tango
libre
with anne-maree
tango libre offers the essence of traditional Argentine Tango while exploring ways in which the dancers can get creative through exchange of energy, interpretation of modern and traditional music and subtle use of space.
tango libre is ultimately about communication with your partner and with the music, having fun and being able to adapt the dance to modern and traditional fused music. You will learn the concept of a sliding embrace and all moves are taught from a conceptual basis that is not routine driven.
Emphasis is not only on learning new moves but being able to have control over the enhancement of the moves you already have in a pleasing and flowing manner. It is not a prescribed way of learning or teaching, hence the term "tango libre".
It is about using the available space on the dance floor and truly letting your inner sensibility towards the dance come out.
Anne-Maree has had a long tango life.... teaching in Buenos Aires, Sydney and now Nelson. Tango is about loss and possibility. It is fast paced and energetic, slow paced and meditative. Dancing and living this wonderful tango is addictive....CAUTION!
classes
tango is what happens
Sunday
Technique:
4.30 - 6.60pm
St John's Hall,
244 Hardy St, Nelson
$15
Monday Beginners:
5 July - 23 August
7.30 - 9pm
St Johns Hall
$130 for 8 classes
between the steps
tango libre group technique classes are held on a Sunday in Nelson, NZ. Focus is heavily on techniqe and understanding control and flow of energy between two people.
Beginners classes only occur twice a year. The next session starts on 5 July for 8 weeks. The idea is that upon completion of this course dancers can join the Sunay technique class, take privates, or get a group together to create a group private class.
Privates are offered through the week - these are great for expanding your technique and moves in a concentrated manner.
social
milongas
dancing
The next milonga is yet to confirmed... watch this space... in the meantime let's dance with David at the Olive Cafe, Hardy St on Sunday 20 June - 3.30 - 6.30
"Milonga" is the Argentinean Spanish term for the venue where Tango dancers (tangueros) get together to have a social dance. Meet new people, dance with your favourite dancers, dress up and wear fabulous heels or come straight from work - we don't mind. Check out this page regularly for the next upcoming milonga . You can also check out the Nelson Tango Community website for what is happening in our town.
out of town
dj gigs
and tours
9th NZ International Tango Festival
Wellington NZ
21 June - 27 June 2010
DJ
18 Sept 2010
19 Feb 2010
10 May - 17 May 2010
workshops, privates, DJ
13 February 2010
Masquerade Ball, Wellington, NZ
DJing at the NZ Fringe Festival
24 November 2009
Bundanoon, Sydney, Australia
DJing at BASH
June 2008
Australian International Tango Festival
Sydney, Australia
22 Oct - 3 Nov 2010
Tour and DJ
April 2008
Buenos Aires Tango Tour
May 2007
tour 2010
tour 2008
tour 2007
extend yourself
relate explore
festivals
NZ Tango Festival
24-27 June 2010
The 9th Annual New Zealand Tango Festival held in Wellington is over.
Thank you to all those who came to share the love of tango with us. It was a fabulous festival and we are still revelling in the joy of having so many tangueros in NZ from abroard.... slowly slowly I will be uplooading the performances to take us back....click on their names...
Our guest teachers this year were
Ariadna & Fernando
Gustavo & Gisela
Fabrizio & Celi
Alicia Pons
Fabio & Ana
Sebastian Arrua
Joaquin Amenabar.
a brief history of
the music of tango
Argentine Tango is a freestyle, passionate and sensual dance that has crossed nations.
Originating in Argentina between the middle of the 19th C and the beginning of the 20th C - it has its roots in African beats, the Spanish Habanera, the milonga and migrant dances. Whilst new moves and modern music change the face of tango - the essence remains the same.
Films have heightened the general public awareness of the beauty and the mystique around Argentine Tango. Whilst it has the fiesty leg movements, extroverted flourishes to enhance the other partner and close embrace as its signature - its new face is becoming apparent in Argentina as more young people embrace what was once their grandparents addiction.
