Could you share with me the latest trend in BsAs? the music people dance in milonga? esp the electronic music/tango and what the young people like?

Is there any non-traditional milonga there?<br><br>Post edited by: admin, at: 2006/04/13 12:32

Thought I might as well share this with other DJs since I’m writing this.

Most of the milongas in BsAs still stay traditional in terms of music. The only places where they play electronic/alternative music are the practices (“Tango Cool” is the organizer), La Marshall (the gay milonga), and La Viruta (Milongas on Fri, Sat &amp; Sun). Among them, there are good ones and bad ones!

Most of the time, electronic tango makes up only a small part of the overall music played in the night. Anymore than that, a milonga turns into a disco party. Nobody plays electronic music all night as good dancers prefer variety – they like new music but still embrace the traditions. What sets the good ones apart from the bad ones is the choice of music!!!!!

In my opinion, Pablo Inza’s practica plays the best mix of traditional and new tangos. Tango Cool is not bad either, but La Viruta is hopeless. People who go to Pablo’s and Tango Cool’s practicas are young and accomplished dancers. However, putting the type of dancers aside, Pablo selects his electronic tango music very very carefully – they have to be rhythmic, danceable, no bars that repeat itself till the world ends and nothing that fades out at the end. The ratio of traditional to electronic music played in the night is about 85% to 15% only!!! The orchestras I heard most are – carlos liberdinsky’s narcotango, some bajofondo, a few piazzollas with very clear rhythms, some tanghetto, etc.

The traditional music played in these milongas/practices are also the same music played in the good traditional milongas – good variety, rhythmic most of the time (D’arienzo, canaro, rodriguez, biaggi, etc) and occasionally a tanda or 2 of Pugliese, Gobbi or El Arranque. My favorite milongas with the best music in my opinion are Canning on Mon &amp; Fri, Porteno y Bailarin on Tue, &amp; Pablo’s practica on Tue. Again the key is variety (a good mix of different sounds, but mostly stick to the 40’s and early 50’s music) and flexibility that is tailored to the dancers on the floor. Honestly, even the best dancers can’t dance to BAD electronic music!

That’s all for now. Would be nice to hear thoughts from other DJs.

It seems to me there is also the question of feeling. Some of the electronic and for that matter alternative tango has (for me at least) a tango feeling whereas some emphatically does not. I really don’t know why this is, but I would suspect it has something to do with the musical structure.

Personally I am OK with whatever feels like tango – but I must admit to a fairly strong preference for the traditional stuff, so I think the 85/15 proportion sounds pretty good to me!<br><br>Post edited by: admin, at: 2006/04/13 12:32

Say hi to all!!

I agree totally with Kitty's comment. A DJ to me looks like a good chef cooking &quot;delicious&quot; meals for his patrons and not for himself, and a good chef has to go out and meet the patrons and talk to them, get their feedback, or just observe their facial expression when they eat by just sitting quietly at the corner. It is a 2-way interactive game all around us in this world, tango DJing is not exception.

However, what creates an outstanding DJ from the rest is his/her ability and braveness to bring in surprises to the crowd, such as playing unorthodox music once in a while to give the party that extra spices we need. At this point, the DJ is leading the dancefloor and not just reacting to it. But not everyone can do this, sometimes it is a matter of luck, or extraordinarily good taste from the DJ, or a mixture of both.

I like those golden age music, they are still my favourite, this has not changed since the first day I danced. But not all golden age stuff sound good to my ears, many are unbearable in my opinion. I like electronic tango very much too, and very often, in a 4 hours long milonga that is filled mostly by traditional stuff, some GOOD electronic tango can light up the atmosphere, just like a cup of capuccino in a moody day. I would want to say the same thing here -- not all electronic tango are good though. Some are very hard to dance to. So the good musical taste of the DJ still rules.

I have been told by a few tango maetros who passed by in the last few years that although many milongas in BAs are still playing a lot of golden age music, there are still many more milongas that are playing new stuff and are just as popular. The fact is that many people from overseas go to BAs for tango, and usually they spend at most 1 month there, and they go to all the &quot;famous&quot; tourist spots milonga to watch shows, to meet the famous maetros on the floor, and these milonga usually play the traditional music mainly, or only. And to many of the visitors, these will quickly become their impression of &quot;typical BAs milonga&quot;. The maetros told me that if you are actually living there, have time to visit all the other &quot;non-tourist&quot; milongas, you will be able to discover a wider variety of music that is played in BAs milonga.

I have not been to BAs...so just quoting what I was told here.

I want to go to BAs so much...:(

coleman

A lot of the new electronica music are in fact too ‘house’ and not really danceable. As Kitty says, it really boils down to libedinsky, bajofondo, gotan and selective Piazzola.

The alternative music scene is more prevalent in North America where they play non-tango music and dance tango to it. And I am not referring to the electronica tango. There are alternative-music milongas in the US where they do play pre-dominantly non-tango music. Where the music has been mixed (50/50), the reaction has not been that favourable because it pleases neither the alternative nor the traditional music crowd.

I think the 85%/15% works well as Kitty has suggested with the alternative sets coming much later in the evening. I have been interested in doing an alternative music milonga, but have not been able to find enough music that I enjoy or think is truly danceable.

I also like electronic tango very much - but only selectively. There is simply not enough danceable electronic tango to run an all night milonga. Besides, I prefer dancing to different kinds of tango music anyway. I'm still a fan of golden age tangos. There's a sense of nostalgia/feeling that electronic tango simple can't replicate.

Yes, tango music must evolve to stay alive. One should embrace both traditions and new concepts. I often find a tanda of alternative tango/other dance music a great way to change the dynamics of the evening. It's like breathing space. Too much of one thing gets tiresome.

However, I'm still an advocate of cortinas. Not only do they help structure the evening better, they also work as a nice break from too much of the good dances (before the good feeling fades) and bad dances (before your body and nerves break down).

I also find that good use of cortinas can make or break the mood for the entire evening. I prefer to play cortinas that are recognizably not for dancing, a style that lets you linger in good feelings after good dances (or works like a pat on the shoulder if you had a bad dance), and still creates a slight change of mood to prepare you for a different set of music.

Kitty