Overtaking

It has happened a billion of times. You want to go forward but there is someone in front of you. What do you do? You overtake. And then? You go to the middle and get evicted from the line of dance. In the centre (also called the snake pit or penalty box) you see only two kinds of people - the ones that are really good and for a few moments go there to do a few wider movements or the ones that have no clue about how to dance tango socially. It tends to be more of the second genre.
So, the secret is not to overtake! If someone in front of you is doing stuff in the same place, do so yourself as well! Overtake only when the couple in front of you has a good and unused space in front of them, which means that they probably don't move forward that much, and that tells you as well about their knowledge of social tango.
Overtaking but how? If you have space, overtake by the left. Be quick. Overtaking by the right, in principle, should not be possible. If you are dancing outside the line of dance there won't be space for anyone to overtake you by the right. If someone does overtake you by the right maybe you should look to where you are and think if it's really the other person's fault!

Tango goes to my hometown

Otango, choreographed and directed by Adrian Veredice and Alejandra Hobert is coming to my hometown. I take tango shows very carefully. I usually have a lot to criticise because they always put a lot of tango acrobatics that I am not so keen on. Hopefully that won't be the case. i respect Adrian and Alejandra so I hope this is worth it.

The theatre itself (Theatro Circo) means a lot to me as I have worked there for plays and as I was a frequent goer when I used to live there... Every time I go back to a show I'm always spotting for the familiar spots, where I twisted my ankle, where I used to go and have my lunch...
Once i dreamt that i was performing on the main stage of that theatre. Who knows...

Some photos of the theatre.


the Salão Nobre, wouldn't it be a nice milonga?



view to the stage...


or to the ceiling!

Tango and Yoga

It's been a while since I am getting that will to try other things that will improve my dance. I don't mean that I want to leave tango, it still grips me as much as it did since the first day I came across it, but I mean that I want to develop my body and mind a little bit more.
I have never tried yoga before, but people that have done tell me that it is a great way of getting to know your inner self and to reach an equilibrium that you rarely do in the "waking life". So tango and yoga sound like the perfect thing.
There is a problem, though. 500 miles. That's the distance that separates my place from Edinburgh. But if you're lucky enough to be in Auld Reeky, give it a try, it's probably going to help your tango a lot!!!

Going back home

I was back home during August. In early September I went back home again, but not to the same one, I went to my tango home - Edinburgh. Luckily for me, Edinburgh was hosting the Orquesta Típica Imperial, Alejandro y Marisol (we filmed them so I'll post them on youtube, they're worth it!) and a ball to go with it!
As soon as we stepped in the room where the dance was going around, I saw my tango-infancy friends, those with who I learnt with, all coming back with smiles, hugs and fantastic dances.
I was in that hall for over 4 hours and I didn't seat even once. Apart from the time when Alejandro y Marisol were doing their performance, I danced all night with those people who I danced so many times and with who I learnt so much. But after 1 year of not having contact with them they were SO different! Their moves much more elegant, their energy much more subtle, their musicality so much improved... I'm sure that Orquesta Típica Imperial helped to my enjoyment but, I had a tango night as I haven't had since... last time I was in Edinburgh!
For following week I couldn't dance. I don't know why but I had no will to dance. I just wanted to perpetuate the feeling of tango happiness as long as I could.

Lesson learnt

Is good when you see people that not long ago just wanted to learn volcadas and colgadas while finishing their first module of beginner's tango, now turning to me and telling me that the most important thing is the walk and how you dance to the music. It's just a small thing but it sometimes makes me think that I am not talking to the walls... And it really pays off all the effort of starting a tango community from scratch!