In Search of Tango

Friendly Word of Advice #8

2011-11-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

This one is for you so-called "teachers" who only ever turn up to local milongas to see special guest performances.

The rules of the milonga apply to you - just as much as they apply to everyone else.

Dancing in lane. Dancing in one lane. Not kicking your fellow dancers. Not blocking the flow of movement. Not disturbing the serenity of those around you. Not walking across the floor cutting across dancers as if they were less important.
Not dancing like you were the only people on the floor.

A social milonga is for social tango. The solitary stage is for your exhibition dance.

Procul, O Procul Este, Profani

2011-11-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

How often do you hear rejoicing of a sparse milonga floor? "Finally, we've got some room to dance!"

Heresy. Insanity. Misguided lunacy. Procul, O procul este, profani!

Tango is not a solitary dance. It is not a dance only for two. It is a dance of community. Of course, you are absorbed into your partner. She is your entire world, and you are hers.

But you are also conscious, subconscious, of those around you - this is why we dance with consideration of others, so as not to put them ill at ease. We dance as a community. But more than that, the very fact that we dance amongst ourselves, constrains our dance, shapes it, colours it. And so our experience of it.

Constraint is no bad thing. The power of art, of expression, of experience, is drawn from self imposed constraint.

The power of art, of expression, of experience,
is drawn from self imposed constraint.

The constraint of others around you, the constraint of the codes of the milonga. These constraints make the experience stronger. Dancing with no constraints would be a diluted, messy experience. Art expressed with only two shades has a power that art from all the coloured crayons in a child's set can not. In dance, as in life. Look at the sheer energy that wants to explode from the restrained disciplined simplicity of a Picasso line. In dance, as in life.

There is a "just right" crowdedness, an optimal distance between couples. Not too much, not too lonely. A ratio defined in nature, inherent in our nature, inherent in nature. Like bees in a living thriving hive - so alive, yet so perfectly beautifully musical in it's dance.

And this is why the best milongas are intimate, busy places, where as if by magic it all works, with no bumps, kicks or traffic jams. It's where you have to make your dance interesting through what little you have left to you - there's no space for much more than weight changes and embrace - nor should there be. Where you and your partner have to tune in and listen to each other to hear that subtle intention. And this brings you closer. There is no closeness in being thrown around in large acrobatics - that's lazy leading by shouting, not whispering.

What Women Want

2011-10-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen, pay attention - here's what women want. The results of a survey of fairly experienced dancers seem to surprise both men and women at the beginning of their tango journeys.

Ladies - what do you want in men, in order of importance?

Confident comfortable embrace
Personal hygiene
Safety on the floor
Musicality

Men - what do you want in ladies, in order of importance?

Connected embrace
Following, not anticipating
Comfort
Musicality

What's not on anyone's wish list? Steps.
Experienced ladies don't prioritise men who do fancy steps, sequences, moves, kung-fu or acrobatics. Walking comfortably to the music is better than stumbling and fighting through steps. So many beginners simply don't believe this could be true. Find out for yourself - talk to an experienced tanguera.

Why is musicality so low? If you don't get the other stuff right, you can't even begin to enjoy the music, the dance. It's hard to submit to the music if your partner's breath stinks.

Friendly Word of Advice #7

2011-07-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tango bliss is hard enough to attain. And once you have it, it's as fragile as a soap bubble.

The slightest misdemeanour and the moment is killed.

"Shut up and dance."

Your partner needs noise-free clarity - before he can even begin to diffuse himself into you, your body, the music, the floor. Talking to him will kill it for him, no matter how beautiful your verses.

If you find yourself jibber jabbering - you have to ask yourself some serious questions. Are you really ready for tango, with real milongueros? Have you understood that's its not about getting round the room doing moves, nor the number of dances you get? Do you understand that the path to tango oblivion is sacred, but treacherous, to be embarked upon in silence? Is tango even really for you? Have you understood that you've probably ruined someone's tanda?

"The path to tango oblivion is sacred, but treacherous,
to be embarked upon in silence."

The men too. In the moment of passion you wouldn't start yapping about the weather - so don't do it with tango.

Muscles

2011-07-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

You need muscles for tango.

If you are to have any hope of moving precisely to the music, you need muscles. If you are to have any hope of moving your partner to the music, you need muscles.

If you want to stand up like a man and claim your ground, you need muscles. If you want to embrace a lady with assured stability, and comfort her wobbles, you need muscles. If you want to be master of your own body, listening and responding to her most silent whispers, you need muscles.

You get muscles by using them. Jogging, skipping, kung-fu, gardening, hoovering, whatever.

You don't get muscles by doing tango sequence classes - repeatedly plodding out sequences like a deranged parrot.

