The perfect place to dance

I have danced in many places. Indoors, outdoors, in dodgy backrooms of dodgy bars, grand salloons of faded Halls, grand sallons of Great Theatres but I think none of them comes close to dancing in Firbush.

Firbush "marina" - Photograph by Christina Chung

So, what is Firbush? It's a centre for outdoor sports belonging to Edinburgh University and the favourite location for group meetings. You can do whatever you do in your daily work (I went there with my fellow geneticist's class and also, obviously, with Tango), have fun doing teambuilding exercises and sample some of the 17 different outdoor activities (supervision and training are given) that include windsurfing, sailing or doing it as I did, getting a canoe and row to the nearest pub, on the other side of the lake.

In the evening, the tables and chairs of the dining room can be re-organised and, voilá, there you have, a fantastic dance floor, perching over Loch Tay with views to the snowy mountains of the Highlands.

A room... with a view!

(First photograph by JK Stewart)

We can stay for as long as we like and that means until quite late. We just have to make sure we're ready for next morning because as early as 9 o'clock we have to be ready to do some kind of sporting activity!

I know tango is an urban dance, created in the deep end of a gigantic city like BsAs. But I think there is something special about tango in the country side.

What about you, what is YOUR favourite place to dance?

Traditionalistic fundamentalism

I have recommended here in this blog the tango site Tango and Chaos. I still recommend it but as with everything, you have to read it with a pinch of salt. Rick McGarrey is one of those people that still lives on the golden era. He understands tango very well, and the website is a good resource for some theoretical notions of tango. You may think this is boring, but if you are serious about tango you can't just dance it. You have to live tango, meaning, you have to know its history, its major composers and the way how they play tango so that you can adapt your dance to the music.

Rick dismisses everything that is not strictly milonguero, in fact, he says that everyone that doesn't dance the way he does doesn't dance tango. I don't mind people saying "Well, I only dance this way because it's the way I like it". It's very different than "True tango is only the way I like it". The former is something like "I acknowledge that tango has various phases and has been evolving but I prefer the traditional" whereas the latter is "Tango must be like it was in the 40's, everything else is bullshit". Dogmas shouldn't exist in tango.

Anyway, just to prove my point, in one of the chapters about dance Rick picks a reknowned nuevo tanguero to make fun of him and try to sell his fundamentalism. I suggest you have a look at the chapter. He tries to take the VERY VALID point that tango salón is to be danced within certain limits, that we should respect other people in the dance floor and we shouldn't dance like we do in a demo. This is all fine. Then, he shows us the clip and says:

"Then Gustavo Naviera and his partner Giselle are shown dancing stage tango. You can see right away that he picks up his feet, kicks, and moves his left arm around more than the milongueros. He and Giselle also separate and do large leg swings and poses. Unlike the milongueros, they move their bodies around, and dance apart from each other. It's a more physically active and demonstrative way of dancing because it's designed to entertain an audience: Stage tango."

Now, I am confused. In my very humble opinion, when I am dancing socially, nobody screams my name to come into stage and generally people don't come into stage with an orderly fashion. Rick seems to have forgotten that this clip is actually a GROUP DEMO and NOT A MILONGA! And for as much as GyG move around they bump into nobody. AND, as far as I can see, i don't think that GyG are unpredictable, I think they are trying to make the most of their space.

Fundamentalism and radicalism have this little drawback, life (and tango) are not black and white. They will never be. If you stick to black or white you'll just be looking to a very little spectrum of things.

I will still be advising people to read Tango and Chaos thoroughly. It's the best online resource if you really want to understand tango dynamics, history and lyrics/styles. But as I hinted previously (with the help of some fabulous comments) sheeps never go anywhere.

Expensive taste

If there is something that I am fussy about it's shoes. I can't buy shoes that I absolutely don't fall in love with, I just can't wear them. Everytime I have to buy shoes I know what expects me - long days watching every window in the quest for the perfect fit.
With tango shoes, is the same. Not that I have bought many, I haven't, but mine have started to deteorate so much that they are not working anymore. No grip, they are starting to fall to bits and they have developed a groovy but not so fashionable air conditioned system.
So, let's surf the net in look for the perfect fit. I look, look, look and, as if they came from heaven I find the PERFECT SHOES. They might look horrible to you but I never said that I had good taste! ;o)
Very excited, I email the company and they give me quote. £110 ($225)!!! They are more expensive than Comme Il Fauts!!! It seems that they have a fantastic and innovative sole that allows to be changed for different pavements... Is there anybody that can help me with this? Does it really work?

Neotango rant (II)

«The artist creates unconsciously, spontaneously. Pichucho, Di Sarli, De Caro, Salgán and even Piazzolla, created their oeuvre and none of them labeled himself as a vanguardist. They achieved that but were unaware of it. They show what they discovered, what they know, what flows naturally from them and nothing more. This is not avant-garde but a testimony of those that are gifted. The avant-garde is a label. The important musicians composed their oeuvre because they had a sacred fire inside them».


Carlos Garcia (1914-2006), founder and leader of the Orchesta del Tango de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Café de Los Maestros


So, as far as I see it, neotango (and not alternative tango) is today's innovation. Just like in the early 1920's tango that De Caro tried to do (the melodical tango that gave rise to the music of Laurenz, Fresedo and Di Sarli). At the time everyone called him mad. Now, everyone calls him a genious.

Café de los Maestros

Wow! I am speechless. Stunned with the last two hours. If you want to know what I mean, buy the film "Café de los Maestros". There is one big disappointment. It's only 90 minutes long. It could last forever.

The tanguero evolution

La Tanguera did it again! After a taxonomic analysis of the tangueros and tangueras types in the milonga, she comes up with a funny, witty but very accurate description of the evolution of a tanguero. An anthropological masterpiece. Read it. It's compulsive. It's great!

Tango World - a great idea!

TangoWorld promises to rock the UK tango scene. It's a great idea from Leandro Palou, and will certainly help to bring together the booming tango community in the UK. Back when I started doing tango there were only a handful of tango clubs in the UK, namely Edinburgh, London, Cambridge and Bristol. Now it seems that every little town has got one.
The other reason why I really liked and supported the idea of this magazine is that it brings us lots of nice stuff such as lyrics from favourite tango tracks (translated), interviews with the major figures of tango and a Q&A section by Jennifer Bratt.

