Rebecca Shulman Tango Lesson V.37 - Your step is a note

At first, musicality can be viewed as the ability to follow the rhythm very well. Then to interpret rhythm changes in music which are abundant in tango and are the characteristic of the dance.
2. Then comes the ability to emphasize a musical phrase: divide the dance into little parts with the beginning, development, and the finale in accordance with similar patterns in music. The beginning is not necessarily has to be aligned with the very first step of a figure and end with the last one. This is impossible to do in an improvised dance. On the contrary! One can easy make any step be starting or final by putting an emphasis on that, slowing it down, making a pause. To follow the music, one does not have to invent new steps all the time. And predict the figures. It is only enough to be able to lead steps slower or faster, that is all. And new will be born. Music already curries a blueprint for that.
Also here comes the ability to emphasize small rhythmical variations, individual notes, including slightly off-beat ones. That is where the knowledge of micro-technique and asynchronous dancing with different parts, total "dissociation" comes into play. Every step can be unique!
3. Then comes an interaction with individual instruments and the orchestra as a whole. You dance your own musical part along with that orchestra, asynchronously with other instruments ( of course, otherwise it would be 1. or 2. ). Your step is a note, even several notes. And you can even bend a string. You can support other parties or counterpose them. Off-beat dance comes to this category. And not only you! Your partner should be able to love it too..
For all that to happen, for a dance to be highly musical, the body parts have to be like other musical instruments played along with the orchestra. Yes, not only one instrument, but many: legs dance one part, torso dance another one,.. Slow or fast, jazzy or classical is pretty much up to dancers.
The body itself should dance - it is musicality! Legs, torso, feet, arms, hands, the head, eyes, lips, everything dances. The spirit dances too! But now we are talking mostly about steps.
In an improvisational dance there is no place for thinking. The spinal brain figures it out. Let it use the opportunities appearing in a dance on every millisecond. The body and soul is totally incorporated into your partner's and your own movements as a couple, in the music, in the surrounding place and other dancers around.
To be very musical, knowing what is musical is not enough. One has to have skill and abilities to variate figures, individual steps, and parts of steps in all possible ways. But as a simplest way, just slowing the dance, and changing the direction in preparation to the next move is enough.
To be highly musical does not require complex steps. musicality is valued as the most important dancing quality beside the ability to lead and follow well.
Surprise. A step which surprises. That is a powerful instrument of making the dance interesting and your partner screaming with excitement! - courtesy of Author Igor Polk, read the full article here:
http://www.virtuar.com/tango/articles/2005/musicality.htm

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Argentine
• Tango
• Rebecca
• Shulman
• musicality
• rhythm
• medimaging
• AmyZheng

[sidpupwo]

very nice.

what's the song that you were practicing with here?

[AmyZheng]

"Caricias" - Biagi; Dance Mahattan.

[ilfkari]

thanks for your emphazing on the musical phrazing

[boleo11]

You probably havnt seen a lot of tango yet so!Please open your eyes, watch more videos and open to the world of teh best maestros in the world.This class is interesting I agree and musicality is important but it is miles away from the best tango in the world please!

[cw0069]

se le estan metiendo las tortilleras tambien al tango.

[davido61]

que triste quedo despues de verles moverse en la pista. Interesante!

[garierbos]

THIS IS The BEST TANGO LESSON I HAVE EVER SEEN

I would say, as a tango' student and lover,that this Rebecca Shoulman Lesson is the best Tango Lesson in video I have ever seen. Sorry for any English mistakes, because English is my second language. I am brazilian, so my firt language is Portuguese. Moved by the tango passion, estoy aprendiendo tanbien español.

[nidogancho]

Me resulta muy interesante lo que muestran. Sin embargo, me parece que las cuestiones que tratan los bailarines las deberían aprender naturalmente. Me parece demasiado mental. Es mi opinión personal. un saludo

[salvatango]

своего рода украшения...

[chaev2]

Разве полагается в аргентинском танго поднимать носки?