“Do you hear what I hear?”

“The follower surfs the leader and the leader surfs the music.” - Rick Kim, tango teacher and DJ

For the first three tango lessons I ever took, I was so lost in the mechanics that I couldn’t even hear the music. I clearly wasn’t surfing; I couldn’t even stand up on the board.

Having a decent music background, this was frustrating for me. Even when I was just walking and my teacher was snapping his fingers to the beat, I just couldn’t find it.

I mentioned this to my kids – who were perhaps a bit amused that their father was learning a dance. My son Trevor said, “Dad, maybe the music isn’t about beats, but about patterns.” How smart is that kid!

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It was finally during a music seminar held by Brett Lemley, Director of the Tango Mercurio Community Orchestra, that the music started to make sense to me.

He described the composition of the basic orchestra: bandoneon, violin, bass violin and piano. Then, he went on to discuss how none of these instruments had 100% responsibility for keeping time. That not only blew my mind at the time, it also freed it. My son’s comment about “patterns” suddenly made all the sense in the world.

Brett described how the patterns are often played across 16 measures (although they are not at all locked into that structure – is there anything within tango that is locked in?!?!). Additionally, after one pattern plays out, the next pattern is likely to be quite different. For example, a very staccato phrase might be followed by a very flowy section with many runs. Such changes in phrasing might suggest walking during one section and turns during another.

As Brett played a few songs and talked about how the patterns in the songs shift and move, I was able to discern a few elements:

-The leader has options regarding the waves he chooses to surf on. Will he pick one instrument? Will he pick the whole orchestra? Will he dance the general feeling of the music?

-The follower has similar options on how she handles her steps and embellishments. In a dramatic end to a phrase, she might collect herself slowly. During a parada in a more staccato phrase, she might add some touches of her foot timed to the pulses on the floor or her partner's leg.

-It occurred to me why tango music is so dramatic. Since none of the instruments is assigned to time keeping, each of them can be part of the rotation of time keeping, harmony and solo. Sometimes, each of them is playing soloes. The situation in which each instrument is playing its own music creates a tension that is palpable and clearly dramatic.

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Not long afterwards, at the Baltimore Tango Festival with Tango Element, I attended another musicality seminar with Olga Besio. Her distinct teaching was an emphasis on “la pausa”. The pause is another very distinct element of tango music. Olga emphasized – perhaps even insisted – that the pause was not to be danced, but rather to be savored.

The pause creates that moment of transition during which to collect oneself from the previous phrasing to move into the next one. It gives the leader a chance to pick a new element on which to surf. Perhaps it gives the follower a moment to catch her breath. It gives both of them a chance to more deeply connect with each other.

I mentioned that a typical tango phrase might consist of 16 measures (each measure having four beats, where we tend to dance, or step, on beats one and three). Olga pointed out that each phrase tended to end on the first beat of the last measure of the phrase. This type of ending provides the dancers with three beats in which to enjoy la pausa before moving again.

The pause creates another element of drama and mystery to the dance. What phrase comes next? What element will the leader pick to dance to? Will he move right away? Will he wait? Is she decorating the pause with adornos? Is that more fun than moving?

Surfing requires a melding of surfer, board and wave. Tango dancing requires a melding of follower, leader and music.

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Challenge for the leader: Have you consciously chosen the element of the music you are dancing to?

Challenge for the follower: Can you tell which element the leader has chosen?