Tango semantics

After all, what I have described as Passive Leading, which created a bit of a stir has got other name, Follower's voice. If the semantics haven't worked will the content do?

Unconventional

We talked about these guys here already but I can't resist it.



Hope you enjoy it!

Beginners I like, beginners I don't

I have written here how I like to dance with beginners. But I should have written SOME beginners. I like to dance with beginners that have a positive approach. When dancing, I want to dance with someone that can connect with me, with my dance. And for as much as it is difficult to do that when you're a beginner, any little bit will please me. And I am not expecting a beginner to do the same as an intermediate or advance dancer. I am expecting a beginner to do simple stuff and to make an effort in order to make it correctly. In essence, when dancing with beginners the attitude counts a lot.
I don't like to dance with other kind of beginners. These usually called themselves advanced and think that time (on itself) dictates your level of mastery. Dancing with them is like dancing with a broomstick. They're just interested in not staying sat (because that is a waste of time and it looks bad). They're not interested in putting anything into the dance. They are not interested into learning, challenging themselves, put a sparkle in the dance. They're just there because they just got used to go to milongas, to pretend they dance tango and to tell their non-tango friends that they're fantastic dancers.
There is the third type of beginners. The ones that are not beginners but that have the attitude of beginners. Those of have been learning for quite some time, have mastered quite a lot of principles but still persevere in the quest to become better. Other people called them advanced. The truly advanced dancer is the one who realises that he/she will always be a beginner.

Tango and injury

If you're one of these people that has never stopped dancing because of an injury (tango or non-tango related) then you should be glad that you're in a very restricted club. And you should read this post with much attention.
For the first few years of tango I spent a third of the time not dancing. Not because I didn't want it, not because I didn't feel like it, simply because I couldn't bear the pain anymore. I tango limped, which did not help my knee, my head or my confidence, let alone my tango.
The first thing that I advice is not to lose contact with the music. Listening to the music will let you know about what's coming next and that gives you an invaluable advantage when improvising.
Second thing is, don't be passive about your injury. If only one bit of your body is hurt try to maintain the other bits active. Even the little bit that is hurt can move most times but check with a physiotherapist first.
Third, try to get basic concepts in your head. Basic concepts such as line of walk, bringing feet together... Everytime I was injured for two months I came back to my first milonga and people would ask me if I had been hacing lessons with someone else. When I told them that I hadn't danced for months they wouldn't believe me. But it was all down to organising tango within my head, rather than in my chest or my feet. There is lots of good stuff to read (and lots of crap stuff). I can advise Tao of Tango and (online) Tango and Chaos.
Fourth, get some inspiration. If youtube gives you inspiration, wonder around it. If watching ballet gives you inpiration why not buying some tickets for the show that is just coming around to your town? Keep your brain flooded with ideas, whether they are tango, or non-tango related.
Fifth, and perhaps most important. When you come back, PLEASE, start by doing simple stuff. Even a short time such as 3 weeks can leave you completely out of fluidity. "Less is more". Although this is the motto for tango generally, here it is an obligation. You'll see that after 3 or 4 milongas/praticas you'll feel much better and much more fluent. Like riding a bike, it all comes back, but takes some time and to paraphrase my tango mentor, "it also takes some tango mileage"

Heavyness and being grounded - two completely different things!

This post is born out of the discussion of a post in Alex's blog. I am sure this has been discussed around in a blog somewhere but I can't remember where. Anyway, what we're talking about is if weight matters.
By self experience I say that I have danced with some heavy followers that were light as a plume and with some (misleadingly) skinny followers that were has heavy has a lorry (or truck, if you're on the other side of the Atlantic ;o) So, weight on itself has absolutely no influence on the dance. If you can hold your weight, if you can be strong enough to carry all your package on your own, then you'll be light as a feather. In other words, you'll be as heavy as how much you ask your partner to carry.
Being grounded is something completely different. You can be obese and still not being close to be grounded. You can be slim and fit and yet drill down into the floor without passing the weight to your partner. Juana Sepulveda is a very good example. Slim, beautiful, gracious. But you'll notice that when she takes a step, especially in pivots she drills into the floor but she holds her own weight.
One my early teachers once told me "In tango, try to step the underfloor and never the floor". it makes absolute sense. To be decisive and to make your movements as clear as water you have to put all your weight into the floor (action) and transform the upward motion (reaction) into whatever you want to do.

Dancing with beginners

I remember a few years ago, when I imagined the day that I would be able to invite the best dancers to dance with me. And that day arrived much quicker than I thought! In fact, what i thought it was an event only to be achieved on my "advanced graduation" (whatever that is) it was kind of a non-existent myth. I was only a beginner but it felt so different to dance with my teacher that I was wondering if it was myself leading her. My rustique techniques fitted absolutely well, I became more confident and those dances taught me more than many whole milongas.
And because of that, I think it's only fair to make sure you dance with beginners on a regular basis. To bring them up, teach them, show them what all these tango secrets are all about, give them a taste on what's to come with their dancing. Tango padawan has a very nice post about this, which I totally subscribe. But I find it difficult that some more advanced people in the world of tango never bother to come down of their pedestral to dance with the common people. I have noticed that in most communities is like this. The advanced people in the usual table and all the rest of the crowd dreaming on...
I know that tango is to taught in classes and milongas but you can teach a lot to someone in a milonga without saying a word or uttering an explanation. Just show them the way, so that they can do that in a few years time.

3 2 tango

Nancy and Damian were in the last weekend at the I Edinburgh International Tango Festival. I was told by a few tangologuers that they did a very nice performance. But no other performance beats this one. Not because it's Di Sarli on piano and not because it's my tango crush singing (for those who don't yet know it's Podestá) but because there are actually three people dancing. And no cheezyness!

Dynamic fun

A few posts back, when supantheress was talking about dynamic fun, I had (other than my attempts to do everytime I dance) a few tango clips in my mind. Murat and Michelle's clip of Re Fa Si at the MIT milonga is a great example that tango CAN and SHOULD be fun and dynamic.

What do you think of it?

Taxi driver

I stood before this video trying to absorb as much as I could. It's not a pretty video of Geraldine, it's not an interview to Zotto... Is simply the real tango shown by a taxi driver from BsAs. The backdoor milongas, the bar, the intrinsic tango that lives under the skin of these people... We have to look for it, dance it, go to classes, get better, be nerdy and learn all the music titles and orchestras... But these people live with it. They always had!



