DyM Blog

For the first time this year we are offering Tantra also for English speaking people. This event will take place end of August in Italy. Since most of you are interested in Tango and Salsa I can tell you, that everything you can find in this retreat can be related with your way of dancing. There will be no instruction in terms of technique, but you will get more conscious about the way how to get in contact with your partner. The key for getting in contact with your partner is the contact that you have with yourself. And you can use the experiences with yourself in all parts of your life, in dancing as well as in your relationship(s).

Tantra is not what you might think about Tantra. And it is not what you have heard or read about it. Tantra is experiencing yourself. You can find more information reading the description of this seminar on our site.

Although there will be no announced dancing classes during this week we do have a wonderful seminarroom and soundsystem. You will have ample space and time to do whatever you feel like to create and enjoy.

Read more about our retreat in Apennin Mountains from August 30 to September 6, 2017!

In the course of the changing year there are a few important changes on the websites of „Danza y Movimiento“. Over one and a half years of work, several programmers have completely reworked our Internet presence. The new pages are optimized for German and English and for mobile devices. The details in the overview:

*** Travel information under new domain
Since 1996 „Danza y Movimiento Travel“ offers quality individual and group travel to Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay and Italy. With our customized travels you can experience Cuba, Argentina or Uruguay, in a way you will not find it anywhere else. Our offers now available under the domain http://www.dym-travel.com/en/

*** Music pages have a new structure
Our new music pages are also now online. The former music shop was converted into a music database. In addition to the music database, the new music pages contain an overview of our extensive range of in-house productions, especially in tango. On the pages of La Palmera there is an overview of our publishing activities, in which we represent authors and composers. And there is a separate area for tangomusic free of charge from copyrights for most countries in the world. Currently, the music pages are still a construction site. Nevertheless there is a lot to see and also to be heard…

We do not sell CDs anymore. Already in the beginning of 2015, we had stopped sales to end users due to legal changes which practically made it impossible for us to sell music in a lawful way..

Background information can be found in a blog entry from March 2015.

*** The group trip to Cuba February 4–18
This group trip, which I will accompany myself, will take place from the 4th to the 18th of February. You can find more information about this travel offer following the link.

*** US- citizens: Come with us to Cuba right now!
Due to some cancelations will still have some places available on our group tour to Havana starting next Saturday. If you are interested contact us right now.

This is the first time since many years that I will accompany a group traveling to Cuba. And not only I will be there with you - an English speaking Cuban guide will be with the group, too. You can focus your workshop program on salsa, percussion and/or Spanish classes. You will get to know the best places to dance in Havana and we will visit some of these places together with Cuban dancers. We will meet Cuban people, who will tell us about their daily live. And if you like to go deeper reflecting mysterious Cuban live and your experiences you can do this together with me:

Travelling to Havana with Matthias, February 4 to 18, 2017

The CD Tango 9 is the n.9 in the Tango production of the Hyperion ensemble. The project of this new release is strictly following the two previous CDs, Epoca de oro (2011) and Remembranzas (2014) wishing to bring to a new life the music of the historical orchestras of the 40s and 50s; it contains a lot of great hits in the classical Tango repertoire, as Los Mareados, Cachirulo, Esta noche de luna, famous milongas as La Punalada and Mano brava, refined valses as Temo, etc.

The recording has been done 50% live and 50% in studio, with the two bandoneonists Josè Luis Betancor and Antonio Ippolito. Actually this CD is an adequate photo of the Hyperion ensemble in this moment of its life and activity, developing itself mainly in Festivals or in Shows with dancers, moving hundreds of people with the rhythm of the music by D'Arienzo, Pugliese, Biagi etc. reinterpretated with a modern concept of sound and orchestration. The CD contains also a new interpretation of the milonga Morena by Esteban Morgado and of the foxtrot Por las calles de Estambul, and a special arrangement of the Modugno's song Le donne belle, featuring a Trio of female voices: Creartis Trio.

