My Tango Diaries

I'm still catching up. Job changes, recovering from the flu, and so many other things going on have put me way behind in answering comments on the blog, and in email. So please be patient with me as I try to catch up. Meanwhile, I'll be publishing a few things here and there that have been sitting in drafts too long . . . Diary entries 03/07/2011 - Is tango fun? From the free dictionary online: "Fun (noun): A source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure." Jantango said in a comment that she does not dance tango because it's fun. "This may come as a surprise, but tango isn't fun for me. It's so much more. Lots of things can be fun for a moment, but then it passes and you want something else to satisfy. Tango does that for me." I am glad that tango does that for Jan, but the implication seems to be that if I'm having fun, somehow I'm not really getting it - not really experiencing true tango. Or maybe I'm not serious enough. ...

It seems like this has been covered before on nearly every tango blog, yet it always surprises me to see it happen at milongas. There were three instances this weekend. *sigh* A few words of advice for dancers that feel the need to teach at the milonga . . . Leaders: Don't assume that if a follower doesn't follow something you led, that she doesn't know how to follow it. To be clear, that doesn't mean you need to assume you led it wrong - there could be other reasons she chose not to follow it (there wasn't room, it was uncomfortable, skirt was too tight/short etc.) To take those instances of a lead being missed, or ignored, as a "teaching moment" at a milonga, may find you getting a lot of averted eyes the next time you look for a dance. And really, if a leader has to explain a step to get a follower to follow it, there are already problems. The follower wasn't ready to be led the step, or wasn't in a position to follow it for whatever reas...

"When we love and accept ourselves as we are, we engage in the vulnerable act of learning without the fear of looking foolish." -- Laurence G. Boldt

I had doubts about these workshops. I went in with a fairly skeptical attitude. Local teachers Juan Carlos and Alicia Suarez , hosted Gato and Andrea, and I wasn't familiar with them at all. When I searched for information (and YouTube videos of course) about them, all I found was performance dances and very general details about their style. From their website, "Andrea Monti and Hugo “Gato” Valdez were both trained as tango dancers and teachers in their native city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sixteen years ago (Andrea) and twenty-five years ago (Hugo). They met in 1998 and since then, they have been working continuously in Argentina and around the world." Their website is here and their Youtube channel is here . The class descriptions were a little bit general, but still intriguing: Tango I Workshop Dance with style and musicality: different possibilities when walking for parallel and cross systems; double time steps in the walk. Use of the pause. Changes of directions...