What makes a waltz a waltz for you?

Steve Pastor said:
Many people believe that about milonga, too. "There are no pauses in milonga."

I here some to "many" pauses, albeit short ones, in both vals and milonga.
Here we look at val.

The first sheet music I happened to look at was Corazón de oro

http://www.todotango.com/english/las_obras/partitura.aspx?id=2797

I see pauses.
Click to expand...
It's too bad it's so scratchy. I suspect that's why I've never heard that version played at a milonga. It's also a bit slower than the typical vals (at least for the ones I usually hear). If someone were to spend a few years cleaning it up, It likely would be a very nice version.

I heard a pause (hold) between the intro and the start of the melody, then another one (I think) between verses. I like songs with some tempo changes (like this one had), but some leaders (I suspect people without music backgrounds) find tempo changes difficult to dance to.
 
Steve Pastor said:
Many people believe that about milonga, too. "There are no pauses in milonga."
Click to expand...
I think that style of milonga is called milonga liso (no pauses and no traspies).

The only thing that I haven't been able to acquire a taste for (in milonga), is how some people (mostly performers), try to make milonga as elegant as VU style tango. For whatever reason, that style of dance just doesn't fit the emotion of most milongas (the music) for me.
 
dchester said:
I think that style of milonga is called milonga liso (no pauses and no traspies).

The only thing that I haven't been able to acquire a taste for (in milonga), is how some people (mostly performers), try to make milonga as elegant as VU style tango. For whatever reason, that style of dance just doesn't fit the emotion of most milongas (the music) for me.
Click to expand...
As you've made that comment (correctly as far as I'm concerned) and this
is a Vals thread, I cannot resist posting this performance in which Gavito
does the strangest thing to a Vals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UvxaPiIQ20&feature=player_embedded
 
Sorry, I was hoping people would look at the music as transcribed in the score on that page. What we hear, however... And what is actually played...
 
Subliminal said:
Your point is taken, that pauses can be used in vals if the music is appropriate, but it seems music that has pauses in it are the outliers. The bulk of vals music (that is played for dancing, not for listening) seems to be sweepy, flowing, and continuous.
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My point is that sentences like "vals is flowing" or "there are no pauses in vals" are over-simplifications which perhaps can be good to explain vals to a beginner, but an advanced dancer should considers that things are a bit more complex, and that there are nuances in valses as well.
The question should not be if vals is flowing, but "how much and where is this music flowing?" may it be a tango or a vals.
I have given some example, and all the orchestras that I cited play for dancing.

With "pauses" in the music I also mean long sustained notes when NO other instrument is giving a rhytmic base: in this case, according to me, you should not step (any other movement which is slow and doesn't imply stepping is ok). Instead, if there is rhythm and melody, you can choice to follow one or the other, or both of them in the same time.

Clarified that, I can admit that, in general, vals music has less pauses than tango. And as a consequence this is reflected to the dance.
But this is very different than saying that the absence of pauses make a vals a vals.
 
Steve Pastor said:
Many people believe that about milonga, too. "There are no pauses in milonga."

I here some to "many" pauses, albeit short ones, in both vals and milonga.
Here we look at val.

The first sheet music I happened to look at was Corazón de oro

http://www.todotango.com/english/las_obras/partitura.aspx?id=2797

I see pauses.
Click to expand...
That's for all of those who don't belive if they don't see :cheers:.
Anyway many valses have that kind of pauses at the end of the musical phrases, and they are clearly noticable also when listening.
 
chanchan said:
My point is that sentences like "vals is flowing" or "there are no pauses in vals" are over-simplifications
Click to expand...

Maybe I missed a post somewhere, but what I recall is that the OP asked what people LIKE in vals when they dance and there were answers like "Flow" and "no pauses".
 
Zoopsia59 said:
Maybe I missed a post somewhere, but what I recall is that the OP asked what people LIKE in vals when they dance
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Sorry, but I read his post again and there is nowhere that question, he asked:

- What makes a waltz a waltz for you?
- [...] But what else makes a good waltz? Circular movements? Smoothness in the step?

- What do you do to make your waltz stand out from your regular tango, style and step-wise?

He seems to ask for opinions, not tastes.

I asked you about Pugliese's vals, because I wanted to understand if you usually don't like pauses in vals, or if you believe that pauses are wrong in any vals, as a principle, included valses where the flow someway stops in certain moments.

The first one is a taste, the second one is an belief, an opinion.
In the first case there is nothing to say, in the second case it can arise an interesting discussion.
 
Well, zoops is right about the intent. Everyone has their own opinion on how it should be danced, the idea was to find out personal preferences in style/emotion/technique and discuss.

As far as I'm concerned, there isn't a wrong answer to the question. Unless your answer is something like, "Vals makes me want to Lindy Hop." :-P
 
Originally Posted by Zoopsia59
Maybe I missed a post somewhere, but what I recall is that the OP asked what people LIKE in vals when they dance

chanchan said:
Sorry, but I read his post again and there is nowhere that question.
Click to expand...

He also specifically asked followers what they like.

From Sub's original post: "Particularly followers, what they like to feel"

I answered as a follower and gave my preferences on what I like to feel.

I don't understand your attempts to make more out of it than that.
 
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