I finally got to this book in my book pile. And thinking, "I should have read this book earlier."
Simply put, this is the best book ever written about Tango music in the most practical manner (from a dancer's standpoint). The book is great reference. It is very educational yet entertaining. Great starting point for advanced understanding and appreciation for the classical Tango music.
The book chapters focus on a musician/band/topic. For example...
Excerpts from Summary for Part 1, which talked about the "Big Four" Tango bands. The way the author described them really captures their characters. Very insightful.
" D'Arienzo: the King of the beat. Irresistible, foot tapping beat, but a raw deal for the singer. Contrast: None!...
Troilo: best orchestra for the singers. Contrast: staccato-legato...
Pugliese: passionate and intense....Driving beat: la yumba (emphasis on 1 and 3 beats)..Contrast: hard-soft...
Di Sarli: great command of the melody, did everything with the strings. Always danceable..."
Even better. The author has a website where you can listen to the playlist.
http://www.tangomusicsecrets.co.uk/
I can easily imagine this book as a textbook for a college class for Tango music.
In this era of Googling, YouTubing and information overload, we may think we can find anything online. It may have a point, but more important ability than a simple Google-guided search is to know which information is valuable and useful (and which one is untrustworthy, trash or even harmful).
This book and the information about Tango music is a gem. Fully recommended.
Last night our West Coast Swing (WCS) dance club had a Jack and Jill contest. Jack and Jill is a contest style in which the contestants draw a (new or unfamiliar) partner on the spot and dance to a song not announced beforehand. So the contest is supposed to mimic social WCS setting.
The little contest was for fun, and in part for preparation for the state contest the club is hosting this year. There are several clubs participating in the OK/KS state championship contest, and once in several years each club has the role of hosting the annual state contest event.
So, how do we determine the winner? I wrote something similar before in this blog, but I'd write this again.
West Coast Swing is highly improvisational dance. After several basics are taught, most dancers keep using the basics and the variations (which are also taught by many pros).
Now, think of ballroom contest for the sake of contrast. The pros use a few established syllabus to teach patterns to the beginning student, and when they have contests at the levels of Bronze, Silver or Gold, the judges are watching the executions of the established patterns.
It is not the case for WCS contests. Numbers or levels of the patterns are not the primary consideration for the judges any more (once they were. Judges even counted the number of patterns in contest. That style of judging didn't work well).
There are important judging criteria for novice/newcomer contest, and they would be considered in this order.
[Timing >> clean execution, partnership > musicality, fun (smiling dancers)]
If/when I am watching and judging, say, 12 newcomer/novice couples in the same heat, I'd pick three or four couples who are keeping her footstep timing for further consideration for winning, and immediately eliminate three couples who aren't.
Keeping her footstep timing has that much importance in WCS newcomer/novice judging.
Occasional use of syncopation, like using hitch-and-step instead of regular-looking triple step, is fine. Also stepping on at a slightly modified timing (e.g. "leaning forward""laid back") is fine, if it's with the music, consistent, and both the lead and follow are doing it. But you got to get the footstep timing right.
Newcomer/Novice followers are usually not as good as professionals who can correct the leader's wrong timing. That usually means, if the leader is out of rhythm, the couple is out of luck. There is the "luck of drawing"-factor.
Dancing with a pro, who knows what he/she is doing, is easier than to dance with a fellow novice and to get the dance work. In the sense, newcomer/novice is a very difficult category to survive.
So, don't be discouraged even if your placement is not the first. Think of the dance as one of many dances.
If you had a friend who was video-ing your dance, the video should help you to figure out what went wrong. Besides, you may not always win even if you are doing everything right. There might have been a few stronger couples in the same heat, for example.
Contests can be fun. Also, contests can be an opportunity to get feedback to go for your best.
The only way to be a better or even a great dancer is to keep achieving your personal best.
Great dancers like Baryshnikov say that.
During the road trip to Dallas last week, I chatted about investment with my friend a little, along with other stuff.
Afterwards, I gave the notion of investment some more thoughts.
How do I define my "investments"? The word is used in different ways in different occasions.
Following four categories are my "investments" for which I use my time, make efforts, or spend money.
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You use your time, make efforts, or spend money for;
(I) Improving yourself and your arts to increase your own market value or to be more competitive
This includes your education in school, training for a particular work, learning and practicing skills, getting qualified for something, etc. This can even include money spent for your appearance and clothes. Its eventual aim is some type of return, but the return may not be immediate or direct. This process itself can be very satisfying, in fact.
(II) Improving yourself to know more about investment "avatar" and/or "vehicle" (see (III))
This is what you do to be knowledgeable, or to not to be stupid at your own investment. Thanks to this "investment", you can distinguish real investments with calculated risk from reckless gambling, scam, fraud, or total waste.
This is a critical preparation stage for your actions in category (III).
(III) Creating avatar or owning vehicle that make money for you on your behalf
This is most traditional sense of "investment". Building your business, writing a book, buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds or real estate, etc etc.
This is where leverage works. If/when you are good at this, depending on what you create or own, you can achieve dis-proportionally big financial success compared with what you can do as a person.
(IV) Developing or growing something that would give you some form of return or satisfaction
This is an expanded use of the word "investment", not only in financial sense. This "investment" is your time, efforts or money for your better future. This may be the time spent to be with your friend or family or to experience something new or special; efforts for raising your kid or for growing relationship, or for helping your cause or community etc, etc. You can earn something that may be hard to measure in terms of money, like trust, friendship, credit etc.
This may or may not make financial sense. It could rather be named giving or charity. But this can be most important for your emotional self and overall well being.
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It is fun to take the "scattered-minded" random approach. But at some point, you would have a certain idea as to what you do better or are made for. Then, if you want to achieve something on what you are made for, you need a focused approach.
Evaluating how you use your resource (time, efforts, money) in terms of "Investment" has a good effect on your result, especially when your course is set and you need a focus in what you do.
On a whim, my friend and I traveled to Dallas to check out a milonga ("Evolution Tango" milonga on the 1st Saturday) at Studio 22 in Dallas, hosted by Jairelbhi and George Furlong, on 10/4/2014 Saturday.
Usually I don't really fancy 3.5 hours/one way driving. But talking with a buddy made it a fine mini vacation-weekend road trip.
The nighttime milonga from 8PM-1AM was fun. I asked about invitation rules, and I was relieved to hear that open invitation was just fine, no strict cabeceo was needed (you know, it can be pain sometimes). The dancers were friendly to us out-of-towners.
Watching others in a milonga is fun and can be a learning opportunity. All the partners I danced with danced very well. I have always been impressed by how well ladies can dance if they are provided opportunities to dance.
A sort of diseased attitude in Tango culture is the finger-wagging. If you started to say too many "No"s inside your head, be careful.
"I don't like the songs. I only dance traditional"
"They are not dancing in my style"
"They are not elegant or graceful"
"Not that way, it is too rough" etc etc.
Too many "No"s can poison the atmosphere. An entire community can be infected by the poisonous attitude, and the Tango scene could wither. It is a very sad thing to let your dance and community spoil by the poor attitude of your own choosing.
I am happy to say that apparently the place was not compromised by the finger-wagging attitude at all. The place had a healthy, positive and welcoming atmosphere. It was nice.
After all, we go to a party to have a good time.
Dallas is a big city, and it can sustain a large sized community. It is a blessing.
Sometimes it is not easy to find people I met in a party afterwards. Facebook provides a fair way to find and connect to them, but it is far from perfect. [Shrug]