Morreré en Buenos Aires, en la madrugada, a la hora que mueren los que saben murrir. - Fantastic!

Tango is alive in the midlands!

The midlands are the bit of land in England that are, as it says on the tin, in the middle. North of London and south of Manchester/Liverpool and Yorkshire. It has the second biggest city in the UK, Birmingham and a cluster of important cities such as Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. But despite a rsident population of over 10 million people, the tango population was minute, and there was the idea that the midlands were a pretty sterile land, in terms of tango.

But the winds have changed! There are lots of events with professional teachers going on. If you're a tangologuer from the midlands you may want to check this out, it may interest you!

8th June - A Sunday of Argentine Tango organised by Birmingham University Tango
with Marcelo Almirón and Maria Solero (Bs As)

14th June - one day of workshops in Market Harborough
with Octavian Janner (London)

20th-22nd June - Tango Spa - Warwickshire Tango Festival v1.0, organised by TangoWarwick
with Jenny Frances and Ricardo Oria (Edinburgh/BsAs)

7th - 13th July - Birmingham Univeristy Tango organises "Austria Summer Tango training camp"

26th-27th July - El 13 - Tango Salon weekend Villa Urquiza style organised by Tango in Brum (Birmingham)
with Roberto Bolletin and Mariana Bocallate (Italy)

Who dares to say that tango in the midlands is not alive?

Would you?

Mariana Flores and Eduardo Capussi are visiting the UK for the first time as part of the London Tango Festival. They are a quite odd couple - theatrical, fun and out of borders - Johanna even suggested where they may have got an influence from in her seminal blog.
Now, the question that I ask you is. After having seen this clip would you be swayed to do a workshop with them?

Grounded

The sun is shining outside but I am grounded in my room. I took the weekend for tango and now I have to catch up with revision. But being grounded is not always bad. Juana Sepulveda, Chico's most recent partner, just proves that point in this (or in fact in any other) video. The "floating" skirty dress helps but it is just amazing how she seems to float in the air and yet at the same time drill the balls of the feet in the floor like if she wants to make a hole in it.
Let's be honest, Chicho helps (quite a lot). When talking to another tanguero (a Chichophiliac) the other day he told me he didn't like Juana because she is nothing like Eugenia Parilla. Well, number 1 Eugenia is Eugenia and number 2, Chicho and her danced for a long time together! Give Juana some time!

PS - It's really nice to see Chicho dancing D'Arienzo. It adds another dimension to the music. From a genius, I couldn't expect less!

Why do days only have 24 hours?

Sorry for those of you, regular tangologuers who have had nothing to read in the last week. My exams are coming at an extraordinary pace and the tango event I am organising is consuming all my remaining time! Well, now that I mentioned it, for those of you who live in this side of the Ocean, check it out, it may interest you! ;o)


TANGO SPA
Warwickshire Tango Festival v1.0
Royal Leamington Spa
20th-22nd June 2008

Soak yourself in tango!

private scenarios

Let's think about the following scenario.

A woman goes in a practice studio. The setting is empty, the floor is wooden and shiny, there is a huge mirror covering one wall and there are holding poles around the room. A very fit Young Woman is standing at the far corner, changing shoes. Woman A approaches Young Woman, in a scouting manner, looking around slowly and with embarrashment. There is awkwardness in the air, the two women look at each other, they measure each other's presence in the room. Woman A is off base. Young Woman asks the question:
"What do you want to learn today?"

****

The scenario could go on and on and a great story could be written, but I'd rather stop here: at the moment before the beginning of a private class. It's the moment when a feel like a rookie again. Standing next to a good dancer, whose technique and movement I've been admiring, I suddenly feel too small and inexperienced. In a moment's time, in my head, I question my skill and my ability and I'm at a loss: What can she teach me today? Which moves, which decorations, what secrets, what movement? There is a sea of knowledge out there and I have to narrow it down to one thing. What can be taught in an hour?

I want to say - "take my body and transform my movement. I want to move like you for just one hour." (I don't want to freak Young Woman out - I don't say this out loud).

Of course, soon after a decision is made; Woman A replies "I have trouble doing this feagure" or "I love the way you do boleos, please tell me what's wrong with mine" or "show me how to do A or B". For me what is practiced is not as much as practicing next to a dancer whose style I admire, seeing how she moves and learning from that.

Yesterday I had a private class with Nayla Vacca at the event we organised at the Uni of Birmingham. I could spend 3 hours talking about all the new things I learnt in an hour with her. But what counts more, for me, is that after the class, when I started dancing in the milonga, I felt more plastic, like there was no tension in my body obscuring my movement. In the milonga I didn't practice what we did in class, yet my dancing has been affected already.

What do you get out of private classes?

Good teaching

Leandro Palou and Romina Godoy

I took a workshop with them last December in Bailongo! and the only thing I knew about Leandro was that he had been a partner of Andrea Missé and that he was the dancer in the Haagen Dazs Dolce de Leche advert. I knew nothing about Romina.
It took me only a few minutes to become a fan of these two. They're precision with technique allied to a fabulous musicality and search for perfection was evident from the first minute and I bonded with their teaching style right from the start.
Hopefully, I'll have more classes with them very soon. For those of you who are kicking around London and are looking for good tuition they are in central London (but beware as they will be touring - again - with tangox2).
Here it is a video that Supantheress shot after one of the workshops when they did a completely improvised demonstration (he wanted to put another music to do the demo but couldn't find it) of what they taught us (the movement is the one from 0:50 to 1:05, with variations). The orchestra is "Enrique Rodriguez" and the title of the music is "No te quiero mas"

The wrong message

This is probably true to most people reading this but I feel really really uncomfortable when I am dancing with someone and I feel that she is not enjoying the dance. It happened to me this sunday. From the start of the tanda, I felt she was bored, unchallenged, waiting for the end of the tanda, just wishing it ended. Needless to say that I went back to my seat (after escorting her to her seat) with a low moral... The milonga went past and I was just dragging myself on the dancefloor. Then I had a dance with someone I love to dance with and my energy came back to me - we danced three tandas. I had a few more dances that brought my self confidence up. Towards the very end of the milonga, when there were only a handful of people on the floor she was seating and I gathered courage and thought, "I'm going to make up for it". I cabeceoed her. When I went to meet her she told me "I thought you would never ask me for another tanda! The previous one was great!"
Does this happen to you very often?