The tango is a true exhibition of upright torsos and intricate leg swirling movements at times violent and dangerous, at times sweet and melancholic merging like a jigsaw puzzle. The tango is a union of two bodies functioning as if they were one.
How it started
There are many accounts of how exactly the dance formed itself into the Argentine Tango we see today. The complexity of tracing its roots is as complex as the entomology of Tango itself.
A favoured account, however, is that it was a lascivious dance initially performed in the brothels of Buenos Aires. The men would practice their leading and make up the moves prior to frequenting the brothels, where they would dance with the "ladies of the night".
Another account is that the "gauchos" (cowboys) who hearded their droves of cattle through the pampas would stop off in villages and, for light relief, dance a milonga (almost definately the precursor to the tango) with the local girls.
Same sex dancing
There are just as many accounts of same sex dancing where the "modern woman" in Paris around 1910 broke down the barriers of a seemingly conformist dance, the machismo tango dance by dancing together. There are many accounts of men dancing with men to create the moves.
Tango travels to Europe and Russia
With the turn of the century and the accesability of travel, Europeans and other nationalities were introduced to this unusually sensuous dance. With their return to their countries of origin the dance spread to Europe and developed into different styles.
Some films showing tango
Assassination Tango, 2004
Tango, 1998 -women dancing together, men dancing together
True Lies, 1994
The Tango Lesson, 1992 - men dancing together
Scent of a women, 1992
Indochione, 1992
The Cotton Club, 1984 - two women dancing together
The Conformist, 1970 - two women dancing together
Sunset Boulevard, 1950
Down Argentine Way, 1940
Flying Down to Rio, 1933
El Tango de la Muerte, 1917 - first film devoted to Tango
The bandoneon
The bandoneon is the quintessential tango instrument - a squeezebox type accordion (without the keys) originating from Germany at the turnof the 20th century. It was believed to have been invented in Germany as a "portable church organ". Its sultry, soothing and sometimes melancholic sounds are the signature instrument of the tango. This instrument stays alive even in the modern versions of tango music. It is an incredibly difficult instrument to play that somehow became inseparable from tango music.
Traditional tango
....comes in many forms from many composers, many arrangements and with many instruments. The bandoneon mentioned above is only one of a plathora of instruments played: the violin, cello, flute, guitar, voice, double bass.
Some of my favourite arrangements are by Canaro, Biaggi, Loumuto, Di Sarli, D'Arienzo and of course Piazzollla.
Modern tango
With the advent of modern musicians taking an interest in tango music, the variety of music available now has increased. There is now jazz infused, house infused, techno infused tango which are all crying out to be danced to. tango libre honours creative processes to fuse the new moves with the traditional moves, the new tango with traditional tango music.
The tango has been described as "dazzling, intoxicating, enchanting and seductive".
you know you are a
tango addict when.....
(from me, other websites and addicts)
the cabeceo
etiquette
The literal translation of cabeceo is 'nod of the head'. In simple terms it is a non-verbal invitation to dance the tango from man to woman. The man looks at the woman and indicates with a movement of his head that he would like to dance. If she accepts the cabeceo, she will nod, he will move towards her and they will tango; if she refuses the offer, she will look away, and he will not approach.
The cabeceo's immense charm is in its subtlety - it avoids an awkward situation and unpleasantness by the smallest of gestures, whose meaning - particularly if the woman declines - is kept private between the requester and requestee. Indeed what could be more natural at a milonga than to communicate by eye contact? No longer is there the danger to cross a crowded room to invite a woman to dance, only to be turned down in front of everyone.
In Buenos Aires the cabaceo is used relentlessley. In many Western countries we are resistant to it - it appears that we see it as forward or worse still .... rude!
From dancing tango a long time as both lead and follow here are some of my observations:
Shoes
If you are in BA change your shoes in the toilet
Smell good
but don't over do it with the perfume/after shave - you dont want your partner to pass out
Wash your body well
close embracing someone you don't know needs to be as pleasant an experience as possible
Clean your teeth
Freshen your breath (especially if you smoke)
Do not drink and tango
It smells unpleasant and does not help your balance
styles
continued...
