The Tangosynthesis Blog
with Graham and Nathalie
Argentine Tango... Traditional or Modern?
23 Aug 2017 - by Graham
Argentine Tango is a dance that is steeped in tradition. From the music played by the great tango orchestras of the 1930s-1950s to the style and conventions of the social dance evenings (or 'milongas'), the argentine tango dance scene remains deeply connected to its roots in south America, and for some dancers this environment is as much a part of the dance as are the embrace and the steps. For these dancers, tango and its music cannot be separated; to dance one is to love the other and tango without the tradition is not really tango at all. This environment is often the first introduction that people get to the unique and evocative dance of Argentine Tango, and the 'other worldly' atmosphere created by the music and traditional tango culture is what encourages them to stick around. "Golden Age" music is used in the classes, and teachers can trace their [read more...]
I will never be that good!
28 Jun 2017 - by Graham
One of the main things that puts new dancers off is not the difficulty of learning the steps or finding they are less fit than they expected, it's watching an experienced couple flow across the floor like quicksilver and thinking "No matter how much I work at this, I'll never be that good." But let me let you into a dance secret that will put that thought away once and for all... The best dances are not the ones with the most complexity or the fastest steps. No, the best dances are simple, comfortable, and fun. When said like that it doesn't sound like much of a secret, but for some reason this seems to be something that most new dancers miss. Followers and leaders alike prefer a partner who can do three slow moves well over someone who thinks they can get through a song without repeating [read more...]
Tango at Jivebeat
15 May 2017 - by Graham
Those of you that have been coming to Sevenoaks recently will have found that we have thrown a couple of introductory Argentine Tango classes in with our regular modern jive sessions, and I have to say that they have been really successful and loads of fun to do. Last week I swear there was more tango being danced in the freestyle part of the evening than there was LeRoc! So now we're trying to work out a way to get this into the schedule on a more permanent basis. So how will we do that? Well firstly, let me give you a bit of background. Argentine Tango is usually danced to traditional Argentine music like this or this . Now these tracks are fine and a lot of people swear by them, but we tend to feel that it's about time that tango met the modern music world. Because of [read more...]
