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NEH Discussion Forum #3 (July 2024)
Please respond by July 17, 2024
Moving forward from last month’s forum, we would like to discuss research question #3.
- How do interdisciplinary perspectives on tango influence current scholarship?
Also, as everyone prepares their presentations for the upcoming conference, please post any additional questions or comments that you’d like the group to consider.
7 Responses
As a composer of music, and of 21st century tango, I always had an interest in finding the intersection with dance, to be able to bring new instrumental forms to dance. To cite an example, some time ago a couple of Italian dancers and another of Argentinians tried to dance a work that I have written in 5×4 that I called Punk Tango. But I noticed that it is difficult for dancers to try new figures to certain schematic steps of the 4 x 4 formula that they have very deep roots.
I think this is true of dancers of all genres. I used to work as an accompanist for ballet dancers, and when it was time to dance to Stravinsky, the constant meter changes were always a challenge. As you said, most dancers have very deep roots, and changing the meter to something like 5/4 often gives them a feeling of disorganization or like their feet are tripping. As musicians, we are used to different or changing meters, but dancers are not. But, I had a similar feeling when I was trying to play Lou Harrison’s Grand Duo for Violin and Piano, which has an abnormal key signature (F#, G#, C#, A#, B#). It just made my head hurt trying to remember not to play a D# and then a B#.
I don’t feel very well equipped to answer this question! But I am quite interested in the turn to ethnography/participant observation in a number of recent studies of tango, especially tango dance and the insights that the social sciences can offer in addition to performance-based approaches to tango music and dance along with aesthetic appreciation and history.
Similar to Julián, but from another perspective, I would be interested in knowing more about the history of dance and movement and its intersection with the history of music. For example, some oral histories with Afro-Argentines suggest that there were forms of dancing tango/candombe that used heel stomps or taps to replace the percussion of drums. I’d be interested to learn more about what this looked and sounded like.
For me, interdisciplinary perspectives on tango have significantly enriched current scholarship by integrating insights from musicology, cultural studies, history, sociology, and dance and performance studies. This multifaceted approach allows for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of tango, not just as a musical genre but as a cultural phenomenon that reflects and shapes societal changes. I hope this conference will help us connect with other researchers to gain different perspectives, enrich our reflections, and learn more about this culture and tradition we love so much. Looking forward to it!
I’m also not sure I can make a lot of comments on interdisciplinary perspectives in tango studies specifically, as I’m quite new to this field, but I will say that I was a little surprised when my chapter was listed in the Interdisciplinary Studies section of the book because I hadn’t really thought that I was engaging with two different disciplines. As I commented in the last forum, my academic training is in music theory, but my entry point into my choreomusicological research has always been as a dance participant, so the two have always been fused in my experience of the artform. I am finding myself turning to a variety of other fields ((ethno)musicology, gender studies, and so on) for a broader perspective to better understand what I am seeing, hearing, and otherwise experiencing on the dance floor. I’m really looking forward to all of the upcoming panels at the symposium, as they seem to combine all of the different areas of expertise in interesting and perhaps unexpected ways!
Great discussion, everyone! Thank you. As we mentioned on the Zoom call, please post on this thread any questions or topics that you’d like to discuss at the next forum. We want this to be beneficial to all of you!
On a different topic, here is a link to the movie Julian mentioned:
Cuando Frank conoció Carlitos (When Frank Met Carlitos).
In the US, it is playing on Disney+. https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/when-frank-met-carlitos/4OdqPGkMrHD6