Your mind and your body are inextricably linked. You can't elevate your mind to an exaltation of tango if your body is weighed down by earthly neglect. The deadliest ninjas sharpened their minds through meditation. The serenest of monks cleansed their bodies through hard labour.

Bacteria Under a Microscope

2011-06-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

After a very long time staying away I went back to Corrientes in London.

No predictable cortinas between tandas. Tandas seemingly going on for 5 or 6 pieces. Confusion.

No effort to make the school hall look nice or special. I stopped coming because the organisers really didn't act like they gave a hoot about the paying public.

No cabeceo. A few sit at tables with their backs to everyone else. And its way too dark to cabaceo anyone. And with this crowd, even if you could see, I doubt anyone would do it anyway. Ladies beware, the Beggars Hand of Doom dominates here.

The Beggars Hand of Doom dominates here.

Music selection is lazy and uninspiring. They always had a tendency to put on drawn out stretches of samey durgy music, and nothing with a bit of bite, contrast, nothing to add something special to the evening. Nothing memorable. Nothing to inspire you off your seated bottom.

Nothing to inpsire you off your seated bottom.

And the floor, my god, the floor. What a mess. A fractured warzone of people doing their own craziness. It's bad enough that people here dance way too big and threatening, across lanes, backwards, killer heels and all that voodoo. The floor doesn't move around as a group. The room is huge but this is a problem not a benefit. It encourages the wrong kind of dancing. The people here don't dance together, as a community, they dance as if they resent other couples. And rather than being empty, the centre of the room is filled. With all sorts of solo acts.

The people here don't dance together, as a community,

They dance as if they resent other couples.

Resigned, sitting back I look around the room to consider what I see. Disunity. Hyperactive bacteria under a microscope.

And yet, London milongas with better behaviour are suffering falling numbers. Evidently they want to come here. It used to be, and I guess still is, the place to be seen.

People, why do you do this to yourselves?

You Left a Tear

2011-05-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

The moment you embraced me I knew it was going to be amazing.

You gave yourself to me. Every last bit of you. Awed. By your gift of trust. Submission. Tinged with fear, responsibility.

Your embrace clung to me, fighting a distant parting. Your body, giving, taking, carving, singing. Crying its music.

Your heart whispering its story to mine, between our chests where no one else could hear, your breath catching in my ear - hesitating with tiny sparkles of fear.

As I let you away from my protecting embrace, you left a tear on my cheek.

Dissonance

2011-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Is it me, or do the words "tango" and "marathon" just not go together?

Friendly Word of Advice #6

2011-04-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ladies, please.

"Ladies, please. He's not going to look down at your feet."

You want to dance with the best milonguero. And the best milonguero wants to dance with you - instinctively. He wants to dance, unconsciously knowing where you are at all times. He needs to know where you are, how you are, how you're feeling. The best milonguero will pick up the slightest tensions and messages, and respond. So be careful what your body says. And don't say what you don't mean.

At minimum, he needs to know exactly where your weight and your feet are.

And he's certainly not going to look down to see.

So make sure you're letting him know. Connect to him. So he feels the floor through your chest, your legs and your feet, as if they were his own chest, legs and feet. No slinky spring please. How can he feel you, your feet, the floor, if you're wobbling and bending, squidging and squishing, absorbing all the energy and tension in all the wrong ways?

It would be like trying to write with a pencil made of sponge.

And please, no crazy new unlead movements that come from nowhere. It would be like putting a finely tuned milongero's stethoscope onto some crazy radio speaker, ouch!

Learn from Gavito and Marcela. He doesn't just know where she is. He feels exactly how she is. Physically. Emotionally. Her history. The cries of her ancestors. This is the apotheosis of tango.

Aroma of Vintage Tango

2011-03-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

So where does a true milonguero dance? TangoWest. It has the aroma of true vintage tango.

The organisers love tango, and it shows. And they want to

"create the atmosphere of the Traditional Buenos Aires Milonga...
a place where a true Milonguero would be happy to dance"

They focus, more than anyone else I've experienced, on the music. They can't really fix you, the leader, or influence you, the follower, but the one thing they can do is work hard on the music that goes into a milonga. And they do work hard on it. And the result is an artwork of an evening.

They dance very well, and want their students to dance well. In the social style as they've experienced in Buenos Aires. Their website has links to good examples of the dance. This one shows them dancing to D'Agostino's "Adios Arrabal". Musical. Elegant. Controlled. Profound. Pause it anytime and you won't find them in any embarrassing unfortunate postures. Dignified.

Tango is about what happens between a leader and a follower - it's not about doing it for the audience seated along the edges of a milonga. Even so, it's hard to keep your eyes of the organisers when they dance - they effuse beauty.

I can't keep my eyes off teachers who dance in London milongas, but that's because they're dancing like prats causing chaos. Ask yourself seriously whether your teacher is a true social milonga dancer, because the skills of a true milonguero are not the same as those of classically trained ballerinas.

