From Erik
Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself...
— Walt Whitman
TANGO is a very emotional issue. We all have invested so much of ourselves in the dance. Sometimes something happens thats makes us mad, or sad, or glad (sounds like Dr. Seuss) and we feel we have to share it with someone. Often that someone turns out to be me. I consider it an honor to receive E-mails from a variety of people when they just want to vent, you all think I must be some kind of level headed caring person.
Lord knows where that idea came from...
Wheher I have genuine concern for the problems that people have with their Tango, or I just find them highly amusing, I read every letter. I have even saved some of them. Patterns begin to emerge when you read all of them, and I plan to use this space to highlight what could be done in a constructive fashion. All the names of guilty parties will be changed, so no one writes a letter to vent about me later.
I want to get all the cards out on the table before we begin. First, teaching (a lot) and performing (a little) are my sole sources of income. I am strongly biased towards my financial interests there. Secondly, I have strong opinions about the art of Art in general and Tango in specific. I believe more in your freedom to express different ideas, than in my own convictions. The latter changes every so often, while your freedom should never be impeached. However, I will be the first drunk sot to say that the ideas and values that you hold are stupid. After hearing it so often about myself, I feel entitled.
Floor Craft
Of all the things I hear, the biggest issue has to be music. Gotcha there. Music is hard to do though, and I don't have the time. Floor craft however, is easy. We all flow generally counter clockwise, and I've only had to tell people once. However, while floating with the stream that is line of dance, we can do things to disturb our fellow rafters either more or less. I am not completely innocent myself, you see. I'm just sneakier.
First, the obvious. Hitting people is bad. Either in a violent-intentional way, or if your volcada is just too big. But we all know that.
Some don't realize that making me think that you are going to hit me is just as bad: I have to lurch to one side, ruining my groove. So does the next couple over. In fact (and I know this makes me a Tango Snob) if you dance arhythmicaly tpo near to me, you are going to disturb the flow of my dance. And that's the point of floor craft rules, right? To be polite, and not to disturb me, your friendly neighbor?Floor Craft
Of all the complaints I get from people, the most numerous has to be Music. Floorcraft is a close second, though. And I think it can be better addressed at this time. The rules are basic. Go Counter Clockwise around the floor, do big moves into the corners of the room, try not to nudge other people.
The rule that I think is most overlooked is that there is a minimum velocity required for a healthy dance floor. Really if there is no forward progress out of someone and a few measures have passed, they are holding up the rest of the floor.
In fact (and I know this makes me one of the "shoebox kids") If you stop the flow for too long, you are not just holding me back, but holding everyone else up too. That kind of Bogart-ing the dance floor is just impolite. And that's the point of dance rules, right? To keep us being polite, so we can all dance together?
On Requests
I have always taken music requests. In the beginning, I was a ballroom dance DJ, and I had no idea what I was really doing. The more I learned about music, the more interested in different style I became. Collecting music was a bit of a hobby for me back then, not a full time obsession. Back then, if someone had a good album, be it DiSarli, or Sly and the Family Stone, I would rip it on to my computer. I still even have some files from back then. I just know that 'Track 4- Homer's Tango Mix- D'Agustino' means Adios Arrabel. But I digress...
I started taking requests back in the Summer of '99 because I had no idea what I was doing. I had to ask people all the time to try to figure out what the public wanted. Even when I was a ballroom dance DJ, people loved Desde. I had one song, that I knew people would get up and dance to. All I needed was the other one-hundred and seventy-six minutes of music. I'd play something and see if someone got up for it. Then something else. Then I'd really be out of ideas, and I'd start asking the public what it was that they wanted.
After time passed and I learned what could get a majority of people up off their seats, people started coming up to me and telling me they liked the music I played. To this day I still sincerely believe they are just being nice. You see, everyone has some music that they love, and most of the rest they could do without. We call this personal taste. The sad thing about personal taste, is that by definition it is bad. The realization of this is what finally made my journey as a DJ complete. My personal taste sucks. Because I know that most people don't want to dance to the same stuff that I do, I reach out to them, to see what I can do to make their dance better.
The number one request I get is a strange one. Nothing bad. It's difficult to fill those shoes. How can I play 'nothing bad?' You are bound to hate something I put on. Some people are turned off by the repetitive beat of Gotan Project, but love the repetitive beat in Canaro. Talk about a loosing prospect! I'm sure if all I played was my Blue-eyed soul, even I'd get sick of it! However, if you can't please all of the people all of the time, might as well aim for pleasing all of the people some of the time.
I know in my set there will be one Tanda you don't like. I'm okay with that. If you want to like all of the music all of the time, you can DJ in my place. I really don't mind at all. I enjoy the occasional night off. You too can weather the slings and arrows for a spell. I've seen some very thick skinned people break down under the treatment of a fair-weather crowd. I've seen some grown men cry. If you don't like the way I do things, please do it better. I will be right there taking notes.
That said, up in paragraph 3 I mentioned people tell me that they like my music. They also tell me why. I can let you in on the secret too, free of charge. They say, "thank you for those wonderful Pugeliesse's, and it's okay that you played that Melingo, we got a chance to rest." The secret is that outside of a few, crazy individuals; no one has to dance all the time. Rick once told me that the best dancing comes if you sit and wait out the sets that don't do it for you. If he and I can agree. Well, Peace in the Middle East might still be possible. So when you DJ, shock yourself sometime. If all you put in is Narcotango and Hugo Diaz, throw in some Valses by Biagi (my favorite) and see if that doesn't shake up the dance floor a bit.
Your dance partners might thank you for it.