The vocals in this album are performed by two Argentinian singers: Ruben Peloni and Hernan Godoy, finally joined together in the interpretation of El viejo vals, sang in duo by the two singers.
Find this album on iTunes or any other plattform for download and/or streaming of your choice

Today, we are giving you a short overview concerning the upcoming changes at "Danza y Movimiento". We will keep offering music and travels in the future – still, there will be a lot of changes…

Music department – CD sales and downloads in our own shop
We withdraw from this department. After many other legal adjustments, which had already made survival really hard for small suppliers, the new directive on the VAT system* that became effective on January 1st 2015, determined our end. This concerns our Club, which is influenced by the new tax regulations just like the download titles we offer. Until April 30th it will still be possible to order CDs in our shop. From then on, the ordering function will be deleted in our shop. However, we will still produce music and provide it via other online portals like for example iTunes. So our ambitious work will continue especially regarding tango…

Music department – music rights
We will develop this department further. This is interesting for everybody wanting to acquire music rights for their own productions. And nowadays this concerns especially audio-visual productions. We can offer a huge selection regarding tango music. No matter if you need music for a movie, a dance instruction DVD or just as the background music for a short video clip on Facebook, YouTube or your own website – we can offer thousands of titles. As we can also grant the right of use for more than 350 copyright-free tango tracks, our offer is highly interesting for producers of small or large films as well as for organizers of tango events. Quite often “copyright-free” is mistaken for music free of any other rights. Thus, we offer the possibility to use music legally and to guarantee that you will not have any legal problem on the basis of our contracts.

Travel department
We will also expand this department: Tango in Argentina and Uruguay and especially our unique offer for dance and music vacations in Cuba. You cannot only book our all-year programme there (like for Buenos Aires and Montevideo), but there are regular individual journeys for small groups. We have legal offers for Americans to travel to Cuba Everybody who would like to learn “Salsa en Linea“, also called “New-York-Style”, is in good hands with us when travelling to Mexico (information in German language). It is possible to combine dance classes with cultural activities and Spanish language classes in all the countries mentioned.

Our newsletter and our blog will keep providing you with detailed information concerning all the topics mentioned here.



*Short information on the topic “Directive on the VAT system”
According to the new directive, all electronically provided services are subject to value-added tax in the country of the consumer. In other words, this means for our business that we as the vendor are obliged to submit a tax declaration in every single country of the customers who download music from our shop or pay a club membership fee. We have to charge every customer the VAT applicable in the specific country and indicate the tax amount on the respective invoice.

and although everything works more easily with other providers like iTunes or Amazon: and surely you already have an answer which might be that we want to earn money... Yes, this is completely correct - we want your money! But not because of the reasons you might think of. Apart from the fact that we enjoy earning money and that we are fine with becoming rich - if it would be possible with an independent download shop like ours anyway. Unfortunately, it is impossible ...

The laws of market economy, which apply also to the internet, are different: Everybody has the chance to become rich, but only few succeed. This is called monopolisation and no matter which commercial sector you might look at - this principle always applies! With due respect to your belief in the freedom of economy. This is something like believing in Santa Claus. And you are free to believe in this freedom... . But it is not for nothing that this freedom is called "neoliberalism“, thus "the new freedom". The new freedom is a form of dictatorship, which makes us believe that we are free and that all participants of the market can develop and spread themselves freely.

What does all this have to do with tango and our download shop? A simple answer: Nowadays, music is mainly bought by (still) two monopolists. As the purchase on their platforms is advertised everywhere, as it requires less effort and as the music in these shops can be found more quickly by the search engines, an independent shop hardly generates a turnover which allows its owners to finance themselves at all. This does not only affect us but also others. In other words, this signifies that we can only maintain our shop and the service implied if you don't spare the extra effort to buy your music with us. Only then, the shop can work at least cost-effectively.

To reject monopolisation is an individual process and it is not important what the others do. Our shop offers a lot of tango, about 5000 titles.
We are looking forward to your visit!

