06-Dec-2024

Argentine Tango

...as dancer (Tanguero), DJ, musician (bass player) and sound engineer.

As you might expect, as an Argentine Tango dancer, I've visited and danced in a range of locations including Argentina (primarily Buenos Aires), Europe and even Japan. It's a journey and the quality takes some time to fully develop. My style is based on social tango - as danced in the milonga with many other couples sharing the dance floor. The movements are not expansive as the experience is shared with a dance partner and the rest of the 'ronda' - the dancers in the room. Obviously different from show or stage tango where the focus is on an audience - presenting expansive and expressive moves that will be viewed from some distance away either in one direction (for the audience of a stage) or in the round.

My DJ work has been for local groups and parties, based on a growing collection of traditional recordings - typically purchased on CD or digitally cleaned copies from the original Shellac recordings (78's). My objective is to keep the energy in the room and allow dancers to enjoy the space and the music as they interpret each song.

As a double bass player, I've performed tango music for dancing on a number of occasions, albeit not since the lockdowns of 2020. The main challenge is locating bandoneon players who give Argentine Tango its characteristic flavour. Despite the lack of performance opportunities, I continue to study the bass techniques and articulation for tango, which differ from the common classical music styles.

As a sound engineer, I've created the front of house mix for visiting Argentine Tango groups in London and Oxford, presented for dancing. I can support tango duets through to a normal orquesta tipica, providing front of house sound and monitoring to ensure the music is clean and balanced for the dancers and an audience, and provides a worry-free environment for the musicians allowing them to perform at their best.

Read some background on Argentine Tango.