A friend sent me this video. It is of social dancers in the traditional milonga Lo de Celia, in Buenos Aires which I plan to visit soon. The video comes from the Youtube channel of DJ Erwin. He DJs at Lo de Celia on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday is the night Dany Borelli DJs there. Interview (Found in the comments of this useful post about milongas in Buenos Aires). Lo de Celia milonga is mentioned often on Jantango’s blog.
I said [here] that Coqueta (1929), the track in the video above was “not great for dancing”. For a long time I've sat on the fence about it. I’ve thought: lovely, soft sweet music though it is, is it good for dancing? But in that post I ignored my uncertain heart and went with my head and someone else's view and heavy influence and said it was not that great.
Wrong then? A change of heart? Does it matter? It matters only really for choosing music for DJing. It’s not just that they are dancing it in Lo de Celia; it’s seeing that ronda, how they dance that music and just hearing it again I know I would, I do dance that track as guy or girl. Incidentally, I was properly corrected recently about this. I should more accurately say men and women because (indeed) I am not a girl. But guys and girls is just a habit I've fallen into. Forgive me.
I still don’t think that Coqueta is a great track for dancing. It’s not - oh, there are so many - it’s not D’Arienzo’s Maipo (1939) to pick one at random but Orquesta Típica Víctor is not D’Arienzo and tango in 1929 is not like tango in 1939. But for that matter it’s not OTV’s own great vals Temo (1940), which I think is irresistible and great for dancing. OTV made some lovely music, some of it good for dancing and I like some of it for listening but I’m not sure that much OTV is great for dancing. I change my mind about OTV tracks being really good for dancing more than probably any other orchestra. Luckily, in the milonga you don’t need to think. You just get that pull to dance, or you don’t. That tells you all you need to know and clearer than any thought.
What about that ronda though? I've seen film of Lo de Celia before but in that video with Coqueta I watched the ronda and for the first time saw what I've only heard about, a ronda moving to the music as a ronda. It wasn't any of that fantastical guff, that urban myth, about when, in some mythical, unpublicised, word-of-mouth-only European encuentro - one imagines upon the strike of midnight - one couple turns and suddenly in unique synchronisation, perhaps even synchronicity, all the couples turn. No. But it was a sense of seeing, of feeling everyone connected to each other and the music.
“La ronda at Lo de Celia. Exactly right, moves as one. All these old folks know their music. Most have probably danced to the same tangos for 40/50 years. They feel every note and they hear the same thing. No flash, no tricks, inspiring. And they have one of the very best DJs in BsAs.“
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F: I still think I was wrong about Coqueta. I think it is special but in the way of Mi refugio [1931] & Secreto [1932] & Nunca tuvo novio [1930 - all Orquesta Típica Víctor]
A: I think it is not great.
F: Many seem to like it in Lo de Celia and dance it pretty well. I hear the best guy dancing is there. I hear it always spoken of as having some of the best dancing.
A: For DJing, the test I apply is: would I like to dance a whole tanda like that? The answer is No. Which suggests a tanda including it with better stuff could be improved by replacing it. Hence I doubt I'd ever play it. I might dance it if I was already on the floor especially with a stranger, but only rarely would I get up for it.
F: As to "would I like a whole tanda like that?", no, true, probably not, though what "like that" would include would need to be stated.
As for, on your grounds, replacing it with something better - it's a good argument. Yet sometimes - speaking of tangos - in e.g. Biagi, in D'Arienzo, in D'Agostino, in instrumentals often from various orchestras, I want it all great of course, and very similar. In others, some songs, especially orchestras like Laurenz, Rodriguez, maybe OTV and certain instrumentals, I want similar yes, but I appreciate the distinctive character of each track more than when I want things very similar. I mean all the great tracks are distinctive, but some even more so. Coqueta is, like those other “sweet” OTV tracks I mentioned above - a track with a very distinctive and for me a good character. That is why Coqueta is OK for me when grouped with say “friends”, rather than “siblings”.
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