This weeks tanda is an upbeat collection of songs by Francisco Canaro. This is a mixed set, in that two are instrumentals and two are with Roberto Maida singing. All the songs are playful and fun and have an older Guardia Vieja feel.

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• Francisco Canaro Tandas
  

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This weeks alternative tanda focuses on pop waltzes (vals).  "Hijo de la Luna" is a classic alternative tango song and has a great waltz rhythm for dancing. Sting's "Until" is one of my favorite waltzes to dance to. It is such a beautiful song and has a classic waltz rhythm. "Will You Remember" is a sweet and pretty waltz. Also, a note for DJs, I have trimmed the intro off of "Will You Remember" so that it does not take so long to get to the waltz rhythm.

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This week's tanda is one of my favorite tandas to dance to by Osvaldo Pugliese. It has everything that makes Pugliese great. These songs are bold but tender, calm and then energetic. To enjoy dancing to his music, you have to be able to enjoy the silence. It is about the moments between the steps.  Many believe that you have to have a large vocabulary to dance to Pugliese, but actually I probably do less when dancing to his music. It is about patience, balance and the connection to your partner.

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• Osvaldo Pugliese Tandas
  
• Osvaldo Pugliese Biography

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I really love dancing tango to bluesy music and no one sounds better singing the blues than Nina Simone. I have used this set for years and everyone always loves it. It is a sure fire crowd please, even for those that do not like alternative tango.

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This weeks tanda is a classic golden age tanda by Anibal Troilo with Francisco Fiorentino singing. The combination of Troilo and Fiorentino is one of the greatest in tango. If you are a purest and absolutely must put 4 songs with singers and can't mix singers with instrumentals then "Yo Soy el Tango" would go great instead of "C.T.V."

Troilo is considered on of the four primary orchestras of Argentine tango including d'Arienzo, di Sarli, and Pugliese. He had a very long career and really contributed to the evolution of tango's sound. In Buenos Aires, you will see statues and paintings of Troilo all over the place and his music very loved by the older dancers. It has a lot of rhythm and strong melodies and gives dancers lots to work with.

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• Anibal Troilo Tandas
  

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This weeks alternative tanda focuses on electronic tango music. "Felino" is almost a classic of electronic tango and is often used at alternative milongas. I have put it with two songs by Otros Aires, one of the best modern tango bands. The second song mentions the greatest classic tango orchestras  Pugliese, Troilo, d'Arienzo. The final song is a great cover of Pugliese's classic song, "La Yumba."

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Here is a wonderful video by Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes on the tango embrace.

Wonderful explanation of the tango embrace. Students of ours will recognize almost all of these explanations.. such as the idea that you don't take the embrace and then begin dancing, taking the embrace is part of the dance.

I just had someone ask me yesterday about when you take the embrace do you start with the open side or the close(d) side. First I respond to the woman. If she lifts her left arm and not her right, then I start with the close side (and vice versa). If she waits for me to initiate the embrace, then I will usually lift my left arm, so starting with the close side. Then, of course, I would expect her to lift her left arm so that we can take the embrace on the close side. Notice Sebastian do this at 6.33 of the video. BUT there are many nice ways to take the embrace at 6.22 he takes both sides of the embrace at the same time.

After a class with them in Baltimore a few years ago, I made significant changes to my embrace which have worked very well for me. The main one being not bringing my right shoulder forward in the embrace. I attempt to keep my chest very flat. Many leaders reach way around the follower with their right arm, bringing their right shoulder forward, and thus they end up leading with their right shoulder rather than with their center. As he says in the video, I bring my right hand around her and try to position my right hand in front of my spine. If we are leading from the center instead of from one side or the other then the lead will be very clear.

This weeks tanda is a classic golden age tanda by Juan d'Arienzo with Hector Maure singing. From 1940 to 1944, d'Arienzo had a wonderful orchestra with Hector Maure singing and Fulvio Salamanca on piano.

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• Juan d'Arienzo with Singers Tandas
• Juan d'Arienzo Biography
• Fulvio Salamanca Biography
• Hector Maure Biography

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