This the way to find good music!

Please us the filter you will find on the right below "categories" if you want that the shop only shows music available for download.

With recordings from the Orquesta Donato-Zerillo, Edgardo Donato, the Orquesta Bianco-Bachicha, the Orquesta Típica Juan Sanchez Gorio, Roberto Grela and his conjunto de guitarras, Edmundo Rivero, Alberto Gomez, Cayetano Puglisi, Carlos Gardel and Alberto Castillo we give new impetus to our series "Tango Classics", which already consists of 233 albums. Follow this link and get an impression of the new releases:

Our series "Tango Classics"

As the albums are brand new, you will find them on top of the list. Below, there all the other recent new tango releases.

The Hyperion Ensemble is based in the Italian La Spezia and it presents its 8th tango production with "Remembranzas". The ensemble from wild Liguria has gained a leading position within the European tango scene and it ranks among the most important current tango orchestras worldwide.


The project of this new release is strictly following the previous one, "Epoca de oro" (2011), wishing to bring to new life the music of the historical orchestras of the 40s and 50s; this is the meaning of the title "Remembranzas", which is also one of the best songs of the CD. (The Spanish term "Remembranza" is linked closely to the Argentinian tango and it signifies something like a "memory of something that is past". Don't be surprised - some Spanish dictionaries don't even list this word...)

"Remembranzas" has been entirely recorded live, in various Festivals around Europe, with the sole exception of the last track, "La Cumparsita", recorded in studio. This has been done with the aim to maintain in the recordings the highly emotional atmosphere of the milongas, when the dancers, with the musicians, are celebrating together this wonderful mystery that is tango: As that famous lyric says, "el tango es rito y es religión, orquestas criollas son sus altares, y el sacerdote su bandoneón..."



Actually this CD is an adequate portrait of the Hyperion Ensemble in this moment of its life and activity, developing itself mainly in festivals or in shows with dancers, moving hundreds of people with the rhythm of the music by D'Arienzo, Fresedo, Varela etc. reinterpreted with a modern concept of sound and orchestration. The appreciated typical sound of the Hyperion Ensemble derives also from the use of the flute and guitar, two unusual instruments in Orquestas típicas but, actually, two essential instruments in Tango back since his origin in 1880. The vocals in this album are performed by the Argentinian singer Ruben Peloni, appreciated for his melodic and romantic interpretation and for his smooth and soft voice timbre.

This is an example of the many recordings with the Ensemble Hyperion to be found in the internet that demonstrates how beautiful tango dancing can be:

This is not only the fifth and most current album - it is also a cross-section of the band's history of 13 years and contains not only a multitude of new arrangements but also some previously unreleased favourite titles.
There are only few bands that have dealt with Argentinian tango as continuously and intensively with consistent vigour, energy and enthusiasm for the music.
Again, the Berlin based Argentinian singer and composer Sergio Gobi is guest musician on "5 al Tango".

Line up:
Christian Gerber - Bandoneón
Bernhard von der Gabelentz - Violin
Samuel Lutzker - Violoncello
Rodolpho Paccapelo - Double Bass
Frank Schulte - Piano
Guest:
Sergio Gobi - Voc

We have just received some new tango productions we would like to present to you. Two of the three CDs are dedicated mainly to classic tango, the last album presented here is an example of top quality electrotango.



Ariel Ardit wants to revitalise classic tango and to make it sound modern. For this means, he mainly uses titles that have not been interpreted millions of times before. Besides, he recorded five compositions of contemporary composers. The Orquesta Típica instrumentation is highly convincing as well as Ardit's voice which transmits the melodiousness of the tango titles without becoming syrupy.



The singer Verónika Silva used to tour with the Gotan Project from 2003 to 2006. This album is a cooperation with the trio Las Bordonas (Javier Amoretti, musical director and guitar), Ignacio Cedrún (voice and guitar) and Martín Creixell (guitar and guitarrón) and presents 12 tangos, waltzes and french chansons. Silva's charismatic voice as well as the minimalist instrumentation make this album a real listening pleasure not only for tango enthusiasts.




