27 December 2008

Musicality, a key element in Tango

Musicality is a skill all too often neglected by a lot of dancers that I observe. The beauty of applying musicality is that when you exercise it by delivering different interpretations to the same music, it creates a totally different dance experience each time.

The chosen piece is "Poema." Here are a few video clips that illustrate how musicality makes a big impact. Observe the differences in their interpretations of the same Tango piece. All of them beautiful to watch, regardless of Tango style. The people shown below are professionals and have expended many years and innumerable hours practicing and performing, thus honing their skills in musicality.

To the regular lead social dancer (such as myself), the lesson gleaned from here is that (as the lead), you have to listen to the music and dance to it. I have lost count of the number of times I've watched people dance and do "Steps." Out of tune, out of time, out of rhythm, and moving together without harmony. 

IMHO, "Musicality" is a glue that melds one's skill with that of the partner, while enveloped in the embrace of the music. You could do nothing but simply walk and syncopate it to the music, and it would be a lusciously beautiful experience.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =


Jennifer Bratt & Ney Melo 




Tete Rusconi & Rosana Remón 



Chicho Frumboli and Eugenia Parilla 


Geraldine Rojas & Javier Rodrigues
(Thanks for the link,  Tina)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, but you forgot the yummiest interpretation of poema! By Javier and Geraldine!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnC03nKl_rE

To me there is nothing more beautiful than that.

back to musicality. it's about rhythm, basically. Down here, the men dance mainly on the down beat, using the other beats to color it up or syncopate, etc. Up there, a lot of guys dance on something else and I can't figure out what it is. (Not you though! ;-) )

Anonymous said...

P.S. If you're into musicality, Ruben Harymbat will be in Seattle soon with Enriqueta Kleinman. He is one of my favorite people to dance with down here :-) The way he interprets the music makes my soul sing. It's so literal yet so unexpected and also... so delicate. You've gotta check him out when he's there. And Enriqueta, well she's the Sophia Loren of tango, at least for me! And a very nice lady. :-)

AmpsterTango said...

Thank you, Tina. I just added Geraldine & Javier's Tango to "Poema."

Mladen Uzelac said...

I like Pablo and Noealia's poema
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XBNoYNNccQ