Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 2 - the "Midnight" milonga

At about 1AM I made it to the "Midnight milonga" which was at the "Tango Fabrika" and was going to go until 6AM. Lots of people were already there and yay! Shorey was DJing. I was chatting with her while some tango electronica was playing. One of the guests turned around and said "Hey Shorey, when are you going to stop playing those cortinas?". Ouch, that was a harsh way to refer to tango electronica music. But funny! Soon thereafter Shorey started to play the music she usually plays, and I looked around for someone to dance with.

T was there with P, so once I changed my shoes, we danced until we coudn't move anymore, probably about 4 tandas. It was pretty crowded and for the first time it didn't stressed me as much as it usually does. Even T commented on my dancing being a lot more relaxed and complex despite the lack of space.

I found then E again and I asked her to dance. It was the last song of a tanda and the next tanda was the only tanda of non-classic tango I've heard that night (until 3AM when I left) so after trying one song (at which we both sucked) we decided to wait until the next classic tanda. Once we had a chance to dance on music I like, it was really fun, but my exhaustion was taking it's toll and I found myself many time falling into default moves and not being able to immerse in the music. By now the floor was packed so that didn't help. We danced a couple of tandas and then we stopped and planned to dance the next evening, when we'd be rested. Besides, she was wearing some shoes which were hurting her feet. Looking forward to tonight.

The last person I danced with, another E, let's call her E2, she was very fun to dance with, and very gracious to tolerate my exhaustion induce clumsiness. But at that time, it was 3AM and I was clearly done. I decide to head back to W's apartment and have some decent sleep, so Sunday evening I'll be able to keep my eyes open. At 3:30 I was sleeping.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 2 - introductions, more people should do it

Earlier that evening, Marika flagged me down and introduced me to a friend of hers, E from Montreal. She said she is trying to introduce people she really likes, Marika is such a sweetheart.

The woman I was dancing with when they started to play "La Cumparsita", the last song of the "Grand Ball" milonga, excused herself to go dance the last song of the night with her husband, so when I looked around I saw E sitting down and I went and asked her to dance. Excellent dancer, very musical and a very warm embrace, reminded me of Marika's embrace. I was glad to find out she was going to the "Midnight" milonga, (which was the second milonga of the evening, going till 6AM) so we can dance at least one full tanda.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 2 - the composer

The practica seamlessly morphed into the milonga as more people arrived. I decided to play smart and save my energy, just dancing with people I really wanted to dance with.

Through the evening I've seen this woman with awesome musicality, very elegant footwork and what seemed a great connection to her partners. I eventually saw her sitting down and I moved in quickly, but before I got there, they announced the live orchestra was about to start playing. That kind of stopped my dead in my tracks about 15 feet away, and as the orchestra started to play Piazzolla, we made eye contact. I don't like dancing on Piazzolla when played by Piazzolla, I'm going to like it even less when it's played by some random band. But I didn't want to give her the wrong impression, so since we made eye contact I went to her introduced myself and told her I was on my way to ask her to dance, but Piazzolla is not something I care to dance on. She asked me if I would like to sit and wait for some other music to come along and I agreed. We chatted a while, her name is L and she is from Toronto. It soon became obvious the band was going to play only Piazzolla and I didn't want to keep her from dancing with other people so we agree to look for each other once some other music is being played.

Half an hour later, I was chatting with someone and L shows up, asking if now would be a good time and off we went on a waltz tanda. Boy, I was right, she is awesome, great musicality, awesome connection, she was also able to catch the most subtle parts of my lead, something that so far, only teacher level dancers (and not all of them) have been able to catch every single time.

Once the tanda was over, the orchestra kicked in again. Grrrrrrr... OK, we agreed to try again once more danceable music is being played, and I went and found her again as the orchestra was playing what was supposed to be their last song. We chatted a bit more and I found out she is a (music) composer ... Well, that explains a lot. That also makes one of the questions she asked on the dance floor one of the best compliments I've ever got. She asked me if I was a musician. I consider that question coming from a music composer one of the best compliments on my musicality I ever got. Period. So the band was apparently a success, as people asked for some more, and the band obliged. Grrrrr... And when that was done, they announced the dance performances ... Double Grrrrr.... ;) The Gods are conspiring against me dancing with L again it seems as the milonga was supposed to and at midnight and it was already 11:40. Sigh ...

The performances were actually quite fun, and once they were done they announce the milonga will go for a bit longer. So I found L and off we went on a tango tanda. That particular set wasn't one of favorites but hey, I'll take what I can get. Interestingly enough, I didn't feel the same fantastic connection as I did for the vals tanda, I think the exhaustion was starting to take it's toll. It was an amazing dance nonetheless. Looking forward to dance with her again.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 2 - the practica

At 7PM the "Grand Ball" milonga was scheduled to start, so I went back to W's place, took a shower, got dressed, got in the car and went back to "Espace dell'Artes" where the event took place. What I missed in the brochure was that the milonga was actually starting at 8PM, from 7PM to 8PM was a practica. Cool. A bit after 7PM, Mila & Korey showed up and I took to opportunity and asked Mila to dance. Ahhh ... a huge empty floor, some Biagi music I like and a Mila as a dance partner, I didn't die and made it to heaven, did i? ;) Because it's debatable if I have the right to go to Heaven ...

Once I managed to get back on the planet earth, I asked a woman to dance, she was dancing for a year, but not very often, and once she was able to relax a bit she was lovely to dance with. I was heading to get some water and ran into Shorey, who was DJing that evening (I love her music selection), dressed into a lovely blue dress. She asked me if I wanted to dance and ... I resisted the temptation to look behind me to make sure she was talking to me. Uhhh, duh ... of course silly, and somehow I managed to accept in a dignified way, squishing my temptation to jump up and down clapping my hands ;) And off we went. Sigh ... and once again I departed the Planet earth.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 2 - the afternoon

I woke up around 10 after going to sleep at 5:30. I decided to leave the car at the W's place and take the bicycle instead. That was a fantastic idea as the weather was incredibly nice this weekend. I ended up riding around town, soaking in the vibe of the city. Awesome. After having brunch and riding around, at 3PM the "Alternative milonga" was scheduled to start at "Chez Lili". I figured, what the hell, I might not like alternative music but I was tired and they have a few sofas, so I'll just watch people dance and rest.

That milonga was not popular at all. I was there until about 4:30, maybe 5, and we were about 10 people all together. I danced a few tandas, a couple of them with an instructor from the Tango Fabrika, and that was a lot of fun.

I also watched a taller gentleman dancing with Jennifer (one of the teachers), and they were using an interesting embrace, where her left hand went on the small of his back under his arm. This would be interesting to try with a really short follow.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - random acts of kindness

As me and W, my host this weekend, were taking the elevator to her apartment, we were talking about how to handle the parking issue for the weekend, as in downtown Montreal is a bit of a problem. A woman in the elevator overheard us and offered her parking space in the basement garage for the weekend, as she was not using it. Just like that. I love Montreal.

Montreal Neo Tango Festival - day 1

This is my third time in Montreal, this time all by myself as Debbi had to work this weekend. (Finally) learning from past experiences I decided not to take any workshops as one needs all the energy for the all night dancing. That proved to be wise.

Friday there were two milongas, back to back. One at Espace dell'Artes, from 9:30PM to 2PM and another one at Tango Fabrika from 2AM to 6AM. To sum it up, I had a great time.

Before the milonga I met Caroline, it's quite interesting to meet someone so long after "meeting them online". I've been reading her blog for so long, I felt like I knew her before we met. We had a coffee and a great time chatting, mostly about tango of course, but I promise there were a few non tango related subjects touched... I think.

We went together to the first milonga, and when we got there, we were pretty much the only ones there. We danced a couple of tandas, which was fun, but I was still kind of stiff from the long drive and didn't have the groove on yet. We grabbed a glass of red wine (why on earth we can't have a glass of wine at Boston milongas is beyond me. I've heard arguments about people drinking too much, but I've been to many milogas in both Montreal and NY and I've yet to see someone inebriated), and with it's help I was able to chill a bit.

After opening the evening with Caroline, I danced quite a bit. First with a woman from upstate NY, she is quite fun to dance with, so we danced together three tandas, when we had to take a break, as we were getting tired. Then I danced two tandas with S, one of my favorite Montreal follows, she is quite an awesome dancer. The surprise of the night was L, from Montreal. We talked at the Yale festival, but we didn't have a chance to dance, but we did last night. Wow, that was fantastic. She was born in Argentina, and even though she left the country when she was three, she must have the tango gene because she is incredibly good. Perfect balance, great embrace and musicality, I look forward to dancing with her again. I danced with too many other people to mention them all, besides as the night went on, my memories of it are getting blurry, as I was getting tired.

