Did you know we haven't danced in a while?

I hear this comment once in a while. What I rarely hear is "We haven't danced in a while, is there any particular reason?" Because there is generally a reason and if you knew the reason you can make an informed decision on doing or not doing something about it.

Generally speaking, (to the extent that is possible), I stop dancing with people when there is something in their dancing that bothers me to the point where i can't stand it anymore. In most cases it has to do with the embrace. Some clamp my arm to the point it stops the blood flow to it, some are leaning on me, some are leaning back pulling me off my axis, etc.

If you go to a practica, it's presumably to get better. Ask the people who you like to dance with what they would change in your dancing. You don't have to change, but you should know what people thing you need to change.

Skipped a tango practica to work on a non-tango project

So it finally happened. Last night, instead of going to the Monday MIT practica like I've been going every monday I've been physically able to (as in, in town and not sick), I stayed home to work on my camera project.

Surprisingly, the sun still rose in the morning, the sky didn't fall and some progress was made on the camera project. Amazing.

My other project, tango this time, is that we'll be starting teaching group classes in Central Sq (Cambridge) in October. So now I'm working on flyers, online ad campaigns and all sorts of other marketing schemes to get people in the class.

We will be starting with a 3 hour "Introductory" Argentine Tango class for "civilians". If you have any friends who you want to introduce to this addictive obsessio... err... hobby, send them to us.

Found lost video (non-tango post)

In 2006, at the height of my motorcycle insanity, I made a trip to Tennessee/North Carolina to ride the motorcycle on the fantastic mountain roads they have there. There is one stretch of road in particular which has 319 turns in 11 miles. This video only covers the last couple of miles. The road has a nickname, "The Dragon's Tail". This video was shot with my camcorder mounted on the right side of the bike, about two feet of the ground (when the bike is upright). As you can see in the video, it doesn't stay at two feet of the ground for two long ...

Domestics ...

Tuesday one of my tenants water heater developed a leak and her bathtub faucet broke at the same time. So yesterday I took the day off to install another water heater and fix the faucet. A couple of years ago, I called a plumber, and the whole deal cost me almost $900. This time, I got the heater from craigslist for $100 (almost new) and spent the most of the day installing it and fixing the faucet. Grand total, $130.

One of the reasons I miss BsAs, it's because it wasn't real life. There were no water heaters to break, no weeds to clean, no lawn to mow, no insurance companies to deal with, almost all the "problems" were related to tango. Ha.

Maybe that's why dancing there is so good, not only there are many great dancers, but a lot of them leave all the problems they have at home, in a land far away, and bring with them only their passion for dancing. But the problems are not gone, they are just on hold.

BsAs 2009 - The End (part 4)

It's been over a week since I got back to Boston. It feels like a month. I can't believe it was only 2 weeks ago I was DJing at El Beso. Someone told me after I got back that they hate dancing with people who just came back from BsAs. She was sort of joking, but I know what she meant. It's like dancing with someone who just had an amazing dance with someone else. Because it's very likely they are not "there" with you one 100%.

There are people I really enjoy dancing with in Boston. They should know who they are. I just wish they would actually come out more often. So when I walk in a milonga here, I won't immediately wish I was south of the ecuator.

BsAs 2009 - The End (part 3)

It Tuesday and I just arrived at the office. It's been only 4 days since Friday, yet it seems so much longer. Normalcy surrounds me and I have no taste for it. I'm clinging to memories, but are they real? Do I remember things the way they were, or the way I would've wanted them to be? Does it matter?

My motorcycles were waiting for me in the garage. I rode the Blackbird to work today. It was nice. It used to be exhilarating. My vegetable garden is overrun by weeds. I can't get myself to care too much. A new camera I purchased while I was away was waiting for me at home. I was hoping it would re-ignite my interest in photography. Maybe it will. My camera project (a DIY camera kit I've been designing for months now) is waiting for me to continue it. I'll get to it at some point.

Now I'm heading to a meeting. How exciting...

BsAs 2009 - The End (part 2)

After 58 consecutive nights of dancing with some of the best dancers from across the planet, going back to every day life will be hard. Avoiding getting depressed will be a challenge. One Monday I'm dancing in Salon Canning until 4AM, next Monday I'm in Boston where the only event is a tiny practica that goes from 9pm to 11pm.

One cannot not question the sanity of what I've been doing for over three years now, putting so much of myself, not too mention money and resources into an activity that resembles in effect doing drugs. Every time you get a "high", the dose required for the next one is higher. There comes a point where there is simply not enough "dose" available to get the high, then what?

In the last few weeks in BsAs I had some dances that were so intense, so amazing, that I can't imagine what will I be doing now, away from it all. I guess that is something I need to figure out.