My Tango Diaries

Carlos Canedo and Anais Haven - July 2009 Oliver Kolker and Silvina Valz (Class Milonga Demonstration) - July 2009 Oliver Kolker and Silvina Valz (Milonga Performance) - July 2009 Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWirmqsFMY Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sLV-amZKWU Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt - April 2009

Tango teachers, Carlos Canedo and Anais Haven , perform at Esquina Tango's Milonga del Campanario, July 25, 2009.

Life is short and it's gone in a moment, in this night it is necessary to live. In the nostalgic evening parties the old times return with this tango that takes us like a dream with its rhythm. Old memories, pretty women, sweet moments from the past. - UNA NOCHE DE GARUFA "A night of partying" (1909) translation by: Alberto Paz Recently, I was able to arrange carpooling with a tanguero who lives fairly close to me. The only catch is that he stays until the very end of the milongas. So if I wanted a ride, I'd have to stay through La Cumparsita. I have had a bit of a reputation for wimping out around 11:30, so this was going to a challenge. So far I've stayed twice 'til the end of the milonga - the last two Saturdays, in fact. And I wish I'd stuck it out sooner! By the end of the milonga (for tango dancers in Austin, that usually means 1 or 2am-ish) the crowd has thinned quite a bit, and most of the dancers who are still there are more relaxed, maybe even a ...

I finally braved it and took two workshops/classes from Silvina and Oliver while they were here in Austin. I'm still trying to absorb everything. Overall, I really enjoyed the classes and I'm continually finding ways to apply what I've learned. Their approach to structure (which I've written a bit about in response to other posts on Tango Connections) is invaluable. They began the class elaborating on the idea that executing a lead, response to a lead, or series of steps sloppily or in a way that disregards the basic structure of the dance - and then saying 'that's just my style' or 'I'm expressing myself' - just won't cut it. There are expectations that "this movement" leads to "that response". For the dance to work socially, on the milonga floor, it has to be that way. Within the few basic movements, forward, back, open - the entire dance is built with almost limitless possibilities. They went on from there to having d...

Warning : I am not a leader and I haven't been dancing very long, so this is purely opinion, based on idle observation and not a deep understanding of technique. When I first saw the video of Tim Ferriss setting the Guinness world record for number of giros in a minute (frequently labeled "world record in tango" which seems silly to me), I kept thinking that can't be very much fun. All I had to go on was my experience of how giros feel to perform. Watching Alicia Monti race around Ferriss just didn't seem elegant or graceful - just racing. The video can be found here (feel free to skip to 4:00mn so you don't have to watch the silliness that precedes it. Then last weekend I watched our guest teachers, Oliver Kolker and Silvina Valz perform a beautiful milonga at Esquina Tango. While I was reviewing the video (which is a little dark, unfortunately) I watched Oliver's feet executing his very fast giros. His steps, in comparison to Ferriss's, are fluid, mu...

And just for fun. . . Music: Flaunt by Girls Love Shoes

Silvina Valz and Oliver Kolker tango workshops and milonga at Esquina Tango. Music: El Choclo - Angel Vargas with Angel D'Agostino

I was talking to a friend recently - a friend who dances, but not tango. More accurately, I was whinging. I've been sore, tired - not at all happy with my dancing. I keep thinking that I'm so very far from where I'd like to be in my dancing. He asked a simple question. "Have you been training?" I replied, "Of course, I practice every day. I have exercises to increase strength in my feet, ankles, and legs ..." etc etc He asked again, "You're practicing - but are you training? Training like a dancer? Training like you used to?" Pardon? Oh, that kind of training. If I'm honest, no. I'm practicing like a hobbyist, and wondering why I'm not making the kind of progress I'd like - the kind of progress I used to make. I used to dance. In those days dancing meant daily drills, stretching, training in the athletic sense of the word. Training with goals in mind. Without a picture in mind - a s pecific picture - of what I want to ac...

(I actually wrote this a couple of months ago, after missing a gancho lead and 2 boleo leads. In my defense, I had not actually learned either of those. This lovely leader was, after reading my blog, very excited to dance with me - and I with him. But I didn't have the chance to tell him how much of a beginner I was before we started dancing. He was sweet, and very polite - if not a bit puzzled by my performance.) To my latest leader after our awkward first tanda: Don't worry. I have to explain this all the time. My writing, in its quantity and emotion - seems to give the impression that I am an experienced dancer. I'm not. You could not have known that before we danced. I am an experienced listener of tango music - but not an experienced tango dancer. I am a tango blogger, a tango reader, a tango pusher . . . because I am a tango dancer. I was a writer first, so I put everything I can't dance into words - and everything I can't write, I put into my dance. Unfortun...

My tango world . . . When I finally decided, after a few months (okay, years) of deliberation, to take up tango - I couldn't find a single person to go with me. My husband, my friends, and coworkers all gave me various forms of the polite "no, thank you." So when I entered the world of Argentine tango, I entered essentially alone. Though the prospect caused a significant amount of anxiety, I eventually found it to be exhilarating. This was completely mine. I would have to conquer my fears on my own. There is power in that ... an energy. There is more to it though, even than the feeling of self-sufficiency that's gained. No one knew me in the tango community. I could enter this new world of people, connections, friends, without a preconceived notion of who I was, without the undesirable baggage of my past. Work stresses, financial worries, fretting about my dogs/cat/house/laundry/phone bill - whatever... left at the door. It felt like a vacation from my life. On that ...

Yes, I know. Another Aubele song. *sigh* Can't help it - woke up with this one on my mind. Lyrics (translated by xiurell at http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/spanish-lyrics-translation/33042-federico-aubele-spanish-lyrics-translation-needed.html ) Y los años van sin poder soltar And the years go by without releasing los recuerdos del ayer yesterday's memories así mirándolos pasar y volver seeing them going and coming back los recuerdos del ayer yesterday's memories A través de la esencia Through the essence de mil jazmines se filtra todo tu calor of thousands jasmines all your warmth slips through Los pétalos de tus labios The petals of your lips buscando sobre los míos looking in mine apagar su sed extinguish its thirst Noches de verano Summer nights en la esquina de Begrano at Begrano's corner navegando a la deriva sailing to the drift hasta el amanecer till dawn Sembrando melodías Seeding melodies en la noche infinita on the endless night lo llevo bien guardado I...