10 years after their debut album "Astornautas" the Argentinian electrotango band has released "Esencial". Here you will find titles penned by Piazzollas and also by the brothers Satragno, the founders of "Ultratango". The voice on two tracks is the one of Raúl Lavie, their father. Ultratango emphasise the fact that their music is not the result of mere DJ-sample-work, but that they strive to preserve the original character of the original compositions in their modern arrangements by using traditional tango instruments like the bandoneón as well as for example the synthesizer.

It's not easy to go to Cuba legally for Americans. There are many companies that propose legal travel but which is only legal according to the national law of their country like f.ex. Canada, but not legal according to US law.



Find out more about legal travel according to US law in a new section on our website especially for Americans who want to go to Cuba without having any bad experiences with immigration at the moment they return to the USA:
Information about legal travel for Americans to Cuba



Find out more about our next legal group trip for US citizens from may 24th to 31st:
Group travel for Americans to Cuba

And if you want to travel legally as a couple or alone we have a new and very special offer for individual travelling:
Individual travel for Americans to Cuba

There is no other company worldwide offering what we are offering for you in Cuba!

The label Urban Latin Records presents new Latin compilations. No matter if you prefer zumba, salsa, reggaeton or bachata: Everybody will find his perfect sound here:

"Muévete, goza y suda" demands this double CD, thus: "move, enjoy and sweat". This is the perfect mix for all fans of the trendy Latin fitness Zumba:


With Los 4, Leo, Los Jefes, Este Habana, Ciclon Cubana and many more:


2 CDs with 40 mega hits with for example Chacal y Yakarta DJ Unic, Yulien Oviedo y El Happy:


For everybody preferring the softer version of reggaeton:


With top acts like Príncipes de la Bachata, Señor Bachata, Angeles de la Bachata and Grupo Extra:

Amelita Baltar, Omar Mollo, Noelia Moncada and Diego el Cigala: These voices touch everybody and they deserve to be pointed out here in a special way.



This new album by the Argentian singer Amelita Baltar includes versions of titles by Piazzollas, as well as folklore and own compositions, like Sería fácil decir, Viaje sin luna and El nuevo rumbo. Renowned guest artists are Fito Páez, Pedro Aznar, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Fernando Ruiz Díaz, Luis Salinas, Leopoldo Federico, Paz Lenchantin, Hernán Jacinto, Raúl Carnota, Flaco Bustos, Pablo Mainetti and Leo Genovese.



Omar Mollo is the winner of Premio Carlos Gardel 2013 with his album Barrio Sur. He won the prize for "Best album of a male singer" and he interprets classic titles like Naranjo en flor, Cuando me entres a fallar and Afiches as well as contemporary compositions by for example Luis Alberto Spinetta and Andrés Ciro Martínez.



Noelia Moncada has already worked with various tango orchestras like for example Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce, Sexteto de Raúl Garello, Orquesta del Tango de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires and the Orquesta El Arranque and is currently one of the most charismatic female tango singers.




Diego el Cigala is one of the most important flamenco artists today, but he has enlarged his repertoire in the last years. He discovered his love for Cuban music and also for tango. His interpretations are fascinating and unique, and his incomparable voice gives a captivating charm to the songs. Compare his version of Naranjo en flor to the one by Omar Mollo and experience the interesting different approaches.

Finally! The Grupo Niche is back with their latest production "Tocando El Cielo Con Las Manos". The original bandleader Jairo Varela unfortunately passed away recently, but these 13 tracks, are the most beautiful hommage to the maestro. Grupo Niche is a salsa institution and an inevitable part of any salsero repertoire:



After 10 years, 5 time Grammy award winner Olga Tañón returns in 2013 with her long awaited new studio album on her own label titled "Una Mujer". Guest artists are for example Elvis Crespo and Johnny Ventura.



