La Vida del Tango

Bethlehem, PA
ph: 484-896-8679
alt: 718-925-3093
info@lavidadeltango.org

Essays & Articles

There is a growing body of literature on the tango and this space will be dedicated to sharing essays and articles that may help those who seek to enrich their understanding of the dance. In special "Musings with the Maestros" sections we plan to publish interviews with notable figures in the contemporary world of tango.

Six secrets for becoming an irresistible tanguera
March 31, 2011
Last month I published five key concepts for the man’s role in tango, and I promised to follow this month with an article focusing on the woman’s role. There is no perfection in this, as the dance is so difficult to capture in words; nonetheless, my hope is that some will find themselves thinking differently about their tango experience after considering these six thoughts.
1. Tango is not about leading and following; it is about dancing.
A tanguera is at a milonga to dance, not to follow. A great tanda is magical coming together of two sentient, creative beings ready to make something happen in motion, in harmony with each other, with the music, and with the room. In this, there is no “leading and following” in the pedestrian meaning of these terms. Both individuals are creating the dance in fluid response to the sensuous ebb and flow of the music. In this process, the man is placed in charge of navigation; but both will lead and follow as the creative process unfolds.
2. Use the floor, not the man
In order to dance and not merely to follow, one has to have a command of one’s own axis and one’s ability to move with precision and the right amount of energy; that is, one has to have a command of one’s technique. Just as the tanguera does not like it when she is squeezed, pushed, or pulled by the man, as these actions limit her freedom to dance, the man does not want to be leaned upon or otherwise used to support the weight of his partner, as this will limit his freedom. When the man—the technically capable man, that is—leads the accomplished tanguera to a calesita, she does not use her arms and his to maintain her balance. She uses the floor and the resources of her own body (her musculature, her poise, her core).
3. Study, and practice
Because technical mastery is so essential to the dance, it is imperative that the dancer, whether man or woman, practice. This is best done under the guidance of a competent teacher or coach. Unfortunately, technique classes are sparse, and group classes rarely focus on anything but steps and sequences. Women rightly complain about this state of affairs; but the situation won’t change if the students don’t demand it. Consider either working with a private instructor that you trust, or seek out group classes that focus on technique rather than steps.
4. Seek quality, not quantity
Many aspiring tangueras complain that men won’t dance with them…that they have to sit at milongas without dancing…that the world is unfair, when a bad male dancer can get to dance, whatever his shape or his age, but not, apparently, the woman. Most often, however, this is simply not true. The bad male dancer’s choice of dance partners is severely limited. Ask a tanguero whom you admire, if they have had to earn the right to win dances from the best tangueras. Of course they have! Aspiring tangueras: consider carefully whether you really want to dance with a less than qualified “leader.” It is completely understandable that you want to dance. But dancing with poor leaders can adversely affect your dancing. Bad dancers may transmit their bad dance habits to you; after a woman dances with a bouncy man, she may start bouncing with every partner! If you are dancing with unsuitable partners, you are neither enjoying the dance as you deserve to, nor improving yourself. You are also giving the men the impression that they are good, and don’t need to study! And worse, many men don’t pay their dues by studying and learning to dance tango properly. Rather than going out nightly to milongas to dance poorly with bad leaders, consider investing your time in classes which allow you to focus on improving your own dance. This in itself is a rewarding process. And when you have improved, without a doubt, your dance options at the milongas will expand, as will your enjoyment of the dance.
5. Dance to your body first
This may sound counter-intuitive in tango. We are told “follow the man’s chest”; “put yourself in front of the man’s chest”; “face the man.” In my opinion, these notions may be well-intentioned, but for the most part, they are not well founded. Yes, in certain sequences, it is important for the woman to know where to step in relationship with the man; and it is important for the man and woman to maintain the same distance from each other. But in normal dancing, the woman’s first priority should be to make a natural step that allows her to find her new axis, with certainty, with comfort, and with grace.
6. Dance to the music!
You were perhaps told to “listen to the music through the man” and dance that way. I see it somewhat differently. I want to dance with a partner who is listening to the music directly, with her ears, body, and heart. Great tango dancers are continually in a vivid state of awareness of their partner, the music, and their own bodies. The man must additionally be acutely aware of the room, because of his navigational role; but the woman also must be aware of the room, otherwise how can she appropriately adjust her ganchos and boleos so as not to hurt someone? (In general, ganchos and boleo should be directed around the man. I intend to address such technical issues in future articles). The woman’s relationship to the music is equally as important to the dance as the man’s is. It is through their simultaneous listening to the music and to each other and their creative response to these, on top of a strong technical foundation, that a great and magical tanda emerges. And no doubt, everyone else will notice!
These six thoughts are among other important elements that can help you in your quest to become a great tanguera, always desired, always in demand, and very, very satisfied!
