跳到主要內容

Chapter 5, p.7: "Five Runs" in Vals

"Five Runs" in Vals
We're getting farther and farther off the track. The plan was to move from basics to the more complex secrets of the milongueros, but we've already skipped over the fundamentals, and now we're heading off into some difficult vals cadences. But we're rolling, so let's stay with it. Please just keep in mind that these pages about cadence, and also the upcoming one about enrosques, are very advanced tango. Only a small percentage of dancers do them, and it's a waste of time to attempt any of them without very solid fundamentals and a complete understanding of the music.
****
Here comes one of my very first videos. One afternoon Alej and I were dancing, and I mentioned I'd like to get a good vals on film. So she said, you want vals, you got vals! Then she jumped up, asked Dany to put on a vals tanda, and went over and asked Gerard Gellé to dance with her so I could film it.
Now, Gerard can be grumpy. He doesn't like the camera, and he never ever likes to break traditions in a milonga. But he's also a pretty good friend of ours. He's from France, and Alej has stayed at his house there, and danced with him in Europe. But still, when the music started, I wondered for a minute if he was going to come over. Let's cut to the tape: Here he comes! Grumbling and complaining all the way! And when he reaches Alej, there's a funny moment where he shakes his head and tells her he just doesn't want to do it. You can see her answer him... "Sorry, It's too late", she says. "You're already here... now we have to dance."
The start is a little rough. Gerard is distracted, and Alej hasn't been dancing with anyone other than me for over a year. They need to readjust to each other, and it takes them awhile to warm up. Also, my camera work is pitiful. I was new at filming, and I was wasn't confident enough to run around the room with the camera—so I stayed in one spot, and missed most of their dancing. Anyway, the clip is all chopped up, and neither Alej or Gerard are at their best... but I think it's still good. In fact, it's one of my favorite pieces of film.
Here are Gerard Gellé, Alejandra Todaro, and Francisco Canaro—and three of the greatest valses ever written: Heart of Gold, From the Soul, and Vibrations of the Soul:



Wow that was good. That's what they mean by "todo la carne en la parrilla"... putting all the meat on the fire. I hate it when Desde el Alma cuts off in the middle, though. I would have really liked to see them finish that one. Sorry.
I had a long discussion about vals compás, and about "four run", and "seven run" corridas that I was going to put here—but somehow, after listening to that transcendent music and watching the dancing, it doesn't feel right to analyze it right now. Let's do it later.
標籤：

留言

張貼留言

這個網誌中的熱門文章

Chapter 5, p.12 Training the Eye (Continued)

Training the Eye (Continued) We should remember that this dancing is not necessarily meant to be aesthetically pleasing (although it is to me), and that Alej and Pocho aren't trying to demonstrate anything. They are simply riding the music together… or maybe riding the  entrega  of the music. What we want to do is to take a look inside. We're trying to "see" what it feels like to dance with a good milonguero. We want to understand what Alej means when she says that milongueros “feel the music with their whole body”. In this video, Pocho is only using three or four variations of the basic elements of tango—but he uses them in exactly the right way, and at just the right time. Here's something that may help: In the video you can see the feet and legs of some of the other people on the floor. They’re not bad dancers, but they’re not at Pocho’s level. Throughout this short clip Pocho hesitates, and waits for surges in the music—but notice the feet of the other
張貼留言
閱讀完整內容

Chapter 5, p.13: The Joy of Tango

The Joy of Tango This always happens. I start out with a great plan, but then I come across a different piece of film and get sidetracked. I was going to use a short clip of Alito dancing with another milonguera to demonstrate something or other—but then I found this one, and I had to use it instead. I realize it’s too long, it doesn’t show what I wanted… and you’ll probably notice that Alej and Alito make several obvious mistakes. But what can I say? Tango's about having fun, and Alej and Alito seem to be enjoying themselves so much that I couldn’t leave it out. Even when they trip each other up, they look like they can barely keep from laughing. And the music! If it doesn’t make you want to jump up and start dancing, it’s time to look for another hobby. Here are Alito and Alejandra floating around  Lo de Celia's  with Biaggi on a fall afternoon in 2004:  Homework assignment: Use your trained eye to identify different ways Alito plays with the music. Can you desc
張貼留言
閱讀完整內容

Chapter 5, p.10: The Perfect Tango

The Perfect Tango I know... tango isn’t science. You can’t measure it by any objective standard. But I have seen two dances that are so good that I simply can’t imagine a way to make them better—so for me, they're "perfect". We've already shown one of them. It's the first video we posted of Ismael dancing to  No Me Extraña . Now, here is the second one. It's a video of Miguel Balbi dancing to Biaggi's  El Trece  at a party in  Almagro . Watch how he moves to the music: At the end of the video you can hear Alberto Dassieu comment,  "Muy bien pareja de bailarines." — "A very good pair of dancers". For the milongueros, this is the absolute essence of what dancing tango is about: a pure, unadorned expression of the music; unpretentious and simple on its surface, but profoundly complex in its use of cadence and melody. To see what's really happening here—to actually get a feel for it—you should first just listen to this tang
張貼留言
閱讀完整內容