My Tango Diaries

Vals: Yo no se que me han hecho tus ojos (I don't know what your eyes have done to me.) By Dolores Espeja (English lyrics translated by Alberto Paz) Lyrics: (English translation below) Yo no se si es cariño el que siento, yo no se si sera una pasion, solo se que al no verte, una pena va rondando por mi corazón... Yo no se que me han hecho tus ojos que al mirarme me matan de amor, yo no se que me han hecho tus labios que al besar mis labios, se olvida el dolor. Tus ojos para mi son luces de ilusion, que alumbra la pasion que albergo para ti. Tus ojos son destellos que van reflejando ternura y amor. Tus ojos son divinos y me tienen preso en su alrededor. Tus ojos para mi son el reflejo fiel de un alma que al querer querra con frenesi. Tus ojos para mi seran la luz de mi camino que con fe me guiaran por un sendero de esperanzas y esplendor porque tus ojos son, mi amor! Yo no se cuantas noches de insomnio en tus ojos pensando pase; pero se que al dormirme una noche con tus ojos pensand

Over at Alex.Tango.Fuego 's blog, I found out poet and novelist Mario Benedetti had died. Alex posted Bandoneon - a moving and appropriate work, I think. Here is another one I've always loved from Only in the Meantime , translated by Harry Morales. You can read a large portion of that book on Google Books' site here: http://tinyurl.com/qyjfed God Willing It's true, somewhat silent trees surround me, they appear on the landscape as if they're searching for me but I also look for myself and have desperately forgotten my lips. I've just returned from the last silence and God was present or something like God punctually desolating my dream. I suffered like one suffers, very happily, lying here on the land, almost uninhabited, asking, not asking, letting myself be taken. And God was present, or something like God intentionally disenchanting my solitude. Nevertheless now I'm surrounded by the relatives in my deserted world: the brother sky, the sister afternoon, t

In celebration of #tangothursdays on Twitter.com - a couple of favorite alternative tango music to dance to. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground Take My Breath Away

[Español] Esta noche volveré, A cantarte Parapapapa, Esta noche volveré, A buscarte Parapapapa. El tibio recuerdo, Tus labios el aroma a jazmín, Papapa, Solo el tiempo cura, ‘l alma herida Parapapapa, Pero hoy el vino, Trae aquella melodía otra vez, El tibio recuerdo… [English] Tonight I will return, To sing to you. Tonight I will return, To look for you. The tepid memory, Your lips and the aroma of jasmine, Only time heals, A wounded soul. But today the wine, Brings back that melody once more, The lukewarm memory… Thanks to Priscilla for these lyrics

Sometimes I forget how little it takes. Or sometimes, that it takes nothing at all. It's 3am and the storm has passed. An hour ago, I was in bed with my eyes squeezed shut and my back bowed. The muscles from the top of my left shoulder to my hip cramped so hard that I could feel the spasms firing off like firecrackers under my skin. With the muscles pulled tight, breathing in deeply caused the pain to get worse. All of my non-drug pain relief measures require deep breathing to work. My jaw clenched so tight that I couldn't even call out for help. My husband was too far away to reach so I was on my own. Within minutes I was soaked in sweat, taking shallow breaths, and counting for distraction. I visualized each muscle (to the best of my ability), lengthening, relaxing, smoothing out. For 30 minutes that did precisely nothing . Surprisingly, I kept calm because there was nothing else I could do. Crying would hurt more. Moving would hurt more. So I stayed still. And waited. It'

“There are two secrets to being a great tango dancer. The first is having a hole in yourself that you cannot fill, and the second is the luck to fall upon tango as the thing you try to fill it with.” Jaimes Friedgen I owe that quote above to Russell at Tangowords.wordpress.com . If you're not reading his beautiful blog - you should start now. (Image: Glowing Rose, mine)

Dear floor, I know you are cool and smooth (so danceable . . .) and I'm wearing shoes that slide. But I can't dance right now. I'm busy. This is work. Someone will see! Okay, just this once. . . While no one is looking. . . One box step, and that's all. One box step and a couple of ochos, no more than that. Then back to work. . . . Why thank you, yes, that was a boleo. I've been working on that. Dear floor, Thank you for the dance.