At the Tango Fabrika milonga I didn't dance a lot, as I was getting tired and I becoming self conscious about my clumsiness.

There are quite a few people I'd like to get the opportunity to dance with before this weekend is over, so it looks like this weekend is going to be a lot of fun.

To be continued ...

Selling prints of images shot at tango events, some concerns ...

It recently came to my attention what some people in the community have concerns I am making money by selling prints I shot at tango events without the consent of the subjects. I could hardly contain my laughter when I heard this, but let me address these concerns.

From the two events I posted online allowing people to place orders for prints, the two events being the Yale Tango Festival and the Harvard Spring Milonga, I sold 3 4x6 prints for $3.75 a piece for a "profit" of $8.35. That profit doesn't take into account the wear & tear of the equipment, nor the amortization of the equipment nor my time spent taking the pictures and the hours spent post processing them. So, anyone concerned I am getting rich by selling prints of them dancing should be rest assured, no one wants prints of those images, obviously not even themselves.

This was an experiment to see if there is a demand for such a service, obviously there isn't. People are not interested in buying prints or paying for digital copies, they will happily download the images if they are offered free of charge, but not if they are asked to pay for it. As such, I will likely discontinue the experiment, maybe just I'll offer my services to festival organizers as "the official" photographer in exchange for a pass.

But, to make sure I address the concerns, anyone who feels like their image should not be offered as a print for sale, contact me with the ID of the images and I'll take them off the website which handles my print orders.

Yale Tango Fest 2007 - part 2

So it took me a while, but here is the conclusion to my first Yale Tango Fest post.

In the last year I didn't spend too much time working on my photography. It kind of got pushed aside by tango, my motorcycle passion and new duties created by owning a house. So, at this festival, being the "official" photographer, I got to do what I used to do. Be trigger happy, take hundreds of pictures and get the joy of "nailing" a few really good ones. Of course I had forgotten the amount of work that goes on post processing, but well, you can't win everything... Another festival organizer after seeing the pictures from this one and others, is considering having me as the "official" photographer, which is great, now I can combine two of my passions into one, and, by selling a few prints, maybe mitigate some of the costs associated with the two rather expensive habits ...

At this festival I realized, I'm not obsessed anymore to dance every tanda, but rather concentrate on getting good dances. That involves watching people dance and ask the ones I think I would dance well with. I'm also less likely to dance on music I don't like or dance when the conditions are ... adverse (like crowded floors which I still dislike, even when the floor craft is decent). So, compared with other events, I didn't dance as much, but they all ranged from good to fantastic.

It also became obvious that taking a full day of workshops and then go to a milonga, especially an all night one, is a bad idea. So the next time, I hope I can learn from my mistakes and take it easier.

Satellite radio, if you like quality audio, buy CDs

I got myself an XM Radio receiver, as I was getting tired trying to get FM radio to work in the car. My fault, I haven't done my homework before, but boy, I'm disappointed.

The music sounds like a highly compressed mp3 file, flat and lifeless, the talk channels are even worst (as they are even more compressed). My 1950 FM radio (the one that looks like a piece of furniture) sounds twice as good as this ultramodern device. Every time you drive on an underpass the sounds cuts off and it also cuts off without any good reason.

I spent $50 for the radio and another $13 for a month subscription, I'll chuck this off to be an expensive reminder to do homework before making purchases. I can't even return it as it was a "final sale" from a closing store.

Anyone wants to buy a brand new XM radio?

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

That time of the month ...

Saturday it was that time of the month again, the time for the (only) regular all night milonga in the New England area at Providence tango. It goes from 9PM to 5-6AM. I left around 4AM as I was getting tired and my "mojo" was spotty.

As always this milonga attracts great dancers from NY, Yale and the surrounding areas. This month, one of my favorite dancers from Montreal was there and I had the pleasure of dancing with her a tanda. Lovely as usual (despite my less then stellar mojo). I might be able to make it to Montreal this weekend for the TangoNuevo Festival, so hopefully I'll have better luck in finding my "mojo" then.

Speaking about Montreal, if any of the readers are from Montreal and can host me for the weekend (friday, saturday and sunday nights, well, more like the saturday, sunday and monday mornings ...), please let me know. I will be happy to return the favor any time you come to Boston.

Back to the Longamilonga. I had the chance to dance with a few people I haven't danced before, including Y, a "beginner" from NY. She started tango in August and you'd think she's been dancing since kindergarten. Very light embrace, but great presence, good balance and great musicality. Some people have it all naturally, the rest of us need to work harder. Looking forward to dancing with her again.

I also had the opportunity to dance again with Shorey Myers, she is an amazing dancer, a great teacher and my favorite DJ of all time. I found out she's going to be in the area for a little while longer, so if you're looking to take a private with someone really good, I would highly recommend her (I took a private lesson with her a while ago and it was the most useful private lesson I took to date).

I had a good time, I wish there were more all nighters in this area, but for whatever reason, they don't seem to be popular with the Boston crowd, as very few people from Boston attend these events, even with Providence only 45 min away. I'm kind of curious why ...

Hey, look what followed me home this weekend!

Those of you who've seen my other posts know I have a motorcycle. It's a sports/touring bike and it's fantastic. But wanted to "play" with a big bore twin engine, so this weekend I went ahead and got this baby, so now I have two! Now if only the weather would cooperate so I can go play!

P.S. Since I trailered the bike home, it actually "followed me" ;)

Yale Tango Fest 2007 - part 1

I got back yesterday from the Yale Tango Fest, where I didn't get much sleep, but there was a lot of tango. Three milongas (of which, one was all night), two practicas and six workshops in 56 hours ... And since I was the "official photographer" I also took a few hundred shots and took videos of the performances.

Here are the high points of the festival (for me, that is), and they are not in any particular order, I'll list them as I remember ;)

Sunday night I had the pleasure of dancing a tanda with Jennifer Bratt. While in the last six months I took a number of workshops with her and Ney Melo, it was the first time I had an opportunity to dance with her. There were no surprises there, she is a fantastic dancer, and the only thing I remember is having trouble to get back on the planet Earth at the end of the tanda... I just wish I wasn't as exhausted as I was Sunday evening, as when I'm exhausted my musicality (not to mention motor control) suffers. I did OK though, I just wasn't at my best. Jennifer and Ney will be teaching a couple of workshops at Harvard on April 13-15, I am planning to take at least the milonga workshop.

Just before I jumped ship Sunday evening, as I was waiting for D to finish dancing so we can leave, a woman I've seen around but never danced with, came to me and asked for a dance, as she really liked the song and wanted to dance on it. While I was barely awake, I remember it was a song I also like and after explaining that she is not getting the best of me, as I was exhausted, off we went. Wow, that was a very pleasant surprise. She is a great dancer, she is musical and playful, we had a great time. And as it happens, for the 10 minutes the tanda lasted, I forgot all about being tired and about the pain in my feet. Such is the magic of tango (what a wonderful thing endorphins are ... ;).

I've had the pleasure of dancing again with T, from NY. While she comes to Boston quite often, we didn't have a chance to dance lately, so I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy dancing with her. She is one of the very few people I can dance milonga with, somehow she manages to read my muddy leading, and she also has a rare quality. Her movement doesn't get "muddy", even when my lead does. So instead of going into a downward spiral effect, like it usually happens when I lose it, she "keeps the boat afloat" until I can get it back together. And what is cute is that she doesn't believe me when I say she is one of the best dancers I ever danced with.

(to be continued ...)

Appologies & clarifications ...

It recently came to my attention that parts of my post titled "DJs and captive audiences ..." were misinterpreted by some of the readers, so I feel I need to clarify some of the statements I made.

Neither one of the people I mentioned in that post, said nor implied they don't like Jackie or her music selection. The comments they made, which I was referring to, were in reference to a particular song or tanda, not to the music Jackie plays as a whole. More then that, one of the persons I mentioned, recently told me they really like Jackie's music a lot, and they felt I used their names to "give weight" to my opinions about the music played at the event.

I am very sorry I inadvertently put them in a difficult position, that was certainly not my intent, as I value them very much, as tango teachers and as the wonderful people they are. While as a general rule I don't use names in my postings, I usually make an exception in the case of tango teachers, DJs or hosts as I feel they can use the publicity, being in this business. Sadly, in this case, it seemed to backfired and I may have to reconsider my policies.