Latin Grammy winner Tito el Bambino presents "Invicto" which features 16 tracks that fuse elements of pop, tropical, bachata and urban rhythms.



Who doesn't know him? Marc Anthony, a founding father of salsa, is known by most salseros, of course, and he has gained international celebrity through his marriage with Jennifer López. He has also won the Latin Grammy five times, and this album produced by Anthony and the renowned producer Sergio George marks his first project of original music in the tropical genre in nearly a decade.



Finally, a new star in bachata heaven: Leslie Grace. She was born in the Bronx as a daughter of dominican parents and grew up in Florida. Her first hit in the Latin Billboard Charts was "Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow". Another charming cover version of a 60s hit is "Be my baby", where she also mixes English und Spanish.

The label Label Le Chant du Monde has released a new series dedicated to classic tango: Francisco Canaro, Aníbal Troilo, Osvaldo Fresedo, Carlos Gardel, Juan d'Arienzo and Pedro Laurenz present their mastery with 25 titles each and invite you to dance. geben sich die Ehre und präsentieren auf jeweils 25 Titeln ihr ganzes Können und laden zum Tanz ein. The tracklistings and audio samples can be found by a click on the corresponding CD:

Living in the center of Havana in carefully selected and top quality private accommodations, dance classes with personal Cuban dance partners, rhythm and percussion classes from internationally renowned musicians: to my knowledge, “Danza y Movimiento” is the first and only tour operator worldwide offering a travel program specialized in music and dance to Cuba in cooperation with a US agency, which is licensed by US authorities and thus provides a legal participation to such a program in Cuba.

Here are some tips on how to determine who is offering legal travel to Cuba, and what to expect when choosing us or other tour operators:

Regarding the people-to-people-program, US citizens using other legal tour operators usually experience a tightly organized sightseeing program, which (in contrary to the associations the term “people-to-people“ might evoke) hardly offers a direct contact with the Cuban population and especially not with the up-to-date dance and music scene in Havana and Santiago.

There are also some tour operators promoting “legal journeys to Cuba”, without being able to provide an actual proof of legality.

You can find out yourself if an offer is legal (by US law ) or not:

1. License period
According to our knowledge, licenses are issued for a maximum of one year only.

2. Only US companies
Only companies with US residency can offer legal travel to Cuba.
This is why we are working this program through a legalized US company. We have organized highly qualified cultural journeys to Cuba for 17 years now. Our headquarters are located in Germany. This is why you do not book your legal journey with us, but with our American partner who uses our infrastructure. So if for example a Canadian travel agency offers “legal journeys to Cuba” on their websites, these journeys can very well be legal according to Canadian law, but not according to US law.

3. Letter of authorization
If you book your trip to Cuba ask for a a letter of authorization! Our program was developed strictly on the basis of the requirements of US authorities. The participators stay in Cuba on legal terms with the permission of the OFAC. They experience Cuban everyday-life from their arrival until their departure and receive classes by highly qualified dance and percussion teachers. If you book this journey, you will receive a letter of authorization for submission to authorities and insurances.

4. Prices
Legal travel to Cuba needs a lot of bureaucratic work and a very special travel plan. The providing of this service requires a lot of work and investments, special in our case offering a program that is totally different from what you will find elsewhere. However, the price of such a journey is still cheaper than the one offered by other legal tour operators. Certainly, our price is higher than the price of journeys offered by tour operators, who cannot provide a letter of authorization from the OFAC on your request.

We are offering something nobody else does ... Dance, music, rhythm and percussion determine a journey which makes you experience Cuba in a unique way.

Just contact Matthias to ask any question you might have!

We have just received a whole bunch of hot new compilations by the label Urban Latin Records. Especially, the CD Latin Workout/ Latin Fitness Power offers a mix of bachata, salsa, reggaeton, merengue und Urban Latin offering a perfect musical background not only for Zumba parties.





For all friends of reggaeton, there are even two double-CDs containing 73 titles altogether of this hip rhythm. "Te pintaron pajaritos en el aire" by Yandar y Yostin featuring Andy Rivera is already a big Youtube hit!