"The skills of a true milonguero are not the same

as those of classically trained ballerinas."

The Redland venue is lovely. Great for dancing. It has a unique ceiling which gives the place a unifying cosy homely magic.

The presentation, hospitality and food is superb - much better than anything I've experienced around London. And everyone is very civilised and friendly, which creates a great ambience.

The milonga itself is a revelation. Good floorcraft. Good behaviour. Cabaceo to invite. Standard of dancing is high, and even for those who aren't experienced, they behave well and don't upset anyone else.

This is a milonga to be treasured. The organisers have succeeded in creating, with evident hard work, something that has the aroma and texture of tango. Buenos Aires of a bygone age within touching distance.

Barriers to Quality Tango

2011-03-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

We were chatting the other day .. and wondering why tango outside London is so much better. The music, the floorcraft, the embrace, the hospitality, the venue, ....

Maybe it's just too easy in London to put up a venue and fill it?
Maybe it's just too easy for passers by to stumble into a milonga on their way home?

If you have to travel long distances, cross-county even, to get to a milonga, you're obviously dedicated and care about your tango. If you're setting up a milonga where there aren't many dancers in the locality then you obviously need to work quite hard and care enough to do it, and do it properly to get dancers to travel, and keep travelling back.

This isn't the case in London. It's afflicted by half-arsed organisers. It's plagued by hoards of prancers who don't care or want to care about tango, and it's easy enough for them to carry on just as they are.

So maybe the answer is to put up barriers to tango in London. And if you can be motivated to get over them, then the overall effect is higher quality milongas. Not very democratic, I know, but then neither is entry to the Royal Society.

You Can't Learn Tango Like This

2011-03-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Almost every milonga in London has a class before it.

Every week there's some special guest teacher.
Every week you are shown some "move" or sequence.
You've not spent much time with the teachers.
They've certainly not spend much time with you. If any. They don't know your weaknesses, or strengths.
You never spend more than minutes on themes or technique that need weeks and years.
They don't spent time on boring but necessary training exercises.
You don't get any continuity in exposure to a particular style or approach.

What can I say - you can't learn tango like this.

Hombre

2011-03-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

Tango makes a man of you.

There is this chap I see around from time to time. The sappiest floppiest weed of a toothpick. You felt sorry just looking at him.

Of course he couldn't dance, never mind lead a woman. Even without a partner he had trouble just walking from A to B.

Nicest chap I'm sure, very foppy English, but not exactly containing any mettle.

And the women avoided him. Not because he was a brute, but because he was .. well, nothing. You should have seen his droopy sad eyes every time he was rejected.

But over time, he found tango, and tango made a man of him.

Tango is contrast of man and woman.
The greater contrast, the deeper tango.

Now he walks with poise and purpose. Like a real man. Touches me every time I see him dance better and better .. moving with purpose, securely carrying his partner with him. Now he's a man in demand.

Seriously - tango sorts you out. Takes in boys, and makes men of them. Sure, sensitive responsive men, but still .. real men of steel.

GRRR!!!!

Multiple Moments in One Night

2011-02-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Eton milonga is the best milonga in the London area.

Lovely decor, complementary nibbles, liberal water, real cloth on the tables, lovely lighting, free tea and biscuits. Extremely friendly and pleasant hosts.

But more to the point, not a single dud tanda .. this guy plays only the best music, music that you can actually dance to - not music to get too cerebral or clever about - the classics that everyone loves, the stuff that touches your soul and moves body.

This is a place where tango bliss moments
happen multiple times a night,
not once in a blue moon.

And because it's a little too far out for most Londoners to get to, the floorcraft is the best I've experienced, and most non-London visitors dance beautifully and meaningfully irrespective of their level.

I feel like keeping this place a secret, I don't want the marauding hoards from London zoo ruining it - but I'll point it out in the hope that some of the London places up their game.

2011 - The Year We Answered Back

2010-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:00

It turned 2011 a few minutes ago .. I really hope 2011 is the year that London students finally challenge their teachers to teach them real tango - tango that works in a social crowded milonga.

"We couldn't dance, it was too crowded" - should be a phrase never again heard in London.

Challenge your teachers on:

dancing to the music
learning about real tango music, the classics, the canon of tango
dancing in a socially acceptable manner that works in a crowded milonga
dancing close embrace

If enough students do this, then maybe London will become a centre of quality tango and milongas, alongside those in Europe.

Friendly Word of Advice #5

2010-12-28T16:55:00.000-08:00

Imagine you're on a motorway. You're driving. It's a beautiful calm pleasant spring day with a clear blue sky and lovely white clouds. It's all going well, everyone is cruising and you ease into second nature driving .. not giving a conscious thought to the driving at all... instead enjoying the moment, focussing on you and your passenger and the music in the car player..

