At some point you’re going to have to learn the music of the dance, and not just the ‘fall in love with it’ kind of knowing. No. You do actually have to know who did what and when and why! That may sound boring to you, because it’s basically a history lesson that seemingly goes on forever, but it is a requirement to becoming a better dancer. It’s quite literally where all the fun is at within the skill of building the dance.
To be fair, learning this stuff is overwhelming, intimidating, and there are people out there that are snobby about it too, nerdish to a point! Put simply Tango music is arcane knowledge, because it’s not like this is something that you’re going to whip at the dinner table to impress the family. So what’s the pay off ? Your dancing! Knowing who the orchestra is can help you not only to pick a good partner but picking a partner that hears the orchestra the same way you do which ultimately leads to a much more pleasurable experience. And that’s just the tip of this topic. The fact is that knowing your music has multiple benefits, this is just one.
Want another one ? Phrasing. Each orchestra has a particular ‘sound’ as it were, and that ultimately leads to a very specific way of playing the music or phrasing! Which results in a very different way of dancing to that style of music.
Still one more ? The orchestras themselves aren’t where all the fun is at, it’s the men that led them. They are fascinating and dynamic men with rich and deep histories that are compelling stories on their own. The top 20 orchestral leads that you can think of are all insanely fascinating stories unto themselves and if you’re not careful, you may actually begin to understand them, which ultimately leads to you understanding the music, which will ultimately lead to a much more rich, and satisfying dancing experience for both you AND your partners!
