Chapter 5, p.2: 我一點也不意外：No Me Extraña

“No Me Extraña”

我一直以為這首探戈的英文翻譯是
“She doesn’t miss me.”（她不想念我）

但其實——
它真正的意思是：

“It doesn’t surprise me.”（我一點也不意外）

——這反而讓我覺得很意外。

這句歌詞在文法上兩種意思都成立，
但放回整首歌的語境裡，
它確實是第二個意思：
「我早就料到了。」

以下是這首歌的音樂：

《No Me Extraña》
Pedro Laurenz 與 Juan Carlos Casas 合作版本

中文翻譯

你曾愛我……
然後你離開我。

我又怎麼能責怪你呢？

現在我們又回到從前——
回到一切開始的地方。

你的離去，我一點也不意外；
我的心痛，也不令我驚訝。

人生就是這樣……
今天奪走的，
正是昨天給過我們的。

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.

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這首探戈用短短幾句，就把所有事說完了：
「男孩得到女孩……男孩失去女孩。
愛淡了……人生就是這樣。」

這是一個非常典型的 De Caro 旋律派探戈。
它以一段揪心的旋律開場，
接著在最剛好的時刻，
讓這幾句簡短的歌詞穿進音樂裡。

最後，Laurenz 用他那銳利、複雜的班多鈕琴法
為整首曲子劃上個人化的結尾——
這是許多 D’Arienzo、Rodríguez、Biaggi
那些 picado 探戈常見的收尾方式。

---

留意一下：西班牙語的詞有多美

它們在 castellano 裡的韻味、節奏與音色非常動人，
與旋律貼合得天衣無縫。

這首歌很適合用來嘗試：
不要透過英文翻譯，而是直接從 castellano 裡感受意思。

---

在看影片之前…先聽。

再聽一次這首歌，
想一想：
如果是你，你會怎麼跳？

它在告訴你什麼？
你聽到了什麼情緒？
它的起伏、它的沉默、它的轉折，
會讓你的身體做出什麼樣的反應？

Ismael

在第四章的開頭，我曾提到：
在挑選要用哪一首探戈來開始談「音樂」時，
真的很難下決定——
因為好歌實在太多了。

現在，我們面臨了同樣的選擇難題：
要從我們的第一支網站影片開始。

---

我們已經拍攝超過五年，
累積了將近 100 小時的影像。

每一支我們決定按下錄影鍵的舞，
背後都是成千上萬支我們錯過的舞。

即使如此，
我們仍然有將近 2,000 支舞蹈影片可以選，
而且每一支都是最好的 milongueros 與 milongueras。

要挑出第一支影片——
真的很難。

尤其是這些影像陪著我這麼久，
我看了它們無數次，
它們像老朋友一樣親切……
而影片裡的人，也真的變成了我們的朋友。

---

但總得選一支。
所以我們開始吧。

我們選了一段 Ismael El Jalil 的短片，
是大約四年前在下午的 milonga 拍到的。

---

**它在許多方面都是「普通」的影片——

但又同時「非常不普通」。**

說它普通，是因為——
就像布宜諾斯艾利斯千千萬萬個下午的舞段一樣：

Ismael 和舞伴沒有打扮，
他們沒有想跳得完美、也沒有想表演。

事實上，
因為我們已經在各處拍過太多次，
他們大概甚至沒有注意到鏡頭。

即使地板不算擁擠，
他們仍然得面對 milonga 裡跳舞時永遠存在的那些挑戰：

✔ 接受當下播放的任何一首音樂
✔ 調整到不同身形、風格、身高的舞伴
（你可以看到 Ismael 的舞伴比他高不少）
✔ 注意周遭其他舞伴帶來的各種干擾

這一切，
都是 milongueros 每一次跳舞都得處理的現實。

---

所以，它很「普通」。

但——
它又十分「非凡」。

非凡之處？
不是我來說。

每個人感受探戈的方式都不一樣，
所以，我們讓你自己判斷。

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以下是 Ismael 所跳的《No Me Extraña》：

我已經看過這段影片很多次了，
所以想提出幾個我自己的觀察。

你可能會注意到：
Ismael 跳得非常簡單——至少表面上看起來如此。

像多數 milongueros 一樣，
他其實知道上百種步法與結構，
但他完全沒有拿出來用。

事實上，在這段影片裡，
我幾乎看不到任何真正的 giro 或 corrida。
如果硬要替他們的動作命名，
我大概只能說：

我看到一次停頓，
以及他的舞伴做了半個 ocho。

就這樣而已。

但這並不表示影片「沒內容」。
恰恰相反。

注意 Ismael 如何等音樂，
如何在第一步前慢慢累積能量。

大約在影片 20 秒的地方，
當 Laurenz 在鋼琴上做出那段短短的上行音階時，
Ismael 帶著他的舞伴，
正好沿著鋼琴聲「跑上去的五個音」一起行進。
完全貼著音樂的語氣。