As far as my opinions, they are just as I stated, opinions. I stand by them, and I have no need or desire to "validate" them by using other people's names. Maybe should have said this sooner, but when you read my posts in this blog (or when you hear me in person), don't look for hidden meaning in my statements. I say exactly what I mean and I mean exactly what I say.

I am so sorry some of the people I care about got caught in the crossfire, and I offer my sincere apologies.

A website about tango ...

It's rare to find accurate information about tango, information that is not presented as the "Absolute truth". But, I found it. While I admit, I skimmed it, as I'm at work, I believe this would be the link I'd send someone who wanted to read about tango.

Here is the link : http://www.planet-tango.com/ourdance.htm

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DJ Shorey Meyers this Friday in Providence

This friday we have a special treat, Shorey Meyers will DJ the Tango Incident milonga at Providence tango. She is one of the best DJ's out there, here's a blurb :

"Shorey Myers got started in tango in Portland, OR and over the years has become an integral member of the most respected and requested cadre of DJs on the U.S. tango festival circuit. She DJs all over the country (Portland, New York City, Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Providence, etc). On a recent trip to Buenos Aires, Shorey DJed at Villa Malcolm and Salon Canning, and she has a standing invitation to DJ Monday night at Canning whenever she returns. Shorey can be spotted on dance floors in many different cities all over the US, though she most frequently does her laundry in Seattle, WA."

This Friday Tango Incident has extended hours, until about 2AM. So if you'd like an alternative to the MIT milonga, this should be a good one.

New blog ...

I found yet another tango blog, at http://danzarin.blogspot.com/index.html. She has a list of favorite tango songs, and they are on my "5 star" list as well. It's always fun to read other tango addicts thoughts, so go read it! ;)

DJs and captive audiences ...

Saturday I went to the Tango Potpourri milonga. I had a good time and I might go over the details in another post, but right now I want to talk about the music and the DJing. The DJ was Jackie Wong, from Tango Pulse.

Until about midnight the music was fine. There were some uninspired tandas but overall it was OK. After midnight, it's when the alternative frenzy started. If you've read my blog before you know alternative is not my thing, I find the constant beat and the lack of depth in the music boring. But once in a while, a tanda with carefully picked songs can be quite fun. But not three or four tandas in a row and certainly not two hours of alternative songs, all sounding the same.

By the end of the milonga I was quite annoyed, and I'll tell you why. Murat & Michelle were in attendance as they were one of the visiting teaching guests, and around 1AM when a traditional waltz tanda was played, I asked Michelle to dance. This was the first time I had a chance to dance with her and I was really curious if we can connect, she seems quite athletic on the dance floor and I prefer the "calmer" dancers. But once again, the looks are deceiving, she does have that clam quality to her dance, she is definitely an amazing dancer (see my post about the "Perfect Follow") and despite the overcrowded floor I had a fantastic time. At the end of the tanda I was expecting her to say thank you and move on to the better leads in the room. But for reasons unknown, she kept talking through the cortina waiting for the next tanda. Score! When the first song of the next tanda started we sighed and rolled our eyes at the same time. Yet another slow alternative, the absolute same style that was played most of the last hour. Michelle says, "well, let's try it, maybe it gets better". So we start dancing on the painfully slow, constant beat music and despite having such a fantastic dancer in my arms I find myself wishing the song is over. When it was over we looked at each other, shook our heads and without a word we stopped dancing. That music was incredibly boring. She made a comment to that effect, and then we chatted about some other stuff and I was once again expecting her to move on, go back and talk to the people she was talking to when I asked her to dance, or whatever. But no, we kept talking through the rest of the tanda, and through the cortina and the next tanda starts and ... YET again another slow alternative tanda. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, my eyes rolled so violently I thought I was going to hurt myself. Michelle (shoot ooops, no, she did not shoot anything, I need to proof read better ...) shook her head disappointed and in mutual agreement we decided to give up and go talk to some people.

While my dancing got a lot better in the last few months, it's not often when a "Perfect follow" of Michelle's caliber go out of her way to dance with me, so when the music repeatedly screws up my opportunity to dance with such a fantastic dancer, I get really ticked off. But wait, I'm not done yet. Before I move on however, I want to recommend Murat & Michelle as instructors. I took their Sunday class and I loved it. I generally dislike group classes for a number of reasons, but this was great. Murat explained and demonstrated in detail the mechanics of the move, did not get stuck into teaching some pattern, the class was geared towards getting the "feel" of the movement being taught (I used the word "movement" on purpose, as it was not a figure that was being taught, it was a way of moving that one can use to make their on figure and patterns). I will take a private with them as soon as I can, they're awesome.

Marika & Bulent were in attendance as well, and if you read my early posts about my Montreal visits, you'd know she is, like my girlfriend likes to tease me, my "tango crush". She wasn't feeling good that evening, she had a nasty cough, so I wasn't expecting the chance to dance with her, but we were talking and a milonga tanda was just ending so I asked if she feels well enough to dance a bit. She enthusiastically agreed (she is so sweet), and we went on the dance floor waiting for the cortina to end. So what music started? Can you guess? Yeah, yet another slow alternative, the same style as before. Marika is a nuevo dancer and she rolled her eyes, that should tell you something. I had a great time, she is such an amazing dancer, but I had a great dance despite of the music, not because of the it.

So, if any DJ reads this, please, for the love of God, don't play the same style of music over and over again. The fact that people are still dancing is not necessarily a sign they like the music. Especially at one time events, there are people in attendance that you normally don't have a chance to dance with, so chances are, most people are going to dance anyway, but don't let that fool you. You have a captive audience, we don't have much of a choice, but that's not a license to torture us. ASK people, and ask the right way. Don't ask, "do you like the music?" most people are too polite to say "no". Ask "Would you like to hear more alternative, or would you like to hear some classic tango?" A milonga is not the place to "try new stuff", and if you HAVE TO try something, one "trial" tanda per evening is enough. I paid $20 to come to this milonga to have fun, not to be a guinea pig.

Additional note: while I had a big issue with the music selection in the second half of the milonga, the sound system was top notch. Unlike many other events, I could hear the music everywhere on the dance floor and it was not uncomfortably loud next to the speakers either. Good job there.

It's spring ...

It's 53F at 9:30AM, look what came out of the garage!

New tango blog ...

I just found a new tango blog here at http://tangoloveandotherdevils.blogspot.com, the author is quite funny, read it, you will enjoy it.

In one of the postings, she was wondering what are the qualities of the "Perfect follow", as she sees some of these women dancing and it's not clear why leaders consider them perfect. Here is my take on the subject.

I've only been dancing for a little more then an year, but I've been fortunate enough to dance with some of these "Perfect follows". I will make an attempt to describe why are they perfect, as I wish more follows would follow (sic) in their footsteps.

Here are some of their qualities :

Warm embrace - Their embrace feels like a hug you get from a close friend you haven't seen for years. And it lasts for the entire time you dance with them. It's relaxed, unhesitant, and you feel like you have ALL their attention. Once in a while you find a beginner that has this quality, and many (of the better) leads are just happy to dance with them despite their other shortcomings. This rare kind of embrace sucks all the tension out of me and allows me to completely relax and be at my best. I've danced in Boston, NY and Montreal, and I find Montreal had the most follows mastering this embrace. I can't wait to go back.

Grounding, presence, balance - They maintain their axis, they hold their own weight, they don't use the lead for balance and they are able to compensate for a bit of imprecision of the leaders part without compromising the smoothness of their move. I have to elaborate on this as I think it's a quality that is often overlooked. I don't care how good a leader is, he will sooner or later take the follow a little off axis during a turn. The "Perfect follow" will not tense up, she will communicate she is taken off axis by a slight increase in groundness, she will maintain her upper body vertical (as opposed to her tilting her entire body) by allowing her supporting leg to bend at the hip yet not allow her knee to go soft. As a result, she will go off axis but remain light, at the same time communicating to the leader she is off axis so he can correct.

Calm following - This is closely related to "Grounding & presence" but I felt it deserves a paragraph of it's own. The "Perfect Follow" will not get ahead of their leader, they follow through the step (as opposed to step on their own after the initial intent was communicated by the lead) maintaining their presence. This technique allows them to follow any change in the dynamic of the step a lead will make, including but not limited to : stops, sudden accelerations or decelerations, micro-rock steps, marking beats by slight dynamic changes while in a slow move, etc. She steps without hesitation, matching the dynamic of the lead.