© 2011 Andrew L. Kaye
How ANYONE can be a great leader in tango:
Five points for tango success
February 18, 2011
TANGO—The myth, the surprise, the seduction, the silence. For many, a religion, a way of life—milonguerismo. But what about the raw facts? How do we take charge of our dancing?
The answer, I believe, has two parts of equal importance: one is artistry; and the other is technique. Both are demanding, and their perfection generally takes many years of study and perseverance. In this article I will address five areas for consideration for leaders, principally in the realm of technique, to help them achieve their goal of becoming great tangueros. (An article addressing some important technical considerations for followers will appear in March 2011).
1)    A step is a transfer of weight
In its essence, the “step” in tango is a “transfer of weight.” If we have not made a full and proper transfer of weight, we have not executed our step. If we overshoot this transfer of weight, we are making more than one step, and this will also cause problems in our dance. When we define a step as a transfer of weight, we will realize that the step needs to originate in the standing leg (i.e. from the floor); and end when we are perfectly in balance over the new standing leg.
2)    A successful lead comes from the leader’s mastery of his own basic changes of weight; and this needs to be practiced
When we watch a professional tanguero, we can notice his superiority by his very first change of weight. Nevermind that later in his performance he’ll be leading molinetes while pivoting on his own axis and at the same time executing ornaments with his other leg. This takes years of practice, and no normal social dancer will likely ever be doing this on the dance floor. What is important is the beauty and clarity of each individual weight-transfer. Leaders: make it your goal to emulate the basic steps of the professional, not their fancy moves. Your basic technique is something learned and maintained through consistent practice. As Daniel Trenner, a master of the dance and an important figure in the tango revival in the USA, has said, “Left, right, left, right – this is what you’ll be working on in 20 years!” Give your full attention to practicing basic technique, and the advanced steps will come later (and often with ease).
3)    The first consideration in the mind of the leader must always be his partner
The only thing that makes the leader’s part harder than the follower’s, if anything, is that he must keep in mind, at all times, exactly what his partner needs to be doing, and he needs to pay equal attention to this as to his own necessary movements. After all, if the follower does something differently than expected, the leader will have to adjust his movements to accommodate hers (the follower has an active role in this, too, of course; a companion article addressing expectations for the follower will be published next month). Men need to dance with a continual awareness of the movements of their partner in mind, and always be ready to adjust if things do not go according to plan. As a general rule, lead the woman to “steps” or “sequences” only when you fully understand the requirements of both parts.
4)    The Wait/Weight rule
Keeping the woman in mind makes men realize that they have to wait for her to execute her step (her change of weight) before going on to the next one. We can call this the “Wait Weight” rule. If men do not obey this, the woman may feel shoved around – her partner is not listening attentively to her movements and does not wait until she’s ready to execute the next one, making her feel that she needs to move prematurely. Remember, you need to know the woman’s movements, not make her do them. You need to give her the time to do them. (There are exceptions, of course, for example in certain advanced sequences where a single dynamic impulse from the leader asks for two or three consecutive steps by the follower; but we need to prepare for this).
5)    The “connection” to your partner is first through the floor and only second through the touch.
“Connection” does not come from squeezing your partner. It comes from the grounded sensation that emerges when the bodies of the dancing pair are each in a beautiful tango relationship with the floor. When this is achieved, the leader and follower are able to to send and receive sensitive movement communications. This communication is via the floor, and may thus be entirely invisible to onlookers, while being clear and vivid to the dancing couple. Argentines are heard to say, “learn to love the floor,” and sometimes they are referring to the motions of the foot of the free leg; but from the perspective of foundational technique, loving the floor should be principally from your supporting leg.
These five thoughts are among other important elements that we need to master to become great tangueros; but they form a solid foundation. Keep these in mind, and tangueras will love you for it!
© 2011 Andrew L. Kaye
Musings with the Maestros: An Interview with Dragan Ranitovic (Sept. 20, 2010)
Dragan Ranitovic is a familiar figure in the New York City tango community, having danced there since 1992. In his native Yugoslavia (Serbia), his interests in dance developed alongside a professional formation in electrical engineering; it was the dancing, though, that brought him to New York, where he exclusively devoted himself to a career in dance. For the past six years, he has been teaching group classes in Argentine tango at the You Should Be Dancing studios on Eighth Avenue and 31^st Street in midtown Manhattan. He also has been teaching monthly workshops in Stroudsburg, PA for the past three years, in association with Pocono Tango. His upcoming workshops in Bethlehem on Sunday, September 26^th will be his fourth in association with The Tango Workshop and La Vida del Tango (in cooperation with Pocono Tango’s Olga McGuire). Dragan graciously agreed to be subject of our first in what we hope to be a series of “Musings with the Maestros” interviews and profiles on the La Vida del Tango website.

