it's going to get worst before it gets better

In the last few months I had someone tape me dance a few times (you can see them if you look here) and while it seems I continue to improve, which is a great thing, my posture still sucks. So recently I started to work on it every time I dance. Unfortunately that affects the connection, the embrace, it makes me feel stiff and to some extent it ruins the experience. But the more time I allow myself to dance with a bad posture, the more difficult will it be to fix it later. Sigh ... so I guess it will have to get worst before it gets any better. So, please folks, bear with me while I learn how to maintain a proper posture ...

Saturday I went to the LongaMilonga in Providence. It was better attended then last month, but boy, the summer sucks for tango. Not only in Providence, but in Boston too. Actually, I remember someone saying that in Montreal some milongas are closing for the summer for the same reason. Anyway, back to the Saturday's milonga, M, a favorite follower from NY came down with a bunch of friends, which was awesome, as she is not only a lovely dancer but a sweet person as well. We danced a couple of times, a few tandas each time, which were good. Good not great, because I'm still struggling to adjust my posture and on top of that, I wasn't feeling very inspired.

Among the other dancers from NY who came up for the LongaMilonga was S, a woman I've seen many times in Providence but somehow never got a chance to dance with her. Well, there is a reason, when the milongas are better attended she is busy dancing non-stop with all the tango "Gods" so she's kind of hard to get to. This time I had more luck. Wow, she is REALLY good. In addition to the good technique (balance, embrace, following) she has an amazing presence, it was so surprising it took me the better half of the first song to get used to it. In addition, she is very musical, making her contribution to the dance by using changes in dynamic of her steps, using her shoulders and by changing the ... "groundness", among many other things. And all of that while she flawlessly followed anything I lead. I can understand why the best leaders line up to dance with her, I certainly am her newest fan. Too bad I wasn't in the zone, it kind of sucks when it happens and you dance for the first time with someone. First impressions tend to last for a very long time. Not to say I sucked, she did after all sticked around for a few tandas, but I was pretty far from my best.

The music was quite good, Ramji V from Ann Arbor (he's in the area for a while) DJed and I did like most of his selections. One thing though, he played a few of my favorite songs at the beginning of the milonga, before the dancing started and I remember thinking "crap, this is a waste of a good song". Kind of a catch 22, if you don't play good stuff, people will not start dancing, but if you play the good stuff at the beginning, it's a bit of a waste. When I DJ I always keep what I consider the best music for later in the evening. I'd be curios how others feel about this.

At the practica Sunday it was sweltering hot. I got to practice with a few people, nothing out of the ordinary. Most people were very self conscious about being sweaty, so that didn't help. The music was fantastic though. I liked every tanda. Amazingly, that happens every time when I dj ;-)