The Tangosynthesis Blog
with Graham and Nathalie
Tango with Bounce
19 Jun 2019 - by Graham
Tango can be bouncy and fun! Yes, there, I've said it. Tango, the dance style that so many people seem to think of as old fashioned or slow, can be just as full of energy and bounce as salsa or modern jive. And no, I've not gone crazy, I'm talking about milonga rhythm, the often-missed brother to tango that follows most of the same rules as its better known sibling, but with simpler faster steps, movement on every beat, and syncopation which adds to the musicality. Okay, so full disclosure... until very recently I was no fan of milonga. I felt it was all a bit too frantic and lacked the opportunity for connection and expression that you get from a slower tango. But then I was unexpectedly thrust into a 3 1/2 hour milonga workshop with Sebastian and Roxana at the England International Tango Festival in Tonbridge ("Quick... [read more...]
Happy Neo Year!
31 Dec 2018 - by Graham
The first time I ever saw Argentine Tango being danced socially was at a Modern Jive and Blues event in Winchester Guild Hall. Most people were sticking to the standard dance styles for those sorts of music, but there were a few people on the floor who were dancing the tango. And it looked amazing. Their ability to connect with each other and interpret the music was incredible, and I immediately knew I wanted to learn how to do that. So when a couple of months later a friend (who up to then I’d only known as a modern jiver) offered to take me along to her tango class, I jumped at the chance. My tango journey was under way. Or perhaps I should say my “neotango†journey, although at the time I had no idea that there was even such a thing. For me, tango was a [read more...]
Tango - The First Steps
22 Oct 2018 - by Graham
We hold classes every week in Sevenoaks and South Norwood, aimed at tango beginners... and when we say 'beginners', we really do mean people who have never danced tango (even those who have never danced anything at all) before. Some of you have told us how much you love the look of tango and really want to give it a go, but your previous experiences with classes where everyone else is months ahead of you, or where you have to commit to extended courses to get you going have put you off trying. This is completely understandable; it's hard enough starting something completely new without having the added pressure of trying to keep up with everyone else, or having to attend a block of six, eight, or ten classes without missing a beat. Our classes are different. Every beginners' class we teach starts with the absolute fundamentals [read more...]
It's Only Music
21 May 2018 - by Graham
When preparing for a tango class or an event, the music the DJ chooses to play throughout the evening is probably the most important thing there is to decide. It doesn't matter if you provide a bar, free food, a fabulously ornate building with a perfect dance floor, or even a view across the Serengeti for the dancers to enjoy between tracks, if the music isn't danceable then you might as well not have bothered. But therein lies a big problem, as whilst for some people the music is just there to provide a background for the dancing, others consider tango (the dance) and tango (the music) to be inextricably linked and intertwined. If it isn't the right music, it isn't tango. I grew up watching contemporary ballet and street dancers performing to everything from Rachmaninov to Run DMC, and so the concept of there being a 'right' [read more...]
When You Start to Learn Tango
01 May 2018 - by Graham
There is no getting away from it, learning tango is different to learning other dances. Other dance classes will start by teaching you some basics that can be used to take you through an entire song, which might include a few fundamental steps, some sequences that you can dance from memory, and maybe a few embellishments to add a bit of flair to the sequence. After a couple of lessons you may not be good, you may not be smooth, but the steps you have learned at those classes will look like and feel like dancing. You will usually have the shape and rhythm of the dance by then, and over the next few months you can start to concentrate on polishing up the edges and expanding your repertoire of steps. But tango is a bit different. Tango isn't danced in sequences like some dances, and the basic [read more...]
