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June 15, 2010

Online Tango Music Sampler

This web project organizes snippets of tango music for sampling. I have used it to find songs that I could hear in my head but not think of their name. And by browsing you can discover some gems that you didn't know about before.

An excellent tool, by Anton Sukhanov.

TangoPlaylist.com

Posted by joegrohens at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2010

Susana Miller

Susana Miller recently published two new essays.

Susana Miller is, in my opinion, one of the best contemporary writers about tango dancing. She knows what she is talking about, and tells it like it is. And she finds a way to put into words things that are not easy to explain about movement learning and dance culture.

Check these out.

Tango abierto and tango milonguero (Tango Open and Tango of the Milonga)

Excerpt:

Tango abierto attracts beginners and inevitably makes their life easier, which is fantastic, since no popular dance continues for decades unless there are beginners. But the paths of learning gradually turn long and twisted, and you never know where and how the story is going to end. But he or she who continues will finally reach something really big, a sort of climax, la fiesta del tango: a more mature tango, less narcissistic and less ostentatious. Tango is in no rush, it knows how to wait even until you reach your forties. Tango withdraws itself in order to get stronger, and emerges triumphant, a tango that is no longer based on the look of the others but on the profound dialogue between partners. Its conception of music is richer and more sophisticated. It isn’t formed by the muscular tension of the tango of stage performances but by relaxation of the body. Therefore, it’s a more organic tango, not suitable for theatres and performances where the tango abierto is danced.

Tango Learning and Energy

EXCERPT:

The way to accelerate this natural process is to experience these sensations from the opposite role. And in addition to use the dance floor, because the Buenos Aires dance floor teaches; the crowded floors oblige us to circulate using certain codes, to support the body’s weight in the right places in order not to lose balance, etc. Teaching outside of Buenos Aires still implies a great challenge. The dance floors don’t teach, the traditional milieu is not replicated, the old magicians are not present.

Overseas, the best dancers are generally the teachers: they organise classes by the maestros they admire in order to have better access to them; they spend many hours in private lessons and learning this source of energy that is the body to body, an experience many of them repeat for years. To train yourself using direct sensations and intuition is, although in a different context, the closest to dancing in the patio with your aunt or your friends.

Posted by joegrohens at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2010

Playlist from June 11, 2010

This is my playlist from the milonga at Refinery, Champaign, IL - a 4.5 hour milonga.

It has a mix of trad and alternative tandas, plus a salsa break.

Download file

Joe

Posted by joegrohens at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2010

Playlist from June 9, 2010

Here's my playlist from last night. If it looks a little short, that's because fellow DJ Pete was spinning tangos during the middle 40 minutes, and I don't have his track list.

Download file

Posted by joegrohens at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)