LVDT: You have been dancing for most of your life, it seems. How did you first discover your love of dance?

DR: Well, as a boy I watched my parents dance. I was from a small town, not far from Novi Sad, where I went to university (Novi Sad is about 50 miles from the capital, Belgrade), and there was nothing like a dancing school. I learned at first by just watching. There were plenty of opportunities to dance at the time. They still did the old folk dancing, but I was really attracted to the couple dancing, the ballroom and Latin styles. The music fascinated me. There was even tango music at the time, I remember it, and I even remember loving it right from the beginning. But it was music for ballroom tango (international tango), and I only later was able to appreciate the differences of this music from the tangos produced in Argentina. As for the dancing, I learned to use my intuition and feelings, dancing at parties, learning how to approach the girls, and move together. At that time, there were many live bands performing in public places. On the Adriatic coast, each town had three or four terraces with live bands. For years, that was the goal, to go out and dance. It was all for fun. The steps were not important. You improvised, explored feelings, the different qualities of embrace. There were not many rules.

LVDT: Did you ever get formal instruction?

DR: Oh yes, but that came later. When I was at university in Novi Sad, I learned from an old man who was teaching ballroom dancing. He was always surrounded by a bevy of younger and attractive women. I was 20 at the time, and attached myself to him, and starting learning seriously. Later, I studied other forms, ballet, modern, to develop body discipline and to deepen my understanding of different approaches to music.

LVDT: You seem to have left the other styles to concentrate on tango. Why?

DR: I didn’t really choose tango at first; I can say that it chose me. I think it is in part because of my love for tango music. When I started to get into Argentine tango, I don’t think I understood how different it was from the tango I had learned in Serbia during my youth. It seemed much the same, just with a few different steps. But I discovered that once you master Argentine tango as an art form, it is quite a world apart, and everything is in it. Because in the Argentine tango, you focus on only one move, one step at a time. For that one step, you focus on the body, and every part of the body is involved. If you watch a beautiful performance by accomplished tango dancers, they may seem to be immobile; but in fact, that appearance of immobility masks complex and subtle motions that keeps the dance alive and that communicates vitality and suspense, between the partners, and also to onlookers who can perceive the energy in that immobility.

LVDT: Do you still practice other ballroom dances?

DR: Sometimes, I do. But when I do other dances now, I try to bring a tango approach to it… I try to focus on the single movement. You see, most dances use a sequence of three or four steps that form a phrase or sequence, and to dance them you traditionally use a swing of the body to carry you through the phrase. Tango by itself however, is created step by step. That’s why I say “every step is an island.” There are some exceptions; but if you study tango in this way, you can still lead a two or three step sequence, but you will do it in a different way. In tango, you want to feel each movement of the woman. For each movement the man makes, she can accept or reject it. The man can accept her rejection, or insist. This little quarrel can make it interesting. If she accepts everything, it can be even more interesting and sensual at the same time. But the man has to listen to the woman, and answer to her reaction with each step. This is very important for social purposes. Sometimes, through our lead, we can allow more freedom to the woman, or, our lead can be more restrictive. Some women like to be given the feeling of freedom in the dance, some like to feel more control from the man. A good leader can do both. But it always functions one step at a time, with all the intricacies of body and leg movements (e.g., embellishments) that this requires, because in tango, the steps are not necessarily pre-determined.

LVDT: What elements does tango share with other dances you've explored?

DR: It shares many things. However, I think that there is a key difference, which is that in other dances there is a “dance hold” and in tango there is the “embrace.” The idea of “the embrace,” for me, is the element that makes the tango transcendent. The embrace is something natural, it is relaxed, it is primal; it allows freedom, it allows us to be in touch with our own feelings and with those of our partner. This natural embrace is achieved sometimes in other social dances, but often, to cultivate a professional look that is also used in competitive styles, people use a “dance hold,” an artificial posture to emphasize the beauty, bigness, greatness. But for me, it then loses something of soul and essence. In tango, the man embraces the woman, and she embraces the man; he feels her body, and she feels his. This feeling is not something heavy or forced. In fact, it should be light and free, but with many different potential shades, qualities, levels. It is not a hold, it is an embrace.