Argentine Tango
Generally couples dance in a close embrace, with the leading characteristic that both lead and follower are facing in the same direction: the lead's head looking left, the follower's right. The bodies are often tilted towards each other, with chests closer together than the feet - creating an 'A' frame. A critical element is that in the salida (the walk) the dancers keep their feet close to the floor (except for embellishments).
Tango Salon
Danced in an open or closed embrace, with both dancers keeping separate axes and a vertical posture, without a lean. The couple typically have loose, sliding embrace to accommodate the turns, with a 'V' shape in that the woman's left shoulder and the man's right shoulder are closer than their other shoulders. It originated in up-market dance salons with plenty of space for embellishments - it is graceful and aristocratic. The step sequences are fairly simple. It is the most known style.
Tango Orillero
Here the embellishments are very widely utilized, as it originated in the suburbs where large dance spaces also allowed full freedom to maneuver. Orillero is basically Tango Salon with 'street influence'. It is a sharp, street style of tango dancing, with many embellishments and figures and lots of leg play, as opposed to smoother Salon. It can be danced in open or closed embrace and the embraces tend to follow the trends in Buenos Aires, sometimes the woman's arm is very low onto the man's back, around his middle back or acorss the shoulders. There is no lean.
Tango Milonguero
Dancers are in a close embrace, leaning slightly towards each other, where the dancers share an axis. There is a bit of distance between the couple's feet. The dancers are often so close that the woman's left arm is draped far behind the man's neck, and the couple maintain a constant upper body contact without a loose embrace. Its emphasis is on sensuality.
Club Tango
This is a fusion of Milonguero and Tango de Salon; the rhythms of Milonguero are combined with a separate axes and embrace of Salon, in an offset 'V'. It is not regarded by all as a truly distinct tango style.
Tango Canyengue
Danced to a 2/4 tempo, with short steps (this is due to the fact that when this type of tango was first danced, in the 1920's and 1930's, women had very long and tight dresses). The partners are offset in a close embrace, usually with touching heads. The follower does not cross. A distinction is a significant lean above the knee.
Tango Liso
Just the simpler steps are danced - no ganchos or boleos. This is because it originated within very crowded spaces.
Milonga
This is a related dance with a faster tempo (not a true tango in the strict sense as it is 2/4 rather than 4/4).
Tango Nuevo
Generally this type of music is danced at an arms length in an upright manner, with a leading characteristic that both dancers maintain their own axis. It is a new style that is highly explorative and attempts to derive both new music and new sequences of steps and moves. A new technique developed by Neuvo is the Colgada.
Nuevo Milonguero
This is the close-embrace form of Neuvo Tango.
European/International Ballroom Tango
Different to Argentine Tango, and typically used within European competitions. Its leading characteristic is staccato (sharp) foot movement.
American (USA) Ballroom Tango
Different to Argentine Tango, and typically used in movies and USA Ballroom Competitions. Its leading characteristic is the 'head snap' and movements danced away from the partner.
neo tango
nuevo tango
Tango-Neuvo has two components: music and dance.
Music
The origin of Tango-Neuvo music can be directly linked to the composer, director and bandoneón player Astor Piazzolla. Piazzolla played the bandoneón in the orquesta tipica of Anibal Troilo, until 1944. However after that he formed his own orquesta tipica (from 1944 to 1949) that deviated from the tango of that time in both rhythm and harmonic complexity. Piazzolla then went to Paris to study music, and returned to Buenos Aires in 1955 where he formed his Octeto Buenos Aires - and it is here that he began composing and directing Tango-Nuevo, combining characteristics of traditional tango, classical music and jazz. Ironically, whilst being greatly acclaimed today, Piazzolla was for many years disowned by the Argentine milongueri who denounced his compositions as corrupting tango.
The official site of Astor Piazzolla has this to say about the origin of Tango-Neuvo:
We have to consider the focus of the following because the influence of Piazzolla begins to be so powerful that all seems to be divided between before and after Piazzolla.
