Tango Spell

I was in the big hall with my partner waiting for them to come. I was talking to my good friend who was organising the event but the anticipation was too great. Suddently, she walks in. Much prettier than I thought she was in the thousands of videos I had seen her dancing in. Dressed in black with heavy leather boots. She said "Hola!" and ice was broken, I was just about to have a private class with Natacha Poberaj, if you haven't heard of her then you should really review what you've been doing in youtube all these years.
Eduardo "El gaucho" Villegas was very concentrated making his coffee but had to hurry into the class. A shirt stating "De Puta Madre" and a very amicable smile. we can't forget the tango dancer.
Shoes on, black Matrix cape off, hair loose, she asked me to lead her. Chest to chest, no tango embrace. She corrected me here and there, told me to stretch my legs. We started again. I could only smile to her "Esso! Esso!".
Natacha reminded me of something that I hadn't been paying attention for years. Breathing. It's amazing how a deep breath can add SO much to your tango. The intention becomes bigger, the suspense immense and the momentum sky rockets into another galaxy. But what made me happy for the rest of the day was something that she told me in my ear while we were dancing , "Your embrace is beautiful. Don't lose it!". I will never forget this class.

Tango game

Artur is probably one of the only few people from my hometown that has surrendered to Argentinian Tango. He writes in a really nice blog, Tango Atlântico, which is written in Portuguese and as such, inaccessible to most of you. I have the pleasure of having him as a guest tangologuer. I hope you like it!

I believe there are more blacks and whites on the rules in the milonga rather than grays. I do have a lot of sympathy for women who walk alone in milonga and patiently wait to be invited to dance. Lets be clear in this game that the role of the leader is easier, by the simple fact he dances whenever he wants. If followers are available he always dances his favorite music. For women this is not exactly true. Men normally find that a good milonga it is a milonga where the number of women it is higher than men. Leaders like to choose and followers like to be chosen. Women have to play the game of making the men invite her to dance. The women have to be shown for the first time to be invited again. For women, high mood and great self-esteem helps a lot, as weel as being sighted in a visible position in the room. Especially in US and Europe, no one gets upset if women go and ask the men to dance. Cabeceo is something that it is only fully understood after being in Buenos Aires. Just in a few milongas in France/Spain, the cabeceo is done, but nothing like in Buenos Aires. If you go with your partner, you have to step-away from your partner if both of you want to dance with others. Never dance more than one tanda in a row (or 3 tangos) with you partner. Then step aside, go to fetch a drink, go to toilet or invite immediately after other partner. If you stay chatting no one comes to interrupt your conversation if you are in an alien place. I do this with my wife and it works. Both of us dance, and normally she dances more than me.

He is alive!

Podestá is a tango singer who worked with two of my ever favourite maestros, Di Sarli and Laurenz (he worked with many others as well). I worship the magnific voice of Podestá (I have mentioned it before) as much as I admire the innovative spirit of De Caro, the courage of Piazzolla or the technique of Javier. I thought that he had died, given that I have recordings of him singing to Laurenz as early as 1942 but today I heard that he is still alive! Not only is he alive but also he performs 3 or 4 times per week!

His interpretation of "Alma de Bohemio" is one of the finest examples of sung tango. Actually, up until 2 minutes ago (when writing this post) I didn't know of the fuss that this version created at the time as said by the own Podestá
"«Uno de los más grandes personajes que conocí en el mundo del tango fue Pedro Laurenz. Era todo un cajetilla. Se podía decir que era uno de los directores de orquesta más elegantes que había. Cuando me llamó a cantar con él, luego de arreglar, pregunté donde se hacía la ropa la orquesta, cuando me dijeron que era en Spiro y Demetrio casi me caigo, era una de las sastrerías más caras de Buenos Aires. Con Laurenz uno debía llevar toda la ropa al tono: cCamisas, medias, corbatas y pañuelos. Con él viví lindos momentos y con él, el público me identificó por un tema "Alma de bohemio", que todavía hoy es mi caballito de batalla."
Here it is the version with Laurenz, one of my favourite tangos!

I copied this from the website

Admission is 50 pesos (16 dollars), two people get a battle of wine, the typical Buenos Aires' sandwiches "de miga", and pan dulce. At La Cumparsita, the staff is courteous, they want people to have a good time. A couple dancers also perform, and then invite members of the audience to dance with them.

The atmosphere is not glitzy, it is real and personal. It is easy to talk with the artists because the place is small, and they are sitting next to you as they wait for their turn to sing; also, they love to talk about what they do.

La Cumparsita welcomes locals as well as tourists, most of whom were from Latin America; for some reason American visitors do not get there. Usually the audience gets very emotional when Podestá sings, for he gives his heart out in every song he performs.

I know where I have to go when I go to BsAs!

I am SO happy!

The fight of the intellectual alter-egos

In the group Tango-UK there is fruitfull discussion about tango and neo tango. Amongst some precious gems (as in someone stating that someone else said very concisively THE truth, therefore creating a solution for all those philosophers that have long been searching THE truth but never found it) you cannot stop noticing how they try to demonstrate how knowlegeable by adding the exact details of a version of their favourite music in the end of the post... It really looks like a Cockerel fight!
Now that we mention cockerel fights maybe I should add (and show off a little bit my 10p worth of tango knowledge ;o) that this was the inspiring idea for the known tango "Gallo Ciego", literally meaning Blind Cockerel. Roosters cannot co-exist, there can only be one and when two are put together there can only be one standing. The first thing rooster do is to try to beak the opponent's eye. Hence the name of the track. And it really sounds like a rooster fight! So I'll leave you in the company of Mr Rodriguez and Ms Rojas, exemplifying how beautiful a Cockerel fight can be!

