Montreal again ...

I'm in the car coming back from Montreal where Debbi and I went this weekend to dance. It was a nice trip.

Two of our tango friends came with us in the car, so we talked about tango most of the time, which made the drive seem much shorter then usual.

Friday we went to Moka Danse and we got there around 10. Since there was another special occasion milonga nearby, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it usually is. We met with a friend who recently came back from BsAs with a pair of Comme il Faut for Debbi, and once she put them on, Deb was so happy we quickly went to the dance floor to try them out. And they worked! Debbi was moving well and we had a couple of fun tandas.

My second dance of the night was with L, a girl from Montreal. We danced before and she is a beautiful dancer. While I'm guessing she is in her early twenties, she is been dancing since she was really young, and it shows. Great connection, fantastic musicality, warm and comfortable embrace. I liked the music, I was inspired and there was still some space on the dance floor so it went really well. The two tandas we danced together were probably the best I've had this weekend (with the two tandas I had with Marika a close second, as I was really tired when I danced with Marika and I was not as inspired).

After that, the Friday evening went downhill. It got crowded and I was too stressed out to enjoy myself, I seemed to have such a bad timing when asking people to dance (when I really liked the music the people I wanted to dance with were not available, when they were available, I didn't like the music or the floor was too crowded, when the floor finally cleared up, most people I was looking to dance with were done for the night). So aside from L, the couple of dances I had with E, our lovely host, and Deb, I didn't really had any great dances (in most cases it was not the follower's fault, I just was unable to get in the "zone") but none were bad.

Saturday morning we had breakfast with our hosts which was great (both the breakfast and the company), we hung out, talked about tango, practiced a bit and then later in the afternoon we went to do some food shopping as they were having some people for drinks before going out to dance. We had a blast talking with some of the people we often dance with, but hardly ever talk with, and then we went to a restaurant to have dinner. We had wine and fun conversation but it took forever to bring our food, so I got a bit cranky.

When we got there it wasn't very crowded, but it filled up quickly after we arrived. Me and Deb we danced for a few tandas but I was still cranky and that didn't go all that great.

After dancing with V (a very good dancer from Montreal) for a few tandas, my mood had slowly started to improve. While it was crowded, there were a lot of good dancers and the navigation wasn't too bad.

I danced with too many people to mention them all but I have to mention some.

R (a very sweet Romanian girl from Montreal whom I met at a festival in Montreal a year ago) was there. Somehow we didn't get to dance the last few times we ran into each other, so this time I asked her to dance as soon as we met. She improved a lot since the last time we danced, her embrace was very relaxed and warm and when I asked, she told me she worked with Marika on her embrace. It showed. If a follower finds herself in Montreal and wants to work on her embrace (and I can't see why she wouldn't, as it one of the most important elements of close embrace tango), I would highly recommend to seek out Marika. She is a very sweet person and her embrace is amazing. I have yet to meet anyone who danced with her and disagrees with that statement.

I danced for the first time with M, one of the DJs in Montreal. I wish I was more inspired and less tired, but it was a fun tanda. Between songs she asked how come she didn't see me when she was in Boston two years ago. When I replied I wasn't dancing tango two years ago she seemed very surprised. "But you danced some other dances before tango, right?". No, I didn't. It was nice to hear someone being surprised I've been dancing for less then two years. Sometimes I feel like I am plateauing despite my efforts, so hearing the surprise in her voice was a great compliment.

I had two tandas with Marika who despite not feeling well was just as amazing as always.

We left around 4:30AM and we crashed as soon as we hit the bed. Woke up at noon, we met a friend for brunch at one and we were back on the road at 3pm.

Overall it was a fun trip. I had a few great dances, most of the others were at least good, none were bad. We got to know M and E a bit more and they are awesome (and their apartment is gorgeous, Deb has a serious case of apartment envy). We met some fun people, socialized and spent a little time in Montreal, a city we really like.