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Chapter 5, p.5: 下一步The Next Step (Héctor 與 María Eugenia)

下一步(The Next Step) 到目前為止,我們已經找出了幾個能代表「 讓音樂進入身體 」的簡短例子。 在 Ismael 的影片開頭二十秒裡,我們看到他如何等待, 再以第一步「接住」音樂, 以及他如何用半個 giro(旋轉) 去呼應〈 Extraña 〉裡那一小段鋼琴旋律。 我們也看過年輕舞者在 Biaggi 的〈Quejas〉 裡, 如何標記出旋律與節拍(compás)的小片段。 這些看似微小的動作,其實非常深刻—— 因為 千位探戈舞者之中,恐怕沒有一人能做到。 此外,我們也展示了較「複雜」的步法或動作, 例如 Blas–Graciela 與 Pachín–La Gallega 的影片。 接下來要往哪裡走? 如果我們的目標是把這些影片作為「探戈學習路徑」, 那理想的方式, 應該是有系統地從基礎到高階音樂性, 循序呈現。 這是可行的,但工作量極大。 而且我也不確定—— 會有多少人真正願意用這樣嚴謹的方式來學探戈? 也許更好(也更輕鬆)的方式, 是我只需提供一系列 優秀舞蹈的「樣本」 , 讓人各取所需—— 想學的人就吸收, 只想欣賞的,也能純粹享受。 所以,若這真是一份正式的探戈教材, 接下來的影片大概不會被放進來。 因為它們非常高階, 而且帶有強烈的個人風格—— 全世界能做到的舞者屈指可數, 能與音樂「合而為一」地完成的更少。 但它們確實是探戈的一部分。 因此—— 讓我們繼續。 接下來登場的是: 「triple step(三連步 / 快步)」與「enrosque(纏旋步)」。 小朋友們,請別在家嘗試。😉 最快的腳(The Fastest Feet) 探戈的節拍是: 強—弱,強—弱。 華爾滋(vals)的節拍是: 強—弱—弱,強—弱—弱。 看似簡單, 卻蘊藏整個探戈的深奧。 跳 vals 的祕訣在於—— 要 意識到那兩個弱拍的存在 。 若你要做「快步」, 就必須 精準地踩在第一個弱拍上。 這是一個出乎意料的微妙技巧, 但也是關鍵。 一旦你吸收了這個節奏邏輯, 你的身體將開始像最頂尖的 vals 舞者一樣移動—— 更重要的是, 你會開始愛上 vals。 我們未來或許會以影片來展示這個節奏概念, 但現在—— 我們要先「跳過基礎」, 直接欣...

Chapter 5, p.4:分享探戈 Sharing Tango

Sharing Tango(分享探戈) 「愚蠢的堅持,是狹隘思想的惡鬼。」 — 愛默生 A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. ——Ralph Waldo Emerson 我曾經以為,在探戈裡,我唯一的任務就是: 為自己與舞伴而跳。 我認為——只要不妨礙舞池上的其他人, 那就夠了。 你沒有義務去取悅那些正在觀看的人。 這種想法,某種程度上是我對「美國探戈圈」的反動。 我起步的地方, 大家學的都是一種「舞台探戈」—— 總想著要「表演給社群看」。 他們會在酒吧、餐廳裡辦 milonga, 讓人來圍觀; 甚至主動去找公開活動的機會「上場示範」。 但在我眼裡,這些都只是—— 一種包裝得體面的 炫耀 罷了。 然而, 探戈世界裡,沒有什麼是那麼簡單的。 有一天我又在講「只為自己跳舞」這個觀點時,一位 milonguera 溫柔地對我說: 「是啊,你說得沒錯。 但你和 Alej 是我們的朋友, 我們也喜歡看你們跳啊。 在 milonga 裡, 大家喜歡看彼此, 那是一種共享音樂的美好。」   她的語氣輕輕的, 卻讓我停了下來。 一兩週後, 我又聽到 Miguel Balbi 說了一件令我驚訝的話。 他在探戈圈已有五十年的經驗, 見過一切, 對差的舞者毫不寬容。 在我心裡, 他是 milonga 裡最好的舞者。 所以我從沒想過, 他會關心別人跳得如何。 但他說: 「有時候我去 milonga,並不想跳。 我就坐著。 但如果看到有人跳得很好,我就開始看—— 過沒多久,我感覺自己好像也在他們中間跳起來了。等我回過神,就開始找舞伴了。」 又一次,我原本篤信的「探戈真理」開始動搖。我開始覺得,也許我的態度太過剛硬——甚至有點虛偽。 因為, 我一邊說「我的舞只屬於自己」, 卻又一邊拍攝著別人的舞,享受他們的美。 如今我明白, 探戈的目的依然不是「取悅觀眾」, 但—— 我們確實是探戈社群的一部分。 我們是那個整體中的一塊:「a piece of the main」。 有朋友、有那些不常被邀舞的女士、 也有那些年長、不能常跳的觀眾, 他們都在注視著我們。 如今我懂了—— 對他們有意識地「保留一小部分」舞...