Horacio Godoy, Cecilia García and a funny? milonga

Horacio y Cecilia
And my question is what do you think of THIS?

Passive leading

We're coming into a tricky business. The laws of tango say that leader leads and follower follows. Surely, in (proper) tango, at any time, the leader should be the one that ultimately decides what to do with the movement. Not only the embrace is structured in a way that the leader has that power (the right arm below the follower's left axilla, to ensure the most efficient energy transfer) but also the leader has an angle of vision that the follower doesn't. These and other make the role of leading very clear.
But like many civil laws, there is a loophole in the law of leading. Nothing stops the follower to suggest the leader a certain movement, provided that (1) the follower can actually be subtle enough to do so, (2) the leader has the receptivity to it and (3) that the follower has strong navigational cues and knows where the movement is going.
This has been taught to me since I became a post-intermediate by my teachers in Edinburgh, Ricardo Oria and Jenny Frances (they did teach me this since the beginning, but they waited until I matured enough to actively make me do it). But the moment when it clicked was when I had my first workshop with the great Rodolfo y Gloria Dinzel. Rodolfo has an incredible charisma and Gloria has an aura of glow that you will attract you like a magnet. What they say sticks to your mind, whether you like them or not (I learnt that they elicit as much passion as hate). The idea is that if tango wants to be a true communication between partners, then the message should go both ways. The connection between the follower and the leader should be the one that, provided that the three criteria above mentioned are fullfiled, it allows both partners to have an active role.
Let's imagine a simple situation illustrated by mshedgehog that tells us about the simplest form of passive leading. The guy is going to step back, the lady sees somebody stepping into the place he is going to step and exerts a small pressure on his back. This should tell the leader that he should not take that step. But if the follower is quite good at passive leading, she might even lead him to do another step, maybe a giro or a walk forwards, avoiding the disruption of the sudden change of movement. From here onwards, the concept of passive leading can extend to the point that the whole dance is a constant flow and backflow of leading and following. Both partners become leaders and both become followers... Instead of the unilateral dialogue with the pauses so that the other partner can finish the sentence, a dialogue in which the words travel smoothly from mouth to mouth.

Life is not black and white. And neither is tango!

I have seen far too many posts of women complaining that some man only (or mostly) invite single women to dance. The first assumption is that those men simply want a bit more than a dance, they want a fling, a one night stand, something along those lines...
While I am absolutely certain that in lots of occasions that is the case I would like to point out that some men don't feel confident to ask women around when they have a partner. It happened to me many times. A good follower comes around, I want to ask her to dance but she is dancing with her partner and in the few moments they are not dancing they are observing or talking to each other. Hey, I can't explain it, but it's definitely easier to invite a girl that is alone (and had no one to dance anyway) than someone who comes "sheltered" by a pair.
I have also noticed that it has happened to my partner as well. We go to an unknown milonga and she gets much less dances than when she goes on her own. It is certainly not because the lack of abilities as I find that she is usually well above the average wherever she goes. We don't give any particular signs that we do not want people to come and ask for a dance.
I don't really know how to circumvent this problem. What I want the general female public to be aware is that we man have to do quite a hard task, to take initiative and ask for a dance. Shades of grey do exist in the tango world.

floorcraft - the last pre-requisite for advanced dancers

Let's start with an analogy. When you're driving a car you make sure that you're not going to bang it against the car in front of you right? Indeed, you try and drive in a way that your hot date, just sitting on your side, feels safe, right? You watch over when you change lanes, you stop on the red light. You may drive fast or slow but in the end of the day, you want to get wherever you're going without crashing your car against whatever comes across your way. Tango requires the same skill.
A few examples for the leader:
- You should make sure that you don't stick your partner's stilletos down someone's heel because you weren't looking who was in front of you. It doesn't look good on you and definitely it doesn't feel good to the person that was stabbed. Accidents happen, but with care, they happen rarely.
- Do not lead a voleo when there is someone in front of you. That is not only bad tango, is stupidity as well. I remember when I saw Kikka Tomasi being wipped by a stilleto in an Edinburgh milonga. Her leg had a 5 cm wide cut and she was in danger of not being able to perform for the Edinburgh Festival show.
- Ever wondered why the best tango teachers ALWAYS dance in the outside of the line of dance? If you're a bit clever you probably figured out that that is the best way to circumvent the fact that you can't be Superman and look through your partner's skull (hence, look if there is someone at your right).
- Be unpredictable to your partner, not to the other dancers! The art of good dancing requires the art of being sensible and avoid the impulse of "There is an empty space, I'll go there!". Sorry, tango demands that you look at who's around and to see if a couple has already committed to go to that empty space before you did. It should be clear that you shouldn't go there. If that is not clear, stay at home.
- And please, for whoever-you-love's sake, if you're going to step back, make sure that there is nobody there! It isn't rocket science, is just common sense!
For the followers (yes, because contrarily to what popular belief is, followers also have a role in floorcraft):
- Two neurons together (and working) should be enough for you to realise that in a crowded milonga, a short and soft voleo by your leader should be corresponded with a low voleo by you. Your partner will be happy, you'll be happy, if anybody is watching they will be happy and the next couple will be eternally greatful.
- Again, when you're dancing tango in a crowded danceflor remember, you are a tango dancer not a lawn mower. Your movements should be neat and controlled, reflecting the energy that the leader puts into it. Your interpretation of the music is priceless but unless you have an eye on the back of your head, stick to what the leader tells you and build your moves on top of that.
There are more examples to quote but the aim of this post is not to list them. I hope you got the idea - the true advanced tanguero is the one who knows how to behave on a dancefloor.