June 22, 2024

The ear, the heart, and the feet, with Michael Lavocah

37 minutes

"Listen with your bodies, listen with your feet, listen with your heart. Listen with every cell of your body. Listen with your spirit." ~Tango Stories: Musical Secrets

Michael Lavocah danced tango for 20 years before writing his first book. He hasn't stopped since...

Producer/Host: Liz Sabatiuk | Music: “Adiós, Pueblo,” written by Agustín Bardi and performed by Orquesta Típica Ricardo Tanturi, courtesy of Crackling Tunes; and "Tierrita," also written by Agustín Bardi with lyrics by Jesús Fernández Blanco and performed by Alfredo Gobbi y su Orquesta Típica with Héctor Maciel | Image Credit: Veronika Korchak

Show Notes

Check out Michael’s 7 books, starting with Tango Stories: Musical Secrets, then moving on to his Tango Masters series, which to date includes Aníbal Troilo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Carlos di Sarli, Juan D’Arienzo, Francisco Canaro, and Osvaldo Fresedo.

Watch Christine Denniston, Michael's first teacher, talk about her experience with tango.

Learn more about Julio de Caro (the musician who inspired what Michael refers to as the DeCarean school for making complex music), Pedro Laurenz, Pedro Maffia, and Alfredo Gobbi. Then watch Cecilia Berra and Horacio Godoy perform to "Tierrita," the Gobbi tango you hear a clip of in the episode.

Learn more about the singers Michael mentions: Rosita Quiroga, Azucena Maizani, Libertad Lamarque, and Ada Falcón.

Listen to Tango by Year.

Read more about lunfardo, "the secret language of the Tango Rioplatense."

Listen to Humans of Tango episode 6, "Disappearing so tango can talk, with Juan Cantone."

Read a brief musing on cadencia from New-York-based dancer and teacher Ney Melo.

Watch an interview (en español) with "El Gallego" Manolo, from whom Michael learned the figure that digested for 9 months before appearing in his body.

Read a transcript of Michael's episode here.

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By Liz Sabatiuk

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