The principles of danceability

Have you ever started a dance and soon discovered that it is quite undanceable tanda? Some dancers in this situation interrupt the dance and ask their partner to dance the next one. To be honest I don’t like this kind of behavior since it’s a sign that dancers didn’t wait for the tanda to start before making the invitation. They gambled and lost.

But what the DJ can do to help dancers avoid similar situations? How can (s)he differentiate between danceable from undanceable music? I’ll share my experience on what might be important. I believe there are some undeniable principles that should be respected when choosing music for your tandas.

Oh, how much I suffered when the vals was played in our local milongas. It was time for me to go to the bar and socialize – but never time for dancing.

“How come you don’t like a vals? It’s so beautiful, like a roller coaster ride”, she asked.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t knew the answer. I only knew that when I tried to dance vals I just could not step on the beat. For me it was undanceable music.

It was when I was dancing no more than two months. Later on, after I learned how to do it, I came to love it so much, that I couldn’t sit on my chair during a vals tanda. Sometimes I feel just like Tete in this video when he describes how he feels when he dances vals.

“The vals is an exceptional thing for me. The music gets me drunk… When I dance a vals I think I am flying. I dreamed that I danced on a clouds with my companion and the planes passed and they looked at me… I dreamed that the planes stopped to look at me…”

Tete Rusconi

🙂 Be serious. It’s not funny. For some people this is a real thing!

There are subjective and objective principles of the danceability of the music. The subjective are those that depends on the ones ability to dance to a specific style. It’s much more than asking the question do you like the music of a specific orchestra – most often this depends of the movements repertoire in the dancer’s toolbox. What you like or not, is often defined by your ability to dance to it.

If you can’t dance valses, like me when I was a beginner, of course you’ll love regular dos-por-cuatro tangos more. We love what’s easy and what suits us.

On the other hand, there are certain objective reasons why some tangos are undanceable. Those apply for everyone, no matter what’s their ability or aesthetic preference.

Those two can often converge – but even then, a good DJ or a good dancer should be able to differentiate them.

In the following four points I’ll try to describe the principles of danceability of the tango music, the way I understand them. Some might disagree, but they are tested and they worked perfectly for me and my students.

1. The intention of the orchestra

This is the most important thing. It’s also the most objective one. It relies on the history of tango music and its connection with the dance.

Saying that the most danceable music is created in the Golden Age of tango (1930-1950) is not just a stylistic choice. The music before and after that period was mainly created to be performed in concerts or radio (especially after). The Golden Age orchestras played their music for the dancers.

Before 1950s there were no strong amplifiers, so at the milongas there were no DJs – there were live orchestras. They watched how the crowd (it was not audience) danced, and the dance itself influenced the way they played. It was a dancing music.

After that period, for various reasons, Golden Age ended and there were no more milongas. Many orchestras continued their careers as a concert or radio musicians. What they created after that was still a kind of tango, but it was not meant to be a dancing music. Dancing was not their intention.

2. The predictability of the rhythmic patterns

Is the song arrangement predictable is also very objective principle of the danceability of the tango music. It relies on the internal structure and you can even ignore the historical context it was created in, and still determine its danceability.

Using this principle one might find some tracks from the Golden Age to be completely undanceable and others, which are not from this era, to be with a solid danceability. Why is so? Because even in the Golden Age there were musicians who performed for concerts or radio.

Let me give you an example. De Angelis “Pavadita” is recorded in 1958, which means it’s few years after the Golden Age ended. But it’s still danceable, even with changes it contains. The ending is little slower than the rest of the track, but it’s so predictable that I doubt it will confuse even a beginner. It’s created to be easy and predictable. It slows down, but you can unmistakably follow the beat and walk on it.

Hey, sorry to interrupt…

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3. The dominance of the singer

One of the characteristics of the tango music after the Golden Age is the dominance of the singer in the non-instrumentals. Sometimes it’s so strong that it’s impossible to hear the background, especially on the older tracks.

Not being able to hear other layers of the music is not the only problem. Sometimes the melody is tightly connected with the singers performance, so they even slow down or play faster in order to support him/her. Musicians in this type of music are not focused on dancers, they are playing for the star – and the star is the singer.

No wonder the music of Carlos Gardel is not played at milongas – his dominant role in the music leaves no space for dancing.

One can rarely find music with dominant vocalist, which is still danceable. One such example is Hector Varela with the powerful deep voice of Argentino Ladesma. Yet, even it’s danceable, sometimes it feels like the vocal is too powerful and some DJs usually hesitate to play this kind of music. This is specially noticeable in the milonguero world.

In my experience the DJ should also be careful when the orchestra have one musician who is so dominant that he outglows the rest. Let’s take for example Osmar Maderna and his powerful piano solos like the one in “Lluvia de estrellas”. The beat is predictable and clear, but the solo is so dominant that often confuses dancers, especially the beginners.

4. The popularity

A DJ should never forget why is (s)he there. The taste of dancers tends to go in the direction of the most danceable music.

First, the DJ should ask themselves would they dance to the music they play?

Second, the DJ should carefully observe what motivates dancers. Some people tend to skip some songs and go to the bar for a drink if the music is undanceable.

It’s god not to forget that in this situation the DJ has to pay attention only to experienced dancers with great musicality. Bad dancers ignore the music anyways and they will dance to whatever comes out the speakers. Even to some music which has no connection with tango.

Some beginners tend to ignore the music as well. They’re so much focused on their movements that sometimes completely ignore the music.

What do you think? Will these observations help DJ’s? If so, please share them with your tango friends.