MOVES

"Moves"
a.k.a. It-Which-Must-Not-Be-Encouraged

The thing that tango intellects & enthusiasts seem to despise talking about.

What is it that this word repels many of us?

> You are right, I would rather dance with people who have connection with me than with those who just want to try reckless moves.

> You are right, I would rather dance with people who have musicality than with those who just want to try reckless moves.

> You are right, I would rather dance with people who put emotion into their dance than with those who just want to try reckless moves.

> You are right, I would rather dance with people who have the right techniques and do what they know properly than with those who just want to try reckless moves.

But I want MORE! I want to have dynamic fun!

Is there anything wrong with wanting to dance with those who try moves that are new, adventurous, ambitious, creative and playful (of course they have to be considerate of their surrounding and safety)?

Is there anything wrong in wanting to learn "moves" for a change? To pursue those quirky yet elegant "moves"? Are techniques, musicality and connection the only things I am allowed to cultivate?

Am I greedy?

Am I shallow?

Am I not a proper tanguera?

Should I be condemned, persecuted and exiled to the planet of exhibitionists, salseros and acrobatics?

Give me your verdict.

Tango, Porto de Honra

Why is Port called Port? Supposedly, Port can only be called to the fortified wine whose grapes have been grown in the Douro Valley (in the northwest of Portugal) and whose wines have been stored in Porto, the city at the end of the river Douro.
Anyway, I have wrote a wee chronicle about SOME of the tango that goes on over there. But we all might be glad to know that that there is real tango being danced there.
Porto de Honra means Port of honour, and when in a group people raise their glasses to drink they drink to their honour.
Today it's the start of a wonderful chapter in Porto (and northern Portugal's) tango scene. I just thought I could drop a line here, just in case you're around the area...

The healing powers of tango help Parkinson sufferers!

It's not an anecdotal report, it's not a beautiful life story, it's pure science, but it's music to my ears!
According to a study published in a scientific journal, tango improved balanced, mobility and obvioulsy, quality of life in Parkinson's disease sufferers.
The authors compared the effects of Argentine tango dance classes to exercise classes on functional mobility in 19 patients with Parkinson's disease. The participants in the dance program showed significant improvement in several standard tests for patients with Parkinson's disease - the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UP-DRS) and the Berg Balance Scale.
The study is going to be continued for further assessments and, if it proves that tango is better than standard exercises it's another challenge for tango teachers. Only they MUST be prepared!

Thanks to Fishnets and Fedoras for bringing this report to my attention

Argentine Milonga - The New Salsa

I am not claiming it, it's written in this dance school's website! Some people shouldn't be allowed a computer in front of them!
To teach tango, first, understand what tango is. Then perfect. Then devise a way of teaching it. Then teach it. Some people forget to do the first. What happens? Tango Lego happens.

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.

Tango lullaby / Early education

I came across a sweet lady at a milonga recently. She told me about her kids and I asked her if she ever teaches them tango. She replied, "they don't need to be taught, they already do it without instruction!" She continued by telling me that she listened to tango music throughout her pregnancy with her first child. After birth, she used to take her baby to afternoon milongas, and if the baby was crying, it'd immediately stop crying as soon as it could hear tango music!

Aahhh....

DJing tango - not just chucking your favourite music

This weekend was pretty hectic. I was DJing in Bristol on saturday and in Market Harborough (Leicestershire) on sunday. Both milongas went pretty well, I can say that most of the time two thirds of the people were up dancing and I got good feedback in the end of it.
However, these two milongas had completely different audiences and requirements. I know Bristol tango rather well, not a place for many of the most contemporary of sounds and La Rosa's Whiteladies milonga doesn't go out of that way. However, when I put Sin Rumbo from Otros Aires everybody stood up and went dancing. I decided to follow that with Mi Corazon from Bajofondo and the same. In the end, an Italian tanguera told me that she really likes this kind of music but nobody ever plays it. I got the impression that, allowing for some exceptions, this was the general feeling. Are DJs making a good job?
In Market Harborough there is an older crowd that likes their golden age tangoes. They are very English and it would be the last place that you'd think neotango would be danced to. Well, in fact, I was asked to put some and when Whatever Lola Wants (I was asked to put that, to be honest is not on my favourites to dance to) came on, everybody looked at each other and rose up to go dancing.
My point in this post is that what you like to dance is not necessarily what other people like to dance. My tango mentor, Ricardo Oria, told me once that the DJ's ego has to stay at home. In a milonga, the crowd is who is paying to dance and you have to be flexible enough to cater for the requirements.
The golden age will always be the golden age! I don't think we'll ever get a period like it. But, more importantly, tango is more than the golden age. The good DJ is the DJ that understands that.

Web 2.0 generation of tango

I remember that when I started tango the only way to see the top couples dancing was by having them to come to your place for tutoring and the occasional demo. Nowadays, full classes, demos and interviews are only a click away in Youtube or something like that.
Is this good? In a way, it allows tangoers to see more styles and more moves and it broadens their horizonts. However, it has the other side of the coin:
1 - you get more and more people trying to learn complicated steps online before they know how to walk properly, ignoring basic concepts that underlie those same steps they want to learn.
2 - you start getting Chicho's or Pablo Verón wannabes. Now, I have seen Chicho dancing in milongas and he doesn't do a 100th of the fantasia steps that he does on his demos. Wannabes do not understand this and they are the reason why some milongas get craply rated.
3 - Having seen 100 times you favourite dancer and trying to mimmick all his moves doesn't make you like him. It makes you a cheap imitation.


In conclusion, watch the videos in youtube from your idols but remember - be yourself when you dance rather than a regurgitation of somebody else.

Fernando Sanchez

He may not be a headliner of the most fashionable tango festivals (that is reserved to a restrict number of couples) and most of you may not have heard of him but Fernando Sanchez is a fantastic teacher. He teaches with Nayla Vacca and recently they moved to Leeds for a few months. I had a private lesson with him (Eleni brought him over to Birmingham) and I was very glad that he could give such a precious amount of feedback. If you want to have good tuition he is worth the trip to Leeds. I did not get the opportunity to meet Nayla but judging by the video, he is in good company.

PS - I am embedding a non-choreographed video. It looks more natural!