你在看這段影片時，
可以想想我們之前談過的所有探戈技術：
姿態、步伐、平衡、連結、compás……
全都在這裡。
如何評斷一個人跳得好不好？

一般來說，
好的探戈舞者會：

✔ 用腰部以下（腳）來表達 compás
✔ 用腰部以上（軀幹）來表達旋律與情感

你可以試著用手遮住畫面的一半：
只看上半身，或只看下半身。

下半身（雖然這段影片腳很難看到）
能讓你理解 Ismael 如何運用 compás。

而上半身在這段特別值得觀察——
你可以看到他們的軀幹如何「一起」流動、呼吸。

這對女生尤其重要。
只看上半身的連結，
你就能知道：

和 Ismael 跳舞，
大概會是什麼感覺。
建議你多看幾次

看幾遍之後，隔幾天再看。
讓音樂變成你的熟悉語言。

然後想像一下——
如果有一天，你能把這首探戈的所有創作者
都請到同一個地方：

作曲家、作詞家、指揮、歌手、樂手……
所有人都在場。

然後你問他們：

「你們一起創作了這首探戈。
這是你們的作品——
而它是一首用來跳舞的探戈。
如果要找一對舞者來呈現你們音樂裡的深意，
你們覺得這對怎麼樣？
這是否就是真正貼近你們想表達的方式？」」

“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 melodic tangos. It begins with a haunting melody, and then the brief lyrics are woven in at just the right time. Finally, Laurenz finishes it personally with his sharp, complex bandoneon playing (an ending that's common to many of the picado tangos by D’Arienzo, Rodriquez, and Biaggi as well). 

Notice how beautiful the words are in castellano, and how they fit the music. This is a good one for trying to get beyond the English translation, and experiencing the meaning directly from the castellano. Before continuing to the video, you might think about the music for a minute. Listen again, and think about how you would dance to it. Think about what it's telling you.

Ismael

At the beginning of Chapter 4, I mentioned that it was hard to decide which tango to start with in our music discussion, because there were so many good ones choose from. Now, as we select our first video for the website, we’re facing a similar decision. We’ve been filming for more than five years, and we have almost 100 hours of videotape. For every dance we decide to film, we pass up thousands of others—but we still have almost 2,000 dances to pick from, and they are all by the best milongueros and milongueras. It’s a difficult decision, especially since I’ve watched some of these video clips so many times that they’ve become like old friends… and most of the people dancing in them have literally become personal friends as well.

But we need to pick one, so here we go. We’ve chosen a short clip of Ismael El Jalil that we took about four years ago in an afternoon milonga. In many ways it’s an ordinary video—but it’s also truly extraordinary. It’s ordinary because, like millions of other dances that take place in the afternoon in BsAs, Ismael and his partner aren’t dressed up, and they aren’t trying to dance perfectly or to perform. In fact, because we’ve filmed so much around the place, they probably weren't even aware of the camera. And although the floor isn’t especially crowded, they are still dealing with all the things that people in the milongas have to put up with every time they dance: they accept whatever music comes along, they adjust for partners of all different shapes, sizes, and styles (you can see that Ismael has a partner who’s quite a bit taller than he is), and they have all of the distractions caused by dancing close to other couples.

So, in many ways, it’s ordinary... but what makes it extraordinary? Well, that's not really for me to say. Everyone sees and feels tango differently, so we'll let you decide. Here's Ismael dancing to No Me Extraña:

I’ve watched this clip a lot of times, so I’d like to make a couple of comments. You may notice that Ismael is dancing simply—at least on the surface. Like most milongueros, he knows dozens of steps and figures, but he doesn’t use them. In fact, I don’t even see a real giro or a corrida. If I had to give names to anything the dancers do in this film, all I could say is that I see one pause, and I think Ismael's partner does half an ocho. That’s about it. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot here. Notice how Ismael waits for the music, and builds his energy for the first step. And about 20 seconds into the video, when Laurenz puts in a short riff with the piano, Ismael takes his partner around, right with the pianist's fingers as they run up the five keys. As you watch it, think about all of the technical aspects of tango we’ve discussed—things like posture, step, balance, connection, and compás.

Here are a couple of things I use to decide how well someone is dancing. Generally speaking, good tango dancers will express the compás from the waist down (with the feet), and the melody and sentiment of the music from the waist up. One way to watch this video is to hold up your hand and block your view of either the upper or lower half of the couple.  Isolating the lower half (although in this clip the feet are hard to see) will give you a good idea of how Ismael uses the compás. The upper half is very interesting here, and it should give you an insight into how he expresses the sentiment of the music. You should notice how the bodies flow together around the floor. This is especially important for a woman, because by isolating the part of the video that shows how Ismael’s upper body connects to his partner, a woman can get a good idea of what it feels like to dance with him just by watching this video.

Finally, I’d suggest watching the clip several times. Then, wait a bit, and watch it again in a few days. Get used to the music, and then, imagine you could get everyone who created this tango together in one place—the composer, the author of the lyrics, the conductor, the singer and all the musicians—everybody. And suppose you asked them: “Okay, all of you have created a great tango here. It's your tango... but it’s a dance tango. We need to find someone to dance to it. We need a couple that can understand what you are trying to say with this music. We want people who move in the right way. What do you think about this couple? Is this what you had in mind?”