When Piazzolla returns to Argentina (1955) after his studies with Nadia Boulanger, he decides to form the OCTETO BUENOS AIRES. With this group Piazzolla produces innovations that influence forever his attitude as player and composer. A new violent passion to arrange and to compose (in two years he composed and arranged more that 40 works); his decision for producing a rupture with the traditional tango, and the conviction for developing a group of musicians that come up to the same temperature musically and on stage as what he saw in Paris with the Mulligan Octet, which impressed him so much. The Octeto Buenos Aires definitively links him to the instrumental tango but not exclusively. With a formation of two bandoneones, two violins, piano, cello, electrical guitar and bass, this group becomes a proclamation of the rejection to the place of privilege that the singer had, imposed in the tango of the 40s, and also and expulsion of the dancer (unavoidable protagonist of that tango and personage always present in the actual tango-spectacle). With the Octet, Piazzolla goes deep into chamber music criteria that show the independence of the tango with the pattern of the Orquesta Típica. Furthermore, the electrical guitar incorporates a new timbre not existing in the genre. But, since that time it is decisive in the inexorable fusion between the performance and the composition. The intensity that Piazzolla wants for his performance enters the score and intends to reach a physical palpitation. The bandoneón, his style as a player, his conception of the phrases, the unexpected treatment of the tempo, the visceral explosion that breaks the calm, is more that the excellence of the player: it affects the treatment of the score. Piazzolla considers the Octet is the start of the Contemporaneous Tango. But, the revolution that Piazzolla makes (farther on the influences that produces and a lot of subsequent imitations), is a solitary revolution. The genre cant absorb it and doesnt evolve: rather Piazzolla breaks the genre. When it is said a lot of times, that Piazzolla killed the tango, we feel a confuse suspicion but with some truth about it. Since Piazzolla the tango ceased to be a protector and enveloping genre, with precise limits. With Piazzolla the tango becomes 'contaminated' with a lot of influences (the names linked to his esthetics seems to be its symbols: Gary Burton, Rostropovich, Gidon Kremer, Mulligan, Kronos Quarter, and of course all the young musicians of the tango). However, this interrelation of music is not eclectic due to the firmness of the style that Piazzolla gets.
Tango-Nuevo music has evolved further during the 1970s, 80s and 90s with the influence of jazz, which moved tango into an even more experimental genre - which (at about the year 2000) brought on the advent of Neo-Tango, a logical progression.
Dance
With regards to the dance component of Tango-Nuevo, this was coined around the early 1990s, mostly as a result of the structural analysis of the dance by Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas.
Interestingly, Gustavo Naveira once wrote that:
There is great confusion on the question of the way of dancing the tango: call it technique, form, or style. The term tango nuevo is used to refer to a style of dancing, which is an error. In reality, tango nuevo is everything that has happened with the tango since the 1980s. It is not a question of a style... The words tango nuevo express what is happening with tango dancing in general; namely that it is evolving. Tango nuevo is not one more style; it is simply that tango dancing is growing, improving, developing, enriching itself, and in that sense we are moving toward a new dimension in tango dancing...There has been much recent discussion, in the community of tango dancers, on the problem of the embrace, dividing the dance into open or closed style, which is also a matter of great confusion. Open embrace or closed embrace, dancing with space or dancing close, these are all outmoded terms. This is an old way of thinking, resulting from the lack of technical knowledge in past eras. This simple and clumsy division between open and closed is often used by those who try to deny the evolution of the dance, to disguise their own lack of knowledge. Today it is perfectly clear that the distances in the dance have a much greater complexity than a simple open or closed... We have learned, and we have developed our knowledge. The result of this is a dance of greater possibilities, and also of a much more artistic quality.
Naveira and Salas are credited with atomically deconstructing elements of tango, and analyzing how the elements correlated to each other. This resulted in a 'didactic method' that allowed the dancer to 'construct' their own tango via a personal interpretation.