Make sure you're not the milonga idiot.

But then ...

1. The car in front is wobbling in its lane. Cause for worry. What's the state of mind of that driver? Raise internal alert and keep and eye on him. Damn - that's spoilt my tranquil drive! You can't now focus on what your passenger is saying and you certainly can't listen to the music.

2. The car in front is now jerking and jumping from side to side, threatening to jump lanes. He doesn't actually do it .. but his movements are so big and threatening he might just. You can't relax. The cars around him start to move away, driving defensively. The maniac has upset everyone's relaxation and put them all on alert and stressed them out. Not fun. The idiot hasn't actually jumped lanes or cut anyone up, or even crashed into anyone, but his current behaviour makes the possibility quite likely. Forget music or conversation, all thoughts are now on preserving your passengers limbs.

3. Now the idiot has actually jumped across lanes and is swinging back and forth taking up multiple lanes. Although he can't physically take up more than one lane, the fact that he's manoeuvring across so many so quickly and unpredictably effectively means no one else can use any other lanes in a relaxed frame of mind. How selfish is that? And the idiot is totally blissfully ignorant of the impact of his driving on everyone else's tranquillity and the overall traffic flow. Your panicked thoughts are only about preserving your partner's life.

4. Could it get worse? Yes. The idiot has now decided to slow down and grind to a complete halt. In the middle lane of a major motorway. Watch the horrific pile-up ...

Make sure you're not the selfish milonga idiot - totally blissfully ignorant of the detrimental effect on the dancers around you. Sure, you and your partner may be fine .. but half the milonga floor isn't.

Crypt 10th Anniversery

2010-12-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

El Once celebrated it's 10th anniversary at the Crypt.

Normal entry is £10. It was a 40% increase to £14 that night. It didn't go towards a performance .. no it was towards the food. The food was wonderful. Amazing range of delicacies, and lots of free good wine.

Shame for those vegetarians who don't drink. They were subsidising everyone else, with just carrot and celery sticks to content themselves with.

The music was the usual strange mix of head challenging stuff, not the comfort zone of traditionalists. But that's not why people were there that night.

Too Much to Ask For?

2010-11-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

I do get annoyed terribly when milonga organisers take liberties.

Like when they invite bands that don't play in tandas. Even worse when they play the same drawn-out undanceable painful screeches for 3 hours of the 4 hour evening.

Or when they have the cheek to invite show-tango demonstrators (yawn) and charge us extra for giving us less time to dance.

Oh how I long for a milonga with

the same price every week so I don't get caught out
no interruptions from boring time-consuming frantic acrobatic demonstrations
with music for dancing played in tandas.

Is that too much to ask for?

Friendly Word of Advice #4

2010-11-25T03:14:00.000-08:00

This is something that really separates the really good followers from the rest. For the purposes of this post, imagine we're talking about the perfect leader, because we'll be giving friendly words of advice to followers.

Listen. And follow what's led. Length. Dynamic. Distance.

It's a painful shame - but definitely no blame - when followers don't follow what's led. It's not just about following to the right general direction. It's deeper and richer than that.

It's about length of step. If the leader is dancing short, medium and large steps - side steps, for example, try to listen and follow it. It's so frustrating when you inhale and exhale yourself to a massive side step, and the follower stubbornly only moves the same damn step. It's not just about making the dance interesting, hopefully aligned to the music, but it is a real necessity when you're in a crowded, and maybe not well behaved milonga - the leader needs to know the follower can follow short steps to avoid collisions.

It's about the dynamic or character of the step. Sometimes the music wants soft undulating snakelike movement, sometimes it wants karate crack-smack! Sometimes it wants both because it's changing direction. Sometimes it's throwing in a twinkly icing on the cake. If your steps are stubbornly as regular as a grid-ruled graph paper ... you're missing out on such an important part of the dance.

It's about the distance from your partner too. Sure, some of us like close embrace and don't like to break it. But you still need to make space when it's led, and you do this with your feet. Remember, he's leading your feet, through your embrace. If he wants to put your feet a little further away, he'll lead it, so follow it. We don't need to break the embrace, but we can create space. Otherwise, it'll be knee knocking hell.

Grr! How many times have I walked with a follower, in a straight line, and she somehow ends up not wanting to walk in a straight line all by herself. How bad is that, and how hard can it be!

Followers naturally want a great dance, and expect a leader to give them one. But it takes two, and followers need to listen and react to the richer dimensions of a dance, if the leader is capable of leading them. It takes listening.

Who'se Afraid of the Big Bad Milonga? (Milonga Sentimental)

2010-11-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Lots of leaders are afraid of the milonga. It's too fast? It's a race to the end? It's a test of endurance? It's like going to the gym? The ladies love it, but I'll sit this one out?

