Here is another video, in which I think are good illustrations of not dancing to what isn't there, and making choices about what is there. I have to turn my head to avoid feeling queasy (I think the sideways framing is a way of getting their feet in the picture, in a space where the camera can't move back and can't get a clear shot from any other position - the cameraman, bec, is a pro, which is why this looks so nice). I liked this video the first time I saw it, but I like it more now because I'm less ignorant and I listen and watch better.
I always like the sense, in Adrian and Amanda's performances, that they really are dancing as equals, in every way, but in musical expression specifically.
On the question of how you understand musicality, this is a popular and challenging track and there are lots of different interpretations you could compare. Like this one for example; it takes quite a different approach. One difference is that the music in the video above is played live by the Luis Tango Quintet, at a more or less standard dancing speed for a slow tango, whereas the recording in the other is much slower and includes a longish silence towards the end. Both performances are described by their authors (Adrian confirms it, in Spanish, in the YouTube comments) as improvisations, so that is not a difference.
Adrian and Amanda Costa are in London again this weekend, schedule here or here. I'm seeing a lot of searches for their names, and I like people to find what they are looking for - but if you want listings and announcements, you're better off at Arlene's, 'cause I only talk about what's happening if I feel like it and have something to say. I really like A&A though.
Although Piazzolla is difficult to dance to at the best of times, remembering that his music was not composed for dancing, I am not convinced that this piece is one of dancing to what is not there as there is so much there in fact. It depends on what instrument one is dancing to also.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely video and I enjoy Amanda and Adrian very much as they keep things simple.
Since I don't 'listen' to the music in a conventional way as some would with a beat count, I listen by 'feel', intuitively. Can't explain it, but it works, and is why I can dance a milonga at half speed.
A few Argentines told me that the majority in BA like to dance to music with vocals and they follow the singer as that is where the feeling is.
Interesting.