Crossing over from ballroom to Tango

bordertangoman said:
I think the way music is put together is fascinating.. my first LP was L'Arlesienne by Bizet, and my music teacher explained to me what a fugue was. Must have been about 10 or 11...
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The definition I was given for Fugue... a piece where the instruments come in one by one and the audience leaves two by two....

(actually I like the L'A. suite too)
 
Zoopsia59 said:
The definition I was given for Fugue... a piece where the instruments come in one by one and the audience leaves two by two...
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Funny! And true. Fugue is a very complicated format - not many people like them at first, an aquired taste. I know many professional musicians (my wife, for one - Brahms is her thing) who can't stand the greastest (IMHO) master of fugue writing, Bach. That's unfathomable to me, but there you go...Classicist/Romanticist, Yin/Yang...
 
tangomonkey said:
Funny! And true. Fugue is a very complicated format - not many people like them at first, an aquired taste. I know many professional musicians (my wife, for one - Brahms is her thing) who can't stand the greastest (IMHO) master of fugue writing, Bach. That's unfathomable to me, but there you go...Classicist/Romanticist, Yin/Yang...
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Ahhh...fugues. *swoon* And just today I was listening to The Art of Fugue. *swoon, swoon, swoon*

I can never decide if Bach or Beethoven is my favorite composer. A question I could debate endlessly with myself.

*end hijack;
 
[rehijack] I remember the day I fell in love with Bach. I went to see Virgil Fox, a now-long-deceased organist, in a beautiful old church on the outskirts of Philadelphia, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. He played the Toccata and Fugue in d minor on a humongous organ. It was love at first listen. I could feel it in my bones and my blood. Never going back. [/end hijack ... probably]
 
Peaches said:
Ahhh...fugues. *swoon* And just today I was listening to The Art of Fugue. *swoon, swoon, swoon*

I can never decide if Bach or Beethoven is my favorite composer. A question I could debate endlessly with myself.

*end hijack;
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A true work of genius! I never tire of listening to (and analyzing!) it.

I lean towards Bach, but luckily we never have to actually decide!

So what's on for tomorrow - Die Grosse Fuge?
 
pygmalion said:
[rehijack] I remember the day I fell in love with Bach. I went to see Virgil Fox, a now-long-deceased organist, in a beautiful old church on the outskirts of Philadelphia, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. He played the Toccata and Fugue in d minor on a humongous organ. It was love at first listen. I could feel it in my bones and my blood. Never going back. [/end hijack ... probably]
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That's a great piece! I've listened to it many times but never as it should be heard - like you did. To compensate, I crank up the volume - a lot!
 
Zoopsia59 said:
I would think that floorcraft would REQUIRE being in the moment, not the reverse.
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I'm not sure that's true.

One key aspect of floorcraft is being aware of what's happening around you - that is, what other couples are doing / planning to do. And of course, being able to change your plan if they're looking like they'll get in the way. Or, from another POV, "dancing with the whole room".

So "improvisation on the fly" is required, but that's not the same as "being in the moment".
 
Zoopsia59 said:
I would think that floorcraft would REQUIRE being in the moment, not the reverse. Perhaps ballroom dancers are more predictable on the social dance floor than AT dancers and therefore planning ahead to accomodate floorcraft might work. But planning ahead in AT often results in a last minute change of plan anyway... ie: in the moment.
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Being in the Moment is a pretty theoretical construct anyway and is only acheived by small children and elderly monks. being able to change direction on the dance floor and keep it as part of the dance is a matter of experience and reaction time *

**dave bailey might not agree with this..
 
bordertangoman said:
A musical interlude; Fudge Fugue by Quintessence (Bach)
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A nice fugue, one of the most popular organ fugues of Bach. Bach's music is often played/arranged for other instruments and ensembles. He did that himself too, with his own music and others. Quintessence plays with some jazz inflections and phrasing, which is Ok, but I prefer my Bach straight up. There are lots of recordings out there with a very jazz/swing interpretation - some work better than others. I'd explain why I think so, in a classical music forum I read, not here....hijacked this thread enough already
 
Dave Bailey said:
I'm not sure that's true.

One key aspect of floorcraft is being aware of what's happening around you - that is, what other couples are doing / planning to do. And of course, being able to change your plan if they're looking like they'll get in the way. Or, from another POV, "dancing with the whole room".

So "improvisation on the fly" is required, but that's not the same as "being in the moment".
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Clearly, everyone else is using "in the moment" to mean some zen state of higher consciousness. I just meant not planning specific step patterns too far ahead based on knowing that in 15 measures the music is going to change. :rolleyes:
 
Zoopsia59 said:
Clearly, everyone else is using "in the moment" to mean some zen state of higher consciousness. I just meant not planning specific step patterns too far ahead based on knowing that in 15 measures the music is going to change. :rolleyes:
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Has anyone suggested that? Maybe I missed it. I think it's obvious, "doing", reacting in time to the music at this moment, not "planning" for what is to come will produce a better dance. Don't think anyone has said otherwise.
 
tangomonkey said:
Has anyone suggested that? Maybe I missed it. I think it's obvious, "doing", reacting in time to the music at this moment, not "planning" for what is to come will produce a better dance. Don't think anyone has said otherwise.
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really coming from a musician??????; you surprise me..the brains delight in music is our ability to anticipate what is coming and occasionaly be confounded

(Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation: DAvid Huron)

otherwise we'd be tangoing to Japanese or Chinese music...which really be would be in the moment.
 
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