Search - Various Artists :: Tango Strict Tempo

Recommended for beginning ballroom dancers.

Mark Hammond | Chambersburg, PA USA | 12/22/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is strict tempo dance music. Know what that means. It is a great disk if you are learning American ballroom-style tango. It would have the most appeal for people learning the bronze level syllabus. Strict tempo means that the beat is measured and easily identifiable. For beginning dancers, that is very important. One of the most important things a beginning dancer learns is to count and pick up the beat in music. Many beginning dancers have a lot of trouble picking up the beat in music. You will nave no trouble with picking up the beat with any song on this disk. It is excellent in learning the basics of the dance. However, if you dance at the silver or bronze level, this disk will be too basic for you. Much of the dancing at more advanced levels makes use of syncopation and dancing to the beat of more complex music. If you are dancing competitively, you will find that this music does not provide the pizzazz that you need to show off your style and that of your partner. The songs are well chosen for the purpose of the album. There are some well-known tunes, including Blue Tango, La Paloma, Adios Muchachos, and Hernando's Hideaway. These are the kind of tango selections you will get if you are at a dance and ask the band to play a tango. They are all popular songs that are readily identifiable as tangos. However, if you are dancing to the music of a live band, the chances are very good that what they play will not be music in the measured beat of strict tempo. The learning often requires you to learn steps in strict tempo before proceeding to dancing to the music. You have become a true dancer when you dance to the music rather than do a choreographed routine. The learning process can start with this disk.If you like Argentine tango, you would probably not want to purchase this disk. This is the kind of tango that my friend Armando would call "American tango." The music is different. This is not the tango of Piazzola, Canaro, Gardel, Sarli, or Laurentz. Many tangueros are used to purchasing imported disks from Europe and Argentina where there are a lot of selections on a disk. The fact that there are only 10 selections on this disk may make them feel short-changed. If you are used to buying imported tango music from Argentina or Europe, you are used to getting more than 20 selections on a disk."

Trapped in the Elevator

F. Hagan | Raleigh, North Carolina, USA | 10/13/2002

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Dance Instructors beware! This CD has the tacky music box, canned, elevator loop track sound so common in seemingly bargain dance CDs. Okay. Strict tempo?--this is. Easy to hear the tempo and beat pattern?--Yes. I suppose you might want that for the strictest of dance practice type scenarios (very hard of hearing little old ladies who really want to get it right). I know my students would find this music lackluster and dull, and it would certainly be a bad idea for the energy level of any dance class or dance party. Possibly useful for people having a hard time with finding the count of the tango, but generally a very, very poor choice for enjoyment or performance value. This is, however, exacting tempo for American Standard in Ballroom. Some people believe this is a hard enough thing (good American Standard Tempo) to find to make it worth the purchase. I'm not one of these people. You could do so much better, really. TRUST ME! Try some of the Columbia Ballroom selections and the Julio Iglesias CD...."