Well check this out. It's a classic, Milonga Sentimental, danced beautifully by Detlef and Melina.

The music itself isn't fast. You don't have to rush it. The piece itself emphasises the big stepping oomphs, and they aren't fast at all. If you're sitting listening to it now, how can you not sway your head or hips to it in time.

You don't have to rush it.

It's not a monotic boring techno-garage-brum-n-bass race to the end either. The piece has several stages in it, like acts of a play, or chapters in a book. And they differ in character, some strollin-along-whistling swaying bits, some are more staccato chip-choppy bits. There's bits that rise and built some tension or momentum, and there's bits that resolve it and bring it back down again. And there are nice obvious punctuations between these phases - pauses or tap-tap-tap bits. Pause, breathe, savour the moment. These are very strong hints to both dancers, prompting movement, small decorations even, so you don't have to think too hard, stress, and invent something in a vacuum.

Pause, breathe, savour the moment.

Here's some notes about this dance:

Close embrace all the way through, no throwing the follower away and pulling her back again.
He doesn't make a fool of himself by throwing his leg out where he isn't, his feet are almost always beneath him, making for a much more dignified dance.
He's dancing with Melina, but moving very much through and into the ground. It's not throwing stuff up into the air, dissipating energy. You've got to hold and caress both your follower and the ground.
0.07 to 0.13 he's walking. That's right, lots of walking. No crazy stuff. Walking is good.
0.24 to 0.26 he's doing tiny steps backwards. In a real milonga you'd have to be sure that's not going to scare anyone behind you. But you can do it. So ignore all those wanna-be teachers who say the lady never steps forward more than one step.
0.27 to 0.32 forward steps and side steps. Nothing more complex. Really.
0.55 to 1.00 Even more minimal. Changing the weight of the follower but not really travelling at ll. Beautiful. Again, you can do so much, with so little. Big complex things dilute the tango, we need to distil it to strengthen it.
Throughout the dance his top (head, shoulders, arms) have a steady unflappable masculine line. Imagine watching his silhouette, it would look damn good. Men keen your top half looking good, ladies, your bottom half.
He rarely maintains space between his feet. It's good to keep your feet together. Sure, move them apart but imagine a rubber band is pulling your ankles back together again. Otherwise it's an untidy, john-wayne cowboy dance, where the energy is leaking all over, not controlled. I'd say keep your knees together too. Some people think this is wrong. It's right because if you try to do it, the dynamic of your movement and posture changes, so it's not about prohibiting a separation, but creating a tension which wants to keep your legs and ankles closed.
In the close embrace, walking, I wonder if we can see a contra-rotation of his top. Imagine running or jogging. Your right leg forward but it's your left arm forward. Try walking like this - seems to help the couple fit together more snugly, and helps the lead and follow. In fact you can change weight by rotating your top rather than yanking sideways her from foot to foor. Which is a much nicer, subtler way of dancing.
1.42 to 1.47 - what an amazing range expressed in just simple backwards then forward walks. In these few seconds we got pauses, faster speed stacatto chop-chop-chop, long determined forward adventurous strides, with a breathtaking jawdropping holding back at just before 1.45. So much controlled power unleashed with just a pause.
2.06 to 2.22 despite some more rotational movement with centrifugal temptations, and then more unusual goings on, notice how Melina doesn't allow herself to lose her embrace and move away from him. Followers from outside the UK seem to be quite good at this, I wonder if it's cultural?
2.27 to 2.35 again notice how you can just use extremely simple steps to mark the music, no need for fancy stuff. He's doing very basic back ochos for her, but he's interrupting them and restepping, transforming them from run of the mill class room exercises done to death to something much more exciting and spicier. And yet not needing to do anything acrobatic or anything that might frighten the dancers around you. Find simple changes - double step, pause, change weight - to enhance basic walking steps that everyone can do easily and you'll be a great milonguero. A great milonguero can make amazing dances happen with any level of follower. Only a deficient fool needs a super acrobatic follower to make a dance work.
2.47 you'll see him really mark the music with what is almost a stamp. There are many axes along which dance happens. Only one of many many is the sequence. He's used size of step, pauses, weight changes, smooth-vs-stacatto steps to make the dance extremely engaging. Now he's adding a bit of drama with some energy. All this in just collecting a foot back to the other one. Did I mention, you don't need lots of fancy sequences?

A great milonguero can make amazing dances happen with any level of follower.

Friendly Word Of Advice #3

2010-09-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

The dance floor of a milonga is sacred ground. If you're not dancing, keep off it.

My friend, the dance floor is sacred ground.

If you're not dancing, keep off it.

