opendoor
Forum Master
I start pondering now. What does it mean when a studied show dancer and iconic stage hog like Gavito says things like that?
How to improve musicality
- Thread starter JTh
- Start date
I start pondering now. What does it mean when a studied show dancer and iconic stage hog like Gavito says things like that?
We have to distinguish between musicality response in terms of movement dynamics, which can be taught, and the emotional response to the music, which is very subjective according to each individual, there is no right or wrong, and therefore can't be taught.
AN 'emotional' response can be generated, or taught. It's acting a role, at least for some/many unless that music has some special connection. Look at all the AT performances on YT, or, even worse, some dance show on the local media. Is that emotional portrayal for real?
You 'feel' what the music is to you, and then you portray that in your dance. That may be a learned portrayal or something that's 'from the heart'.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Well, one can "act" many things but that would be acting not feeling. It would be a pretense.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
Well, Gavito also had (at the time) about 40 years of experience in dance and tango behind him and was quite familiar with the local milonga scene in BA. So, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt here.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
THAT is precisely what Gavito was talking about. And that special connection to the music does not come from working out exercises in class.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
Musicality seems rather easy to me:
Code:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/663179185383127The challenge is to put that in dancing steps when you are holding another person in your arms. I can see people grooving musically when seating in their chair or standing on the side line. They use arms, or head nodding, or feet moving along with music. I think for most people it is a natural instinct. However when they get up and dance, they become prisoners of their own steps. On top of that if you are dancing holding another person and have to move in unison, it probably freezes the musicality part of the brain.
Yes, but I'm not just dancing holding another person and have to move in unison; I'm leading/following their movement to the music. And then, sometimes, there's the magic in being united with the same thought of expressing that musical phrase in that opportunity we manufacured.
I'd concede that the novice's perspective may be my steps in that sequence but, as a leader, I'm thinking of my partner's steps and then how I achieve those to the music (whilst navigating and avoiding obstacles). To me, it's a change in perspective from what I do to what we do.
There's a lot of truth in: It takes two to tango. Sure, we can each 'dance' some steps on our own, but it's about joining together to create something to that music and phrasing. The leader is not just a support in the right position for the follower's steps, nor is the follower just forced into some move like a rag doll, however well-timed to the music.
itwillhappen
Forum Master
Yes, it can take a while before you even have free capacity for musical movements when dancing.
And it can also take time for your ears to get used to the stress of annoying, squeaky music at a milonga.
To keep my ears friendly, I'm listening to this podcast series (currently at 23/80):
✦ In 80 Tangos um die Welt - Around the world in 80 Tangos Berlin
In 80 Tangos um die Welt - Around the world in 80 Tangos Berlin
www.tangomundo.de
JournalInTime
Forum Master
There's much truth in this. I can speak only for leaders:
Leaders have to do a lot at once: (1) actively listen to and interpret music, (2) move to that music, (3) lead someone else's movements to that music, and (4) navigate around others to that music. It's an extremely advanced case of patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time, or fighting with a baston in either hand, or playing both a harmonica and a guitar. To make it work, you have to not just develop head-nodding, toe-tapping musicality – which I agree comes naturally – but also commit all your own movements to muscle memory, commit all your leads to different muscle memory in other RAM, and not let the music, your movements, or your partner's movements (led or otherwise) pull you out of the moment, so you can respond to the unanticipated . . . musically.
This is why I've never had faith in "musicality" classes: They're teaching grandma to suck eggs. More useful are practicing steps and pivots until they're no more unnatural than walking down the street, exercises like leading without hands to internalize core orientation, and floorcraft lessons. Leaders who move, lead, and navigate instinctively can uncage their musicality, which is almost always already present. However, without the confidence and physical facility to engage in actions like swift foot movements, and without reducing the leader's-ear-to-follower's-movement delay to as close to its theoretical minimum as possible, even the most musical leader is going to look clunky, underconfident, and hence unmusical.
I'm sure there's a follower version of this story, too. Looking at my preferred followers, the most musical are the ones who listen to the music and already have an idea of possible leads, and who have minimized their received-lead-to-follower-movement delay as much as possible: I barely have time to think my lead and it happens, on the music. I can take at most 50% of the credit for that. Unmusical followers, on the other hand, seem to be constantly pausing, as if waiting for a signal from me is mutually exclusive with moving.
Right. The emotion may not be teachable. Making student aware of the emotional reaction and feelings in response to the music they hear can be bought to the fore. Then encourage them to think how they would like to express it with their movement. It is not hard in terms of provoking them to think of musicality in their dancing. Harder part is training and practicing. Inculcating as part of their regular instinct when dancing.
It is easier to execute steps. Visually it is appealing to observe others execute steps. Unless you are the one dancing, it is almost not possible to relate to the emotions, feelings and reaction to the music which the two people dancing are experiencing.
Precisely, that's why most shows and performances are choreographed. Choreography is nothing but acting. Two different good dancers can dance the same choreography and make it look musical with their own style. However if we were to ask two good musical dancers to spontaneously dance to a music, then the two would probably more interaction and reacting in real-time to the music, each bringing their own distinct flavor to it.
And as quoted, you can't teach the feeling. Nevertheless you can teach and learn the expression, or display of that emotion. It's called acting. Certainly an illusion (but then, so is pretending it's BsAs). It doesn't need choreography, just an understanding of the emotions being expressed in the music or song and the tools to express it. That's where some Argentinian Spanish, or knowledge of the meaning of the lyrics (musicality?), comes in.
ArbeeNYC
Forum Master
This is too subjective. You can't teach anyone that a given passage in a given tango expresses Emotion X and another passage expresses Emotion Y. You can teach them how the music works, how the song works musically, and different ways to respond to those passages. They'll have to work out the emotions for themselves. And this is especially true of instrumentals. Unless you're inside someone's head, you don't know what emotions they're feeling and you can't impose your own.