Modern Tango World #8 (Moscow)

In Moscow, there is what is called Alternative Practice
on Sundays. The people, who attend, bring their own
music and dance it. There is no real management of the
music playlist. The event does not have a milonga format.
This is a very interesting place that helps to expand the
musical, emotional and dance scope of the participants.
But I had wanted to raise it to another level with a fullfledged
alternative milonga, with a unique atmosphere,
sound quality and so on. The first milonga of this type
appeared in Moscow on February 20, 2016. The organizers
of Milonga Chique invited me to implement this
on one of their two dance floors. As it turns out, this
format works fine.
It is worth noting that the word Nuevo in Moscow had
acquired a negative, and even threatening sense in tango
circles. It is usually understood as either monotonous
electronic tango music, or heavy, chaotic and dramatic
compositions of late Osvaldo Pugliese, or Astor Piazzolla.
Nuevo was understood as very complex music
that cannot be danced. There were some different, not
very successful, experimental nuevo milongas in which
rare, electronic, non-danceable music was played. It was
clear that the DJ’s intention was to enlighten the people,
opening them new music. It became clear that was inappropriate
for particular audiences. It was often reduced
to a chaotic, disorganized, unbalanced event with limited
musical and emotional flow. Of course, it was stressful
for people who came to dance. People associated this
stress with the concept of nuevo.
As practice has shown that a good tango-DJ, using only
traditional tango, can create almost any mood on the
dance floor, without using the alternative, modern, or
nuevo music. It depends on the taste and ability to feel
the dance floor, from empathy, emotionality, sound
quality, and many other factors.
However, the important point is that the expansion of
the musical range is itself very interesting. It can open
up new opportunities, ideas, inspiration and emotions
for both the DJ and the dancers. This opens a completely
different domain introducing other flows and
energies! Currently, there are not too many people at
milongas who can dance well to this music. Most people
use traditional movements and combinations. But, the
music inspires improvisation, and this is very important!
Here is a good example from classical music. No doubt,
that Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky all represent classical
music. But, these composers are very different! If you
ask a person if they likes classical music, their answer will
depend on whether they knows something about composers,
years of their activity, genres within classics, and
so on. But many people do not know anything about
this. Their knowledge may be limited to the Moonlight
Sonata, Fugue in D minor and Waltz of Flowers. Knowing
only these few works, they form an opinion about all
classical music. The situation is the same with the concept
of Nuevo.. Some people think that it’s only Piazzolla,
Gotan and Otros Aires. The word nuevo is translated
as new. But, the genre includes a much larger range of
music. Maybe, the term, NeoTango, used by foreign colleagues,
is more viable.
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