Chapter 5, p.3: Blas

Blas Three years ago, Blas and Graciela decided to start a new milonga downtown, and as organizers in BsAs often do, they initiated it by dancing  La Cumparsita . It's not exactly a performance, but it is customary for other dancers to stay off the floor, and maybe to applaud for luck at the end. Their lucky dance must have worked, because the milonga has since become very popular—although you might not have expected it in the beginning. I think Alej and I (and a tango band that was packing up from an earlier event) were almost the only people there. Here are Blas and Graciela dancing to D'Arienzo's  Cumparsita : Let’s compare this video to the one on the previous page. Clearly, there are differences. Blas seems to move around more than Ismael, and he also does more “steps” (I never know what to call the individual elements of tango. Are they steps? Or figures? Or patterns?) In one sense you might say Blas’ tango in this video is more “complex” than Ismael’s...

Chapter 5, p.2: No Me Extraña

“No Me Extraña” I used to think the English translation for this tango was “She doesn’t miss me”—but it actually means “It doesn’t surprise me” (which surprises me). The words could be translated either way, but in the context of this tango, it has the second meaning. Here's the music: NO ME EXTRAÑA , Pedro Laurenz con Juan Carlos Casas You loved me… then you left me. How can I blame you? Now we’re like we were before... back where we started. Your leaving didn’t surprise me, and neither did my pain. That’s the way life is… today it takes away what it gave us yesterday. Me quisiste… me dejaste. Que te puedo reprochar? Hoy, estamos como antes... volveremos a empezar. No me extraña tu partida, ni me asombra mi dolor. Eso es cosa de la vida… que hoy nos quita lo que ayer nos dio. This one says everything in a few short sentences: “Boy gets girl… boy loses girl. Love fades… that’s life.” This is a nice example of the De Caro style of melod...

Chapter 5, p.1: The Best of the Video

Training the Eye I suppose there are two basic ways to study tango. One is to drill down close—to focus in on the best dancers, and attempt to analyze each move. The other way is to step back and take a longer view—to watch how the good dancers embrace and move, and try to absorb the whole package. I realize that most beginners tend to use the first approach. They want to take things apart and see what makes them tick—and it's a very effective way to learn. But in tango the key is to know which things are worth such close scrutiny. Dancers who spend too much time analyzing patterns and “moves” tend to develop a mechanical style that’s easy to spot. And if you dance that way in the clubs, you’ll quickly join the ranks of the invisible people. For me, there are only three things in tango that are worth putting under a microscope: Cadence, Posture, and Step. You can’t examine them too closely, and you can’t practice them too much. And in the next chapter, we’ll try to help you ...

Chapter 4, p.24: El Bulín de la Calle Ayacucho

"El Bulín de la Calle Ayacucho" "The Clubhouse on Ayacucho Street" Tango was born in the southern part of Buenos Aires, but it quickly spread all around the city. This famous tango is about an apartment in the fashionable  Recoleta  neighborhood of the 1920s: EL BULÍN DE LA CALLE AYACUCHO , Troilo con Fiorentino  The bulín on Ayacucho Street, that I rented when I was young and wild… the bulín where the guys would drop in at night to play cards and gamble. The bulín where so many of the boys in those tough times, found food and a place to sleep... feeling desperate, as if they would cry. The primus stove never failed me... it was loaded with fuel, and there was always hot water... mate was the thing there. There was always a guitar, shiny and well tuned, and a playboy with a nasal voice, who dreamed of becoming a singer. El bulín de la calle Ayacucho, que en mis tiempos de rana alquilaba… el bulín que la barra buscaba pa´caer por la noche a ...

Chapter 4, p.23: Paisaje

"Paisaje " "Landscape Painting" What a fascinating thing—the way art can mysteriously transform something and give it a new nature. What is this process that makes things more than what they are? Letters on a piece of paper, or colors on a canvas, or movements around a room somehow become more than just words or colors or physical movements. And music may be the most mysterious transformation of all. How is it possible to make vibrations in the air into something more? How, for example, is it possible to make sound waves become a certain time of year? Obviously there are birds chirping in the summer, and the winter is sometimes quieter—but I don’t normally think of the seasons as having a different sound. Yet after I translated this tango, it began to sound like autumn. Not just the words—but the music itself! It began to sound like "the ache of autumn". Like the sound of fall slipping into winter. How do you put something into the cadence and the t...

Chapter 4, p.22: Tristezas de la Calle Corrientes

" Tristezas de la Calle Corrientes " "Corrientes Street Blues" I tried to translate this tango about five years ago, and it didn't come out very well. The words and the structure of the poetry were too difficult. That’s when I realized that not only does a good translation help you dance tango, but also, a bad translation can sometimes ruin a tango for you. For a long time I didn’t care much for  Tristezas,  because it just didn't make sense to me. Now however, with the help of my  profesora , I discovered that part of the earlier problem wasn't totally my fault. I had originally checked what I was hearing against the  castellano  lyrics on the  Todotango  website. Todotango is a good Argentine site that I use as a reference for names and dates in tango, and it's usually accurate. I assumed their lyrics came from the pages originally written for Tristezas,  and would be correct. But for some reason, they had the word  "Si"  instea...