探哥是一种感觉

舞步只是用来表达感情的工具，正如词语是用以表达思想的工具。探戈不是舞步，而是对感情的表达。正如有人著名地说过的那样，“探戈是一种舞出来的感觉。”感觉是很难定义的，它可以是从心情，感受，情绪，梦想，激情，欣快到灵感的任何东西。简单地说，我们在探戈中感受到的是一种心境。虽然它难以言表，但在这心境中我们变得最活跃，最有创意，最雄辩，也最满足。如何进入这种心境是一个谜。它不能靠意志或努力达到。它不会每时每刻发生。当我们刻意寻找它时却找不到。但每个人都曾经验过它。我们沉迷于探戈主要因为我们都有过这样的感觉。

探戈能把我们带进这种感觉可能跟音乐有关。好的音乐是跳舞跳得尽兴的必要条件。它是将我们的潜力（创造力，想象力，能力，流畅性等）充分发挥出来不可或缺的激素。好的探戈音乐具有清晰的节奏和丰富的感情，不仅优美而适于跳舞，而且能制造气氛，激发情绪，提高士气，产生灵感，把我们带进那种心境。当我们记得一个音乐迷人，士气高昂的舞会，我们所记的是那种感觉，而不是步子。

当然，那种感觉不是单靠音乐产生的，拥抱也起着重要的作用。探戈之所以与众不同是因为拥抱。探戈的拥抱不象新手认为的那样只是一个框架或相互搀扶。它是使两人合为一体的连接，是沟通两颗心的交流，是抚慰灵魂的柔情，亲昵和舒适。它能满足深藏在人性中的需要，給我们一种相归属，相依连，相成全的感觉。它将我们带回到最早的记忆，我们儿时的摇篮，母亲乳房的滋养和慰籍，父亲怀抱的支持和保护，家庭的安全与温暖。探戈反映我们对“家”的向往。它提醒我们，不是当我们独自一人，而是当我们在一起时，我们才是最好的。最终，我们是在彼此中找到自己的“家”，因为我们属于彼此，需要彼此，成全彼此。我们跳探戈是为了与对方成为一体，从而使自己完整。没有拥抱，探戈就不是探戈，而只是一个普通的舞蹈了。

如果拥抱如此重要，那么舞伴也一样。同一个不会拥抱的舞伴跳舞是找不到感觉的。只重视步子的探戈教学法培养出来的正是这样不专业的舞者，他们回避拥抱，向后仰身，将自己与舞伴分开，把着舞伴就如同把着台购物车，在跳舞时不投入感情。这样的人完全不理解跳探戈是怎么回事。跳探戈就象是将婴儿小心翼翼地抱在怀里，哼着摇篮曲摇他/她入睡；或安息在父母怀中，听着赞美歌，被轻轻摇入梦乡。探戈是我们在舞蹈中体验到并与舞伴分享的那种温馨，安全，舒适，和亲密的感觉。的确，探戈优美的音乐，舒适的拥抱和节奏性的摆动有一种催眠作用，使我们深深坠入冥想或梦境，其感觉是如此惬意，以至于舞曲结束时我们仍不愿醒来。人们需要知道步子才能跳探戈，但步子的目的是为了方便拥抱，让两人得以在运动中保持一体。探戈就好象现实生活中的伴侣关系，虽然面临各种挑战，但两人团结一致，紧密相连，互相支持，不可分割。它需要爱心，信任，和委身。如果你能从这个角度看探戈，我向你保证，你会体验一种完全不同的舞蹈，浪漫，感性，梦幻，诗意，并难以置信的令人满足。

Tango Is a Feeling

Steps are tools used to dance feelings, just like words are tools used to convey thoughts. Tango is not found in the steps, but in the heart. As someone famously put it, “Tango is a feeling that is danced.” It is difficult to define feeling, which could be anything from emotion, sentiment, mood, dream, excitation, euphoria, to duende. Simply put, what we experience in tango is a state of mind. As ineffable as it is, we are most exuberant, creative, eloquent, and satisfied when we are in that state of mind. How this state of mind comes into being is a mystery. It may not come by will or effort. It may not come always. It may not come at all even when we try hard to find it. But everyone has experienced it at some point. We are addicted to tango mainly because we have experienced that feeling.