LVDT: In your classes at YSBD one can often hear you say “the devil is in the detail!” There are perhaps many details for a tango dancer to master. Could you list some of the most important of these?

DR: Well, what I mean by this is, to learn to dance well you can’t immediately focus on the whole. It may sound like the right thing, but there is a fundamental problem here. If we think we can skip the little things, and concentrate on the big things, and then later come back and fix the little things, that’s wrong. We need fix our focus on the little things from the outset. To begin with, our own balance—that is probably the most important “detail” of them all. We shouldn’t think about touching another person until we control our own body. If you realize that your body is not completely in tune and well-balanced, that’s what you need to work on. Other “details” include functional body posture; how we transfer our weight from one foot or one side to the other; directionality, or how we use and control space, how to feel the space, including the amount of turn you want to make, in any kind of space, including the most restricted spaces. All of this will help eventually with floor craft. Then there are the details of the embrace, on how to touch another person. How do you move together? How do you turn together? How do you change the relationship (distance, angle)? All these things are important. And there are also the small details, which are often extremely important—the placement of the foot in a side-step, for example. Instead of naturally completing a side-step, many dancers will twist their legs and foot in anticipation of the next step. This is a detail that I am often devilish about in my classes!

LVDT: Gavito has been quoted as saying, "The essence of tango isn't in the steps, but in the pauses." This reminds me of one of your favorite phrases, “Every step is an island.” What do you think he meant by that? Do you agree?

DR: Actually, Gavito was a cultivated man, and he loved music. I think that he may have adapted this from a well-known quotation from a famous pianist…I don’t recall his name, but I think you can find it online. (A quick “Google” search proved Dragan correct. The classical pianist was the Viennese maestro Artur Schnabel, and the quotation, “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah, that is where the art resides,” according to Wikipedia, quoted from the Chicago Daily News, June 11, 1958). It is really about musicality. Musicality resides both in the mind, and in the body. But where do we find this musicality in the dance? For me, I dance to the woman first, and not the music. People shouldn’t need the music. You step, you make a pause. The pause can be 1/100^th of a second, a 10^th of a second, or 10 seconds, but there is a pause, and it should be felt by the woman. This pause gives time for the woman to feel what you have done, and lets the leader feel what she would like next. The woman can influence this pause. She can ask for this pause by altering the intensity of the embrace, or by beginning an embellishment, depending on the level of her skill. My preference is when they suggest the change by using the length of the step or intensity of the movement, sometimes by changing the intensity of the rotation around the man, with more spiraling.

LVDT: How can you teach musicality?

DR: Musicality is extremely important; but I think it is a separate issue. For some people introducing musicality helps, but for many people, it becomes a hindrance, because they will try to move to the music without having first established proper body discipline. If people first get body discipline, then they can master musicality. Students should count—professionals do!—but many students resist counting. If you refuse to count, you won’t get musicality. Even drummers count. If you are going to dance to the music and feel it, you need to count. Very few people can dance a sequence properly without counting. Once people begin to count, awareness kicks in. If you want to play any game, you can’t unless you know the rules. It is not based on sheer talent. Once you know the rules, you can break them. But to know the rules, that is the secret; and a rule for musicality is counting.

LVDT: You’ve been dancing tango in New York City for many years? How do you see its evolution? Where do you think it is going?

DR: I was here in 1992, when there was one milonga in Manhattan and one in Queens. It was very social, there were empanadas, snacks, and drinks. It was wonderful, but the community was very small. Then, with any tango show or movie that came along, the community increased. I’d say it was a natural development. Then, more Argentine dancers started traveling and establishing themselves as teachers and members of the community, and it grew further.

LVDT: Who introduced you to Argentine tango?

DR: An extremely inventive and dynamic individual named Daniel Trenner. Daniel was in fact responsible, I think, for helping tango get a foothold in many communities in the US. He had endless enthusiasm (he still has!) and gave us interesting ideas on body movement. He contributed a lot to attract younger people to the dance at the time, and this too helped tango develop. Daniel did tap and other dances, but I was teaching him ballroom, and he was teaching me tango. I then studied with Guillermina Quiroga and Roberto Reis, and I have to say it was them who made me fall in love with tango. They also helped raise the level of tango in the city. Later came Nito and Elba, and over the years I’ve had the chance to work with many tango luminaries, from whom I’m still learning, for example, Fabian Salás, Carlos Copello, Pablo Verón. Recently I’ve been attending classes by Sara and Ivan (of Feral Tango), a young couple based in New York who have great ideas.

