Tango and Chaos (rebuilt)

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 yo...

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 ...