Musicality - This one is going to be difficult to explain. The "Perfect follow" often looks to the outside observer like she's merely a passive dancer, not doing anything that wasn't lead, just being a receiver. That is misleading, as this cannot be further from the truth. With the "Perfect follow" a good leader will be able to have a bi-directional communication, in which he leads something, and she responds with her interpretation of the move, by varying the dynamic of the move, without breaking connection. That of course requires the lead to listen and not move like a steam roller. In addition, she never loses connection with the music and she takes the openings the lead offers to adorn or make her own contribution to the dance, As a result of all this, as a lead, you feel like she is dancing (with you, not by herself) and not merely move when the lead moves.

Unclear lead management - As a less then experienced leader I often don't lead as clear as I'd like to, and the follow is put in the situation of dealing with that. A "Perfect follow" will not tense up or start to resist movement as they're trying to figure out what the leader is trying to do. They will move, executing something that is compatible with the unclear lead, not lose their musicality or posture. Fortunately, as I gain experience these moments are getting less and less frequent, but they will still plague my dance for a while, and this is a quality that really helps.

Icings on the cake - The following qualities are for me, the icing on the cake, not required for an awesome dance, but if there, it's magic!

Navigation assistance - Many times when I dance in a crowded space, I make educated guesses on how the other couples are moving and act on those guesses. I cannot play it very "safe", if I did, that would not be a dance, it would me dodging other couples. I'm sure that more experience will help, but unfortunately one cannot buy that at the corner store. So until I can develop eyes at the back of my head, I will make guesses and take some chances, trying to balance the dance and the risk of bumping into others. Some really good dancers I've had the honor to dance with, would gently squeeze my hand, or tighten the embrace as a signal that I'm about to bump into someone, and they did that without tensing up or trying to resist the move, which allows me to gracefully avoid the impact

Playfulness - Too many people are just concentrated on their feet when they dance, they forget they have shoulders, hips and the ability to disassociate one from another. I was lucky enough to dance with dancers who, while following the steps I was leading, they would use their upper body to express something in the music, maybe a stray note, or a playful instrument bite, but at the same time, not allowing that to become distracting (for the lead)

Well, there you have it. I'm sure there are other things I can't think of right now, but someone with all the qualities listed above would definitely be a delight to dance with.

For guys, about pants ...

La Planchadora has a series of posts titled "attacked by a wild animal" showing all sorts of outfits women wear (but shouldn't) at milongas.

I felt men were shortchanged here, as they didn't get any useful advice, how should we know what to wear if no one tells us? Some may think "uhh, common sense?" I'm sorry to say, common sense passed away a while ago, so don't count on it.

So I took it upon myself to make a contribution (as modest as it may be) to the well being of the aesthetics of the milongas and the world in general.

Without further ado, the subject today is pants. Some think this is a trivial subject that doesn't require any thought. I mean, all pants are the same, right? You put them on, one leg at a time (or if you're really good, both at the same time) and you're all set. Right?

Wrong. First we all know that fashion goes in cycles, so what's hot today might be ridiculous tomorrow. Although, some people CAN pull off cool looks with outdated pieces. But here are a few "looks" you want to avoid at ALL COSTS.

There was NEVER a moment in the history of the world when the following looks were hot.

The "grandpa look". Trust me, no one EVER thought that was hot. EVER. Even if you are a grandpa, please, please don't sport this look. Here's a hint, keep the waist line of your pants WELL BELOW your belly button.




The "muffin top" look. For the love of god, get pants your size. The fact that you can still close the buttons on your pants doesn't mean it's your size (by the way, that's true for girls too as one can see in the picture).


The "I'm wearing my daddy's pants" look. If you are over 10, it is not cute. If you lost weight, buy new pants!





The "after flood" look. Umm, don't do it!






Looks that might've been hot at one point or they look hot on some celebrities, but you wearing them right now makes people laugh behind your back.

The "disco" look. I have to be clear about this, some flared pants are cool if you can pull it off (if you ever saw me recently at tango events, you know that's possible), but not all flared pants are the same and the 80s look (skinny on top with bell bottoms) are particularily difficult to make look cool (for guys that is).



The "rock star" look. Leather pants? Ohh, once again, rock stars might pull it off and so other other people with a flair for coolness, but trust me, if no one ever complimented you on your outfits before you bought the leather pants, they are definitely not going to compliment you now.


Well, I hope this helps! By the way, please show your support for this by posting some comments, so the offenders don't think it's the lone opinion of a crazy european ....

Tango high @ Practica(s)

Despite a mild headache, Sunday I went to the practica, I figured what better treatment could one get then healthy dose of tango induced endorphins ...

I wasn't really expecting to have too much fun though, being loopy from the pain killers and all ... A little bit into the practica L showed up. I only danced with her once before but it was at the end of the night, I was tired and wobbly ;) and she was upset about losing some favorite shoes, so I don't think either of us was at our best. I know I wasn't ... But despite all that, it was pretty awesome, so I was looking forward to dancing with her again.

While I was looking forward to it, I was trying not to be too hopeful, as the connection you have with someone is somewhat elusive and I've been disappointed before. You know, you dance with someone and it's just perfect and next time it's just ... adequate.

Anyway, to make the story short(er), I asked her for a dance and off we went. wow. Wow. WOW. WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I have to explain why WOW...

Lately I've been able to dance with a lot of advanced dancers, teachers, etc. And it's been awesome. But (in my experience) it's quite rare to dance with someone who can completely immerse themselves into the connection. Or, able to make it look like they do. For the first time EVER I was able to successfully communicate to my partner everything I tried to, particularly dynamic changes in the movement. Having your partner match perfectly the acceleration or deceleration into steps, turns, boleos, etc, makes for an incredibly connected dance. I have no doubt that many people I danced with before, have the ability to follow like that, but I don't think I was able to lead it properly before.

We danced for quite a bit, maybe 10 songs or so (at the practica there are no tandas), she even tolerated my rather inept attempts to dance the few milongas they played during that time (for which I'm very grateful, as I really need the practice) so I suspect she enjoyed it as well, at least to some degree. While chatting between songs I found out she's been dancing for over 10 years, a lot of them in Berlin/Germany. We are so lucky to have her in Boston and I'm looking forward to dancing with her again.

A review for the "milonga review site" ...

So the first independent review of my "Milonga Reviews" site is out and ... (insert leitmotif from "Jaws" to create suspense) ... the author tears it to shreds!

First, I would like to thank the author for taking the time to comment on it. I'm not being facetious , I appreciate feedback on my efforts, even if they are not positive. But I would like to respond to some of his opinions. And since the forum he chose to state his opinions doesn't have a way for me to respond there, I'll respond here.

"All you need is one disgruntled jerk to tarnish the reputation of a good venue. Allowing anonymous comments just encourages that."

There is a saying in Romania (where I'm from), in a rough translation would sound like "It takes more then one flower (to sprout) to be spring". One would hope that a negative comment from a disgruntled jerk would not be enough to make a dent in the reputation of a good venue. Besides, you'd think some fans of that venue would jump in and reply to that jerk. And if you think that, you'd be correct, since that already happened!

"If people don't like a venue and the promoters choose not to fix the problem, the customers can chose not patronize that place"

Well, the customers would have to patronize that venue at least once, spending time and money before they realize there is something there they don't like.

"By setting up the website in its current state, it looks like he created the website so he could have a public forum for his *own* opinions."

At the top of the main page my website states "If you'd like to submit a review for an event that is not yet on the list please format the info as it is in the existing entries and email it to me at ...". So far, no one did, but I'm hopeful. It takes time and effort to write a review and not everyone is willing to make that effort. If BW would like to contribute with a review or comment, he is welcome to do so, even if I don't agree with it.

"I bet the webmaster of that website thinks that he shouldn't have sent a second note insisting that I list his website."

My second email I sent to the author of the article, the email where I was supposedly "insisting" he should list my website is quoted in it's entirety below (some of it is in response to a comment he made in the email I was responding to, the relevant part being "If I think your website is relevant to the audience of my website, I will add it."):

"I only sent this email to Argentine tango dancers/websites, so I would hope a (non-commercial) tango events review site would be relevant to their audience. So far, the feedback I had was positive.

Thank you for your consideration

Regards

Sorin
"

Before I buy a product or a service I usually look for review sites, in particular the ones that allow comments. I belive that is a useful public service. And I will continue to provide it as long as I have readers.

New York, New York again ... #2

Note : You can see all the pictures on my site at www.bostonphotographs.com under [travel/2007-03 GettoTango]

So I finally made it the Chelsea Market around 3:30, I had a soup from a soup place (wild mushrooms and potatoes, yum!) at the market and at 4PM we were at the milonga. I danced a few songs with D and it quickly became obvious I was tired and/or I had an off day. I only danced a couple of tandas after which I stopped, there was no point in torturing innocent people there and making a fool of myself. At that point, I was wondering if the trip to NY was a mistake. If I was tired at 4PM, how was I going to do at an all night event?