Tango: my food, my poison

Tango is like food for me. Without it, I can't live. There is no way around it. If I can't dance it, I have to listen to it, watch it, read about it, feel it, think it. I am sure I am not the only one, most of you think like I do, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. ;o)
We revolve our life around tango. Suddently, our job becomes something you have to do when you're not thinking about tango. Your friends have to accommodate the milonga times, your kitchen becomes an improvised dancing space to practise whatever you can while the kettle boils, blogger comes up before your email in your most used websites, itunes says that the 50 most played tracks are tangos and Mr Visa is pissed off with you because those shoes looked great so you had to buy them. In fact you're finding it difficult to spend long times with non-tango people because you can't talk about it with them.
And that's when tango starts to taste bitter. When you have to choose between a life and tango. When tango becomes a necessity, creates addiction, takes over your life. Like in tango, in life, there should be a balance. A fine balance.

If visualised:

For those of you who are more visually oriented like me, the pictures shown below are clear and simple analogies of the differences in embrace between Ballroom tango and Argentine tango.

Ballroom Tango

vs

Argentine (true) Tango

*Notice the nocturnal backdrop and fabulous illuminations of la Tour Eiffel, as opposed to the empty cocktail glass.

Making tango a protected brand!

The popularity of Champagne has been great ever since the monks in France decided to reveal their experiments with wine. The result of that popularity was an opportunistic and thriving copy-cat of wines made by the same method. As a result, the French reserved the right to call Champagne only to wines produced within the region of Champagne. All the others had to be called something else: sparkling wine, or Cava, Spumantti, Espumante...

Like those Sparkling wines, ballroom tango was allowed to carry the word “tango”. Now this is annoying and makes it extremely misleading, leading lay people to think that tango is danced as if someone had something stuck up the back-passage at the same time that bites a rose. I don’t blame them, - that’s what comes on blockbuster films!

On top of this, there is a proliferation of (so called) Argentine Tango schools teaching this dance in a set of choreographed moves. They even have number for the moves and the other day I heard that someone knows as far as move number 8! Tango Lego MUST be eradicated! The soul of tango is in the pure improvisation.

These are the reasons why the tango community should try to protect the Argentine Tango brand. To protect Tango from those who only want to make money out of it. How would this be done? Creating a Think Tank? Any ideas?

Post Scriptum - Straight after writing this post i found this post by mshedgehog that goes in phase with what has been written here. Pure coincidence but it shows that more people are worried about this matter!

Tango and Fado

Two ports, two cities overlooking the Atlantic, two music styles. One dominated by the bandoneon, the other dominated by one of the most fragile instruments on earth, the Portuguese guitar (it can actually get out of tone just by shifting it 10C!).
Fado (also meaning fate) is the Portuguese equivalent of tango, the Portuguese blues. Initially it was danced to but gradually it moved from the music halls to the restaurants where it started to be only listened to. It is usually a sad, languid music style but it can get quite happy and joyful.
In Portugal it's rare to go to a milonga that doesn't play a fado or two along with tango. It's surprisingly tango-friendly and because the essence of both styles is so close, it fits perfectly and doesn't feel out of place.
Below, Juan Capprioti and Graciana Romeo dance to a piece from Camane. To be honest I have seen them dacing to other songs (that I prefer) but this seems to be the only one on youtube. I hope you enjoy it and I would like to know (especially those of you who do not like to dance to non-tango music) your opinion!

Neo tango rant!

Sharna Fabiano seems to be a name to take into account on the other side of the Atlantic. She was recently nominated as one of the ones to watch in an American dance magazine and I heard high opinions about her. So, I went to her website, neotango.
Sharna gives us a extensive list of tracks that we can dance tango to. Fine, I personally like to dance tango to non traditional tango music so I was excited! I started going down the list...
"I Don't Feel So Well" by Vienna Teng, by "A thousand years" by Sting... They are NOT TANGOS! Sharna is feeding what seems to be a rapid build up of antibodies against neotango because she is stating that non-tango tracks are neotango! I can understand how some people in the States are so upset at neotango. But maybe they are upset at non-tango!
Neotango is music made out of tango with a contemporary twist into it. Neotango should have the Argentinian Tango mark in it, it should be a music that makes one reminisce of tango when listening to it, not simply a track that is tango-danceable!
I personally like dancing non-tango musics to tango but that is what they are, non-tango musics! There is a hell of a difference between A Thousand years and Mi Corazon. Sharna should know better than that!

Tagged!

I don't like chain letters and even signed the petition online to get rid of them. But this sounds like an exception. As far as I know, tangobaby tagged us. A little thing, this blog is written by 4 people (although I seem to be the one that logoorrheates most) but this is only my side of things!
The rules are
1 - Link to the blog who tagged you

2 - Post the rules on your blog
- Share seven random and/or weird things about yourself.
- Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1 – My hands and feet are always cold (I try to warm them up before going to tango)! As they say in the place where I am from, cold hands, warm heart.

2 – I love to cook to alleviate stress. It’s double tasty!

3 – My eyes change colour. I never understood what triggers it but they go from greenish grey to emerald green. I must be a freak.

4 – I was once in a train Warsaw-bound thinking I was in a train to Budapest. I got out of the train just in time to board another train that was going to... Bucharest! It doesn’t stop here, I ended up going to Prague!

5 – Just like Amelie Poulain, I love sticking my hands in bags of beans and I can’t get enough of breaking the surface of thin ice on lakes.

6 – I don’t like when I am dancing and people hum. I’m sorry, it just interferes with my concentration!

7 – Once, for Carnaval, I dressed up like a woman and got chatted up... by a friend of mine! (I looked fantastic)

So the blogs I am tagging are:
A time to dance
Great Dance
Tango Atlântico
Abrazo (we all have hope)
Mesa da Ciência
tangobaby (aha!)
Quartos Escuros

Arguments against cortinas

I'm in the mood to go against the current.

Generally, I don't like frequent cortinas. I also strongly dislike ghastly cortinas that are either confusing (because it's similar to tango) or just simply crappy (because it's unpleasant to listen to). It doesn't stop me from going to a milonga necessarily, but I would rather if there weren't any or not very frequent at least. I totally understand that from a DJ's point of view, it is useful to use them. Some people do use them well.