The reason tango can lead us to that feeling may have something to do with the music. Good music is essential to a fulfilled tango experience. It is an inspiration indispensable for bringing our potentials (originality, imagination, ability, and fluency) into full play. Good music, marked by a clear rhythm and rich sentiment, is not only beautiful and easy to dance to; it also generates a mood, stirs up emotions, lifts the spirit, inspires creativity, and leads us to that state of mind. When we remember a milonga where the music is enchanting and morale is high, what we remember is the feeling and not the steps.

The feeling, of course, is not generated by music alone. The embrace also plays an important role. Tango is unique because of its embrace. Unlike what novices may think, tango embrace is not just a frame or hold. It is the connection that makes us one, the communication that links up our hearts, the tenderness, intimacy and comfort that satisfy our soul. It serves the needs that lie deeply in our humanity, giving us a sense of belonging, connection and completion. It takes us back to our earliest memories, to the cradle of our infancy, the nourishment and comfort of our mother’s chest, the support and protection of our father’s arms, and the warmth and safety of our home. Tango reflects our longing for “home.” It reminds us that we are better not when we are alone, but when we are together. In the end, we find home in each other, because we belong to, need, and complete each other. We dance to be one with each other, thus make ourselves whole. Without the embrace, tango is not tango but another ordinary dance.

If the embrace is important, so is the partner. We cannot find the feeling dancing tango with a partner who doesn’t know how to embrace. The problem of a tango pedagogy focusing on steps is that it produces just such amateurs. They shy away from the embrace, lean backward, detach themselves from their partner, grab their partner like a shopping cart, and are not emotionally engaged. Such people completely miss the point of dancing tango. Dancing tango is like holding a baby tenderly in your arms, singing a lullaby, and swaying him/her to sleep; or resting safely in your parent’s arms, listening to the hymn, and being swayed to dream. Tango is the warm, safe, comfy, and intimate feeling that we experience and share with our partner in the dance. Indeed, the beautiful music, comfortable embrace and rhythmic motion of tango have a hypnotic effect, causing us fall deeply into a state of meditation or dreaming, so heavenly that we don’t want to wake up when the tanda ends. One needs to know the steps to dance tango, but the whole point of steps is to facilitate the embrace so that we may remain one in motion. Tango resembles the relationship in real life where we face all kinds of challenges but keep on united, connected, supportive and inseparable. It requires love, trust, and surrender. If you see tango from this perspective, I guarantee you that you will experience a totally different dance—romantic, sensual, dreamy, poetic, soulful, and incredibly satisfying.

探戈：历史和文化的影响

布宜诺斯艾利斯是世界上最大的都市之一。阿根廷四千五百万人口中，近三分之二生活在布宜诺斯艾利斯。该城市是由欧洲移民建造的。在十九世纪初，布宜诺斯艾利斯是一个西班牙裔和土著南美人混居的小镇，彼此往往通婚。西班牙人把大量的非洲奴隶连同他们的音乐舞蹈带进阿根廷。在十九世纪的下半世纪中，阿根廷政府决定缩减黑人人口而扩大白人人口，导致大量欧洲移民从西班牙，意大利和欧洲各地迁移至阿根廷。到十九世纪末，布宜诺斯艾利斯的原始人口已经完全被欧洲移民所淹没。我们可以追溯探戈到其受非洲舞蹈影响的雏形首次出现的一百五十年以前，但探戈的主要创造者是十九世纪末和二十世纪初建造布宜诺斯艾利斯的欧洲移民。

探戈是由移民创造的事实有着重要的意义。远离家乡且男女不成比例，移民是最寂寞，思乡，怀旧的人。他们来舞会跳舞是要跳出他们的孤独，想家，感伤和痛苦，是要找个可以依靠的肩膀，是要满足他们对爱的渴望，是要触摸异性和被异性所触摸。探戈是他们的避难所。探戈的亲密，深情，性感和抚慰的性质反映出并能满足他们内心深处的人的需要。这就是探戈是由两个人用胸贴胸脸靠脸的亲密拥抱来跳的原因。他们通过身体接触来沟通他们内心的感情，感受和对音乐的诠释。象舞蹈一样，探戈音乐也是为表达深沉的感情谱写的。它的节奏明快有力，适合于舞蹈，而它的旋律是柔顺，流畅而感伤的。每一个音符或乐句都表达一种男性的强壮，果敢和成稳，或女性的缠绵，顺从和多愁善感。这两种情绪互相交织，彼此回应，映照着正在跳舞的男人和女人。