But 8PM came and a bunch of us with Adam leading the way we headed to his place in Newark for the Getto Tango party/milonga. He and Ciko live in a loft, a pretty big space, very artfully decorated, lots of sofas, some industrial sewing machines as decorations (D, as a costume designer, cringed when she saw a sewing machine used as an incense stick holder ... I guess I'd feel the same if I ever saw a classic motorcycle used as a flower pot ...) and a lot of other interesting widgets. It seemed like anywhere I looked there was something interesting to be seen.

By midnight the place was full (not packed, but full), lots of great dancers, most from NY, a few from Princeton, we even had one gentleman from Denmark ...

While I did make an unusually high number of missteps, balance & navigational blunders, on occasion I'd "nail" a few musical phrases in a row and that apparently kept my parters from running away at the first chance they got. As such, I did have a great time but I did learn a lesson. Again. Before traveling 4 hours for an all night milonga, I might want to "retire" early the night before... Yeah, I know, brilliant idea ...

I did get my ego stroked again when an advanced dancer (I think she told me she teaches, I assume she teaches tango, although she didn't say) told me she've never seen someone dancing like this after just one year, except for maybe in BsAs. And then she continued to dance with me for two or maybe three tandas. Purrrrrrrr ....

At around 4AM I crashed on the couch, got up around 7am to get some breakfast, Adam, Ciko and a bunch of others were still up, J was cooking eggs, so after I settled the growling stomach I went back to sleep until 1PM.

We took the train back to NY, we went to the Museum of Natural History, that was OK, but I was not impressed and then jumped on the bus to come back to Boston. I have to say, I might consider the bus again if I'm going to NY alone, as 4 hours of driving is too much for me, but if I'm going with someone that is willing to drive half the distance, I'll take the car. It's faster and just as expensive. Also you get to leave when you want, not when the bus operators want.

New York, New York again ... #1

I'm on my way to New York, riding the Greyhound bus. I should be there at around 2:30, we'll be heading to the Chelsea Mkt, have lunch, go to the milonga and at 8pm when that ends we'll be heading to Newark to attend Adam's GettoTango party/milonga. That should go all night but I'm guessing at some point we'll pass out in some corner as we didn't get much sleep last night. We went to Ben & Thuy "unofficial" farewell party/milonga and we were there until 1am ... Yes, we are insane!

Last night I followed R again, and then I followed P. I still suck, and I will be sucking for a long time ;), but I love it (dancing, not sucking)! When I expressed my enthusiasm for following, R was like "you will still be leading ... right?" Leading ... Improvise an interesting dance while watching for traffic, as in predict other dancers trajectory (based on what you know 'about them and on what are they doing at that time), predict the next few seconds of the song so the movements are on the music, avoid doing moves that your follower can't do, look good, make your follower look good, adjust your embrace and dynamic to hers and ... oh, yeah ... have fun! Or, embrace your leader, close your eyes, listen to the lead and music and dance. Hmmm ... tough choice ;-) ( P.S. I don't to imply that following is easy, to be really good it takes the same amount of effort as it does to become a good leader, but it's a lot less one needs to do on the dance floor)

To shorten the amount of time I'll be sucking at following, I booked a private class with Carlos Moreno next weekend. I'm hoping I can jump start my following career but learning the right way from the beginning (see my other posts about group classes and the joys of learning tango with other beginners). Forming bad habits that need to be "unlearned" later seems awfully inefficient.

Speaking of dancing with P, last night was lovely (even though I was not in the "zone"). I've danced with her a few weeks ago at the Odd Tuesday milonga she is hosting and I had a very hard time dancing with her that time. It's amazing how one day you can totally "click" with someone and the next day nothing works. Or the other way around. The crowded floor at that milonga really messes with my dancing, so no doubt that was a big factor too.

OK, I need to leave some "juice" in the cell (which is used as a wireless modem right now) so I'll sign off. But I'll post again soon, and I'll try to post some pictures as well.

2007-02 Yale milonga pictures ...

I uploaded all the pictures I took to my website at http://www.bostonphotographs.com (navigate to "travel/2007-02 Yale milonga" from the main page).

A tango weekend ...

Wow, this weekend was ALL tango. Saturday the Longamilonga in Providence, Sunday the milonga at Yale (New Haven) and Monday the practica in Providence.

Let's start with the beginning, the LongaMilonga. We got there around 10 and it was already full, maybe not packed, but full. Since Thuy & Ben are leaving for BsAs soon, it was their last LongaMilonga and people came from all over to celebrate.

Until that night, it was a while since I had a memorable dance, so when I stepped in I was hoping for something really good, but I was not holding my breath. A bit into the milonga I asked for a dance from of the women I've never seen before, she seemed really good, but you never know how you click with someone until you dance with them. WOW! She is one of those really calm dancers, she was getting ALL the nuances I was putting into the dance and at the end of the tanda I was really giddy (on the inside, one needs to keep composure, you know). As we were dancing it was immediately clear to me she was one of the best followers in the room, so when she kept talking through the (what seemed to be an interminable) cortina I was waiting for the "thank you" ... which didn't come! So there we went, on the second tanda. And then on the third, and then a forth! When we finally stopped, I felt like skipping around like a little girl! The Gods were smiling in all sorts of ways because they delayed the milonga tanda (milonga still being my nemesis, although I'm getting better at it) until were were done. Thank you kindly dear Gods, I really appreciated that!

In the past year I've been getting my share of dances from really good followers, but it always felt like they did it as an ... "investment", since I'm promising, you know. I've been a "good dancer for someone that's been dancing for n months". This time, the amount of time I've been dancing only came up after the second tanda, which in some way was the first sign that I'm graduating from "good dancer for someone that's been dancing for n months" to just "good dancer", that really make me feel warm and fuzzy inside! ;)

Then, later in the night, I got to dance with a few more great dancers, like C and J, some of them even sticked around for then one tanda. Yes!

By 4AM I was exhausted, and knowing I was going to Yale in the afternoon, I called it a night. What a night!

Sunday I sent an email to a few people to see if they'd like to go to Yale together, P responded and he offered to drive, so around 2:30PM off we went. The drive was uneventful and around 4:45 we made it there. After walking up and down the block for a few times looking for the building, another dancers "rescued" us and we went in. The place is really cool, check out my review. I uploaded all the pictures I took to my website at http://www.bostonphotographs.com (navigate to "travel/2007-02 Yale milonga" from the main page).

Once I got in, the first really pleasant surprise was to see R, my favorite Princeton follower. It was going to be a good day. And it was. My first dance was with R and it was even better then the last time we danced together which was fantastic! She also brought with her a few friends, all of them exquisite dancers, with whom I danced throughout the evening. I don't know what they feed them in Princeton, but whatever it is, it works! ;)

As I was sitting on the sofa resting, I noticed a couple dancing, they looked magnificent. I've seen the leader before, and he's really good, but I've never seen her, so as soon she became available I went and asked her to dance. And yes, it was fantastic. Well, the first song anyway which was a song I really like, after that I kind of lost my inspiration as I didn't like the music that much and my exhaustion was starting to take a toll. But don't get me wrong, it was not her, it was me that lost it. She did dance with me a couple of tandas despite my less then stellar performance which was awesome for me, but I doubt was as much fun for her. As we were chatting between songs, I found out she started the Yale community years back and now she lives in NY where she DJs regularly. I'm looking forward to dancing with her again when I'm not exhausted. One more reason to go to NY soon!

I pretty much danced until 11PM, and even though my dancing suffered due to exhaustion, people still seemed to enjoy the dances, which was great! Toward the end of the night R wanted to lead a bit, and despite the fact that both of us are absolute beginners at the other role, we had a blast as we were changing roles back and forth mid song. I really wish I could do this well (following that is), as it would be a lot of fun.

Monday I went to the Providence practica and the highlight of the evening was following R. She led me for a few songs, and I can get used to that! In absolute terms I definitely suck at it, but relative to my experience (which amounts to about half an hour as a follower) I do rather well. I need to take some private classes, so I don't develop bad habits which are so difficult to break.

So after this tango weekend I feel much better about my dancing, I think it's still improving and I'm very happy about that, as I would hate to plateau ...

Travel mug ... finally!

I finally found a travel mug (Oxo) that is spill proof. And I don't mean spill or splash resistant, I mean SPILL PROOF! I fill it with hot coffee, use the click button to close it and then I just drop it in my bag. Sideways, upside down, it doesn't matter. The stainless steel version (which is what I have) is a vacuum sealed, so it insulates a lot better then any other plastic mug I ever had. (They also have a plastic one, it's just as spill proof but heat retention sucks). The lip on the side you drink from is thin, making it very comfortable to use (I hate drinking from fat lipped containers).

