Buenos Aires Blues: Tango*Blues*Dance. Aug 7-9. Knoxville, TN
Dan's Philosophy
Blues and Tango have a lot in common - they're both forms of vernacular music and dance with roots in both the European and African traditions. In both cases, the music can be heart-breaking, joyful, and incredibly sensual - possibly all at the same time. The dances are fundamentally improvised; the dancers have the freedom to interpret each song individually, without reliance on memorized patterns. Because of this, they're also incredibly difficult to learn; yet they are all the more rewarding for the challenges and freedoms presented.
Argentine Tango may be thought of as a genre of dance which includes many styles, such as milonga, canyengue, orillero, fantasia, nuevo. The dancing began in the late 1800's and was profoundly influenced by the blending of African and European elements in Argentina. Tango may also refer to the music that served as the inspiration for this dance, the earliest recordings of which come from the 1920's, which was also influenced by the blending of African and European elements, and whose development continues even today.
Blues can refer to a genre of music that practically defies definition, but that was also developed as elements from Europe and Africa merged in America. This tradition included many instruments that had variable pitch, and in some cases the instruments could literally be made to "sing" as a human voice could. This notion was carried to the USA, and many late-19th / early-20th century African-American musicians deliberately sought to make the instruments sound like voices, to convey additional meaning by changing pitch and tone. This idea, mixed with others from European music, gave rise to new ways of thinking about melody and harmony. These ideas have been applied in different manners, and with different rhythms (many of which are also African-inspired), throughout the last century of American music. Blues as a style of dancing is subject to even more debate, but which is inspired by Blues music. Like its siblings such as Charleston and Lindy Hop, Blues uses African elements in the posture and movement.
This workshop is about building something out of the tools from two already-established traditions. That means understanding history : social, musical, and dance. It will also mean expanding musical and dance boundaries. The teachers and DJs have a wide range of styles and opinions; attendees will be exposed to both traditional and modern techniques, both traditional and modern music.
Mike's Philosophy
Since Dan put so much of how I feel so eloquently, I want to ditto all that.
So why do a weekend of Tango and Blues? There's no denying the advantages of cross-training: any time we learn a new skill, we're learning more than that- we're learning to learn. Balance, body control, connection... every physical activity is useful. And there's so much that philosophically links the two dances- "every step is led," "pauses are as important to dynamics as rapid movement," "my lover left me and I'm going to die"- you get the idea- that there were never a pair of dances so likely to wind up crosslinking. That being said, there are a lot of dissimilarities between the dances as well, and many songs that clearly call for one dance (Muddy Waters moves me to do a lot of things, but milonga isn't one of them). But there's something to be said for pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and letting yourself explore new skills and new languages. This weekend is our chance to explore all these issues, in an environment where everyone has something to learn, everyone has expertise, and everyone can challenge themselves.
People sometimes ask me if I'm up on the "fusion" debates. I'm not. Mostly because I hate the tone most online debates take. I'm not out to create a new dance. Most of the time, I want to dance blues to blues music, and tango to tango music. But there is something irrefutably common between blues and tango, and there is music out there- music that isn't properly called blues or tango- that moves me. And if my leader and I know two beautiful languages, I enjoy speaking them both fluently and seamlessly. I love the challenge of tackling both blues and tango in the same weekend, the same night, and sometimes the same song. When it comes down to it, this weekend is just about dancing.