Modern Tango World N° 3 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) | Page 44

I find it rather strange when DJs play tandas, but don’t make them recognizable with cortinas. What sense could that have? One reason that I have heard several times is that cortinas interrupt the flow of the music.There may be non-stop dancers who see it that way. But, my view is completely different and I rather like breaks. Some DJs don’t play any cortinas because they consider the evening to be an organic whole and want to have smooth transitions from one piece to the next, sometimes introducing segues that overlap one song with the next. One frequent consequence of this concept is that pieces blend into each other or that pauses between pieces are either extremely short or don’t exist at all. I can’t stand both. Blending pieces into each other for me shows a lack of respect for the music. Moreover, the poignant dramatic endings with their corresponding final poses are automatically lost. I like music with a distinctive end and don’t like it if the music just fades out. Especially after romantic pieces, I want to have a few seconds in which I can let the music and the dance resonate inside me for a brief moment. I find it stressful and irritating if the next piece begins immediately. When dancing, I focus exclusively on the dance, the music and of course on the woman in my arms. It may sound harsh but I don’t care at all about the DJs. They need not be present, as most of the time I am not even aware of them. Dancing DJ Also, I totally don’t mind when the DJ enjoys himself and dances to his music. The traditional commandment for DJs says: You have to at least pretend the whole evening to be terribly busy, stare constantly at your display and fumble around with your knobs and slider controls. Under no circumstances may you enjoy yourself and dance. I think this whole idea rather silly. That’s why I like the following statement of a traditional DJ: Because I’ve spent so much time in preparation, I usually dance a lot when I DJ. A FJ who doesn’t dance makes me wonder why — not a dancer? not prepared? just choosing in the moment? Oh, oh Jochen Lüders may be contacted at: http://www.jochenenglish.de/ [email protected] Playlists With the above said, it follows that I have absolutely nothing against DJs who use playlists. On the contrary: I prefer a carefully chosen and varied playlist to spontaneous DJing. From my experience, this often leads to musical chaos. That’s why I also don’t expect the DJ to work the whole evening with a headphone over one ear all the time, constantly selecting the next musical piece. — 44 — To Subscribe, Click here