Musicality -Interpretation Workshop with Veronica Toumanova

MUSICALITY & INTERPRETATION

What does it mean to be a musical dancer? And can one learn to be more musical? Improvisation to music is a vast and complex matter in Argentine tango. In this workshop, we will touch upon the basics of musical movement and see how each dancer, irrespective of their role, can interpret tango music coherently. If you feel your musicality does not yet go beyond stepping on the beat, this workshop will introduce you to new layers of interpretation, as well as diversify and enrich your improvisational skills.

The workshop will include:
– Warming up exercises to release unnecessary tension from the upper body and to reconnect to the floor
– Exercises to understand and interpret the rhythmical structure of tango
– Exercises to understand and interpret the rich layering of tango music (phrasing, melody, accents)
– Exercises to express the musical energy through movement

From Veronica’s article “Why musicality is hard to teach but not impossible”
“One of the most difficult topics for teachers as well as for students is musicality. It is fairly easy to explain musical theory, the rhythmical structure of a tango song, how to identify the strong beat, follow the melody, recognise various instruments and understand when a phrase starts and when it finishes. However, all this information, albeit essential, will not make anyone dance musically. No matter how much time a teacher spends talking about musical theory, this in itself will not produce dancers who are more musical. Then what will? And how can someone who has never danced before become a musical dancer in tango?”