I love it!

Hosting for festivals?

I'll host you for the Boston festival, can you host me for any of the major US/Canada festivals?

In an effort to lower the damage tango inflicts on my finances, I'm looking for people who are willing to host me (and potentially my girlfriend) during 2007 festivals in exchange for me hosting them for the Boston/Providence festivals. Anyone? I should say that as far as sleeping arrangements go, I only need enough space on a floor to put an air mattress (which I can bring with me). I'm well known in the Boston/Providence tango community, I can provide references upon request.

I live 15min drive south of the Boston, 30 north of providence, a 5 minute drive to the Boston's subway red line (which goes to MIT where I suspect the June festival will be held). But since I'll be attending all local festivals, you would definitely get rides to/from all milongas and potentially some workshops.

Anyone?

Dangers!

At 9pm last night I pull in the parking lot at Springstep, looking forward to dancing after a long day at work. But, the whole building is dark. There is a sign on the door, "Due to the storm, the classes are canceled".

Hmm. The storm? You mean the two inches of snow we got in the last 24 hours? The 10mph wind? Yeah, the government should've declared a state of emergency, after all, one can't be expected to function when the ground is barely covered with this white substance so unusual in the New England's winters. But I think people missed another danger, since anthrax is apparently a white substance, the terrorists could've taking the opportunity to camouflage large amounts of the deadly substance in plain view. I think would should instate a curfew every time it snows. Because one cannot be too careful.

Good thing we spent almost a million dollars to make sure a bunch of LED ads are not bombs. Money well spent! Those people asking for money to look for cures for cancers and AIDS or people asking for money to feed starving children are just idiots. We all know that terrorists kill a lot more people then all of these things combined. The US government already told us that almost 2000 people were killed in 2006 by terrorists worldwide. So spending 400 billion dollars for the war in Iraq was nothing. But, I believe the government is not cautious enough. I mean, there are all sorts of things along the highways and bridges that could conceal bombs. Haven't you seen along the highways tires, cardboard boxes, old shoes, even PARKED CARS! I mean, cars are already used to blow shit up in other parts of the world. Oh my GOD. Every car can be a ticking bomb! We need to ban all the cars! Because we can't be too careful!

But wait, the terrorists strap explosives to their bodies and walk around and blow them selfs up! Damn, we need to be more careful. So, maybe we need to make a law that no one can get closer then 50 feet of nobody else. Because we cannot be too careful, it's a dangerous world out there.

I think I'm going to run home, dig myself a bunker and wait until Bush makes the world safe again. Yeah, I'll get right on it!

On dancing tango on "alternative" music ...

For the most part I don't like dancing on what is usually referred as "alternative" music. Just to be clear, to me there is a big difference between nuevo tango music and alternative music. I call nuevo tango music the music that was intended to be tango, regardless on how it actually sounds. I call alternative the music that was not composed with tango in mind, but it's being danced tango on regardless.

Why don't I like dancing on (most) alternative music?

Because most of the music played as alternative is boring to dance on. Either boring or painful. Mind you, I didn't say difficult, I said painful. I'll explain in a bit. But let's get back to the "boring" part.

Tango music has a number of things happening at the same time. It has a main beat but it has so much more. No matter how advanced one is in tango, there is always something challenging in every song, yet it's simple enough to be danced by beginners. As one gets better at feeling the music, it becomes possible to dance on several layers at once. Maybe your feet dance on the main beat and your upper body dances on the violin. Or the other way around. Then there are the little playful sounds the piano makes. Tango music is written for dancing tango. Non-tango music isn't.

I enjoy moving on any music, and on occasion, I have fun dancing on some non-tango piece using tango vocabulary. But it doesn't feel like tango, because it's not.

Some pieces are simply painful to dance on. There is no main beat, or if it is it's drowned in a cacophony of other sounds, it has random sound effects that are impossible to lead on, as one can't predict them without being VERY familiar with the music. I've been known to apologize to my partner and get off the dance floor when one of these songs is played. So, DJs, please remember, you are not DJing to showcase your music, you are DJing so we can dance!

New tango events review website ...

I'm in the process of creating a new site for tango event reviews. Temporarily is organized as a blog at http://milongareviews.blogspot.com

Here readers can comment on tango events they attended, hopefully the organizers would read the comments and use the information to improve the event. I will soon post my own reviews to the events I attended.

Please feel free to submit your milonga/practica/tango festival review as a comment. If you'd like to review an event that is not listed yet, please email me the info about the event along with your review and I'll add both the event and the review.

While so far I only listed Boston events, the plan is to make this a global site, so please feel free to submit your own favorite events.

Give it all you have or say no ...

In my opinion, but I doubt any leader will think otherwise, when you, a follower accept an invitation, you owe to your partner (and to yourself) to give to that dance ALL (the attention and emotion) you are capable of giving.

I've danced with some really advanced followers and it was heaven. Then I danced with some other real advanced followers and it was ... disappointing. Not because it was a bad dance, but because it was not as fantastic as it could of been.

Look, while I am a pretty good dancer, especially for the amount of time I've been dancing, I understand that for a very experienced follower dancing with me will not be an earth shattering experience. But thinking about your laundry while dancing or working on your posture or saying hi to your friends that just came in WILL NOT contribute to the quality of the dance. It will certainly make it disappointing for me.

You see, because I am not very experienced, my lead, while there, might not be as clear as it can be. But if you REALLY pay attention, you can "hear it". If you're just going through the motions, while your checking out the rest of the dancers or thinking about what you're going to make for dinner tomorrow, you WILL miss it, I don't care how good you are.

So, please, do me a favor. If you don't think you can tune out EVERYTHING but the music and the connection while dancing with me, don't accept the invitation. Just say, "I don't think I can give you my best tonight". I'll know exactly what you mean and not only I'm not going to be upset, but I will be grateful.

things that piss me off when I drive

* people who drive too slow on left lanes.

Dude, if there are cars passing you on the left AND RIGHT, you are going too slow, I don't care if you're going "the speed limit". MOVE TO THE RIGHT! Unless you are a cop, it's not your job to police the highway. If you're going on a single lane road and there are more then 4 cars close behind you and none in front, YOU ARE GOING TOO SLOW. Go faster or pull over so the traffic can move!

* people who merge in highway traffic expecting the other drivers to slow down to "let them in".

When you are on the ramp, ACCELERATE TO CRUISING SPEED! Trust me, it will be easier to merge in traffic if you are traveling at the same speed as the other traffic! If I have to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting you when you merge in, YOU ARE NOT GOING FAST ENOUGH!

* people doing other things when driving, when they obviously can't!

Look, if you can't chew and drive at the same time, DON'T! If you drink coffee, make sure you do it in such a way that the cup DOESN'T obstruct your view. Seeing the road and the other cars is sort of important when you drive. When you drive, that's where your attention should be, if you need to pacify your kids, PULL OVER, don't turn around to yell at them as you're flying down the road at 75mph.

* people slowing down to gawk at accident scenes.

I absolutely love to be stuck in traffic for 30 minutes just to get to the "source" and see it's an accident ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY! Let me try to make it easy to understand, if there are no cars in front of you and many behind you, GO FASTER! DO NOT SLOW DOWN TO LOOK AT ACCIDENTS.

* LOOK before you change lanes!

Using the blinker doesn't mean you don't have to look, before you change lanes, MAKE SURE THERE IS NO ONE COMING ON THAT LANE asshole!

On group classes ...

I would like to hear what others have to say about this topic. I would appreciate any comments you may have. I am hoping that this info would ultimately reach teachers and maybe the group classes would improve.

Lately I've been taking less and less group classes because I'm getting increasingly frustrated with the experiences I'm having in the class. Here are my sources of frustration.

1) skill level

it seems to me everyone is grossly overestimating their level. I've attended intermediate classes where followers did not have BASIC following skills (like waiting for the lead, having the ability to maintain their own axis while pivoting, having a presence, being able to disassociate (or even knowing they are supposed to) their upper and lower body, being able to walk in a straight line, etc). I'm sure leaders sucked in equal amount, I just didn't have any experience dancing with them.
It seems like everyone judges their skill level by how many years they've been dancing. In my opinion, that's just as accurate as judging one's skill level by the amount of money they paid for their shoes.

As a result of wildly different skill set, either the teacher is lowering the difficulty of the class to the lower common denominator which will make it boring, or they don't and I don't have anyone to practice with and it's frustrating.

