My Tango Diaries

I've been having trouble consistently nailing my ochos. As soon as I stopped having such a wobbly axis, I seemed to have trouble pivoting enough - and with enough disassociating to make the step look and feel smooth, graceful .. and precise . I got a bit of advice from my instructor Monica, who I believe she said she got from Silvina Valz, regarding turning during ochos. She said pivot until you can see your butt (over your shoulder). How literally you take that is, of course, up to you. To my surprise, I found it incredibly helpful in remembering to disassociate my hips and first of all, not use my partner for leverage, and second, it gave me something more tangible to monitor my consistency. Do you have other ways you monitor how a step or movement needs to "feel" or look to know you've completed it correctly? (PS - that's me looking for my ocho booty and modeling my new Flabella tango shoes. :) )

Reminded of this by an advertisement from Buenos Aries " Losing by a head of a noble horse who slackens just down the stretch and when it comes back it seems to say: don't forget brother, You know, you shouldn't bet. "

Video features clips from milongas all over NYC as well as a few words from Murat Erdemsel.

There seems to be a way of leading that I hadn't noticed until recently. Or at least I hadn't truly appreciated it for what it was. In fact, it wasn't until I was feeling awful at a milonga - tired, nervous, sore - ready to give up on the night, that I really felt the effect of it. Most leaders test the waters when the dance with me (or anyone, I presume) to find out the skill level of their partner. Sometimes, they do the movements and patterns they enjoy and just watch and see what gets followed and what gets missed. If something is missed, usually they don't lead it again. They adapt. (Some leaders continue to lead it, getting both partners more and more frustrated, but that's another story altogether.) These leaders have an idea (of course) how they'd like the dance to go, with the particular music playing, and make adjustments on the fly. Some leaders start with their fanciest stuff first - eager to impress and dazzle their partner and the observers. I call

Several people have recommended this poet to me, and there were so many beautiful, haunting poems to choose from that it took me ages to settle on this one - such a crystallized expression of la duende, (and of tango of course), of the dark places we carry with us and still manage to love from. Sonnet XVII - Pablo Neruda I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off. I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers; thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall as

Silvina Valz & Oliver Kolker Back in Austin Summer'09! July 6-13th Get to know them! This will be their 3rd year to come to AustinNot to miss! Experience, Energy, Elegance: true tango soul & inspirationTruly fun people, great teachers and now friend and part of our community! Not to miss!!Take your tango to the next level with exceptional instruction & stunning performances! Download Registration Form Here ! Click here for inspiration: “Dime mi Amor” Tango Demo "Arrabalera" Milonga Demo Austin Tango Visitor Info Class Schedule Saturday, July 11th - All Levels 2:15 - 3:45pm Tango Salon: Structure 4:15 - 5:45pm Milonga: Tuning Turns Sunday, July 12th - Intermediate Level 2:15 - 3:45pm Tango: boleos & Interesting Resolutions 4:15 - 5:45pm Milonga: Fun Combinations Extra Special Class Monday, July 13th - Interm/Advance Level 7:00 - 8:30pm: How to build a Choreography Work on fun moves, increase creativity & style on the socialdance floor. Get fancy

"Yes, Giorgio" (1982) was not a great film. It wasn't especially well acted. It was predictable. And yet I've seen it more than a dozen times, and I cry through the end every time I see it. Luciano Pavarotti was a brilliant singer - but a slightly less than brilliant actor. In this film, he essentially played himself. A famous opera singer, "Giorgio Fini", loses his voice during an American tour. He goes to a female throat specialist, Pamela Taylor (played by Kathryn Harrold), with whom he falls in love. Giorgio is married, and though he and his wife have an understanding regarding his affairs while he travels, Pamela is unable to resign herself to being perpetually "the other woman". At the end, during his triumphant return to the stage, as he sings Nessun Dorma, she applauds his beautiful performance and then leaves the theater, as they both knew she would. The story is, as I said above, predictable, almost cliched. But the end moves me every ti

Milongas at Dance Institute (hosted by Laura Pellegrino) always have fantastic music - but the alternative pieces are always especially lovely. My favorites from last night: la valse d' amelie Nothing Else Matters - Apocolyptica Loreena McKennitt's Tango to Evora

Today I'm celebrating my first 4 months of tango. I have been to 23 milongas, 26 practicas and I don't-know-how-many weekly classes. Over 120 hours of tango - probably closer to 150 hours. Still, I know dancers who've clocked more time, more hours, more miles in the same period. At once it doesn't seem like it's been 4 months and yet my pre-tango days seem to get farther and farther behind me. I can't remember very clearly how I looked at my world before I saw it through the milonga's lens. I have sound and smell associations that I'd never dreamed would be so powerful. The smell of red wine. The sound of whispering shoes on wood floors. The bandeneon as it weeps, shouts in anger, breathes a sigh. The leader that hums softly in my ear. The teacher that whispered "wait". How many miles on the milonga floor so far? Not enough. Never enough. Four months. I'm still a tango baby. I still don't have tango shoes and my poor ballroom shoes ha

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time. The problem was that I had too many thoughts about it and couldn't sort through which ones to tackle first, and which ones to leave off completely. It started with this story in the New York Times , about hugging in schools and the restriction thereof. “Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory,” said Noreen Hajinlian, the principal of George G. White School, a junior high school in Hillsdale, N.J., who banned hugging two years ago. “It was needless hugging — they are in the hallways before they go to class. It wasn’t a greeting. It was happening all day.” Hugs happening all day? Needless hugging? I'd wait in line for some needless hugging (as soon as I could figure out what that was exactly.) We have metal detectors in our schools and this is what you're complaining about? Where do I start with what's wrong with that? Can't we be allowed to connect with each other without someone regulating

Here's to making a house out of a wagon, to letting the chickens out of their pen, to accidentally setting fire to a barrel, to hiding in barns, fields, attics and basements, to being black sheep. Here's to you, Bebe, I'm sorry we let go.

Often reprinted and quoted, so forgive the lack of originality in this post. Before I ever danced tango, I listened to this. It was Piazzolla that started my high-heeled journey. So every once in awhile I put the music on again, and re-read these liner notes. Strip to your underwear if you're not in black tie. Get obscene if you want, but never casual. You feel an urge? Touch its pain, wrap yourself around it. Don't put on airs. What you seem must be what you are, and what you are is a mess, honey, but that's okay, as long as you wear it inside. Look sharp! Don't slouch. See anyone slouching here? Stay poised, taut, on guard. Listen to your nerves. It's zero hour. Anxiety encroaches, wave after wave, with every squeeze of the bandoneon. Already twisted by the contraposto of uprightness and savagery, this new tango turns the screw even tighter with its jazz dissonances and truncated phrasings. No relief. No quarter. At zero hour only passion can save you. Time is flo

It happens. A rough night. A beautiful milonga danced badly. Saturday, my legs felt like anvils. I know I must have felt so heavy and unresponsive to my leaders. After the 3rd or 4th time scraping my heel across the top of my other foot, I knew it was time to call a spade, a spade. I could hardly pick up my feet, let alone dance. Even the two leaders I love dancing with most had trouble leading me. One of them told me so, and even though I knew it was true, it stung terribly. It seemed I wasn't following anything correctly. There were so many people I'd hoped to dance with that night. Now I was dreading making eye contact with anyone. My last dance was with B., a partner I didn't know well - we'd only danced once before. I told him I was still such a beginner and getting very worn out. He smiled slightly and said that's okay, we'll just walk. And we did. I was so soothed by gentle walking, the occasional small ochos and turns. I hadn't noticed the first time