eternal music

Some time ago I met two wonderful elders, parents of a good friend. Knowing they like tango, I made a CD with some of my favs and gave it to them.

My friend's father passed on today and I am listening to the music that I imagine he listened to as well. I play it and listen to it in his honor and good memory - he's done good.

Lagrimas y sonrisas, Rodolfo Biagi

Melodia De Arrabal, Carlos Gardél

Criolla Linda (Tango), Francisco Lomuto Y Su Orquesta Típica

Milonga con Variaciones, Donato Racciatti

El Adios De Gabino Ezeiza, Nelly Omar

Catamarca (Tango), Francisco Lomuto Y Su Orquesta Típica

La Revoltosa (Tango), Francisco Lomuto Y Su Orquesta Típica

El entrerriano, Donato Racciatti

Desde El Alma, Nelly Omar

Mascarita, Pedro Laurenz

Tristezas de La Calle Corrientes, Miguel Calo - Raúl Berón

Un Crimen, Miguel Calo - Raúl Berón

Toda mi vida, Anibal Troilo

Parque Patricios, Francisco Canaro

Balada Para Un Loco, Roberto Goyeneche,Astor Piazzolla Y Su Quinteto

Ah, there is one more, he loved "Los Ejes De Mi Carreta" 

Dear friend, may your journey be light, may your destination be eternal love!

teaching during a milonga

Most of us are aware of the no-no habit of some of us to teach as the dance goes on during a milonga. I absolutely distaste it and would not do it even if my dance partner asks for it. I am there to dance, not to teach. On top of that, I am aware of the disturbance such behavior may create for other dancers.

Well, this past Saturday, at the milonga I and "team Pavadita" host in Gainesville, i observed a flagrant violation of this code. A man, known to like to be "helpful" to his partner by offering an advice while dancing, stopped right in front of me (I was DJ-ing) for a lengthy period of time (it seemed like forever, but was probably something like 20 seconds) explaining something about a giro. The two stood apart and he was explaining, she was listening, others were either waiting or trying to squeeze by. I was about to intervene as they moved on and I felt relieved since I really did not want to create a scene.

During the same song, I saw them stop at the other end of the floor, apparently involved in the same sort of activity. I decided I, as a host, had to intervene. So, I waited for the end of tanda and for the couple to separate and go back to their seats before I approached our man and told him to please not teach during the dance since it disturbs the flow of traffic. He did not take this well.

An hour or so later, I approached him again while he was at his table, suggesting to him that my intervention was not a personal matter but a matter of a host making sure that the dancers have a comfortable environment to dance in. He continued arguing how I was wrong, etc.....

The whole incident was quite unfortunate, but I feel I have to intervene in the interest of the whole group.

new and improved

Had a great dinner/evening with my friends Mimi, Wanda, and Gordon last evening -- Mimi had just arrived from her Europe tour of teaching tango earlier in the day. And, of course, things tango were the major conversation. Mimi, being her usual self, never ending to seek and produce more and more ways to bring her experience as a teacher and dancer close to us tango lovers, introduced yet another way of deconstructing the embrace, the central element of the dance.

I tried her suggestions and experienced the "aha!" moment. Unbelievable! Quite a simple concept or realigning various components of the embrace (hands, arms, shoulders, torso, head) in a particular way. You have to see it to believe it. I immediately felt the improvement. Of course, I will now have to play with it and practice until I am completely comfortable so that it enters my subconsciousness and provides a qualitative jump in my dance experience and, hopefully, of that of my partner.

Looking forward to these 10 days with Mimi around (workshops in Tallahassee this weekend and in Gainesville the next). How lucky we are to have two master teachers come teach in the "provinces" - Mimi, the absolute authority on the posture, and Jorge Torres, the pivot and dissasociation guru - thanks to my friend Gordon.

Pavadita Tango Regional Workshops w/ Victoria y Federico June 25/26

We at Club Pavadita in Gainesville are hosting a tango weekend of fun, learning, socializing, dancing, etc. with our good friends Victoria and Federico conducting wonderful workshops on Saturday and Sunday, June 25/26.

Review our program and if you decide to preregister (before June 25), use the convenient payment/registration via PayPal (you do not need a PayPal account).