探戈在二十世纪三十年代到五十年代之间达到成熟阶段，并成为布宜诺斯艾利斯的主导文化。这一时期被称为探戈的黄金时代。紧接着黄金时代的是近三十年的黑暗时期，其间探戈销声匿迹了。一九五五的军事政变推翻了民选总统胡安·多明戈·庇隆。庇隆曾积极支持探戈。反庇隆的军政府怀疑探戈舞众与庇隆站在一条线上，就制造了一种压制探戈的气候。大多数人都不再跳舞，音乐家也停止为舞会演奏。那个时期的音乐主要是为听众而不是为舞众制作的。探戈的复兴是从二十世纪八十年代中期民主在阿根廷恢复以后开始的。从那以后，探戈在全世界范围内得到推广。现在，几乎世界上的每一个国家和欧洲北美的每一个城市都跳探戈。

一个英国广播公司（BBC）的评论员说，“探戈隐藏着一个关于男人和女人互相向往的秘密。”在许多文化中，异性之间的亲密被视为性关系，因此受到自觉或不自觉的压抑。男人和女人不能彼此亲密，除非他们想做爱。换句话说，那些文化不认可男女之间非性的亲密关系。但阿根廷探戈却代表着一种不同的看法或文化，该文化承认并允许男女之间纯洁的亲昵。阿根廷人民是充满激情和非常亲密的人民，而探戈是其文化的产物。探戈的胜利，说到底，是其观念的胜利，这种观念认为男女之间纯洁非性的亲密是正当，健康和美丽的。

但是，这观念的胜利并不是没有代价的。黄金时代以后，许多事情改变了。探戈的传统被中止了近三十年。欧洲移民早已定居下来。男女平衡已经恢复。许多老舞者已经去世。整个年轻一代不知道怎么跳探戈。黑暗时代幸存下来的只有舞台探戈。结果，探戈的复兴是由一批舞台演员带领的。他们带着他们的节目，Tango Argentino，到欧洲和北美巡回演出，并在那里燃起了一股学习他们那种风格的探戈，Tango Fantasia（花式探戈）的热情。

花式探戈不同于黄金时代所跳的探戈。黄金时代的探戈叫作 Tango de Salon，或社交探戈。它是一种大众舞，适合普通百姓的口味，需求和能力。它是在拥挤的舞会上为取乐而不是为作秀跳的，并且受舞会规则的制约。这是一种亲密和感觉导向的即兴舞蹈，一般是用贴身拥抱跳的，舞伴之间有相当密切的身体接触。其步子简单而紧凑，所以舞者能专注于由音乐激起的感受，舒适而感性的拥抱，两人之间通过身体接触所进行的交流，以及与音乐同步的和谐运动。跳社交探戈舞是一种亲切，深情和个人的经验。要紧的是感觉如何，而不是看起来如何。

花式探戈，或表演探戈，则是为舞台表演设计的。这是一种精英舞，涉及相当有难度的舞步和技巧，适合经过特殊训练的专业舞蹈演员而不适合普通百姓。这是一种花哨的，动作导向的，和经过编排的舞蹈，通常使用开式拥抱以增加运动的可能性。其步子动作幅度大，华丽，眩目，危险，而且占用很大的空间。它不是为了给舞者一种亲切深情的个人感受，而是为了用炫耀的动作取悦观众。安全，舒适和简易并不为其所关注。它既不受舞会规则的约束，也不适合拥挤的舞会。要紧的是它看起来如何，而不是感觉如何。

由于缺乏相同的历史和文化背景，欧洲人和美国人对花式探戈比对社交探戈表现出更大的兴趣。他们没有突然爆炸的移民人口拥挤在一个大都市里。他们没有严重的女性短缺问题。他们的舞会不是那么拥挤。他们的文化不许可男女之间纯洁的亲密关系。开式拥抱更符合他们的口味。更重要的是，他们的老师是来自阿根廷的舞台演员。不久，花式探戈就在欧洲和北美成为一种时尚。

尽管如此，外国人对探戈的热情却重新点燃了阿根廷人对自己传统舞蹈的骄傲与激情。舞会重新开张。布宜诺斯艾利斯的居民又返回舞池。探戈沙龙再次爆满。探戈音乐，探戈时装和探戈旅游业蓬勃发展。布宜诺斯艾利斯再次成为探戈的圣地，来自世界各地的舞者都来这里与当地人跳探戈舞。但外国人很快就发现，他们在家里所学的探戈与布宜诺斯艾利斯舞会上所跳的探戈是不一样的。

