Skip to main content

Accidental Milonga

Technically the milonga wasn't accidental - my attendance was. I had every intention of going to the UT practica and practicing any and all of the wonderful things I learned in my lessons. I went to the building and everything! As I walked up to the Student Union with another tango dancer - a fire alarm was set off. The building was evacuated and no one was allowed back in.

Obviously the tango gods did not want to me to go to the practica.

So we all climbed into various vehicles (thank you A.P.!) and caravaned over to the Texas French Bread milonga (which was already enjoying a pretty nice turnout.) Once we filed in, the number increased by another third or so which made for a very festive atmosphere.

Even though, in my excitement, I forgot nearly everything I learned in my lessons - it was an absolutely amazing milonga. I need practice, I really do - but in the middle of the week, when the next (weekend) milonga seems so very far away, I think I need this milonga more. So, for me it's back to one practica every other week, and three milongas almost every week.

In lieu of feedback from practicas, I wish milongas could have a sort "exit questionaire" to hand out at the end of the night - like the ones you get when you quit a job. The form would have questions like:

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how were Mari's ochos?"
"Mari is making progress on maintaining connection through the embrace. True or False?"

Okay, maybe not . . .

Comments

TomK said…
not too bad M........:)
Mari said…
haha - the post, my ochos, or my connection through the embrace?
Anonymous said…
If you really want honest feedback on how you look on the dancefloor, ask one of your lady friends to watch you. Or dance with a teacher!
If you have enjoyed an evening of dancing, I wouldn't worry too much.
Mari said…
Londontango - thank you for responding and for your advice. I'm lucky enough to frequently sit with a group of great followers and we chat quite a bit about dancing, but I think no one wants to sound critical. My teachers are mostly women and I'm afraid they wouldn't enjoy spending their night off leading a girl very much. I think you're right and I should probably just relax and have a good time. And make the most out of what few practicas I can go to.

Popular posts from this blog

Tim Ferriss and the Myth of Tango Mastery

Dear tanguero, I feel I should explain my reaction to your comments about Tim Ferriss. It touched a nerve and I didn't really explain my apparent hostility. It was certainly not meant for you. Several people have brought Tim Ferriss to my attention over this past year. I can usually make it a month before his name pops up again. For readers who are unfamiliar with him, he's the author of "The 4 Hour Work Week". He set a Guinness record for the most consecutive tango turns and has competed with his partner, Alicia Monti, at the Tango World Championship . As a social dancer the idea of a tango competition seems absurd. I don't think I will ever understand how something like tango could be judged - or why anyone would want it to be. But I digress. I think the most crucial detail of Ferriss's history, as I relate it to tango, is his winning Wired magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" . If there is any concept more out of synch with social

Tango solidarity when it counts . . .

Some fellow tanguera-bloggers and I have been having a wonderful online "conversation" via blogs, Twitter, Facebook and email - about the importance of sisterhood and solidarity. You can find Stephanie's post, here and her follow up here , and then Tangocorazon's here . I was so bouyed by the idea of women bonding, helping and supporting each other that I took some things for granted. I took for granted that it would always be easy, enlightened as I am /*cough*/ to be the sort of consistently nurturing and helpful tanguera that I am (in my head) . The truth? Where the rubber met the road (or rather when the discomfort hit the milonga), I wasn't. Here's a little background that gave me a better perspective on the events at the New Year's Eve milonga. These guidelines appear under the heading " Behavior at the Milonga " on Vancouver Island Tango: " . . . The smaller the tango population, the more 'effort' required from each one of th

"Proper" Tango Shoes

Periodically someone, usually a man, will be bring up the topic of "proper tango shoes." If he's referring to the problem (and dangers) of trying to dance in flip-flops, or mules, or platform shoes etc., those are definitely valid, and very helpful points to be made. The likelihood of damaging your feet is very high without the proper support of high quality shoes. My problem comes with the idea that the *only* proper tango shoes have 4" stiletto heels on them and fetish-worthy embellishments. (Okay, I'm pretty keen on the embellishments myself.) "goofy ballroomy shoes are a turnoff... get rid of them..." - Alex Tango Fuego (granted this is from 2007), http://alextangofuego.blogspot.com/2007/10/to-dance-or-not-to-dancebrutally.html And, in the comments on a blog post, Anonymous said... " This is a controversial one. If a follower isn't wearing tango shoes then it's usually a good sign she's not particularly good." From Ms. Hedgeh