LVDT: Do you see a conflict between the differing styles or schools of tango, for example, milonguero vs. nuevo?

DR: Style is a great thing, and it helps give us our identity. The tango has a grammar and an alphabet. Everyone should learn these, and then they can practice the language, with different dialects and accents. For all of these styles, balance is important. Once you master balance, you can decide to share it, and from there you have one style of dancing milonguero (apilado), and that is fine. But I think it is important not to enforce rigid ideas. We should not insist that we are the only ones doing the real tango. In fact, there is no such thing as “the real tango.” If you look at film footage of tango from seventy or eighty years ago, you’ll see something very different from what is being taught and danced today. Tango has evolved, in many positive ways, I think, and these are authentic for today. In twenty years from now it may be very different. We should be part of the present. So long as we give our attention to the foundations of our dancing, we will be ready to understand and adjust to the varied requirements of differing styles.

LVDT: You are also a DeeJay, and you are known for mixing traditional and alternative tandas.

DR: People want to be creative. Change is a natural part of social life. Costume designers, musicians, dancers, want to explore change, or else their art can become stagnant. I love the traditional styles, but eventually you want to move to new sounds, also. Sometimes some of the old recordings seem lacking, in terms of full sound, or dynamics, or excitement. Alternative music gives people a chance to explore new relationships and new moods within the dance. The music called “nuevo tango” also allows those dancers who want the challenges that this music presents—it is full of changes of tempo, dynamics, mood, and emotion—to explore this. In its moves, nuevo tango introduces alternative beginnings and endings to traditional steps, and the steps may be linked in new and inventive ways. Sometimes, even the whole step is altered, and elements not native to older social tango, such as the soltada, are more freely used (some of these techniques were always used in stage or performance tango; for example, the soltada can be compared to stepping in shadow position). However, there is one caveat. In nuevo, dancers should be considerate of the space they are dancing in. If they are at a milonga where most people are dancing traditional styles, they should use the space accordingly. There should be a harmony of the communal space of the dance floor. This is why it is good when a venue can open two rooms, so the different styles can be explored at the same occasion.

LVDT: What advice can you give to average social dancers who want to improve their tango? What does it mean to "improve one's tango"?

DR: It is great when leaders come to class, but many have a tendency to want to dance, dance, dance, without thinking about the woman; they think about steps. Leaders need a lot of beginning classes and private lessons, to learn to feel the woman. They can use professional guidance, from both male and female teachers. They need a lot of mileage, with simple, basic things; they also need lots of patience! But that patience will be rewarded, one hundred fold. Once they have familiarity through group classes, private lessons can be of great help to leaders. Followers also can benefit from both group classes and private lessons, and instructors should organize their classes so that both men and women get the foundational elements, the details, that they both need to liberate their dancing. When only “steps” or sequences are taught, the leaders often will forget these within a day, and the women have to wonder what they got from the experience at all. But this is not the fault of the teachers. Students demand steps! This is an attitude that I’d like to see changed (smiles).

LVDT: What are you trying to communicate in your classes?

DR: I’m trying to get at these fundamentals, to teach people how to control their movements. When we are dancing properly, beautifully, we move through the joints—from the toe joints to the ankles, the knees, the hip joints—we use everything. Our body is a structure resting on top of a system of bones and joints. Imagine ourselves like a ship and a mast on the sea. The pelvis and the seat bones are like a ship, and then the mast is our body (our torso). The body (torso) can rotate. Our legs are like ropes hanging in the water, and they can float. When the wind blows, the ship can sail, and the turns of the mast can give directions. Imagine the legs like ropes in the water, and they just flow with the ship. I’m trying to get everyone happily sailing (laughs)!

LVDT: Thanks for your sharing these ideas with us. One last question. On our website, we have a “song of the week.” Do you have a favorite tango song? We’d like to feature your choice this week.

DR: Yes, a piece by Alfredo Zitarrosa called “El violín de Becho.” I would categorize it as alternative tango; it is a must at my friend Steve Beltzer’s outdoor “Volvo Tango” events in the city.

LVDT: What is it about the song that moves you? The lyrics, perhaps?