The reasons why I don't like cortinas:

1) When I've been dancing & connecting really well with someone, and I'm in this lovely bubble, you want to carry on without a "back-to-reality" or "must-talk-but-a-bit-awkward" interference. I find that a cortina can be a mood-breaker.

2) When you don't like dancing with someone, and you want to end it before the 3rd dance, you END it, regardless of whether there is an interference (cortina) or not.

3) I personally prefer to have a number of tandas, then have one big break (a whole song or two) so that I can actually have a substantial conversation with someone (or dance salsa or whatever, if you like). Rather than a few seconds of cortina, where you can't really converse properly.

4) I like the continuous influx and efflux of people on the dance floor. It seems more natural.

5) Why should my breaks be dictated by the DJ? Sometimes it takes 4 or 5 dances to get me going. Why should I be stopped?

So, just because they have cortinas in Buenos Aires, it doesn't mean we have to, right?

What we would like a beginner-follower to do, or 'not' to do

Together with mshedgehog we have listed the skills that we believe a beginner-follower should have to be sucessful on the dance floor. If you would like to see mshedgehog's opinion on leaders, check it out here.

Assuming that the follower is female and the leader is male:

EMBRACE
We would like her
· Not to look down to the feet.
· Not to tug on to the leader with her left or/and right hands.
· To keep her right arm firm but elastic, giving the leader adequate amount of resistance.
· Not to be afraid of the closeness required in an embrace (don’t worry too much about the presence of the breasts, apparently one in two people have them).
· To try and maintain the chest and hips parallel to those of the leader as much as the dance allows them to.

WALK
We would like her
· To maintain her own weight at all times except when specific movements require her to rely on her partner’s weight or support.
· To try and stay close to the leader and not move away from him unnecessarily.
· To obey the dynamic of the leader and return the energy transmitted by him.
· To stretch her legs back far enough so that the leader can step forward comfortably.
· To try and close both knees and feet together as though they are bound to each other by elastic bands.
· Not to bop up and down.

DANCE
We would like her
· Not to change her weight from right to left or vice versa unless indicated.
· To keep her embellishment to her minimum at this level.
· Not to ‘lead’ the leader by force (the skills for passive leading should come as she improves generally).
· To be aware of the rhythm but should always follow the leader’s dance (as she goes up the levels she will be able to incorporate her own interpretation of music without breaking the equilibrium.)

MISCELLANEOUS
We would like her
· To take care of her body odour but she should not wear too much perfume.
· To minimise the amount of make-up and accessories she wears so that it doesn’t damage the leader’s clothing or disrupt the dance in any way.
· Not to chat constantly during a dance.

*Some individuals do not like their partners to hum while dancing. Personally, I don’t mind it at all. Because firstly, I do it from time to time. Secondly, it lets me know that my partner is enjoying the music, and perhaps, it helps him to dance with the music. I would much rather if he can dance well to the music and hum/sing than if he cannot dance to the music at all.

Never too early

Back to the days when I had regular classes with Ricardo Oria y Jenny Frances I remember lots of people that went religiously to classes and never set a foot in a milonga. I never understood them (I shall mention that I was one of the annoying kids that started learning how to dance in milongas because I had no money for classes... tuh tuh). What’s the point of going endlessly to classes if you don’t go to milongas? They told me with wise square faces, “So that we learn it properly and then, when we go to the milonga, we are good”.

I did try to tell them but they didn’t listen to me. I remember a guy that had been learning tango for two years, he was at intermediate level and a reasonable dancer, of course, in the class. And he went to the milonga. Reality set in very quickly for him. He had nobody to shout him which steps to do, his plans of doing a Pablo Véron impression were crushed the moment he realised he had 10 times less space in a milonga than in a class and i remember him telling me, “I have been learning for two years, for nothing!”

He actually never came to a milonga again but I think he moved out of town (hopefully not because of tango!). So if you’re reading this, my friend whose name I forgot, persevere, don’t give up. And if you’re reading this and starting don’t do as he did. Go to milongas, listen to the music, respect others while dancing and, above all, have fun. Tango without fun isn't worth dancing!

Gavito teaches tango y nada mas

In the Planet Tango series “Gavito teaches tango y nada mas” and referring to those who try to see a formula to life in tango, Gavito has said: “Listen guys, I’m a milonguero. I dance and I teach tango. I’m not a historian, I’m not a psychologist. And you people, if you think that because we teach tango and we dance tango, we have to give you classes on philosophy and psychology, you’re wrong. We teach only how to dance tango.”

It is taken for granted that our tango instructors are responsible to impart the code of behaviour that we need to respect as tangueras and tangueros; that doesn’t mean that we should look for spiritual leaders. We shouldn’t turn tango into something dogmatic, but that doesn't mean that the tango etiquette is not important. Or this is the way I see it. It's a matter for debate whether the tango etiquette is a flexible set of rules though. It's a burning-hot topic lately amongst the UK tango crowd, after this list hit the tango-UK yahoo! group:
ü The dancing should always move counter clockwise

ü Everyone should keep it's lane, without zigzagging or
becoming a `floor overtaker'

ü One should not move forward to the right of another couple
dancing in front of us.

ü One should avoid bumping into other couples. One should stop
for some sensible time before moving forward.

ü One should apologise if one bumps into or steps over another
person, even it is our own dancing partner.

ü When walking into the floor we should not shove nor push
those who are already dancing

ü Dancing exhibitions take place when there are no couples
around, so when dancing with other people next to us we should take into
consideration the space available.

ü Men should approach the woman they have invited to dance and
the woman should remain seated until they have confirmed such invitation

ü Men should walk their dancing partner back to her seat as far
as the floor limit

ü The invitation to dance should always be done with the
cabeceo, without forcing the lady into an uncomfortable situation, or
taking advantage of other milongueros who respect the codes

ü And while we are dancing we should not chat or
talk….because Chamuyo is not beat, rhythm nor melody.


And the question is, how much of this list's tango codigos are necessary for the dance to happen (so that we don't bump on other dancers for example) and how much is general social etiquette (aca a bit of a philosophy that might not reflect our ethics nowadays)? In the end how much of it can we change?

How addictions begin

Tangocherie found out this video on youtube (or is it hers?). Can you find similarities between this fellow and yourself?

:OD



Almost forgot to say, congratulations Murat and Mariana for attracting the unimaginable creatures to tango!

Dancing with broomsticks (II)

If tango is a dialogue why do so many leaders keep talking to the cassette recorder?

