change weight, forward with left, side step with right, and draw your left to you right with the option to change weight.  Yeah…Good luck.

A beginner can learn to dance and lead a waltz box within 1 hour.  Not so much with the salida. Of course you could make the argument that if you layer on enough technique, any step becomes impossible for the beginner.  But it’s not the technique that’s the issue, it’s the elements of the step.  When teaching a waltz box you only need to talk about 2 elements: walking steps and side steps.

The required elements of the salida are walking steps, side steps, outside partner walking steps, the cross, disassociation, and settling to create weight change. Does that sound easy to you? (Note: I don’t want an argument about the elements.   The point is that there are too many.)

Here are few concepts that I would touch on first: 1 ) Walking 2  ) Side Steps 3 ) Frame 4 ) Embrace 5 ) Outside Partner vs Inside Partner 6 ) Weight Changes 7 ) Disassociation 8 ) Non-mirrored Steps (ochos) 9 ) Line of Dance 10 ) Beat/Rhythm.  That’s a good number of classes.

Imagine the skills required to execute the salida as rungs on a ladder.  Teaching the salida with no preparation is like asking a student to get to the 7th rung without the previous six.  Instructors should strive to teach each rung.

Here are some ballroom dance instructors demonstrating their version of the “basic” eight.

Until Next Time,

Nicholas

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It’s Official! Heading to Good Airs!

5 Sep

Hello Readers,

Good Airs, a.k.a. Buenos Aires, is the capital of Argentina and the Mecca of Tango.   I have just booked tickets for November 29th!  To commemorate this event I’m posting, “Mi Buenos Aires Querido.”  Planet Tango informs me that this song was part of the film Cuesta Abajo (1934).  Carlos Gardel, the Elvis of Tango, recorded it in New York accompanied by the orchestra directed by Terig Tucci.  Enjoy the video; enjoy the music.

Lyrics and translation provided by Planet Tango.

Mi Buenos Aires querido,
cuando yo te vuelva a ver,
no habra mas penas ni olvido.
El farolito de la calle en que naci
fue el centinela de mis promesas de amor,
bajo su inquieta lucecita yo la vi
a mi pebeta luminosa como un sol.
Hoy que la suerte quiere que te vuelva a ver,
ciudad porteña de mi unico querer,
y oigo la queja
de un bandoneón,
dentro del pecho pide rienda el corazón.Mi Buenos Aires
tierra florida
donde mi vida terminaré.
Bajo tu amparo
no hay desengaños,
vuelan los años
se olvida el dolor.
En caravana
los recuerdos pasan
como una estela
dulce de emoción,
quiero que sepas
que al evocarte
se van las penas
del corazon.Las ventanitas de mis calles de arrabal,
donde sonrie una muchachita en flor;
quiero de nuevo yo volver a contemplar
aquellos ojos que acarician al mirar.
En la cortada mas maleva una canción,
dice su ruego de coraje y de pasion;
una promesa
y un suspirar
borro una lagrima de pena aquel cantar.Mi Buenos Aires querido…
cuando yo te vuelva a ver…
no habra mas penas ni olvido…		 My beloved Buenos Aires,
the day I see you again,
there will be no more sorrow or forgetfulness
The lamp of the street where I was born
was witness to my promises of love,
It was under its dim light that I saw her
I saw my pebeta as bright as a sun.
Today luck wants me to see you again,
you my beloved city porteña,
and I hear the lament
of a bandoneón,
asking for his heart to be set free.My Buenos Aires,
land of flowers
where I will spend my last days.
Under your protection
there are no delusions,
years fly by,
pain is forgotten.
In caravan
memories go by
like a trail
sweet of emotion,
I want you to know
that when I call you
sorrow leaves
my heart.The tiny windows of my streets of arrabal,
where a young girl gives a smile;
I want to stare once again
at those eyes that fondle with a look.
In the toughest back alley, a song
says its prayer of courage and of passion;
a promise
and a sigh
wiped away a tear of sadness, that singing.My beloved Buenos Aires,
the day I see you again,
there will be no more sorrow or forgetfulness

I’ll be back next year.

Until Next Time,

Nicholas Tapia

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