The floor is for the dancers. They're moving united with the music, the leaders taking extreme care with their precious followers. Followers do not want their trance interrupted, leaders don't want to take evasive action.

So if you're that idiot striding across the floor to the drinks, stop it. If you're the prat walking into dancers as you try to get to your bag, get a clue dude. You do not take precedence. The floor does. And if you must walk along the edge, do it in a way that doesn't mean dancers have to adjust their dance in any way, however tiny.

And if this doesn't make sense to you, then you don't get essence of tango in milongas. Back to school, fool.

Tango the Equaliser

2010-08-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

You know, it touches me quite deeply when I look around a milonga and see people from all backgrounds. And they're all there partaking equally.

This is great. In my life outside a milonga things aren't so equal. People are treated differently because they are black, or because they dress not in the most trendy clothing, or they speak with a regional accent, or because they are fat, or because they're not as educated as you. I do it myself subtly, involuntarily, probably due to upbringing or experience.

But in a milonga, "The Rules" create an environment where all is equalised - where peripheral behaviour is minimised, leaving only your milonga etiquette and maybe your dance ability to be judged. That Welsh-accented person there could be the best milonguero in town. That big beautiful lady there could give you the best connection of your life. That chap with no qualifications who works in McDonalds has got an embrace to die for and musicality to dream of.

That big beautiful lady there could give you the best connection of your life.

And we all make acquaintances, friends even. A Queen's Councel talking to an office temp, a surgeon becoming good friends with a kids school teacher. Even better, most people won't know the social standing of who they're taking to outside the milonga.

This all has hilarious consequences too. People who rely on their verbal charm, or their glossy magazine looks suddenly find that it doesn't work in a milonga. Sure, some unripe beginners may go chasing pretty bambis or be entranced by a smooth talker - but it doesn't last. There are no shortcuts in tango - the only way to build a reputation is by getting good - good at the etiquette, good behaviour, good comfortable, genuine, dancing. And no, flashy moves aren't included - most definitely not a shortcut to the genuine tango.

There are no shortcuts in tango - the only way to build a reputation is by getting good.

Oh, before I forget. This applies to nationality too. Doesn't matter if you're Argentinian - it doesn't mean you're automatically good. How often have I heard "Oooo I must get a dance with him/her! He/she's from Argentina ..."

So, a message of hope. It doesn't matter if you're green, blue, rich, poor, Argentinian or Lebanese, Orthodox or Jewish. I don't give a hoot. I only give a poo about whether you behave well, and dance well. And that is something you can do something about.

I only give a poo about whether you behave well, and dance well. And that is something you can do something about.

World Exclusive! Secret Milonguero Steps Workshops from World Class Traditional Milogueros

2010-08-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Time is running short for our 33rd tango holiday in beautiful Chateau Latrine in Provence 28th August to 4th September 2010.

A week of luxury in Chateau Latrine with Raoul "el Culo" del Huevos & Tonta del Dinero.

35 hours of workshops, breakfast every day, 2 lunches, 2 dinners and a free day for rest, practice or visiting. Swimming pool, hammam, jacuzzi. Self catering available. Cost of the week 3325euros (around £2230). Free entry to all local ceroc and salsa bars.

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World Exlcusive!

El Culo will teach the triple back sacada (twice removed), a move kept secret amongst west side B.A. milongueros, who swore only to deploy it if other moves failed to impress. The potency of the move led to a consortium (el juego) to control knowledge of this move.

For the first time outside B.A. this move will be taught.

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Restricted to 8 leaders and 18 followers - intermediate level.
We will endeavour to match dance partners for single participants.

Contact Eany Davans at worldcerocteachersunion dot com
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 123 123

Program and themes: 72 hours of workshops, music cadence, organic movement, zen philosophy and tango, memorising long sequences, and cadencia.

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Raoul del Huevos studied Ballet and Contemporary Dance at Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and performed throughout Argentina, indeed the whole world, with some of the most important companies such as Tango X2, Tango Limon and Tango Por Tele.
He started dancing at the age of 4, working with the great prophets of authentic tango, Carlos 'Charles' Taylor, El Mono, Barra de Chocolate, El Grabador Roto, the list goes on.
Since December 2009 he has gained extensive experience teaching, passing on his unique re-engineering of traditional tango to be even more traditional than that danced in 40s Buenos Aires.

Tonta del Dinero was born in the tough Patio Bulrich and brought up in the rough Abasto de Buenos Aires. A wild child, with the perfect tango temperament, she was tamed by Raoul, before becoming Word Ceroc Champion at the age of 24.

A few private lessons available, pre-booking recommended.

If you only ever buy one tango CD ...

2010-07-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

In Tango there are 3 really important elements - the Couple, the Music and the Floor. Notice that I didn't say "the moves, the steps, the sequences".