尝到了布宜诺斯艾利斯的贴身拥抱探戈耐人寻味的滋味，大多数游客不想再返回开式拥抱。他们中有些人决定留下来长住，其他的则回国传播消息。他们的人数随着越来越多的人来布宜诺斯艾利斯与当地人跳舞而逐年增加。趋势在欧洲和北美开始由开式探戈转向贴身探戈。虽然贴身探戈可能还需要多年才能在那里安顿下来并成为主导风格，但我相信那迟早会发生。探戈是为满足人的一种需要而创造的。它的形式必须与它的目的相符合。表面与时尚的东西会改变，但内在和实质性的东西将留存。随着越来越多的人品尝到贴身探戈的魅力，随着舞会变得越来越拥挤，人们不但会想要用贴身拥抱来跳探戈，而且别无选择。最终，属于舞台的舞蹈和属于舞会的舞蹈终将再次分道扬镳。

Tango: Historical and Cultural Impacts

Buenos Aires is one of the largest metropolises in the world. Two thirds of Argentina’s 45 million people live in Buenos Aires. The city was built by the European immigrants. At the beginning of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was a small town with a mixed population of Spanish and Native Americans, often intermarried. The Spanish brought in slaves in large number with their music and dance from Africa. During the second half of the 19th century, the Argentine government made a conscious decision to reduce the black population and expand the white population, which led to the massive immigrations from Span, Italy, and other parts of Europe to Argentina. By the end of the 19th century the original population of Buenos Aires has been completely swamped by the European immigrants. We can trace tango to 150 years ago to its African origin from which the primitive form of the dance first appeared, but the main creators of tango were European immigrants of the late 19th century and early 20th century who built the city of Buenos Aires.

The fact that tango was created by the immigrants is significant. Far away from home, disproportional in gender, the immigrants were the most lonely, homesick and nostalgic people. They came to the milonga to dance the loneliness, homesickness, nostalgia and grief in them, to find a shoulder to rely on, to quench their thirst for love, and to touch and be touched by another human being of the opposite sex. Tango is their refuge. The intimate, soulful, sensual, and comforting nature of tango reflects and serves their deep, inward, human needs. That’s why tango is danced in a close embrace in which the two partners intimately lean into each other, chest against chest and cheek touches cheek. They communicate through their bodies their feelings, emotions, sentiments, and interpretations of the music. Like the dance itself, tango music is created to express deep emotions. Its rhythm is crisp, forceful and easy to dance to, but its melody is supple, fluid and sentimental. Every note or phrase is played with a “masculine” effect— strong, sharp and steady, or a “feminine” effect—lingering, submissive and emotional. The two moods intertwine and respond to each other, reflecting the man and woman in the dance.

Tango reached maturity and dominated the culture of Buenos Aires between 1930s and 1950s. This period is known as tango’s Golden Age. That was followed by almost thirty years of the Dark Age during which tango disappeared. In 1955 a military coup ousted Juan Domingo Peron, the democratically elected president. Peron had actively supported tango. The dancers aligned with him were suspicious to the anti-Peronist juntas, who created a climate that discouraged tango. Most people stopped dancing, and musicians stopped playing for the dance floor. The music produced in that period is largely for listeners and not dancers. The renaissance of tango started in the mid 1980s after the restoration of democracy in Argentina. Since then tango has gained worldwide popularity, and is now danced in almost every country in the world and almost every city in Europe and North America.

As one BBC commentator said, “Tango contains a secret about the yearning between men and women.” In many cultures, intimacy between the opposite sexes is deemed sexual, and therefore is repressed voluntarily or involuntarily. Men and women cannot be intimate unless they want to have sex. In other words, such cultures do not approve non-sexual intimacy between men and women. But Argentine tango represents a different view, or culture, that recognizes and sanctions innocent intimacy. The Argentines are a passionate and intimate people. Tango is a product of that culture. The triumph of tango, after all, is the triumph of its idea, which regards nonsexual intimacy as decent, healthy and beautiful. 

