The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, March 05, 1987, Page Page 9, Image 9
Thursday, March 5, 1987 Daily Nebraskan Page 9 sen 199 It ..I CvT U I ..I fl IR3 5 1 I I t I J 1 I I i f i I mmm mm fir-1. The donee of revolution By Charles Lieurance For fZZ Owri !figj OvwT Cm iy;fjkv5f I7c!f Tcbt . "Only rarely today does the dance exert a strong influence on dance music, although the detestable tendency of compe tition dancers immediately after the last war to distort the movements of the tango until the dance became almost a burlesque of itself did cause dance bands, against the incli nation of at least some of the leaders, to speed up the music from "Social Dance" by A.H. Franks The tango is the dance of revolu tion. The image that appears in one's mind at the thought of this exotic dance may be far from revolutionary perhaps images of the jet-setting rich stepping to sensual rhythms on the dance floors of Buenos Aires, decked out in scarlet cummerbunds, sipping liqueurs between hesitant steps and languid pauses. But the tango is the rhythm of uesperate times. It is a dance for walkers, for those too weary to Cha rleston and too broken to fox-trot. It is a dance of melancholy. That the dance was adopted by the gro tesquely wealthy leisure set of Amer ica and Europe is an act of coloniza tion and cultural robbery not unlike the robbery that made white musi cians rich off songs by blacks during the first 20 years of rock 'n' roll while black musicians, receiving little if any royalties and almost always with far superior versions of Vein Ca&i'ft 1304 Harlan Dr. (Hwy. 370 & Galvin Rd. 291-5669 BELLEVUE MasterCard the songs, were exiled helplessly to "race" charts. The tango can be traced to the war dances of the ancient Thebans, armored warriors walk-dancing a round the bottoms of pots and urns without a cummerbund in sight. The tango is picked up again, after much scholarly debate, as a dance of slaves being transported to Cen tral and South America (mainly Argentina). Since then the dance has become an integral part of the Argentine identity and, as with most things produced in the Third World or by any minorities, it has been judged obscene, indecent and immoral. As with most things judged obscene, indecent and immoral, the tango is a source of great pleasure. Although it is a dance born of revolution, pov erty and disenfranchisement, it is a dance of great passion and intimacy. The tango has seen its way through numerous class revolts, coups, riots and wars from Argentina to Paris to Berlin. And its popularity is once again on the rise, starting on the fringes of rock music. Although the new solo LP by Lounge Lizard pianist Evan Lurie may not sound much like dance music, it is an album of tango music. The music is melancholy and without any instrumental or vocal accompaniment. It is almost like a fill-in-the-blank LP. On either side of the beautifully uncomplicated piano passages are open spaces where there normally would be per Psy Plrne Complete SINGLE XICIOM J BIFOCALS 1 ,000 frames to choose from. First quality lenses only. Our only Extras: Cox Coating (scratch guard)-$10 and Photo drey Extra (lenses that darken)-$10. 237 S. 70th St. (2 blks. south of "O" St. in Esquire PI.) LINCOLiM M-F 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. cussion or horns. This has the effect of producing the most sublime, imaginative rhythms in the listen er's mind. This is an album of clues to another, as yet unconstructed, piece of music. It is an experiment in what certain parts in a band sound like alone. The result is cap tivating, puzzling and intimate. It is tango despite its relative lack of danceability. It is tango in the melan choly, tango in its sensuality, tango in its depth. Lurie plays from the bottom of a deep blue pool of shad ows. The touch of opulence to Lur ie's piano playing probably comes from being a part of the Manhattan scene, but it doesn't detract from the naturalness of the music. Further from the edge of new music, REM, Klaus Flouride and numerous bands in the alternative music limelight have composed var iations of the tango. A new Italian film called "Tango" compares the elements of the dance to the political situations of Europe. To this are added surreal, chimeri cal figures that seem to arise natu rally out of the tango's rhythms. To the current Charleston and fox trot of Reagan, Ferdinand Mar cos and his darling wife Imelda, Poindexter, North, Gadhafi, and the tyrannical high and mighty world wide, the struggling adventurous world adds the tango for desperate times: the tango of the Sandinista, of submission and revolt, of despair and fragile hope. Not a cummerbund in sight. 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