Delirious Milonga - The Prequel

This is another video from the same lesson. I was going to skip posting it because there were so many places that I anticipated the lead and ended up somewhere other than where Daniel had meant (but of course Daniel then just followed whatever I did and made it work as he always does.) DH was also sitting a bit too close while recording and felt that he cut off too much of us during that song, so he wasn't very happy with it either. But as I described the lesson to other people the subject of this particular song came up quite a bit, so I decided to post it anyway so that folks would know what song I keep prattling on about.

Milonga of My Dogs

Daniel and I are dancing here to one of my favorite milongas, Canaro's Milonga de Mis Perros. Not only is it a fun one to dance to, but it's about dogs (see Ms Hedgehog's post here), so of course I love it. It's not played very often at milongas so when I do hear it, I go a little nuts for it.

Another reason I like this video is that Daniel and I are laughing almost the entire way through it. In fact I start giggling before we even start to dance - which Daniel seemed to find very funny. :) There's a point where I misstep and get nervous (you can hear Daniela in the background telling me to relax) and I do just as soon as I start paying attention to the music again. And by the time Daniel and I get to the end of the song, I'm almost out of breath from trying not to laugh. (I've noticed frequently that the more I laugh, the less I follow lol. A classic case of what DH calls, "LOLwhut?")

NOTE: (Here are Ines Rossettti and Augusto Lagardera dancing to the same song at Club Villa Malcolm. The video is dark and a bit grainy, but still fun to watch.)

Comments

Ganchos . . . again . . .

(Image courtesy of Emilie Boudet: http://www.emilieboudet.com) From the Facebook comments on my "Expressing the music or dancing for tables" post: "But adornments can become problematic when they interfere with something I'm trying to do. (I have enough trouble as it is). Some of these are basically harmless and don't really bother me that much. Like some ladies insist on doing a gancho whenever I lead them to step over my leg. I'm mostly amused by this. Some girls just like their ganchos and will seize any opportunity to do one." Predictably, I have several problems with the above behavior. First of all, they aren't "their ganchos" ! The gancho for the follower is led. It is my (nearly fanatical) opinion that it should never be an adornment or something the follower just decides to do on her own . As someone who is now attempting to learn to lead, the last thing I want to see, or heaven forbid feel, is a stiletto heel near my crotch ....

"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...

Expressing music or dancing for tables?

Too much of a good thing? As sort of a follow-up to my thoughts on technique, I've run into a little snag I'd like some feedback. When I get compliments about my embrace, I'm absolutely elated. When someone compliments the way my walk feels, I feel accomplished. Compliments about my musicality - ditto. When I start getting lots of compliments about my foot work, however - I get worried. I shouldn't right? A compliment is a compliment, and should be taken graciously. It's certainly meant as a positive thing. It's a good thing if a dancer's feet are pretty - why else would everyone wear those silly, yet gorgeous, shoes? But like Richard Dreyfuss staring down his plate of mash potatoes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I can't help thinking it means something. Something not good. I don't mean like a backhanded compliment - but more like a fear that my priorities have unintentionally shifted. Maybe it's a community thing. Online I very often r...

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