Newcomers to Tango often struggle with the Music. It's alien. It sounds like scratchy old black and white films. So they gravitate towards more modern things labelled tango (Gotan Project, Piazzolla). They feel comfortable here because these things don't sound like scratchy old 1940s recordings and they have a definite familiar thump-thump-thump to latch onto. But they're missing out of the rich structure of real dance music

Not all tango is for dancing to. Some is for listening to, in concert halls, sat firmly in your chair.

So how is a student to know what to listen to, to learn from, to get to know the classics, to dance to?

If you only buy one CD for getting used to tango for dancing, get this. Don't be put off by the 1940s label - the best music was from this Golden Age.

It has music for dancing, with the musical elements to prompt your dancing, it has the classics that everyone should know, and it has a good mix of tangos, valses and milongas.

Friendly Word Of Advice #2

2010-06-13T10:19:00.000-07:00

The ballet school of tango teaches beginners to move by pointing their toe far far out in front, leg stretched out like a fishing rod thrown out into the great yonder. Then they teach some mechanics around getting the rest of you to that point in the distance. Some people call this style of walk "creeping".

This is not tango. This is walking like a circus clown. In tango, you move dignified and understated. It's not salsa.

My friend, keep your leg to yourself.

Always, always keep your weight over you feet. this means keeping your chest above your ankles. Don't ever just stick your foot out. "What if I'm moving, I have to move from one foot to the other?" you protest. Exactly, my friend, that is the key. You move your foot with your weight over it - side step, back step, forward step, even tiny mini turns or sacadas, whatever, keep your chest above your foot. This way you lead your partner with you, not drag her to you after the event. The foot you're moving from, well, leave that behind, and some tangueros like to leave it behind a while, to let it linger. Smoulder. No problem. It's the leading foot I'm worried about. It shouldn't lead without your whole body moving with it, above it.

If you don't do this normally, it'll take time to get it. But it will improve the way you feel as a leader, a man, the way your partner feels you, it'll improve your lead and connection. And you won't look like you're doing a circus clown walk, slapping your foot around.

Next time you're out at a milonga, watch people dance - a good way to learn. Take a mental camera snapshot, freeze their motion, Do you see their legs sticking out away from under them? That's not cool. Do you see them stick their foot out somewhere then not move onto it - that is even less cool.

The Race

2010-06-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was at one of the better London milongas recently, after a brief absence. I was hoping for a perfect summer's night tango.

The night was humid. No fresh air, the walls were closing in. Humidity suffocating. You couldn't see far into this swirl of tango shoes, bent knees, half empty drinks, bustle of elbows at the water. Music was insane, relentless, punishing. Eyes everywhere were wild - look at me, pick me. Sweat was dripping as men pushed harder and harder to do their moves, obstinate at all cost, desperate to impress. Other men pacing up and down, hands clenched then open like a looming beggar, desperately looking for someone to grab, to do the tango with, to find the sweet moment. The women weren't so different, some prowling, some pulling back their necklines, some talking into your face, bad breath, hoping for a dance, the dance.

Ten dances, and all of them failed desperate attempts to tango.

A desperate, mad race to find tango. The pitch rising to sweaty fever, as time slips away towards that last tanda, pregnant, overburdened with meaning. Get your sacada in. Deploy your gancho, quick before it ends. Get your leg wrap before you're thrown out.

This is not tango. You can't find tango when you're desperately trying to grab it's shadow. This was an end of summer school disco.

Friendly Word of Advice

2010-06-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

My friend, keep your feet on the floor.

Lifting your feet off the floor don't look good, don't feel good, and it really ain't clever.

Double Espresso For Me Please

2010-05-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Espresso is coffee. It is small, intense, and if executed well, is aromatic and has a complexity of taste. It is profound. Romantic. And a small amount is all you need, any more dilutes and ruins the experience.

Starbucks gigantic buckets of overcooked milk is not coffee. Nor is it profound. Neither is it romantic. Even if you dress it with industrial cream and marshmallows.

Similarly with tango. Small tango creates an intense concentrated tango. Musical well chosen steps become meaningful. Both leader and follower become fully electrified, alert to the most whispered intention.

Osvaldo & Coca dancing to El Adios. Amazingly intense you can taste it from here. Beautiful, connected, grounded, and no sight of any extrovert swooshes, jumps, kicks or twists. Watch it with the sound off to really see what he's doing, and not doing. A real double espresso with no frothy cream.

If you fear this kind of tango will bore your partner, then you must learn to make it interesting in a different way; through your walk, timing, quality of movement, embrace, and your engagement with your partner. Making it more interesting inside the small personal space between you and your partner without going outside it and invading the shared milonga space - or worse others' personal space - is more difficult, but nobody said tango is easy.

Dancing big, outside the space between you and your partner dilutes tango. Fancy acrobatics is like marshmallows on coffee.

