My Tango Diaries

" . . . tango is what remains when you remove all movement, when the only thing that is left is feeling." - Carlos Gavito, (1) Three steps forward, two steps back. At least I have made some progress. But I am still rushing. Still moving too soon. And too fast. Falling away. Tango, it seems, can't undo a lifetime of constantly moving. Constantly running - always closing the doors behind me. It's exhausting to keep moving - but terrifying to stop. To wait. To listen. Sometimes stopping feels a lot like suffocating. What am I so afraid of? Feeling? Possibly. Entrega ? Sometimes. El duende ? Frequently. But even those aren't really it. Maybe that there will be nothing. Not the little nothings that inhabit tiny gaps in our day. Those traveling moments of suspension between one thing and the next thing. Falling forward into the next moment. Not those. Big nothing . Thunderous silence in the absence of. . . . of? the absence of what? The absence of me ? Expanded. Disp

I wasn't able to make Sunday's festivities due to injury, but here are the highlights from the Houston Tango Marathon Friday and Saturday in no particular order (after the first one): - No. 1 highlight: Watching the most beautiful, romantic marriage proposal ever of Alejandro Almanza and Pilar Prieto on the dance floor Saturday night. It was so sweet, I cried all over myself. - the music! The music was outstanding all weekend - thank you so much to the dj's . - our hosts provided wonderful food and drink to enjoy. It must have been a challenge to provide so many delights (tamales, fruit, baklava, etc) for so many hungry dancers. And whatever that hot drinking chocolate concoction was - it was amazing! - the space itself - the rooms, the floors, the lighting and the sound quality were all terrific. Rice University has great facilities . - this was also the first time, I think, that I've been in Houston when it's sunny for than one day at a time. I was beg

"Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music. " Marcel Marceau At the local milongas, surrounded by good friends, it's very common to hear, How's work? How are things going? What's new with you? I don't mean to be evasive. I really do want to be connected. To let people know how I am. I am grateful to be cared for. It's just that the milonga is . . . life/safe/hidden/revealed . . . too many cliches to finish that sentence. Too many words and not enough meaning. That's the real problem right there. Too many words. At the milongas, for a few hours, I am not haunted by my past, or worried for my future. I am human. a whole human being, moment to moment, tanda to tanda. So just sometimes, I don't want to talk. Please know that I am grateful. But let the music tell my story. And I'll dance the answers to your questions whether I mean to or not. (Image courtesy of Morguef

The Handbag Featuring Kyoko Wakao & Teruyuki "Mocky" Saito Written, Produced & Directed by Ivy Yukiko Ishihara Oldford Original Music by Riaz Hassan I loved this video the moment I watched it, and yet even now I hesitate to post it. When I was first sent the link, the summary that accompanied it said it was about a Tokyo salaryman returning a bag to a high school girl at a subway station - and then I suppose sort of randomly taken to dancing Argentine tango in the middle of that transaction. When I watched the video, I could see quite a lot more going on, though I didn't know the complete story until I read the blog post by filmmaker, Ivy Oldford, here . If you'd like to see it before learning any details about it, simply watch it embedded below: What I loved immediately: - The music moves me. It's so beautiful that I immediately went looking for the artist and the song. Both of which you can find here . - The camera spends a lot of time focused on the

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett Four different advertisements telling me if I take this or that tango class/workshop/intensivo, I will: - get immediate results! - save years of learning! - experience efficient technique training! - advance faster than ever! The classes fill up fast, so there must be quite a market for efficient tango learning. Is it just me that thinks the words "tango" and "efficient" should never be in the same sentence? Learn tango faster? Are we racing? There is no end (thank God) - so what are we saving years from? Or for? Isn't the journey the point? I don't want to be saved the time, or the years . . . or the mistakes. Mistakes take me deeper, reveal something more . . . Our miles make our tango. Our dance tells our story. How fast would we want to make that? "In life as in dance: Grace glides on blistered feet." - - Alice Abrams (Image courtesy of Morguefile.com .)