On dancing tango on "alternative" music ...

For the most part I don't like dancing on what is usually referred as "alternative" music. Just to be clear, to me there is a big difference between nuevo tango music and alternative music. I call nuevo tango music the music that was intended to be tango, regardless on how it actually sounds. I call alternative the music that was not composed with tango in mind, but it's being danced tango on regardless.

Why don't I like dancing on (most) alternative music?

Because most of the music played as alternative is boring to dance on. Either boring or painful. Mind you, I didn't say difficult, I said painful. I'll explain in a bit. But let's get back to the "boring" part.

Tango music has a number of things happening at the same time. It has a main beat but it has so much more. No matter how advanced one is in tango, there is always something challenging in every song, yet it's simple enough to be danced by beginners. As one gets better at feeling the music, it becomes possible to dance on several layers at once. Maybe your feet dance on the main beat and your upper body dances on the violin. Or the other way around. Then there are the little playful sounds the piano makes. Tango music is written for dancing tango. Non-tango music isn't.

I enjoy moving on any music, and on occasion, I have fun dancing on some non-tango piece using tango vocabulary. But it doesn't feel like tango, because it's not.

Some pieces are simply painful to dance on. There is no main beat, or if it is it's drowned in a cacophony of other sounds, it has random sound effects that are impossible to lead on, as one can't predict them without being VERY familiar with the music. I've been known to apologize to my partner and get off the dance floor when one of these songs is played. So, DJs, please remember, you are not DJing to showcase your music, you are DJing so we can dance!