My Tango Diaries

(image courtesy of morguefile.com ) When I was in middle school I decided to take gymnastics. I have no idea, even to this day, what possessed me. It was, as the kids say, and epic fail . I was terrible at it. My balance was always bad. I had little-to-no natural grace. I seemed to run and jump about as if I were playing dress-up in someone else's body for the day. I could never get my limbs to do what I wanted them to do, when I wanted them to do it. As painful, and occasionally absurdly ridiculous, as that experience was, I managed to take away two lessons from my year in gymnastics: 1. Do the things that scare you. 2. "Stick the end" The first lesson is pretty self-explanatory - and it has always paid off well for me. Sticking the end , as my coach constantly reminded me, meant ending my routine resting in a balanced, stable position. If the routine was set to music, it was also a way of respecting and acknowledging the music. It meant learning precisely how much mome...

(Tango at a nightclub in Buenos Aires, 1924. Source: www.esnips.com ) A Scenario for Leaders: Your favorite orquestra begins to play and the follower you enjoy most for that music is looking for your cabeceo at just the right moment. You meet at the edge of the dance floor, look for the nod from the leader behind you, and as the first few bars play, you find the most blissful embrace in each other's arms. Just as you take your first step, another leader suddenly enters the line of dance, butt first, backing into your surprised partner. Oblivious to the run in, he takes off down the line of dance. The spell is broken and now you and your partner have to wonder if this tanda is going to be spent in "defensive driving" mode. This scenario, or a similar one, happens at almost every milonga I attend. This is after we had a very well attended workshop discussing, in detail, how to enter the line of dance. I've written about this before, and I've discussed it on forum...

Sometimes my mind goes down such useless roads. When things are going badly, it seems so easy to get lost in thorny tangles of what if I had? What if they had? What if I never? Maybe I would have finished college. Maybe I wouldn't live my life in pieces at a time. Maybe I would look further ahead than the end of the month. Maybe I wouldn't feel so raw so often. Maybe. But if the bad things hadn't happened . . . If better things had. If my route had changed . . . and my life changed . . . I wouldn't have met my husband . . . or his family that became my family . . . I wouldn't know the people I know who care so much for me and for whom I care so deeply. and tango . . . my life, all the ugliness and beauty, pain and elation, brought me to tango. So I've got to shake this off - this useless interrogation of the past. La vida es una milonga y hay que saberla bailar, Life is a milonga, you gotta dance to how it goes . . . So let's just dance Let your body tell m...

We've danced before - though not often. He visits rarely, and I'm always a little nervous when we dance. He is one of a very few dancers I know with who grew up with tango music. He was not always a dancer - but the music is his heritage and I can feel it. On those rare occasions when he visits Austin, and asks me to dance, I silently pray to the tango gods that every song in the tanda will be one that I know well. Though I know it is the leader's job to shape the interpretation of the music, when I don't know the piece, it feels like he can tell. (Now, this little panic is entirely my own making, as he's never said or done anything to make me think he was being the least bit critical of me - exactly the opposite, in fact.) Despite my case of nerves, I was very pleased to see his cabeceo. As I accepted with a nod and stood by my table, I noticed the dance floor was so empty. I suddenly felt very visible. I was even more nervous than before. My partner for the...

He invited me into his embrace and, as I always do, I looked down . . . and away. It's not just with him - I do it with almost every leader. I can finally use the cabeceo with relative ease, yet as I enter the embrace I'm still shy in making eye contact for more than a moment. The (few) previous times we've danced, he's just smiled and enveloped me. This time he stopped. He held me out from him for a moment or two longer and said, 'the embrace begins with the eyes.' He then smiled warmly and, in no particular hurry, invited me to settle into his embrace. The first song went by so fast that I was almost surprised to find myself on the other side of the room. As we separated between songs, once again my eyes sought out the floor. He softly cleared his throat, waiting, and when I looked up he smiled broadly. He held my gaze a second or two longer, and the welcomed me to into his embrace again. I'm learning. ( Image courtesy of morguefile.com )

Early Bird Registration is open for the Austin Spring Tango Festival 2011 Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com. AUSTIN SPRING TANGO FESTIVAL 2011 March 25, 26, and 27 Our Master Teachers will be: * Tomas Howlin and partner (TBA) * Cecilia Gonzalez * Somer Surgit * Anabella Diaz-Hojman * Mario Consiglieri * 18 Classes and 3 Milongas * Three levels of classes at all times * Milonga every night * Special Asada Milonga on Sunday

Etiquette At the milongas, I was very disappointed to see several "Master" teachers cut off and ignore other dancers behind them as they entered the line of dance. The cabeceo was more consistently used by local dancers, than by visiting dancers (though there were a few much appreciated exceptions). Floorcraft Over-use of the 8-count basic at the milonga was greatly reduced this year and floor craft was generally a bit better than last year. However it was a lot less crowded this year, too - making things much easier. That said, there was still far too much "teaching" on the milonga floor. As Alex wrote: "Do not ever teach or work through 'moves' on the dance floor at a social milonga. You are embarrassing yourself, and you are embarrassing the woman you are dancing with. We are embarrassed for you, and feel sorry for her." ( http://alextangofuego.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-couldnt-bear-to-watch-check-your.html ) Lack of food No surprise here. Hotels,...