But, the triumph of that idea does not come without a cost. Many things have changed since the Golden Age. The tradition has been suspended for almost thirty years. The immigrants have settled down. The gender balance has regained. Many old dancers have died. The entire young generation did not know how to dance tango. The only little tango survived the Dark Age was the stage tango. As a result, the revival of tango was led by a group of stage dancers, who brought their show, Tango Argentino, to Europe and North America, where they ignited an enthusiasm for learning their style of tango—Tango Fantasia, which is different from the tango danced in the Golden Age.

The tango danced in the Golden Age is Tango de Salon, or social tango. It is a popular dance suited to the tastes, needs and abilities of ordinary people. It is danced on a crowded dance floor for pleasure and not for show, and is administered by the milonga codes. It is an intimate, feeling-oriented and improvised dance typically danced in a close embrace with considerable body contact between the partners. Its steps are simple and compact, so the dancers may concentrate on the feelings stirred by the music, the comfort and sensation of the embrace, the communication through torso contact between them, and the harmony of movements in unison with the music. Dancing Tango de Salon is an intimate, soulful and personal experience. What matters is how it feels and not how it looks.

Tango Fantasia, or show tango, on the other hand, is designed for performing on the stage. It is a highbrow dance involving difficult steps and techniques not suited to ordinary people, but professionals with expert skills. It is a fancy, movement-oriented and choreographed dance, typically danced in an open embrace for broader movement possibilities. Its steps are wide, flashy, dazzling, often dangerous and requiring a lot of space to do. It is not intended to be an intimate, soulful and personal experience, but an exhibition of showy figures to impress the audience. Safety, comfort and user-friendliness are not its concern. It does not abide by the milonga codes and is not suited to a crowded dance floor. What matters is how it looks and not how it feels.

Without the same historical and cultural background, the Europeans and Americans are more interested in Tango Fantasia than Tango de Salon. They do not have a sudden explosion of immigrant population crowding together in one big city. They do not have a severe shortage of women. Their dance floors are much less crowded. Their cultures do not sanction innocent intimacy. The open-embrace style meets their taste. And, above all, their teachers are the stage dancers from Argentina. Before long, Tango Fantasia becomes a fashion in Europe and North America.

Despite this, the tango fervor abroad rekindled the pride and passion of the Argentineans for their traditional dance. Milongas are reopened. Portenos return to the dance floor. Tango salons are packed again. Tango music, tango fashion and tango tourism flourish. Buenos Aires again becomes the Mecca of tango, where dancers from all over the world come to dance tango with the locals. But foreigners quickly discovered that the tango they learned at home is not the same tango danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires.

Having tasted the intriguing close-embrace tango of Buenos Aires, most visitors don’t want to go back to the open-embrace style. Some of them decide to stay for good. Others return home to spread the message. Their number increases each year as more and more people come to Buenos Aires to dance tango with the locals. Trend starts to shift from open embrace to close embrace in Europe and North America. It may still take years for the close-embrace tango to settle down and become the dominate style there, but that will inevitably happen, I believe. Tango is created to serve a human need. Its form must meet its purpose. What is external and fashionable may change, but what is internal and essential endures. As more and more people savor the charm of close embrace tango, as milongas become increasingly crowded, people will want to, and have no choice but dance in close embrace. Eventually, what belongs to the stage will separate from what belongs to the dance floor, again.

探戈的标志

探戈舞的好坏与音乐有关。我从未见人用蹩脚的，不熟悉的，古怪的，非探戈的音乐跳出过优美的探戈。优美的探戈都是用最好的经典探戈舞曲跳的。好音乐是使舞者的技能得以充分发挥不可或缺的催化剂，它对舞者有一种激发作用，能提高他们的情绪，激起他们的感情，点燃他们的创造力，造成动作的协调和同步，并导致阿根廷人称为DUENDE的那种亢奋状态，在其中舞者得以发挥得淋漓尽致。没有好音乐，即使探戈大师也英雄无用武之地。

市场上有成千上万的探戈歌曲。其中只有一小部分是能够跳舞的优秀舞曲。绝大多数则是平庸或不适合跳舞的滥调。光碟制造商知道如何赚钱。他们若把好舞曲都放在一起，垃圾音乐就卖不出去了。因此，他们良莠掺杂，鱼目混珠。在一张20首歌曲的光碟中，或许只有一两首是好歌，其它都是垃圾。阿根廷人懂得他们的音乐。他们买光碟就为那一两首好歌，其余皆弃置不顾。而美国探戈游客却不一样，他们买一张光碟，把所有的歌曲全在舞会上播放。在这里，我们收垃圾的习惯和怪异的品味又困扰我们了。我们收集音乐就象我们收集舞步一样。更糟的是，我们特别醉心于收集罕见的垃圾，例如异国的，非探戈的，和另类的音乐。

