Instructors: Homer & Cristina Ladas
http://theorganictangoschool.org/
April 5, 2013, Yale Tango Fest
In this class, we would work on these concepts in just one song: Francisco Canaro’s Poema, which can be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyyw6FN4dtk
We began with doing one dance to Poema.
CHAPTER 1: PHRASING
TANGO CHACARERA
We did an exercise to help understand phrasing through the
Tango Chacarera. In Chacarera formation with the Leaders all in one line and
the Followers facing them all in one line, we made eye contact with each other,
and raised our arms in the air, as if we were doing the Chacarera. We then took
four steps forward, where we met in the middle, and then took four steps back,
signifying one phrase in the music. Our
goal was to always be back where we started at the end of a phrase. The song Poema
was used because it is a very regular song, phrasewise.
We started the Tango Chacarera just walking to the beat to
get our ears used to finding the beginning of the phrase, which would help us
to achieve our goal of getting back to our starting place at the end of the
phrase. Building on this, we then danced
more freely, still doing four steps forward and four steps back so we could end
up at the same place where we started at the end of the phrase.
PAUSING AT THE END OF
A SENTENCE
Next, in a partnered exercise, we worked on pausing at the
end of a sentence. Here, we were to just only walk for 8 counts, or one
sentence/phrase and then hold it for the next 8 counts (sentence/phrase), where
there would be no forward movement, but we could do things like weight changes,
rock steps, or other types of movements that stay in place. Our goal was to
show that we were able to control our pauses at the end of the sentence. We could move for a while and then stop.
Both Leader and Follower need to actively hear the music,
and the Follower is equally responsible for the musical interpretation of the
dance. We help each other with the
phrasing.
In Poema, the end
is the only sentence/phrase in the song that is incomplete (it is missing the
last beat or two).
CHAPTER 2: RHYTHM
This is an academic class, so we did several rhythm
exercises to help us understand the concepts, but which we might not want to
actually do at the milonga. For the
rhythm exercise, we were to dance staying on a defined rhythm that Maestro
would call out while we danced.
We were given a choice of two different rhythms:
-
S-S-Q-Q-S
(this is the option we chose)
-
Q-Q-S-S-S
For this exercise, we could do things other than walking,
but we needed to on the prescribed rhythm at all times.
Afterwards, we discussed what was challenging about this
exercises, and the Leaders commented that the most difficult part was going to
Q-Q from S. In addition, the Leaders’
intention was off because they were focused on the steps. Navigation and distractions proved
problematical as well.
We concluded that sticking to a prescribed rhythm is not a
good idea for dancing at a milonga, but it is a good exercise since the rhythm
in tango is always changing, and dancers have to be aware of that and know how
to deal with it.
Maestro asked if anyone felt moments where the S-S-Q-Q-S
fit? Some folks said yes.
CHAPTER 3: MELODY
The purpose of our focus on melody is to move to the lyrical
melody. To help us focus on the melody
of Poema, we did not listen to the
recorded Canaro version at all, but danced to the lyrics alone, as sung by
Cristina.
Focusing on the lyrics is another layer of musicality we can
explore, and the lyrics are directly connected to the musical phrasing of the
song.
In Argentina, what draws people into tango are the lyrics of
the songs. When Cristina hears the
vocals, it is what really connects her to the music. In class, our goal in dancing was to follow
the poetry of the song with Cristina singing.
In doing our homework, we would focus on Roberto Maida. :o)
We were only to move when we hear Cristina’s voice. We would also be sensitive to the intonation
of the lyrics.
GOLDEN EGGS: EVERY
SONG HAS A SECRET
Every song has a secret that advanced dancers know about and
share with the people they are dancing with.
These are called “Golden Eggs”.
Golden Eggs are the fills between the sentences, and they are things we
can listen for to play with different rhythms.
In Poema, there is
a fill/transition that is done twice in a row and comes and goes in a
song. It is the “bling bling bling”
chime at 00:07-00:08; 00:16-00:17; 2:58-2:59; and 3:06-3:07.
TangoStudent
comments: While the “bling bling bling”
also occurs during the lyrics at 0:58-0:59; 1:07-1:08; 1:33-1:34; and
1:41-1:42, we did not listen to or dance to those as we only danced to
Cristina’s singing during our focus on dancing to the lyrics.
Our challenge was to always hit the “bling bling bling”
while we danced, doing the simple footwork of Leader’s left foot forward, right
foot side, left foot together (Follower’s right foot back, left foot side,
right foot together), which really puts a Period at the end of the Sentence
(musical phrase). To help set this up,
it helped the Leader to pause beforehand.
In doing the same pattern at each Golden Egg, we make an interesting
statement about the music.
WHAT IF THE LEADER
DOESN’T HEAR THE PHRASING?
The Follower should encourage the Leader in a positive way.
The Follower should never back lead, but she can subtly suggest ideas to the
Leader of where the pause should be, or add more pressure against him to slow
him down if he barrels through the song with no pausing.
She can do these subtle things:
·
Take a deep breath before the phrase starts to
mark the beginning of a sentence
·
Add a little more to the embrace, squeezing into
him a little more
·
Slightly squeeze her right hand in his left hand
The Follower is not back leading, but using her upper body
to indicate the beginning of the phrase. She can also use her fingers and
gently squeeze.
At some point the Leader will become more aware and get in
sync.
In our exercise, we tried this with the Leader pretending he
can’t hear the sentence and the Follower giving him clues about where the
sentence begins and ends.
Maestro shared that he learned a lot by dancing with really
tall Followers as then he could really feel the way her spine and rib cage
moved and how she was interpreting the music, including the subtleties.
The Follower’s playfulness is in between the rhythm that the
Leader puts down. The better she knows
the music, the more opportunities she has to play.
What if the Follower is off beat? Then it means she has bad habits. For the
Leader, he should do less, and not try to contradict her movements with more
movements.
THE SYNCOPA: KISS ME
GOODNIGHT
Almost every song has a little bit of Kiss Me Goodnight
(syncopas, syncopations). KMG syncopation is prevalent in many orchestras and
you'd be surprised at what you can do with it. Our goal is to capture the
interesting parts in the music that are off the square of the music.
Poema has a
section of it, where you feel like you really want to rock it out. It is at 0:35-0:50 and 2:00-2:15. The syncopa
is in between the lyrics.
In partnership, we were to do rock steps during the Kiss Me
Goodnight (syncopa) portions of the song.
Maestros concluded with a class review and demo to Francisco
Canaro’s Poema.
Notes courtesy of Anne at http://scoutingtour.blogspot.com
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