DR: (laughs) Oh no, I have no idea about the words, although I have seen a translation. But…ahh…it is everything. This song transports me to a different world. Flying in the sky, being at the beach, the feeling of the sand, the sound of the ocean. The melody of the voice…The words could be anything, it is like a dream.

Students will want to mark their calendars for Dragan Ranitovic’s two workshops, followed by a guided practica, that will take place in Bethlehem, PA at the Bahnson Center, on Sunday, September 26, 2010, at 3:30 – 5:00 pm (all level) and 5:30 – 7:30 pm (intermediate-advanced with a focus on boleos and ganchos). Please write to info@lavidadeltango.org for registration information or call Andy at 484-896-8679or Olga at 570-730-0269,
Musings with the Maestros: An Interview with Ernest Williams (Nov. 3, 2010)
Ernest Williams will be visiting Bethlehem and New York City between November 11^th and November 15^th presenting a series of lectures and workshops illuminating the relationship between African cultural influences and the tango. He spent some time talking with La Vida Del Tango about his journey from break-dancing in Philadelphia to being the protagonist of what may be the most-watched performance of canyengue on youtube (upwards of 24,000 and counting).  See our Workshops page for scheduling and details.
LVDT: You seem to have been involved in dance a long time.
EW: I’ve loved dancing since I was a child. I grew up in Philadelphia and when I was a kid—that was back in the late 1970s and early 80s—break-dancing was the thing and I was always out there, pop-locking and all that kind of stuff. I did Michael Jackson imitations and I even entered a school competition with red zipper jacket and gloves. In the ‘hood there was always a new dance—the wop or the smurf, whatever new dance was out that year, I would do it. One time my older sister told me “all you do is that break dancing, that’s not dancing—you can’t dance.” That bugged me! Although I didn’t let it get me down, I kept it in mind.
LVDT: When did you get into the couple dances?
EW: It was when I was in college at Rutgers. I was hanging out with Spanish-speaking friends, trying to learn Spanish, and soon I was introduced to salsa dancing. That was in 1991. I remember the first time I was at a salsa function with a girlfriend, we were the only blacks there, and we had no idea what to do! We were impressed by their moves. I really wish I stuck with it from that point on, but it was much later when I started dancing salsa.
LVDT: And tango?
EW: After college I joined the army. I was at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, and the plan was to become a Korean language specialist. We’d study Korean six hours a day, and in my free time I started taking dance classes—swing, salsa, and through the urging of another girlfriend, ballroom dancing. It seemed corny to me, but she was into it and that was enough to persuade me! At a dance event someone asked me if I had ever tried the “Argentine tango.” Now, we did “tango” in the ballroom classes, but the word “Argentine” in front of it made it seem exotic. Pretty soon I had found a place to take some classes. Later when I was stationed in Hawaii —that’s the closest I ever got to Korea !—I was able to study with George Garcia. That was in 2000 and by the next year I was teaching and had begun an organization called Aloha Tango.
LVDT: I take it you never pursued your career as a Korean language specialist.
EW: I moved back to the east coast in 2003. I took classes in DC with Sharna Fabiano, a disciple of Daniel Trenner and studied privately with Carina Losano. Carina was interested in the fact I was a black guy as she was exploring potential crossovers between tango and black musical styles, including hip-hop. She asked me what I thought about candombe. I said “Can dome what?” She took off on me: “You’re a black guy and dance tango don’t know candombe!?!” She was collaborating with the Gala Hispanic Theatre on a show that would highlight black contributions to tango. She recruited me as a dancer for the show, which ran in the summer of 2004. It featured music by Juan Carlos Cáceres—his hit song “Tango Negro” [LVDT note: See our “Song of the Week” section] gave the show its title. Working on Candombe: Tango Negro I met some candomberos from Uruguay who were among the musicians, and I wanted to know more. They encouraged me to go to Uruguay, and in 2005 I did just that.
Below: Ernest and partner the lovely Maricela Wilson strike a pose at the Halloween Gala edition of the All-Night-Milonga in New York City on Saturday, October 30th, 2010.
LVDT: And there you learned more about the candombe?
EW: Yes, candombe is a music and dance style that has its origins in the black communities of the Rio de la Plata region (Buenos Aires and Montevideo, northeastern Argentina and Uruguay). It is comparable in some ways to samba in Brazil or rumba in Cuba, a cultural form through which black African slaves and their descendents continued ancestral music and dance styles from Africa, but also created something new which responded to their new surroundings and new situations. Like Brazilian samba, candombe is strongly associated with carnival—Uruguay has the longest carnival in the world, it has a month of festivities—and the performing groups are called comparsas. I arrive in Montevideo in 2005 in time to see the last event of carnival, an 8-hour marathon show at the Teatro Verano, an outdoor amphitheatre, which is the culmination of the concurso (competition) in five different musical categories, including candombe.