The Tao of Tango

It was my own Xmas present. But I have exams next week and I am severely underprepared. I can blame it on blogger, on youtube or even on my friend that introduced me to tango. I locked the book in the drawer. But like a mermaid is singing my name...

Arghh!

The music that I can’t stop listening to (I)

How would life be without music? Hum, can't envisage it. So, to celebrate that I'll give you a review on my crush of the moment. Maybe you'll discover something new, maybe you'll read what you already know and think (who does this guy think he is?) or maybe it doesn't interest you at all. Anyway, here it is the first. Pedro Laurenz - the underrated maestro.

Creaciones inolvidables by Pedro Laurenz

Relíquias Collection

Laurenz is such an underrated maestro! He was part of De Caro’s seminal orchestra and formed his own orchestra giving work to a young teenager called Oswaldo Pugliese, amongst others. Together with De Caro or on his own, Laurenz created songs that are now played in every milonga such as Milonga de Mis Amores, Mala Junta, De Puro Guapo or Risa Loca.

Despite all his genius, abilities and contacts Laurenz never made it to the golden list of tango maestros - Laurenz has only a handful of published albums. Michael Lavocah (and others) defends that it was the lack of a portentous voice that relegated him to the second league of tango maestros. He did manage to attract Podestá for a short period of 4 years and, to prove Lavocah’s suggestion, those were the years of most intense recording (Laurenz did achieve success later with the legendary Quinteto Real, pairing with Francini and Horácio Salgan).

This album brings the perfect mix of melody and rhythm that De Caro dreamt of but never managed to achieve. The voices of Bermudez but mainly Podestá (I must confess Podestá is my ever favourite tango singer) bring the tango of Laurenz to a level that few maestros ever managed to achieve. His (shortened from the original) interpretation of Alma de bohemio (with Podestá) is one of the most beautiful creations ever made by anyone. My opinion, of course!

Advice for the new year (and for the rest of your tango life)

Tango is not a religion. Just because somebody important tells me that something is the way it is it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily right.

Challenge!

Filter!

Sheep will always be sheep. And sheep never go anywhere.

Tango LEGO

When I started tango I wasn’t so into going to dance in different places; I was quite happy in Edinburgh, I knew most people, had a regular group of people that knew enjoyed dancing with me and was generally confident. But my (full) time at Edinburgh drew to an end and, back in Braga, Portugal, I was getting cold turkeyed. So I decided to go to a milonga in Porto, about an hour drive and check out the scene.

I went in, the organisers greeted me, asked me about me, offered me a espresso and I went to sit quite happily. I stayed watching for a little bit and I was very confused. Everybody seemed to dance the same way! Everybody were copies of one another dressed in different bodies. The same ganchos, the same giros, the same embrace. Back in Edinburgh it’s the opposite. Even people that learn in the same place have different styles, different ways of walking, different solutions to get in and out of the dancing line. I asked somebody to dance and was again quite horrified when people did not understand a simple front ocho with a pasada. The simplest of things and they didn’t know how to follow it, even worse, they said that didn’t know what to do! I went home horrified that I had been learning the bad tango, that the last year and a half was hopeless.

It took me some time (weeks), but I soon realised that instead of dancing with an emphasis on the walk and on pure improvisation of movements derived from the walk, what these people were being taught was sets of moves that were pre-rehearsed and could be stuck one after the other, pretty much like a LEGO puzzle. LEGO tango? No thanks.

The pain of starting from scratch

I chose it, I can’t blame anybody. I chose to move into a place where tango did not exist. I never thought that I could live without tango but I just thought that I would come up with a solution once I moved there. It kind of helped me accepting the place.

Running away from problems (or ignoring them) has never solved anything and the cold reality set in very quickly once I moved to Coventry to start a new student life at University of Warwick. No milongas in a ray of 40 miles (and even those are less frequent than monthly) and no tangueros to be seen. Damn! I emailed the local ballroom and latin dance society, “Any tangueros there?”, “No” was the answer. Damn! But then a very tantalising suggestion “do you feel you can teach it?” Damn! This wasn’t going to be good for my (3^rd) degree.

I was and I still am very cautious about teaching. I always wanted to do it but I had to make sure I knew my basics really well. I don’t want to teach the bad tango. I’ve seen it being done and it ain’t nice. At all! So, to the loss of my Epidemiology lectures I sketch my Saturday classes, trying to make complete beginners understand tango dynamics without getting absolutely bored. I might as well be a rocket scientist, it would be easier!

Organising classes, milongas and trying to attract people into something that everybody thinks “it’s too difficult for me” is not easy, especially in a town whose population isn’t the most, say, latin friendly. Coventry is a melting pot of cultures, a dump of asylum seekers , an uneducated place and that makes it really difficult. It’s draining and sometime I feel that I can’t do it anymore.

But looking to the bright side of things, the plan is going well. I was very lucky Supantheress moved down to the same area and to be honest, I wouldn’t have done it without her. We were fortunate that Eleni is so enthusiastic about coming around to help us whenever we ask. But the very best thing was when our students came to the milonga we organised and, to everybody’s surprise, not only they ventured into the dance floor, they did it perfectly. Always out of the snake pit and trying to feel the music. That’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps me sane.

La Negracha

It’s a cliché to say that things have to live up to the expectations. In fact, things have to live over the expectations created. It happens with cinema, music, and tango is no exception. La Negracha had to punch really high.

First things first - the music. It doesn’t work having one room playing clasico for the most skilled dancers and another playing neotango for the walls; walls don’t dance. Nevertheless, the music selection was quite nice. I knew Ivan’s good taste for tango from previous milongas in Edinburgh but, hombre, if you’re reading this, give up the bottom room and bring some neo upstairs!

The level of dancing was quite high. I had many sweet dances and I saw some lovely couples dancing really nicely to the tracks, trying to enjoy them as much as they can. However, it was painful (literally, I got a heel on my foot at some point) to have to constantly dodge away from Pablo Verón wannabes. Watching the very last three minutes of Assassination Tango where Pablo Verón & Geraldine dance on the empty floor should be forbidden before a milonga – you start getting murdering thoughts. Furthermore, those people 1) weren’t Pablo Verón, 2) their companions weren’t Geraldine and 3) the floor was crowded. They are the living proof that clean quick moves don’t make you a good dancer.