专家们都同意，探戈舞要想跳得尽兴痛快，熟悉探戈音乐是必要条件。阿根廷人在他们的舞会上只播放最好的，最知名的经典探戈舞曲。他们甚至不播放不常听见和不熟悉的探戈歌曲，更不用说古怪和另类的音乐了。播放那样的音乐是帮倒忙。那种音乐既怪异又缺乏经典探戈舞曲的内涵和深度。它不但不能使舞者的技能得到充分发挥，反而使探戈成为一种杂交舞，让资深望重的老舞棍们闻而止步。这些老舞棍在布宜诺斯艾利斯的舞会上是倍受尊重的，他们能免费或优惠入场，坐最好的座位，并得到特别为他们播放其所喜爱的经典探戈舞曲的礼遇，因为他们是舞会的中流砥柱。

经典探戈音乐是探戈的标志。它是为探戈舞创造并与探戈舞一起发展的。两者之间有一种互相依存的关系。人们一听到经典探戈音乐就能识别它并联想到探戈舞。事实上，探戈舞和经典探戈音乐是一件事情的两个方面，总称为阿根廷探戈。它们就象身体和灵魂一样是分不开的。探戈音乐是为表达深沉的感情谱写制作的。它的节奏明快有力，适合于舞蹈，而它的旋律是柔顺，流畅而感伤的。每一个音符或乐句都表达一种男性的强壮，果敢和成稳，或女性的缠绵，顺从和多愁善感。这两种情绪互相交织，彼此回应，映照着正在跳舞的男人和女人。

探戈舞能够用其他音乐来跳的事实并不等于那样做能使探戈保持不变。有人可能会用京剧曲调来跳探戈，但那将不再是探戈。来自不同文化背景的另类音乐不具有与经典探戈音乐相同的韵律结构和丰富内涵。经典探戈音乐富于激情，是多层次，多变化，深沉，多愁善感，允许自由诠释和即兴发挥的。任何具有与探戈相同的韵律结构和丰富内涵的音乐都可被视为探戈音乐，而不是另类音乐。根据定义，另类音乐是缺少探戈韵律结构和深度的音乐，因此不是最适合跳探戈舞的音乐。那种音乐只吸引缺乏乐感和品味的初学者和寻求新奇的怪人，以及为赚钱而迎合他们口味的人。

与此相反，爱探戈甚于爱金钱的人可以为探戈做一件事。如果我们精心选择三百到五百首最好的经典探戈舞曲并在舞会上反复播放，就象阿根廷人在布宜诺斯艾利斯的舞会上所做的那样，我们将在出乎意料的诸多方面提高我们的探戈文化和舞蹈水平。毕竟，探戈是与音乐密切相关的。音乐越好，舞蹈就越好，舞会就越好，社团就越好，我们也就越好。

The Signature of Tango

The quality of tango dance has something to do with the music. I never saw a lousy, unfamiliar, outlandish and non-tango song that produced a beautiful tango. Well-performed tangos are all danced to excellent classical tango music, which is an inspiration and stimulant indispensable for bringing the dancers’ skills into full play. Good classical tango music motivates the dancers, lifts their spirit, stirs up their emotions, kindles their creativity, generates synergism, and leads to what the Argentines call duende, an elated state in which the dancers perform exceptionally well. Without good music, there is little scope for even a master’s abilities.

There are thousands of tango songs available on the market. Only a small portion is excellent danceable music. The majorities are mediocrities or junks unsuitable for tango dancing. The CD makers know how to make money. If they put all good songs in one place, nobody will buy junks. So they mix the good and the junk together. In a CD of twenty songs, perhaps only one or two are good songs and the rest are junks. The Argentines know their music. They buy a CD for one or two good songs and discard the rest. American tango tourists, on the other hand, buy a CD and play them all. Here, our garbage collecting habit and bizarre taste haunt us again. We collect junk music like we collect junk steps. Worse still, we show favoritism to eccentric and rare junks, such as exotic, non-tango and alternative music.

