Pair DJ-ing

At the Tango Center last night in Eugene, I DJ'd together with Demetrius Gonzalez, who's part of the DJ pool at Homer Ladas' collective Cellspace milonga in San Francisco. Technically, "pair dj-ing" is pretty easy: two to three tandas per dj, and show each other what you'll be playing, so adjustments can happen on the fly. It probably gets better as DJs know each other better.

I think this is the second time I've shared DJ-ing a night: Jaimes Friedgen & I did it last weekend at the Tango Center, but it was more "I'll take the first half, you take the second". Still, Jaimes & I have a closer range of Tango music, so it sounded pretty smooth to the dancers.

Although I told Demetrius that we were doing a "traditional" night, I didn't explain what I meant by "traditional". At Cellspace, "traditional" apparently includes post-golden age covers, such as Hugo Diaz, Tubatango, Color Tango, etc. So, during my share, I stuck to Golden Age music, to keep the evening from getting out of people's normal range. I also tried to play three sets to Demetrius' two.

I liked his music, and enjoyed dancing to it. I've always enjoyed dancing at Cellspace. But Golden Age music is critical to a Milonga: it's very organically intertwined with Tango as a dance, and it helps you to play with dancing on the beat. But I also believe new music to be critically important too, in doses ...

... and when a real live Tango music scene re-emerges, I'm quite sure it will sound completely different than what anyone imagines.