In an interview, Gustavo Naveira was once asked:
It is a general thought that one of your talents is the capacity to analyze the dance and to dissect it to the smallest (almost molecular) structure. Are you in agreement with this thought from your own students? Is this type of analysis deliberate, when you practice?
He answered:
Yes, yes... It is a very accurate description of our way to face tango when we dance. It was always that way, we both use this approach, even before we met. When we started dancing together, we realized that we needed a more intellectual or academic scheme for this dance. We had not seen such an approach before ... I think it is not exactly a tendency to structure it. Because if I say that the dance is becoming more structured there could be a thought that we are seeking a standard sequence, and that is not what we are looking to do. We are aiming at understanding the elements that form the dance. We want to understand how the elements coordinate to make it work ... We have developed a didactic method that elaborates and combines the ideas, concepts, and tendencies proposed by the best known Argentine teachers, integrating them with our personal understanding and experience. We believe that the movements, relations, and the body gestures used in the tango nuevo the way we teach it are important for gaining body awareness and, above all, that they can also be applied to the more classical way of dancing the tango. The tango nuevo is not something different from the tango: the basic movements and relationships are the same, but the characteristic elements change. In the nuevo they are more extreme and alternate the close embrace with a form that leaves more freedom of movement, which is often required to interpret the new electronic sounds more effectively. We would like to emphasize that with the same basic movements of the tango nuevo, you can dance any tango.
However in that same interview he again stated that:
The subject of 'tango nuevo' is something... it is a name that some people have started to use to identify something that is thought to be a new style. I dont agree with that concept. I never called what I do tango nuevo and do not intend to call it that because I think it is wrong, but I cant argue or prevent others from calling it by that name. I just have a different opinion. I think what has happened is that tango has evolved and logically there are a number of new aspects that enrich the dance, that were previously not known. There is a more elaborate choreography that makes the dance look a little different, obviously, because of complexity and detailed, broader, dense. This does not mean that there is a nuevo tango; thats an illusion. I think what it is there is a better tango. Tango has evolved and today we are seeing the results of such evolution. I dont think it is very wise to try to 'box' every style and put it in separate 'boxes' or categories. I dont think it happens that way.
The 'didactic method' broke away from teaching students sequences of steps until they were memorized, but rather individual movements were assessed and recomposed in a more natural, fluid and spontaneous manner, with personal experimentation and creativity a key focus. Its characteristics include:
Personal experimentation
Comfort
Use of the free leg, particularly to explore space around the partner
Frequent disassociation of embraces
Agility
Careful management of the axis
Tango-Nuevo has the following characteristics:
Music: originated by Piazzolla in the 1950's, who added new instruments, complexity and metres that were not used in traditional tango.
Dancing: from a dancing perspective, the term Tango-Nuevo was coined around the early 1990s, due to experimentation by Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas, who structurally analysed the dance.
Derives from Argentina.
The music is heavily influenced by other genres, for example jazz - this is where Tango-Nuevo and Neo-Tango overlap, although Neo-Tango extends the experimentation even further.
New combinations of steps, embraces and combinations, particularly changes of directions in turns, use of the loose embrace, and the exploration of the space between the legs and around the body of the partner. Once again there is significant overlap with Neo-Tango, however the latter extending the experimentation even further.
Upright posture with dancers maintaining their own axes.
Neo-Tango
What we are seeing in neo-tango is a most beautiful thing; it is the new generation of dancers who have welcomed, subsumed and embraced tango, and are evolving it to a new form!
Neo-Tango History
Whilst one cannot precisely pinpoint the 'invention' of Neo-Tango, the first three albums by the group Gotan Project - Vuelvo Al Sur (2000), El Capitalismo Foraneo (2001) and La Revancha del Tango (2001) - mark a world turning point for the genre, which is considered by many as Neo-Tango's birth.
Gotan Project said:
You have to peel away the monotony tango is wrapped up in, as much on a harmonic, melodic and rhythmic level as on an aesthetic one. In short, you have to fire both musicians and their audience with enthusiasm, not bore them to death but the music youre playing must never stop being tango!