Experts all agree that familiarity with the music is essential to an exuberant tango experience. The Argentines only play the best, well-known classical tango music in their milongas. They don’t even play rare and unfamiliar tango songs, still less outlandish and alternative music. Playing such music is a disservice to tango. It is weird. It lacks the richness and depth of the classical tango music. It cannot bring the dancers’ skills into play. It changes tango to a hybrid dance and repels the seasoned dancers who in Argentina are treated with respect, free or discount admission, best seats, and their favorite classical tango music, because they are the mainstay of the milonga.

Classical tango music is the signature of tango. It is created and developed with tango and for tango. People recognize it and associate it with the dance when they hear it. There is a sentimental attachment between the two. In reality tango dance and classical tango music are two aspects of one thing called Argentine tango, inseparable as body and soul. The fact that tango can be danced to other music doesn’t mean it can remain intact when so danced. One may dance tango to the music of Beijing opera, but that will not be tango. Alternative music from different cultural background does not have the same rhythmic structure and sentimental richness of the classical tango music, which is passionate, multi-layered, manifold, changeful, deep and moody, allowing the freedom to interpret and improvise. Any music sharing the same rhythmic structure and sentimental richness will be recognized as tango and not alternative music. By definition, alternative music is the music that lacks the structural and sentimental depth of tango, and therefore is not the best music for tango dancing. It only appeals to beginners deficient in good taste and musicality or weird dudes seeking novelty, and those who choose to pander to their taste in order to make money.

Those who love tango more than money, on the other hand, can do one thing for tango. If we meticulously select 300-500 best classical tango songs and play only them repeatedly in our milongas like the Argentines do in the milongas of Buenos Aires, we will change our tango culture and raise the level of our dance in more ways than we can imagine. After all, tango is intimately related to its music. The better the music, the better the dance, the better the milonga, the better the community, and the better we will be.

关于音乐的笔记

跳探戈舞时要注意听音乐，从容不迫，不要着急。如果错过一个节拍，就等待下一个节拍。要花时间跳好每一步，不要急于赶节拍，不要害怕等待，可多用慢动作和暂停。跳探戈舞挑战你同时处理许多事的能力。而在诸多任务中，听音乐是你的首要任务。你跳的是音乐而不是步子。不要把注意力锁定在步伐上而忘记听音乐。

如果一首探戈曲缺少节奏变化，跳起来会感到单调。但是，如果它的节奏太不规则，无法预测，也不适合跳舞。并非所有的探戈曲都是为舞蹈编写制作的。在阿根廷历史上的某些时期，探戈作为舞蹈是被压制的，但音乐家们在那些时期仍然为音乐爱好者而不是舞者写探戈曲。一个好的DJ知道其中的区别，在舞会上只播放最好的，适合跳舞的探戈曲。

适合跳舞的探戈曲有清晰的节奏。虽然它时而会有一些有趣的变化，但并不难跳。事实上，一首好的探戈舞曲往往包含多层次的节奏和旋律，其中占主导地位的节奏和旋律通常与从属的节奏和旋律交织在一起。舞者可以选择跳主导节奏或旋律，或跳从属节奏或旋律，或由一种节奏/旋律转到另一种节奏/旋律，取决于他们对音乐的诠释和他们在那个瞬间想如何表达自己的感受。有些舞者喜欢跳节奏。有些舞者喜欢跳旋律。他们根据自己的乐感形成不同的舞蹈风格。

探戈舞曲是由不同的乐章乐句组成的。有些长，有些短，有些快，有些慢。它们表达不同的情绪：悲伤，快乐，浪漫，深情，忧郁，怀旧，等等。按音乐跳舞不仅意味着踩在节拍上，也意味着按音乐的情绪跳舞。好的舞者踩在节拍上。卓越的舞者按音乐的情绪跳舞。

探戈音乐是四四拍的，每小节有四拍。第一拍和第三拍是强拍，第二拍和第四拍是弱拍。跳舞时一般是踩在强拍上，但也有多种可能性。例如，你可以踩在弱拍上，或交替踩在强拍和弱拍上，或只踩在任何一拍上，或踩在所有节拍上，或在一拍上踩两步，或用暂停来跳过几拍，等等。

小步花时少，大步花时多。快步花时少，慢步花时多。180度旋转比360度旋转花时少，但比90度旋转花时多。一个好的舞者可以用不同（大，小，快，慢）的舞步来跳不同的音乐。