I spent four months researching candombe. At Mundo Afro, a community organization that promotes Afro-identity I learned how to play the three drums (tamboriles) called the piano (the deepest and largest), the chico (the smallest) and the repique (the middle drum). The comparsa La Gozadera invited me to participate in their group. I learned about the dances and the different characters that are typical in candombe desfiles (parades), and I played the role of the gramillero (shaman). [LVDT note: Ernest will lead a candombe workshop at Lehigh University at 8 pm on Monday, November 15^th at Lamberton Hall at Lehigh University. Write to LVDT for information. Also, check out the entry "Introduction to Candombe" on this page just below our interview with Dragan Ranitovic--it was added on September 13th.].
LVDT: I know you went to Buenos Aires too on that trip, because we met there!
EW: Yes, I was interested in exploring the connections between candombe and tango, to see if there was a way to assess the role black dancers and black cultures had not only in the clearly African-derived forms such as the candombe, but in styles where the African stylistic elements might not be immediately apparent.
LVDT: Do you feel this is the case for tango?
EW: Well, I’m not the only one. Robert Farris Thompson, in his book Tango: The Art History of Love makes a case for a strong black influence in the evolution of the tango. The term tango itself is derived from a word used by blacks in the 19^th century to describe a place of a candombe dance gathering (similar to the way we use the term “milonga” today to describe a gathering for tango dancing).   The accent was on the second syllable: tangó—you can hear that pronunciation in Cáceres ’s song “Toca tangó.”
LVDT: What do you feel are some of the African elements of the tango?
EW: It is the improvisational approach, the playful attitude, and the ability to move without trying to be upright or pristine with the style. This characterizes many African dances and you can see it in the rumba and the samba as well. Some of it comes from the competitive spirit that infuses a lot of recreational dance practices in Africa. An individual gets into the middle of a circle and shows off their footwork, their body movements. I believe that the early tango, with its cortes and quebradas—the “breaks,” we also use that term in North American black musical styles such as jazz—was of a character strongly influenced by the dancing going on in the black community, and by black dancers. Like in early jazz, tango dancing had lots of sudden stops (breaks) and poses, and there was a lot of playing with the music. But it was not only the dancers who played to the music; the music was live, not recorded in the early days. And the musicians would always adjust their playing to the dancers, or to specific dancers. This is a “call and response,” a hallmark of African style.
LVDT: Do you believe that this style of dancing limited to black dancers?
EW: Oh, not at all. But it is a sensibility that has an African stamp to it, and I’m happy to see it being expressed and picked up by all different peoples, whether here in the US, or in Europe or Asia. In my classes, I want to encourage my students to not be afraid to play and to break the rules. But this builds of course on developing a strong technical foundation.
LVDT: What was your experience as a black person in contemporary Buenos Aires? Does race matter in modern tango?
EW: Well, each of us can bring something special associated with our heritage to our style of dancing, and that’s a positive way of seeing the role of race.   My experience as a black person in Buenos Aires was very positive. The funny thing was that the last thing porteños imagined I was, was a black American. Their first assumption was that I was from Brazil…or Cuba, or Africa, but not the US.
LVDT: Why?
EW: Because I danced like they danced! They noticed a similarity to the local way of dancing, but they told me they saw a “black style” in my dance, which they appreciated. That was something that was not at all foreign to them; it was just not seen too often.
LVDT: You’ve become known for your playful performances of canyengue.
EW: Canyengue embodies this African-derived, playful approach that I along with a number of others believe characterized the early tango. It practically died out, but some dedicated teachers in Argentina, notably Marta Anton and “El Gallego” Manolo have helped revive it. I studied with them, and continue to promote it.
Below: A canyengue pose.
LVDT: Do you think we are on the verge of a canyengue revival?
