It is often said that there are three Ms in tango:

-Music

-eMbrace

-Movement

The music is the foundation of the dance. The embrace is the connection linking the dancers together. The movement is the partnership in motion within the ideas of the music.

In a musicality workshop this past weekend held by Tango Mercuio with Brett Lemley, Mercurio's Orchestra leader, and Jay Abling a tango teacher and performer from AZ, Brett emphasized the fundamental structure of the music: the marcato - the basic pulse of the music as expressed by the music and the particular orchestra.

He talked about how a dancer can accomplish about 80% of being a dancer by finding this basic pulse. Later in the workshop, he began to help the attendees understand the off-pulse accents in the music - the sincopa. Jay presented ideas on how to work with these two elements.

Brett suggested that 80% of being a musical dancer is finding the basic pulse of the music and another 5-10% was finding the off-pulse elements. I quipped to my friends afterwards that the remaining ~10% was to be found in a bottle of malbec.

Even though that was a joke, there is an element of seriousness to it. The wine can help unlock a dancer's creativity.

Here is a summary of the elements from the workshop and my thoughts on them. The three elements of musicality can be viewed as follows:

Marcato - the basic pulse

Sincopa - the off-pulse accents

Creativity - the dancers linking these elements together in the context of a partner dance on the social floor

For the beginning dancer, these elements form the foundation of the dance. They give dancers tools to work with at a practica. The practice in turn provides the confidence for them to make their way onto the milonga floor.

For the more experienced dancer, these elements are the launching point for a more complex experience.

For the leader, when he uses the impulse of the music to set the tone, the follower can understand the flavor he is likely to add to the tanda. Jay called this calibrating of the partnership "hypnotizing" the follower. Once "hypnotized" to the basic flavor, the leader can then experiment and play with the varying and contrasting elements that make tango dramatic and fun.

Like the leader, the follower should be on pulse. The leader can offer an idea, but the follower has to execute it. If she isn't also listening to the music, it is likely she will be off pace from the leader. If she is moving faster than the music, she is likely to run away from the leader. If she is moving too slowly, she is likely to feel rushed.

Whether the leader is tuned into the pulse gives a follower a great deal of information. First, she will know whether or not the leader is actually tuned into the music (or maybe whether or not she is going to want to dance with him again) . If the leader is dependably on beat, this opens up many possibilities for the follower for her own contributions. If the follower knows when she is being asked to place her foot, she has all of that time in between foot placements for her own ideas and embellishments. It also allows her to know when she can complete an idea in time with her leader (e.g. closing a parada or moving into pasada).

The connection between the two dancers is obvious because it is physical. We can see and touch it. The connection between the partners and the music is not obvious and sometimes it isn't even really there.

When I first started learning tango, I couldn't even hear the music, never mind find the pulse. Later, I found the music so complex (no percussion, competing solos, singers who didn't follow the music, changing phrasing, etc.) that I didn't know how to move to it.

By linking together the basic pulse of the music and the off-pulse accents of the music played the orchestra, I can communicate ideas through the embrace for movement with my partner that we can explore and play with together.

When the leader and follower are both tuned to the music - its speed and flavor - there are few boundaries and many possibilities to enjoy each other in the moment.

(Note: Mark Word frequently talks about the three Ms. See his blog linked in the blog section of this website.)