乐感准确性要求我们精确地踩在节拍上。有经验的舞者常常故意使用提前和耽延来追赶或拖延时间，保持造型，装饰步伐，缩短一步以延长另一步，或延长一步以缩短另一步，来增加节奏和动作的变化。但他们在这样做时会严格掌握计时，保持舞蹈与音乐的同步。

按音乐跳舞不仅意味着踩在节拍上，也意味着在舞蹈中运用CADENCIA。CADENCIA是指身体随着音乐而有节奏地摆动。人体在运动中会产生惯性。通过增加然后止住运动幅度，人们可以控制惯性，使身体有节奏地摆动。这种摆动是延水平而非垂直方向运动，好象波浪在音乐的流淌中有节奏地向前推动一样，给舞蹈添加更多的湧动感。因为探戈音乐节奏模式的变化性和复杂性，运用CADENCIA很具挑战性。具备这种能力是一个好舞者的标志之一。

太多的探戈学生把太多的注意力放在学习看得见的舞步上而不是放在学习看不见的音乐上。但是看不见的比看得见的更重要。音乐性是一门只有少数人掌握了的艺术，除非你掌握它，你不能成为一个卓越的探戈舞者。

 

Notes on Musicality

Dance to the music, be calm and unhurried, go slow. If you miss a beat, wait for the next. Take your time to finish the step, do not rush to catch up the beat, do not be afraid of waiting, use slow motion and pause. Tango challenges your multi-tasking ability, and among all the tasks, listening to the music is your first priority. You dance the music, not the steps. Do not fix your attention solely on the steps and forget about the music.

If a tango is mono-rhythmic, it is palling to dance to. But if its rhythm is too irregular and unpredictable, it is not suitable for dance either. Not all tangos are created for dance. There were periods in Argentine history that tango as a dance was doomed, but musicians continued to produce tango music for listening and not dancing. A good DJ knows the difference and plays only the best danceable tangos at a milonga.

A danceable tango has a clear rhythm with variations that are interesting but not too difficult to follow. In fact, a good, danceable tango often contains layers of rhythms and melodies, but there is usually a dominant rhythm and melody interwound with subordinate ones. Dancers can choose to follow the dominant rhythm or melody, or the subordinate ones, or jump from one to another, depending on their interpretations of the music and how they want to express their feelings in the moment. Some dancers are more rhythmic. Others are more melodic. They develop different dance styles according to their musicality.

Within each piece of music there are different movements and phrases. Some are shorter; some are longer. Some are slower; some are faster. They express different emotions: sad, happy, romantic, sentimental, passionate, melancholy, nostalgic… Dancing to the music not only means stepping on the beat, but dancing to the mood of the music as well. A good dancer steps on the beat. An excellent dancer dances to the mood of the music.

Tango music is quadruple time. It has four beats in each measure. The first and third beats are strong beats. The second and fourth beats are weak beats. The dancer usually steps on the strong beats, but there are many possibilities. For example, one can step on the weak beats, or a combination of strong and weak beats, or just on any one beat or all beats, or make two steps on one beat, or pause to skip few beats, etc.

A small step takes less time. A larger step takes more time. A quick step takes less time. A slow step takes more time. A 180-degree turn takes longer time than a 90-degree turn, but shorter time than a 360-degree turn. A good dancer can use different (fast, slow, small or large) steps to play with the music.

Precision requires us to step exactly on the beat. Experienced dancers may step slightly ahead of or after the beat to catch up time or delay, to sustain a posture, to adorn a footwork,  and to change the rhythm by shortening one step in order to elongate another, or vice versa. However, in doing so they still strictly time the steps so that their dance is in unison with the music.

Dancing to the music means more than just stepping on the beat. It also means dancing with cadencia. Cadencia is the correspondence of the motion of the body with the music. The body produces a momentum in each step when it is in motion. By increasing and then halting the motion, one can maneuver the momentum to create a lilt, swing, or cadence. The cadence is in horizontal rather than vertical direction, like waves of motion across each step in correspondence with the rhythmic flow of the music, adding more sensation to the dance. The ability to dance with cadencia is one of the things that mark a good dancer. It is a challenging task due to the variation and complication of the rhythmic pattern of tango music.

Too many tango students pay too much attention on learning visible steps than invisible musicality, but what is invisible is more important than what is visible. Musicality is an art that only few master. Unless you master it you can’t reach excellence.