And if you have still more energy, why not try the following salsa sampler:




But we also keep in mind all romantic people and thus lovers of bachata. The following 20 titles make you dance and dream away:

Otros Aires and Narcotango: Two representatives of the top league of electrotango have released new CDs! Besides, there are two more new productions of young tango ensembles, Sentido del Tango and etango which show the variety of contemporary tango music.




10 years after the band's foundation, after 3 studio albums, 1 live album, one DVD and 24 tours through Europe, North and South America, Otros Aires is back with their fourth studio album "4". The album was produced and directed by the Argentinian musician and architect Miguel Di Genova and it mixes electrotango with new elements like hip hop, jazz, Latin, rock and funk. Otros Aires, again, manages to add new classics to tango. "4" contains amongst others a tango version of the Lou Reed classic "Perfect Day".

Otros Aires: Otros Aires 4





Music by Narcotango is always unique: It is clear and playful, modern and classic, danceable and perfect for simply listening. The musicians' virtuosity, the charismatic voices, the sophisticated arrangements - they all create the fascination for the audience. "Cuenco" (Water basin) is the title of this fourth album:

Cuenco that contains, vibrates,
transforms, cuenco that breathes,
expands, supports, cuenco that incites,
invites, travels and doubts,
each cuenco a messenger like a dream,
like the dance, like a game...

You can pre-order the CD now. The expected delivery date is June, 11th 2013.

Narcotango: Cuenco




Etango combines contemporary electronic sounds, beats and an expressive electric guitar with the traditional tango instruments bandoneon and violin. The 2012 album "Discoteca" contains mainly compositions by etango and follows the conception of a classic dance event with a mix of valses, milongas, tangos and neotangos.

etango: Discoteca




The trio "Sentido del Tango" met at the music conservatory in Warsaw. Since 2007 the play at concerts and milongas in Poland, and now they have released their debut album "Retrato". One clearly notes the inspiration of Astor Piazzolla when listening to the Piotr Kopietz (bandoneon, accordion), Gabriela Machowska-Kopietz (piano) and Mateusz Szemraj (guitar), but their are also some original compositions.

Sentido del Tango: Retrato

To me, it is always fascinating how composers from various cultural environments enrich this music. In this context, I would like to point out Michael Ashjian, an artist living in the Libanon with Armanian-Libanese roots. Musically speaking, Ashjian has a classical background. After his parents became aware of his musical talent, he started to play the piano at the age of 8, and from then on, this remained his instrument.

His debut album „Tangomania“ contains twelve compositions by him, and it was recorded in Buenos Aires in 2011 with a top-class cast: Eva Wolff (bandoneon), Pablo Agri (violin), Jorge Perez Tedesco (violoncello), Esteban Fallabella (guitar) and Daniel Falasco (double bass). You can buy the phsyical CD in our shop or download it:

CD "Tangomania" by Michael Ashjian



Have a look at the following pdf documents in French and Arabic for more information. The load time can be a bit longer as the data files are quite big...

Paper from Agenda Culturel

Paper from L'Hebdo

Paper from Dalil-Al-Nahar

The festival I can really recommend exists since 8 years. For eight years now, we combine the festival participation with a group journey which makes you experience Cuba a lot more intensely than only by travelling to the festival. The dance school of "Danza y Movimiento" is located in the city center of Havana and this is where we also accommodate our guests in private houses. The high quality of these private accommodations is confirmed by everybody travelling with us. This may be the result of the high quality facilities and furnishing, but also of the friendly landlords we have been knowing for many years now.

The 2013 programme differs slightly from the one of the previous years. After your day of arrival you will get an intense insight into
Cuba's culture and dance. There is a culture day including a joint lunch in a very special ambience. And a vintage car cruise is also new
in the programme. Follow this link for detailed information:

Festival "Baila en Cuba" 2013 with Danza y Movimiento