Reviews of Rasche Notation
Notation system for Argentine Tango
Notation system for Argentine Tango
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This page contains reviews of Rasche Notation - the notation system to write down Argentine Tango steps. |
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The book about Rasche Notation 
Notebooks A4 sheets to enable you to write your steps. 
Rasche Notation was originally published in: Argentine Tango Class Companion 
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Review of Rasche Notation by Fred Bolder, January 2010 Het Dansblad (The Dance Magazine), read the article: Dansblad 116. The website has dance step software DcWin which uses Rasche Notation. "...Rasche Notation is quick to learn and the writing of steps does not take much work. Obvious information [within the dance] need not be included, so that a compact format remains..." (translation). Review of Rasche Notation and workshop by Ruth Zimmermann, March 2009 Tango Oblivion, Totnes, Devon, UK (www.Tangoindevon.co.uk). Ruth is the organiser of the very popular Tango Mangos. "Thomas Rasche - notation workshop: Where would you start if you had to write down Tango movements in a way that will enable you to do it fast, concise, containing as much information as possible in as few symbols as necessary? And once you have written it down, would other people be able to decipher it? Would you yourself remember what it meant some weeks down the line? These were the thoughts that went through my head prior to Thomas' workshop. As a Tango teacher, I have many note books full of long hand descriptions of my class preparations and movement ideas that I have collected over the years. My notes made sense when I wrote them, but often they don't anymore. I thought that from this perspective Tango notation would be of immense help. Another part of me was skeptical - how can you write down the feeling of Tango, why would I want to write down what is essentially an improvisatory dance for me? And if you managed to write down the movements, how much or how little does this capture of the essence of Tango anyway? Thomas Rasche has devised an astonishingly comprehensive and concise system, using easily understandable signs and reducing information down to the absolutely necessary. His presentation is equally pithy and to the point: within two hours he introduces the system in its entirety and people are able to start using it. I guess it will take some time of playing around with it to become proficient in reading and writing it, just like with any other language. Beside the advantage of acquiring a tool, people who will use his system will be challenged to gain insight into the precise nature of a movement that encompasses both the leader and the follower. The system also has inbuilt space for one's own improvements and additions. And what about the essence, the feeling, can it be captured by the notation? I don't think so, but then this is also the case with the written word or with music notation, and yet, with practice we find it possible to read feeling into a text or a piece of music. So maybe it is a good thing to stay away from trying to notate everything. The concise nature of the Rasche notation makes it userfriendly. I certainly bought one of his prepared note books and will start using it." Review of Rasche Notation by A.W., March 2009 attending the workshop at Tango Oblivion, Totnes, Devon, UK. "Quite an ingenious system -very useful for choreography- also very useful for 'improvers' like myself to have the movements broken down into parts- so that I remember all the individual components (techniques) of the steps." Review of Rasche Notation by Richard A. February 2009, UK. review of the book 'Rasche Notation'. "Thomas has produced a true shorthand that is very neat, clean and powerful for noting Argentine Tango steps. For anyone who's ever forgotten a move they loved in class, here is the answer!" Review of Rasche Notation (as originally appeared in the book 'Argentine Tango - Class Companion') by Damián Esell, (www.damianynancy.com) international teacher and performer. review of the book 'Argentine Tango - Class Companion' "...The author [of the Argentine Tango-Class Companion book] has...endeavoured to find a way to write down the dance of tango; with astonishment and happiness I can say that he has achieve it well: described with clarity at the end of the book, a system of notation to read-and-write which is usable with a bit of practice..." Return to top. Email a friend about Rasche Notation. |
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Contact:
You can contact Thomas by emailing: thomas[]tangolincs.co.uk (please replace [] with the @ sign) |
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