Lyrics courtesy of MilongaCat Y los años van sin poder soltar And the years go by without releasing los recuerdos del ayer yesterday's memories así mirándolos pasar y volver seeing them going and coming back los recuerdos del ayer yesterday's memories A través de la esencia Through the essence de mil jazmines se filtra todo tu calor of thousands jasmines all your warmth slips through Los pétalos de tus labios The petals of your lips buscando sobre los míos looking in mine apagar su sed extinguish its thirst Noches de verano Summer nights en la esquina de Begrano at Begrano's corner navegando a la deriva sailing to the drift hasta el amanecer till dawn Sembrando melodías Seeding melodies en la noche infinita on the endless night lo llevo bien guardado I'm keeping it well ya lo sé I know it Y los años van... And the years go by... Las vidrieras han cambiado The windows have changed y sin embargo ya aun te pienso and nevertheless I still think of you Casi sin querer almost

These days it's the quiet of tango that's been on my mind. Transitions, the bridge between one moment and the next moment. The expanse of everything and nothing stretched out between one beat and the next. I've been reading a lot about Lorca's phrase El Duende lately - and el duende found in tango, the music, the dance, the life. El duende, the dark notes, the meloncholy spaces in between... The evocation, found in the pause, in the "wait" In the silence, a beat, a breath our pulses race between our fingertips. A moment more, and the bridge is crossed. And from Lorca himself: PAUSE OF THE CLOCK I sat down in a space of time. It was a backwater of silence, a white silence, a formidable ring wherein the stars collided with the twelve floating black numerals. from The selected poems of Federico García Lorca

Pianist Glover Gill and Tosca String Quartet are two of the best reasons to visit Austin's Argentine tango community. While Austin can boast some fantastic tango dj's at many local milongas, there's nothing like dancing to live tango music - music that Gill seems to tailor to the venue, the dancers, the mood - to create a beautifully unique experience every time. From Glovertango.com: "Drawing on arrangements from the Golden Age of Tango, the group combines faithful renditions of early 20th century tangos, milongas, and waltzes with original compositions in the classic style. "A self-taught accordionist, arranger, and composer, Mr. Gill has accompanied Luciano Pavarotti with The Austin Lyric Opera and provided arrangements for Ian Moore, Alejandro Escovedo, Russell Crowe, Tina Marsh, Double Trouble, Jon Dee Graham, and the Tosca String Quartet, among others." From the Austin Chronicle: "Glover Gill is justifiably one of the best-known pianists in town, g

On Saturday, I danced with one of my favorite partners to fantastic live tango music (by the extra-wonderful Glover Gill and Tosca String Quartet ). I was exhausted, sore from practice and class, and not entirely in my right mind apparently. When I sat down afterwards, a friend told me that I'd done "quite a lovely adornment" during a particular piece of the music. Says me: "Pardon? A what?" Says he: "An embellishment. With your foot." Says me: "I did?" nod in the affirmative. Says me: "Oh . . . I think I was just tapping because he was having me wait. I'm always being told to wait. So I might have been tapping to rhythm. (At least I hope I was tapping to the rhythm.)" Says he: "Well, it was very pretty." *blush* "Thank you." I really need to pay attention more.

One of my very favorite (online) tangueros, HappySeaUrchin, has posted more wonderful videos about tango technique. The first video, an introduction to the rest in the series, plays below: The other two are available HERE and HERE .

A post by Virtualapiz, "Are we talking about the same thing?" sums up a bit of where I am right now. Doubts, work stresses, anxiety from my non-tango life are filtering into my dancing. And I catch myself wondering, does my leader see/feel this dance the way I do? I enjoy dancing with him , but does he enjoy dancing with me ? Am I weighing down his shoulder? Pulling him off his axis? Giving back enough energy? When I first started tango, I didn't know enough to know how badly I was doing. In that state - I was completely open to the experience - to everything anyone would teach me. It seems now that I know just enough to doubt everything else. As another tango blogger quoted from the book, The Shack - in the beginning, I was in a state of expectancy - not expectation . Now I catch myself constantly questioning - shouldn't I be better than this by now? Shouldn't I be able to push my leg back further by now? Should I still be missing cross leads? Why am I still ti