The bar was an absolute rip-off, even considering that we were in Holborn.

And I share with you a story that a friend of mine came across, in the same milonga (sorry J!). He went to a lady and asked her to dance, she asked him, very pretentiously, “Are you good?” to what he said “no”. Then she asked him “How long have you been dancing for?” and when he told him that he had been dancing for four years she said, patronisingly, “Ok, I’ll dance with you.” These are the kind of people that should be barred from milongas.

We walked back to City Road and realised how lucky we were to be tango-raised in Edinburgh.

And if you want another opinion about La Negracha, read mshedgehog's review.

Godiva's Lounge

Yet another milonga in the heart of England! It was an impressive start to the new milonga that we are organising. Coventry is on the tango map!

The next Godiva's Lounge is on the 20th of January, at 2pm (until 5) at The Lounge, 26 Warwick Road, CV1 1EY, Coventry.

Tango cosmetics

Ever wondered if you, as a follower, are costing to the leaders you dance with more than the price of the milonga? Makeup, like in tango, follows the rule that less is the best. Read Tango Baby's comment and reflect. It may be time to think laterally. It may be not.

From the Mordida de Tango to Le Latina of Paris

I am recalling the simpatica tangeros of Mordida de Tango, a Paris Milonga near Monmarte which lightly holds an informal and friendly atmosphere. It is half way to a practica with a delightful Musical selection of old as well as newer tangos, a few eccentricities to raise your eyebrows, and with cortinas that are gently respected and smoothly integrated. It enjoys a healthy number of people and fair few beginners who stay on following an earlier class. This is the sweetest little Parisian Milonga. It reminds me, from a certain soft light, of the early days of Edinbugh's La Otra.

In the centre of city, and later into the night, leads to Le Latina, the well trodden steps of my Parisian tango ritual. Although I find it a bit of a tough place to go, being somewhat inclined to cliqueyness and waving airs of pointless superiority, it draws in a huge mix of people, tango dancing actors, comedians, students, and professional dances, regulars and visitors. It's small space gets packed and becomes a good challenge for small playful steps. The standard of dancers is high, and with a little effort and simple outgoing smiles and good humour, I highly recommend it. Although, perhaps more for the confident who can ignore the famous bored and grumpy faced teachers who also frequent it. But this really is one of the lively hearts of Parisian tango and sometimes even enjoys lock-ins until the late hours become early again.

A wee pointer for other Milongas, Practicas and general Tango antics in Paris: http://www.republique-des-lettres.fr/tango-argentin.php

Organisers vrs dancers

I confess I see tango as a social event. I rejoice when I enter a tango venue to encounter a room full of familiar faces or abrazos; to greet them with a smile or a polite word, to sit at the tables around the dance floor and, while changing my shoes, to exchange a few words with the people next to me. Of course, there is the more personal social interaction of the tango, when we actually get these shoes on and our eyes meet an inviting gesture for a dance. When the music starts, and we translate its rhythm into movement, it's this very rewarding experience of harmony that keeps us hooked to tango.

However, what is a city that lacks a regular milonga for its tango community? How long can you just go to classes, listen to tango on the radio, or dance with your broomstick? A tango dancer is not a tango dancer until they enter a milonga.

With the urge of a tanguera that seeks for the materialisation of her identity, I seek for my milonga in the Midlands to be often met with disappointment. Lots of cancellations, few regular events, a habit of paralysis during festive days. Tango follows the term-time schedule of our job or our university. When our day planner is closed for the vacations, no tango plans are made in the city. There is a general assumption that there is no one around to dance. However, that is not true. People look for a place to dance in their town or city, they don't find it and they make other plans, or (in my case) go to another city where there will be able to tango.

What is the key into making tango in our city what it is elsewhere, which is of course a social event? Not to seek for it's identity, but make it. I've been thinking about founding a new regular milonga, to find out that there are not a lot of dancers who'd be interested in organising a milonga. Apparently, organising a milonga is a tough business, full of politics and dead ends. I hear stories full of intrigue and can't help but asking: Aren't the milonga organisers also dancers, who aspire to a social event after all? Why are they met with suspiciousness and mistrust?

Before deciding to organise a tango group at the university of Birmingham I found the experience of organising a milonga to be fun and informal, just like making arrangments to meet up with my friends. That was un otro caso at a different place, where a tango identity already existed and we were just hoping for a otra idea. Here in the big city, distances are important and politics play their part. The tango dancer can't become the organiser without taking up the organiser's role and behaviour. I can't but feel admiration to those that find the strengh to withstand the transformation. As for me, I still stand at a loss and hope that I will find a way to marry the tango dancer with the milonga organiser to organise a University of Birminghma Milonga in the new year.

La Otra Milonga - the jump

July 2005, a forsaken tendonitis knocked me off the dance floor for 6 months! Could I stay away from tango for that long? Of course not. I hooked up with a few friends and decided to organise a milonga, something different to what we had in Edinburgh, something more intimate, more relaxed, less formal, where the music invited everybody to dance.
Two and a half years past, the current management of La Otra Milonga takes it a little but further. A Xmas ball, a fantastic duo of maestros with a wicked musicality and a secret santa. After all is Xmas, isn't it?

Cortinas - tango palate cleaners

I didn't use to like cortinas. Maybe because I wasn't properly educated in that sense but when some external DJ came to Edinburgh I always found myself dancing to cortinas and making a fool of myself. But I realised why I didn't like them - because most people play really crap cortinas. Cortinas should not be danceable, they should be a short stretch of music that you don't feel like dancing to. This way you also lose the rhythm from the previous tanda. And for DJs is great. You can alternate between Firpo and Bajofondo - nobody will mind the drastic music style change!

The Robotic Crotch

Sweet Sea!?

First, I know that tango is often seen as something sexual or sensual but there's no need to put something so vulgar right in our face.

Second, if one is to continue with the sexy fishnet theme, it can be done in a more classy way.

Third, why associate 'sweet sea' with a very artificial-looking crotch with tights?

What am I talking about? --- the cover of "Mar Dulce", the second album by Bajofondo Tango Club. The artists are great, their sound is great, and their concert was obviously great. Their first album cover was also great, it was quite apparently sexual and eye-catching but it was more like... elegantly titillating.

Please, I am very interested in what everyone thinks about the cover. I'm just disgusted and unaroused.