2) gender imbalance
for whatever reason nearly all the classes I've even attended are "leader heavy". Spending half the time "practicing" a figure with an imaginary partner is too frustrating for me.

3) the switching partners nightmare

I wholeheartedly agree that people should dance with as many people they can to refine their leading/following skills, but the process of "switching partners" is always a bloody mess. There is little I hate more in tango classes then that moment where everyone is looking around confused trying to figure out who's changing and who's not, trying to figure out if they are "desperate" enough to RUN to a decent
follower/leader or risk doing another round of dancing with an imaginary partner or worst, "dancing" with someone lacking basic skills.

Now here are some suggestions on how to address some of these issues :

1) Registration required with payment in advance

The teacher should accept registrations in such a way that the leader/follower ratio is always 1/1. Asking for payment in advance would increase the chance the attendance is better. Also, it will allow the teacher to build on elements taught in prior classes.

2) Pre-vetting students.

The teacher should not accept students who's level is not at the level required for the class. Period. They should rather encourage those to attend a lower level class if available. They should judge the people's level by dancing with them, not by how many years have passed since their first lesson.

3) Have a system for changing partners.

There was ONLY class I've ever attended that had a decent system of changing partners. They asked all the couples that are not switching to go in a corner. They ask all the others to partner up and form a circle. Then they asked the leaders to memorize that spot in the room where they were standing. When "changing" partners was requested, all couples that were not switching were to go to their corner, all leaders where to take their current follower to their "spot" and then the followers would rotate one to the right. This way, everyone danced with everyone and there was never that awkward moment of trying to figure out where do you go.

4) DO ask people to change partners but not every 2 minutes and more often then every 15 minutes.

5) Less lecturing and more practice time

It seems like most teachers like to hear themselves talk, so in a lot of cases I spend up to 60% of the class time listening to the same thing 5 times. Say what you have to say succinctly, have people start working on it and then go individually and address the issues they have.

6) Dealing with unequal skill level

Do not slow down the class if a few people cannot keep up, move along, we ALL paid for the class, I have no reason to subsidize the training of the few that can't hack it. Spend equal time with all the students, just because some can do better then most doesn't mean that they don't need input. If they were perfect they wouldn't attend the class.

Following ...

Yesterday I followed for the first time. Yes, I did follow on occasion a couple of steps, when somebody was showing me a specific figure or step, but I never followed for more then 5 seconds.

Yesterday though after I lead S for a few tandas and getting a lot us really useful feedback, she asked, "do you follow a little?". Uhh, "yeah, but very little, I'd love to learn though". She said, "relax, step decisively, don't think". Hmm, rather familiar suggestions, I'm usually the one saying that though ...

So we got into the embrace (close) and off we went. WOW! That was fantastic. I'm sure I misread 50% of the steps but what a rush. I had no idea what steps were we doing, where I was in the room, who was around me, none of the things I'm usually dealing with. It was just the connection and the music. Awesome. S said it was more pleasant to lead me then a lot of other (I assume she meant beginner) "full time" followers. Oh? Well, apparently I can keep my balance, I support my weight, I step decisively, I have a good embrace and I wait for the lead (even though I'm mostly misreading it). Hmm, yeah, I'd dance with me ;) I think I'll ask some of the better leaders at the next practica to lead me for a while. It would be nice to dance with S again and actually be able to follow the lead.

I wish more women would learn how to lead. It would be nice to experience this more often. Yes, I know I can dance with men, and I will, but it's not the same. Tango is a sensual dance and while it can be completely non-sexual, I'm not comfortable with that level of intimacy with another man.

Feedback at practica

Yesterday I went to the Sunday practica and I was lucky to dance with S. Before we started I told her,"please feel free to give me feedback on my dancing", she replied with "uhh, OK, but I'm VERY picky you know". Good.

After a couple of songs she mentioned a detail about my left hand being too stiff. And then about providing more support when leading ochos, and she showed me by leading me into ochos both ways. Later she mentioned her preference for a more subtle lead for sacadas and again she demonstrated.

This must of been one of the most productive practicas I attended in a long time. So, please, when people ask for suggestions, MAKE them! Too often all I hear when I ask for feedback is "uhh, it's fine". That is not helpful.

a year since the very first tango lesson ... part 3 (the VIDEO)

D was kind enough to tape me while I was dancing with V. I'm the one with the tail coat and the flared pants. The colors are all out of whack because it was filmed with the "nightshot" feature (uses infrared). The pants are a wine red.

Here it is :

Practica - why some people learn faster then others ...

Monday I went to a Practica in P, I guess I was starting to feel the "withdrawal" effects. Once I got there and said hello to everyone I noticed O was there. I only danced with her once maybe 3-4 months ago and I remembered enjoying it quite a bit. So, I asked her for a dance and off we went.

The first dance (song, not tanda) was ... ok, the second one was better, the third was even better and ... you get the idea, we ended up dancing together for two hours, an hour and a half of it was completely non-stop.

So, as I was talking with O I noticed she had the same attitude about dancing. One, she asks for feedback (for real, not like some other people do in search for a compliment) and she listens to it. Then she decides if it's something she would like to apply or not. She gives real feedback when asked. She is critical of herself but she's not putting herself down. She doesn't get defensive when one makes an observation about her dancing. She is SERIOUS about getting better. While she technically started a year and a half ago, she only danced a third of that time.

But more importantly, SHE HAS FUN doing it! Soon she will be going to Argentina for about half the year, I bet when she comes back she will be one of the best dancers in New England (at least).

What I like about her dancing is :

- she is relaxed
- she has FUN dancing! whether the "figure" works or it was a total disaster, she doesn't lose her composure. I think being able to "sail" out of disasters gracefully is just as important as learning the skills required to avoid the disasters in the first place.
- after trying a few (close) embraces, we settled on the "right cheek to right cheek" style which along with it's "cousin", the "right cheek to left cheek" styles (a-la-M from Montreal, one of my other "beginner" favorite dancers) are my favorite.
- she has a presence (as in, she doesn't hang off my neck, nor she acts like she's afraid to touch me). This is SO important, so much more important then fancy figures and steps. The embrace feels so much better when it feels ... settled. The exact opposite of that would be the kind of embrace one uses to "formally" hug a person (like when you meet business partners you sort of know but not really).
- she doesn't anticipate, and I have a feeling that is at least in part the result of the embrace. She can easily feel the lead so there is not need for guessing.
- she is a fast learner

a year since the very first tango lesson ... part 2 (the PARTY)

Saturday Jan 13 I organized a party/milonga to celebrate one year since my first lesson. It was pretty awesome, a large part of the local community was in attendance (maybe around 60-70 people) and I had the opportunity to dance again with a few of my favorite partners.

I announced the dress code to be "formal with a twist" and some of the invitees complied but most did not. The "casual" is so ingrained in this society that people don't even own formal attire anymore. Well, I was dressed in a dark grey tail coat, with seriously flared red pants and a white, fairly long linen shirt. I will upload a video in the next few days, and you can decide for yourself if the outfit worked. I liked it.

D was there and at the beginning of the party, when there was no one else dancing we went ahead and danced a few tandas. She did really good, good posture, presence, no (much) anticipation. I am proud of her. She did "lose" it later and she was really depressed about it. Funny thing, I am familiar with that feeling. As I was getting better, once in a while you get one of those dances (or even whole tandas if you're lucky) where EVERYTHING works. And then it stops working and the depression sets in ... Well, it looks like it's part of the process. I think it's a combination of ... ahem ... mojo, vibe with the partner, music and chance. The good news is that these moments get more frequent as one gets better. So, keep at it D, you're on your way.

For the party I made a couple of bowls of eggplant salad which was a great hit, and I didn't even have tomatoes to go with it (shhhh, don't tell anyone but they go really well together). D made hummus and a cold pasta salad, they were both delicious and they were a great success as well. People brought some more food and along with the other snacks we had I think we managed to keep everyone fed.

While it certainly hurt in the wallet, I'm glad I did it, tango is such an important part of my life now, a year of tango seemed important enough to justify all the trouble.

a year since the very first tango lesson ... part 1

Soon, on the 12th of January it will be exactly one year since my first tango lesson. I remember vividly the first few minutes. It was at the BCAE near the Public Garden in their big ballroom. There were about 12 of us, we were all kind of quiet, looking at each other inquisitively, "umm, now what?".

The class was supposed to be taught by Simonida, one of the local instructors, with Roger as her assistant. But she was still in BsAs so Roger was the one trying to teach us how to walk the tango way ...