(Since this is a past event, no registration for it is available.)

tango "rules"

There has been a considerable discussion recently on Tango-L e-mail list about the line of dance (LOD) rules. Of course, that discussion is nothing new, it comes and goes periodically. At some point, I made the following comment (in part):

When people know how to dance, strictly following line of dance rule is meaningless, because you end up dancing with other pairs on the floor co-creating a symbiotic dance of the whole group - that's when the whole new horizon of dancing opens up.

And then someone replied with (notice the sarcasm):

Yep, just like the hoons and smart-arses that grace our motorways. They all know how to drive. They think they know how to drive better than everybody else on the motorway. They're much too skilled to have to obey road rules. They're just exceptional people. Weaving in and out demonstrates their free spirit and their command of space and time. Oh, the sheer joy of sharing a motorway with them. The peace it brings to body and mind. It's a privilege to be in their company. Seems they can't understand that driving a vehicle and driving a vehicle on a motorway are entirely different. Being skilled at one doesn't mean skilled at the other. I suggest cautious driving allows one to enjoy the beauty of the scenery.

I was seriously tempted to reply to the reply, but then thought better and decided to leave it alone.

Here is an interesting twist, though. I noticed that in all Latin-american countries I visited (Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brasil, Argentina) rules of driving, especially in the cities, are not strictly adhered to. For example, it is very common in Buenos Aires to see 5 or even 6 lanes of traffic on the street marked for just four. And those lanes dynamically change. People shift in and out all the time and all is well - I have not seen a single accident.

The issue is, I observed, that drivers are fully aware of all other participants and drive defensively but decisively. I have not seen anger displayed as it is often the case on our streets and highways where everyone follows the rules.

I wonder if there is a lesson hidden in there somewhere.

tango "follower"

Recently someone on an e-mail list pondered (again) the role of the follower in tango. A very illuminating discussion ensued. I quote excerpts here.

Someone said:

I begin by stating that I am new to Argentine Tango(3+ yrs). My first instructor made the statement that a follower must bring something to the dance an not expect to be pushed and pulled around the floor like a puppet.

Then someone else replied:

I believe that your instructor was trying to convey that women must be active in the dance, not passive. She must not be a piece of furniture on wheels that the men push around.

Finally, and very nicely, another person wrote:

Yes. In fact, many Argentine instructors insist that the primary responsibility for keeping the beat, in the mind at least (even though each beat probably won't be explicitly stepped on, of course), belongs to the follower.

The responsibility of the leader is to lead in a fashion clearly inviting her to step on a particular beat when that's what he wants her to do. He doesn't concentrate on landing his own foot on the beat in question--that will take care of itself if he is musically inclined--but rather on inducing *her* foot to do it.

If she is not musically inclined enough (or experienced with the tango repertoire enough) to feel the music in her blood as any good tanguero or tanguera must, and to seize upon the leader's invitation to step on a particular beat with her own aggressive gusto, then she will feel heavy to the leader and he will feel as though he has to drag her around the floor.

This is particularly true when the leader may not be stepping at all, such as standing on one foot while leading a molinete.

You can see the whole thread here.

Chicago Mini Tango Festival w/ Alberto Dassieu

Mi sweetie and I are readying ourselves for a short tango pilgrimage to Chicago in April. It is 2010 Chicago Mini Tango Festival - April 9-12. I really like that festival for a number of reasons: the location - University of Chicago, friendliness, good DJ-ing, good dancing, overall great atmosphere for tango lovers. Not to be forgotten is one of the main instigators, a special tango aficionado, my friend whom I met through tango - Ray Barbosa.

This time around, I am looking forward to studying with Alberto Dassieu.

I saw Alberto dance a couple of years ago in El Beso and was so impressed with his deliberate, very classy, elegant dance.

Look at this tango:



I love his sense of music and the way he moves his body in suspense, sort of. You can tell a volcano going on inside with a deep feeling of music, celebration of it actually, translated so beautifully into a dance. (I wish Paulina's left arm extended up around and on top of Alberto's shoulder, but that's besides the point.)

Now look at this vals:



Look at the continuous flow of the dance, see the suspense in both dancers' footwork, matched only by the impeccable D'Arienzo's accentuation of the vals pulse. Everything is sooooo simple, yet so beautiful, it just makes me cry with excitement and desire to join in - simply a magical dance.

Should be loads of excitement in Chicago.