In 2003 Narcotango was produced by Carlos Libedinsky with no marketing budget and without a record label it became an overnight sensation.
Carlos Libedinsky said:
There was something that seemed strange to me. There were many people experimenting with a new form of dancing, but the music they were dancing to didn't seem to me to harmonize. I also felt a rich, living energy in the milongas, but at the same time the music being played there was all by artists who were already dead. It seemed that a part of the tradition had been left behind.
Much of what I was listening to at the time began to inspire me to dance as if it were tango. I was going out dancing at night and then at home in my CD player I had this modern music playing, and I began to feel a connection between the two. It was very interesting the first time I invited some friends to the studio to play them the new tracks I was recording. Suddenly, we all started dancing here on the patio. At that moment I realized that it wasn't just me, that there were others who were also eager for new music.
Neo-Tango Characteristics
Neo-Tango has the following characteristics:
Evolved about the year 2000.
Mostly derives from the USA and the rest of Europe, rather than Argentina itself.
Neo-Tango is danced to music that is not traditional tango (Fusion or Alternative - see below).
Has many new forms of steps, embraces and combinations - particularly the over-extended step, almost a leap
Within a dance, there can be separation of lead and follower, in which embraces are broken, or the lead rotates around the follower without touching.
The dress code is 'hip', including baggy pants etc.
Neo-Tango Genres
Neo-Tango is highly experimental, not only with a completely new evolution of music style, but also novel and inventive embraces and moves. It consists of two genres:
Tango Fusion: a collaboration between contemporary tango and other types of music to create a modern feel. The fusion includes electronica, synthesized music, jazz, ethnic sound, house, rock, dosco, dance-club and techno. It should be noted that the strongest identification of Tango Fusion, and probably with Neo-Tango generally, is with electronica - also known as electrotango. It is interesting to note that the bandoneón is a strong input into electrotango.
Alternative Tango: non-tango music danced to Argentine tango steps. Here a 'tangoesque' beat is clearly recognizeable, and the fact that the music is identifiable makes it very danceable. Fo
Neo-Tango vs Traditional Tango
Neo-Tango has the following traits in common with traditional tango:
A consistent, walkable tempo (the unmistakable 4/4 tango beat)
Sophisticated tango rhythm
Neo-Tango musicians
The more notable Neo-Tango musicians include:
Gotan Project
Bajofondo
Narcotango (Carlos Libedinsky)
Electrocutango
Carla Pugliese
Otros Aires
Tanghetto
Hybrid Tango
Juan Carlos Caceres
Tango Project (Jaime Wilensky)
Neo-Tango Albums
Popular Neo-Tango albums include:
Astor Piazzolla Remixed
Bajofondo Tango Club (by Bajofondo)
Buenos Aires Remixed (by Tanghetto)
Dos (by Otros Aires)
Electro-Tango Vol. I (by Orquesta electronica Berretin)
Emigrate (by Tanghetto)
Felino (by Electrocutango)
La Revancha del Tango (by Gotan Project)
Lunático (by Gotan Project)
Mar dulce (by Bajofondo Tangoclub)
Narcotango (by Carlos Libedinsky)
Narcotango II (by Carlos Libedinsky)
Nuevos Aires (by Bailongo)
Otros Aires (by Otros Aires)
Revolution (by Tangothic)
Tango Electronico (by Le Tango)
Tango Project II (by Jaime Willensky)
ENJOY!!!
say hi from
anne-maree
with my friends
In sydney
newtango (my old dance school)
dance tango
tango encanto
patio de tango
tango synergy
milonga de mis amores
in wellington
tangosalon
in auckland
tango passion
in switzerland
purotango
in new york
tango muse
email
me or call
Please feel free to contact me and tell me your favourite tango artists and songs. Favourite songs to dance to and any other info you think I would be interested in reading!
I love to hear tango tales.
Happy Dancing.....
Anne-Maree Therkleson
tel: + 64 3 548 3505
027 238 0568
Copyright 2010 C Tangolibre All rights reserved.