EW: (laughs) Well, not exactly. But I believe that when people become familiar with elements of the canyengue style, they can bring it into their dancing of tango or milonga and enrich their musical interpretations. After learning all the technique, people still need to enter a relationship with the music, and dance the music the way they feel it. If you are dancing the same way to different kinds of music, you have a lot of discovery in front of you. The music may want you to be sultry; it may demand quick and playful footwork; it may ask for a complete pause, the silence of our bodies waiting together for the cadence; it might ask us to lower ourselves closer to the floor. These are all elements I’ve experienced in dancing in black communities in the US, when I grew up in Philadelphia, and more recently, as I’ve been exploring Chicago style steppin’, a partner dance that is a local derivative of swing. This is growing in popularity nationwide amongst African Americans, and I spent more than 2 years living in Chicago until recently to open this new horizon for my own dancing. I found that the steppin’ world of Chicago must be very similar to what it was like in the early tango—the top guys get together and dance competitively with one another. You have to be able to lead, to follow, to steal the lead, and get the crowd going, to win the hearts of the women or just to show who’s better! You can see a good example of that on youtube.
LVDT: Do you see any crossover between the different styles of dancing you’ve done and the tango.
EW: During my 6 month trip in Uruguay and Argentina, I discovered that I was doing canyengue before I actually was doing canyengue. It is an attitude. I found myself when I went there. I found my place in tango by going to the source.
LVDT: What do you see as the future of tango? Will there be a greater role for “Afro tango”?
EW: I think it will be more fusion of tango and everything else possible. The traditional music is going to stay around a long time. The nuevo music may go the way of all fads.
LVDT: Canyengue?
EW: It is growing—you can see new canyengue clips on youtube every day. People are starting to play with it and evolve it. I’ve even seen people copy some of my stuff; and that is cool!
Please check our “Workshops” page for a full listing of Ernest Williams’ programs in Bethlehem, PA and in New York City.
Tango Principles by Artem Maloratsky
Added on September 9, 2010
This is a book-length illustrated essay composed by a New York tango dancer and teacher. It is a personal account of the author's encounter with tango (originally in the 1990s) and subsequent paths of understanding, difficulties, and growth. The book also devotes much of its wordage to detailed discussions of corporal techniques important for the tango. It deserves attention for its numerous insights (not every reader/dancer has to agree with all of the author's conclusions, of course). I quote here from the introductory section. One of the elements that the author identifies as what he believe "most people would want to experience in tango dancing" is "freedom": "Freedom of "what" - the variety of choreographic possibilities and the ability to use them at will; freedom of "when" - the ability to vary the tempo of one's movement in accordance with the music; freedom of "how" - the energy, the tone of movement." In our classes this week, we will explore this concept!
Introduction to Candombe
Added on Sept. 13, 2010
Our song of the week is "Azabache," identified as a "milonga-candombe." Readers interested in exploring the Afro-Uruguayian candombe may want to consult a webpage by the Uruguayan writers and musicians Hugo "Foca" Machado, Willy Muñoz, Jorge Sadi, an excerpt from which is included here: “The Candombe … was originally a dramatic and religious dance that attracted large numbers of the African slaves and their descendants. The Candombes were held on January sixth, the day of the Three Wise Men or Day of Kings in Uruguay, the slaves honoring the coronation of the Kings of the Congo. The ritual Candombe dance was held outdoors or in religious buildings, and the musical instruments which accompanied the dancing were 'Tamboriles' (or drums with a single skin nailed to the drumhead and played with one drumstick and one hand, or with both hands alone), 'Marimbas', 'Chocalos', 'Zambombas' etc. The word 'Tangó' denoted not only the dance itself, but also the drums used and the places where these religious rituals were carried out. The rituals were forbidden and severely punished by the white population of Montevideo at the end of the Nineteenth Century on grounds of immorality; even so, the black inhabitants of Montevideo, living in slum areas of the Sur and Palermo neighborhoods, retained their dances and the beat of their drums.”
Below: A painting from the candombe series (ca. 1924) by Uruguayan painter Pedro Figari (1861 - 1938).
What I have learned about tango, by Richard Isaacs
Added on August 31, 2010
Richard Isaacs was a tango dancer as well as actor and classical guitarist who lived in NYC; he passed away on April 30th of this year after a two-year struggle with leukemia. This article, which seems to have been originally published in March of 2010, is available at a number of online sites (please click on the title to access the article). Among the insights the author offers is this observation, one always worth considering:
“the difference between the adequate and the superb dancer is not the number of figures and sequences they know, but their mastery of fundamentals, which gives their technique cleanness and precision”
This reminds me of the dictum repeated by Daniel Trenner at one of his classes at the Denver Tango Festival in 2009: “Left, right, left, right…this is what you are going to practicing twenty years from now.”
Thanks to fellow tanguero Fred Rizzo of Chicago for directing me to this article.