Let's continue our first taste of tango with this one ...
.. chosen for the music.
Bahia Blanca by Carlos Di Sarli.
A sweeping classic that contains all the elements of tango music - gorgeous sweeping melodies, huge percussive "get off your bottom and walk to the music" sections ... the ever-so-interpretable pauses ...
People go to a milonga intending to dance with several others. Only dancing with your own partner is the exception, not the norm.
Walking over to someone and asking them to #dance is considered VERY BAD MANNERS. It places pressure on the invitee, and the act is very publicly visible.
Instead, a silent subtle, almost invisible, look and nod - the "cabaceo" - is used to invite and accept. Declining is without injury - you act as if you didn't notice the invitation.
Let's also bust the myth that creativity is only in leading and following is a passive responsive act.
Sure - as beginners, leaders are learning to lead, and followers to follow
But as dancers progress and become advanced - followers express themselves within the framework of following - and good leaders listen and create the space for followers to do that.
Leaders and followers who can do this are in demand !
At a social dance evening, called a "milonga", three kinds of music are played for us to dance to:
tango
vals (walz)
milonga
Yes, confusingly, the 3rd one shares the same name as the evening.
The order isn't random, 3 or 4 songs of the same kind are played as a "tanda" with a pause in between. It is during this pause we invite a new partner to dance, or we take a break.
We'll hear some tango, vals and milonga music in the following posts...
First night in Buenos Aires done. Adjusting to summer temperature and humidity.
Never been in South America before, really looking forward to the next three weeks. 10 days of Tango classes and Milongas ahead to start the holidays, then traveling to the mountains and finally the falls at Iguazu.