DJ'ing in "Tendas"

[jacques_g]

I spoke to a DJ for the Montreal Argentina Tango scene last week. He was explaining to me that the way the DJ's DJ for a dance in both Montreal and (apparently) in Argentina is something like this.

1 Set of Tango taking music only from 1 orchestra in 1 period. If you don't have enough music of one orchestra, you should take songs from the same period from a Orchestra who plays a similar style.

A tenda is played. This is usually a small tune which can be any thing from the sound of someone tap dancing to a 30 seconds of Jazz to clearly indicate that a new set is coming.

A set of Tango Waltz (similar rules)
A tenda
A set of Tango
A tenda
A set of other dance music ( Could be a set of Salsa, Chacha, or Swing)
A tenda
A set of Tango
A tenda.
A set of Milonga

I was wondering if any of you has ever used a similar formula where you would have something like this:

A set of Fast Lindy and / or Bal
A tenda
A set of Non-Lindy Music (Chacha, Salsa, Waltz)
A tenda
A set of Lindy Music from one Orchestra (Med tempos)
A tenda
Blues Dancing to finish the evening.

JG

[Spin Doctor]

Not me. I look for transitional songs that bridge the gaps between different musical styles. I do everything I can to make the musical flow seamless. I don't want dancers to notice the changes as they are occuring. I want them only to notice in retrospect.

Tango dance communities have very different customs than we do. As an example, it is considered extremely rude to dance only one dance with a person. It is also rude to say "thank you" after the first dance with a person. You are expected to dance several dances with each partner before moving on to another. "Thank you" is an expression that is used to say "ok, I'm moving on now".

You also are considered crass if you begin dancing at the beginning of a song. You are expected to carry on conversation with your partner for at least the first minute of a song before starting to dance.

Ahh, how it is so much easier to relax at a swing dance without all of the trappings.

But I wonder if we have trappings that are uncomfortable to other dancers.

[Downeastdancer]

Jacques, I went to an Argentine Tango workshop and dance once, taught by a cool dude from... Montreal! The AMUSING thing was, the "tendas" were all - get this - swing music clips! So very frustrating to get 30 seconds of good swing music and then have it cut off! Grrrr! I can't think of a piece of music I disrespect enough to do that - well, yes I can, but I wouldn't inflict even 30 seconds of it on anyone. I guess I feel if it's worth playing at all, one should pay attention to the whole thing and not cut it off at 30 seconds!

[KevinSchaper]

Jacques, I went to an Argentine Tango workshop and dance once, taught by a cool dude from... Montreal! The AMUSING thing was, the "tendas" were all - get this - swing music clips! So very frustrating to get 30 seconds of good swing music and then have it cut off! Grrrr! I can't think of a piece of music I disrespect enough to do that - well, yes I can, but I wouldn't inflict even 30 seconds of it on anyone. I guess I feel if it's worth playing at all, one should pay attention to the whole thing and not cut it off at 30 seconds!

Yeah! That's what I've heard in portland too - sometimes it's not recognizably swing, like kooky foriegn stuff with a decent swing beat, but it always ends up being the music played that I most wanted to dance to..

The word I've heard associated with that is the cortina, so the tenda must be the song played during the cortina.. haha, I actually had an asshole tango dancer throw a shoulder into me and when I appologized thinking I'd run into him he chastized me for dancing.. it's interesting, apparently when tango people get real into being purists there's a lot of aggressive macho shit.. which kinda fits the 'creation myth' of their dance, I guess..

as for the actual concept - I think something along those lines is inevitable if you're trying to maintain a decent flow while covering lots of different genres of swing - though, when I'm really focused, I find I can move through genres a little quicker and more creatively than in rigid 3 song blocks..

[mark0tz]

Argentine Tango Venues in DC tend to not necessarily follow that track:

Rather they usually play 3 of the same types in a row. ("Tango","Vals" (Tango Waltz), and "Milonga"). It's also common to dance with the same partner 3 times in a row -- First two are just getting to know them.

[Mr Awesomer]

When I DJ I want it to sound like the same song was playing for four hours.

[shortyjul]

The one thing that needs to be clarified is that in Argentine Tango, the individual songs are usually MUCH shorter than swing songs, AND you are generally expected to dance with ONE person for an entire set(like mak0tz said). The tenda allows for partner changes.

Hahaha I'd like to see you at a milonga, Reuben. You in cuban heels...

[KevinSchaper]

The one thing that needs to be clarified is that in Argentine Tango, the individual songs are usually MUCH shorter than swing songs, AND you are generally expected to dance with ONE person for an entire set(like mak0tz said). The tenda allows for partner changes.

Hahaha I'd like to see you at a milonga, Reuben. You in cuban heels...

Are the songs really shorter? They feel like they're around 3 minutes each..

I never realized how much westie DJs have to manually fade shit till I started picking up more disco and seeing that all the songs are all 6 repetative minutes long.

[Shanabanana]

This is a really old thread, but I just came across it. Here's my input FWIW:

Most tango songs are in th 2-4 minute range, with most of them about 3 minutes long. A tanda is a set of 3 or 4 songs similar in type and orchestra. A cortina (curtain) is a short clip of music between tandas when you can converse with your partner or find a new one.

I like dancing in tandas, though I do find it frustrating how you dance with much fewer people in a given time. Still, it's a nice tradition - one that I use as an excuse to dance multiple songs with swing dancers.

[Juani]

Hi!
Yeah, we play the music that way. (I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina) Shanabana is right about "tandas". The only thing is that we play all the song (not 30 seconds) that we are using as a curtain.

I'm the Dj of the only night swing dance that we have here, and I play in tandas.

Is like this:

You choose some kind of style, or mood, or singers or something like that.

You play maybe 10 songs, and you gradually choose more speed up tempos. So when the dancers are a little tired, you put a curtain, and then start again with another tanda.

Basically is like that.

But obviously it always depend on the crowd, maybe the floor is full of people and you want to keep it that way, so you play (as spin doctor says) some kind of "tranistional songs" to change the style.

And by the way, in Tango venues down here, a lot of things keep going' the "the way it used to be", so de Dj's plays in a very structured way, and only use some specific kind of music. Anyway, there is a lot of "new school" tango dancers who run the venues in a more relaxed way, and play some Tango-fussion or Electronic Tango (like Narcotango or Gotan Proyect) and maybe play some jazz music too.

[djstarr]

One of my dancer friends has been dragging me to a tango night here. I do like the concept of "tendas", playing a song that is a deliberate break and then going onto another set of similar songs. I've been playing around with that idea in my dj'ing.

I think tango songs are just as long, or longer, than swing songs [luckily not as long as salsa!]. I really love jazz and just can't get into other music as easily; so I am not that smitten with tango. Of course, if I looked good in and/or had a bunch of killer tango shoes and sexy back pants that might be a different story lol. The tango night I'm going to rotates between two or three standard tango cd's -- one of the tenda's is an austin powers vignette; it is pretty darn funny.

But I keep going back, it's an interesting change from the swing scene.