A video of that first class would've been hilarious ... I swear, at the end of the 90 minutes, I was walking like Robocop (trying way too hard to follow all the rules one needs to follow to keep the tango gods happy). The only reason I went back the next time was because I prepaid for the entire 5 week set.

The reason I started tango to begin with originated at a party I attended in Nov 2005. There, a couple started to dance together and I was intrigued on how on earth one would choreograph such moves in a fashion that allows the dancers to navigate around random obstacles. Yes, I did not know the concept of a lead/follow dance. To me, all the "ballroom" dances were a series of pre-set, rehearsed, choreographed moves. Imagine my surprise when they (the couple I mentioned before) told me it was "just" improv, him leading and her following. But the real surprise was that they only knew each other for 3 days. Wow. So I told them I'd like to learn how to do that as it was "really cool". They told me about the lessons and such, and they ended with "be careful though, it will take over your life ...".

Those were prophetic words ... In the last year my "default" activity during the evening (you know, what one does if they don't have anything in particular to do) switched from watching TV to dancing. Most Friday and Saturday evenings I'd go dancing. I have now 4 pairs of shoes and will likely get more. I'm making tango pants ... Tango is truly addictive, and it gets more addictive the better you get. Because once you get good enough to enjoy the dance, you get to have those absolutely perfect dances once in a while and then you spend the rest of the time chasing the next perfect one. But, I'm thinking there are much worst things to be addicted to ...

So, here am I, a year later. How is my tango dancing? I think it is pretty good (considering it's been just a year). During the New Year Party, as I was chatting with one of the better dancers there between tangas, when I referred to myself as a beginner, she said "what are you talking about, you are divine to dance with". Divine? Taken at face value, that would boost my ego right through the roof all the way into the stratosphere ... However, I'd like to believe I'm anchored solidly in reality, so I am well aware of the fact that my dancing can use a lot of work in every aspect of it, but even when you "subtract" from "divine" the healthy amount of "padding" that people use when they pay compliments, I still think she must've enjoyed our dancing quite a bit. For the record R, you are absolutely divine to dance with as well (and I am not using any "padding"). If it wasn't for that milonga tanga that broke the momentum, I would've danced with you until morning or until my feet would've come undone, whichever came first.

So, yeah, milonga. My nemesis. It constantly does this. I stumble upon a great dancer, we dance tanga after tanga and then they play a milonga and I have to bail. And I see the disappointment on their faces and I feel like slapping myself for not "getting" this dance faster. Why do I have to bail? I can certainly "fake" it, but I'd rather not. I feel like people go to a milonga to have fun, not to be the guinea pigs for my milonga learning experiments... So, unless someone volunteers knowing exactly when are they getting into, I'll keep bailing until I can dance at a level that satisfies me. At a practica though it's a different matter, I will "torture" anyone I can find ;)

Speaking of milonga, at the New Year party there was this guy from NY, I don't know his name, but he was the best milonga dancer I've seen. Ever. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. I would've told him, but I thought that might've freaked him out ...

So, to celebrate the one year of tango, on Jan 13th I rented the studio from Providence Tango and I am throwing an all night party/milonga. So far there are at least 50 confirmed guests, I would expect this is going to be a really cool party.

(to be continued ...)

Providence's 30 hours 2007 New Year milonga

Yeap, 30 hours. Well, I "only" made it through 22 hours out of the 30. I guess I'll have to do better next time...

So, over all it was really awesome. I think... Some parts are a bit of a blur ... but here are the highlights :

The Dec 31st evening/night felt like a "regular" all night milonga. I went dressed with my grey straight cut pants, a white fitted shirt (un-tucked) and my tail coat. Yes, I wore a tailcoat I bought on eBay a month ago. It (or should I say "I") looked pretty sharp. I left at 6AM and crashed when I got home.

I was back there around noon for the "brunch". This was the coolest part, people were dancing and taking breaks to talk and eat, some people were sleeping on whatever horizontal surface they could find and the music was a combination of clasic and alternative music. There was enough space on the floor for me to dance without getting stressed with navigation so despite the exhaustion, I think my dancing on the 1st was much better then the dancing the night before. The "brunch" time kind of blended into the evening and around midnight I was too tired to even stay awake so I left. I wore my black flared cords (really flared) and a white linen shirt, a pretty cool outfit. However, all that "coolness" came at a cost. I kept stepping on my own pants which caused some ... err... trouble a couple of times. I know I should hem them higher, but they look really, really good when they drape all the way to the floor, so I think I'll just keep them as they are. A rather small price to pay I would say ...

I have to mention just a few of the women I danced with. A from D, R from P, D from NY and S from NY, they are all amazing dancers and dances like that are the reason I keep spending this much time and money on tango.

S was dancing just for a year and not very often as she has other obligations, yet she is one of the best dancers I know. Like all the other dancers I mentioned in this and other posts, she really understands that tango is about the connection and communication, not about the steps or figures. At some point we danced maybe 4 or 5 tangas in a row, I was getting tired and one of my toes was killing me but I kept going because I did not want to break the "magic". Interestingly enough, last time when I went to the Chelsea Market milonga around Christmas she was there, but we didn't meet until she came to Providence. Since she lives in NY I'm sure we'll get to dance again soon, as I'm planning to go to NY on regular basis.

Dancing with R was the most fun I had the entire time. Not only she is an amazing dancer, but she can be playful and silly and we had a lot of fun dancing together. Sadly she lives 5 hours away so it's unlikely we'll dance very often together, but I'm looking forward to dancing with her whenever that may be.

D's style reminded me of M from Montreal, a very warm and ferm embrace but not heavy, head to head contact and her left hand on my spine between the shoulder blades. Very good dancer and VERY popular with the better leaders, so I didn't get to dance with her as much as I would've liked but she lives in NY so I'm sure I'll see her again.

I danced with A a couple of tangas and she was the most "serious" of the lot, but once again, an amazing dancer.

There were many more dances with a lot of people, but I'm going to stop before this entry reaches gargantuan proportions and just say that over all, it was a pretty good way to start a new year.

I wish you all a very, very
Happy New Year

Not about tango but about ... pants!

Sacrilege? No tango talk? Indeed! There is life outside tango, who knew?

A very long time ago, I must've been in high-school, I really wanted a pair of white jeans (hey, it was the 80s!), but I lived in communist Romania and buying jeans required an act of congress and white jeans, well, even if I had the money, which I didn't, good like finding some in the communist stores... So I went to the fabric store and got some white cotton fabric, I think it was canvas or something like that, and then went back home and using the only pair of jeans I had as a guide, and using an antique Singer sewing machine I manufactured my first pair of pants. They didn't fit very well, and the workmanship was ... ahem, less then perfect, but I had a white pair of jeans. While I might've used that sewing machine later for small adjustments, I never made any other pants again.

Fast forward to December 2006. One thing about tango (well, I guess I could not stay away from mentioning tango after all), people tend to dress up, or dress down, or maybe I should say, dress ... special. The Nuevo tango dancers wear loose fitting or flared pants and I like the way they look when you move. That, and if I wear them, they conceal the wide gap I have between my legs even when my feet are together, which is good because you don't want to look like a cowboy when dancing tango ...

But, good luck finding flared pants in stores in US. US is a great country but the guys here are not exactly ... daring when it comes to fashion. And since stores cater to masses, finding flared pants in US in 2006 is just as easy as finding white jeans in communist Romania of the 80s. What to do ? ... Oh, wait a minute, this is after all 2006, we have internet and I have credit cards. So, after hours of search I find a store in England that sells "alternative" clothing, so ten minutes later I placed an order for two pairs of pants. They didn't have one of them in stock, so a week later I have in my hands a pretty cool pair of black cords. They look awesome and I wore them during my second trip to Montreal when I attended the Tango Rendez-vous festival.

So I'm hooked, I want more. But paying $100 for each pair of pants kind of stings. And, I have a bunch of shirts that I want to adjust (I like fitted shirts and, once again, good luck with that in US). So, it would appear that I'm either going to spend my entire income on tailors or ... I'll just have to do it myself.

So, thanks to eBay I'm now the proud owner of a Pfaff 1222 sewing machine and a Juki serger. At D's suggestion I purchased muslin (a very cheap fabric the resembles linen, that people usually use to try patterns before they cut really expensive materials) and I made my first (well, actually second if we count the white jeans) pair of pants. I still have to attach the waist band, but they are almost ready and they look good. I might even wear these as I kind of like the way the muslin drapes, but only after I dye them. I already purchased my first "serious" fabric, a beautiful dark red wool, and soon I will start working on the "real" pants project.

Pictures to come soon!