Talking from a French Phrase Book

2010-05-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm always amazed at how so many people seem to totally miss the point of tango.

So let me put it like this. Tango is not like other dances you might learn. It's not about learning steps or sequences. Really. Seriously. It is not about learning steps or sequences. All those people who turn up to classes and workshops wanting to learn steps and sequences let me tell you as simply as I can - you've missed the point totally. I wish some of the teachers would do more to combat this myth but I guess they're worried about their incomes.

"Tango is not about steps or sequences."

It's not a dance. It's a language, a human language. Tango is for communicating between two people. It has some vocabulary, sure. But it is much more important to get a feel for the structure, the grammar, that ties the vocabulary building blocks together. Some vocabulary bits don't fit together, some do.

"Tango is a human language with its own vocabulary and grammar."

If you learn steps and sequences, or go on the floor determined to do something from memory then you've seriously failed. Imagine speaking to your friends or partner using only a language phrase book. Horrible. It is totally unnatural and unconnected. Sure you may get from A to D but it's not nice. It's not flowing, it's not improvised, and it certainly is not interactive in response to listening to your partner. Totally disrespectful - don't do it!

If you can't see how horrible it is, imagine if someone did it to you: "Hello John, let's go to the park", "not really I'm a little tired", "Great! I love parks!", "no really I'm a little under the weather", "Great! We will have a great time. I love parks too! We will be great friends!"

"Doing sequences is like communicating from a language phrase book - it's is not improvising, it is not listening and responding to your partner, it is not communicating."

This is why you can meet someone from the other side of the planet, with whom you don't share a verbal language, and yet you can speak meaninginfully in tango.

And while I'm at it - let me explain another illusion. Good art has two characteristics; an evocation of a history, memory, an acknowledgement of what went before; and a discipline on the part of the artist to limit himself to certain elements. Using all the colours in your crayon set doesn't make for effective art. So in tango, and contrary to what many teachers teach, just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should.

"Just because you can do it - doesn't mean you should."

Cafe Dominguez

2010-05-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Amazing Tango. Pure tingles.

Cafe Dominguez by the magic duo, Ángel D'Agostino & Ángel Vargas is a classic - great thumping rhythm, sweeping epic melodies and delicious crunching piano, and enough variation to get even the laziest hippo moving. I dare you not to tap your toe.

The piece explodes with a stirring emotional narration, an almost tearful lament - no cry - evoking the old glory days of Cafe Dominguez. Listen between 0:22s and 0:47s.

"Café Domínguez de la vieja calle Corrientes que ya no queda
café del cuarteto bravo de Graciano de Leone
a tus mesas caian Pirincho, Arola, Firpo y Pacho a escuchar tus tangos
era el iman que atraía como el alcohol atrae a los borrachos
Café Dominguez de la vieja calle Corrientes
que ya no queda"

We all have our own Cafe Dominguez. Our own streets and characters from previous lives, when our horizons weren't so broad but our small world provided us with friends, characters who made us smile and laugh even when we knew were were all in the same crappy place. We might be in a bigger prettier world now with flowers and blue skies, but we miss the old drab walls, the tables that saw us eat and drink, we let out a sigh for solid friends now lost, our chests swell with pride, and we remember how we laughed and how it was so close to crying.

The narrator is in fact poet Julian Centeya. The late Gavito wants us to understand that Julian taught him tango, not dance.

Cafe Dominguez is on Tango De Los Angeles vol 4.

D'Agostino is not played enough in London, which is a real shame. There are some fantastic knockout classics by this power duo.

Music to Surrender To

2010-05-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Another great evening at Eton Milonga. I've sung this place's praises before.

Everything comes together here - great venue; great presentation and comfort; great hosts who set the atmosphere; great crowd - friendly, relaxed and chatty; and the best floorcraft in or around London.

But it's the music that makes or breaks a milonga. It's in tandas with a cortina and you see projected a note telling you what the current and next tandas are - a great idea. It's varied but always danceable. It's a good mix of the classics we all love, and some lovely discoveries too, but always danceable.

I'll say that again - danceable. There is great music from the annals of tango history for listening to. And there is great music to dance to. And amazingly, not all DJ's appreciate this. Great tango music for dancing gets into your body and mind and inspires you. You surrender half your conscious acts to it. And it moves you with an invisible hand. It takes you and gives you no choice but to swoosh to a slow melody, to step in double-time, to pause, breathe and savour the moment.

With great dance music - you don't expend mind and heart struggling to interpret it physically - that's precious mind and heart that should be for your partner.

And if it all works as it should - you'll find total surrender to the music and your partner - with no annoying conscious voice trying to pollute your tango episode with thoughts of what steps to plan next.

My hat off to the organisers - they've created a beautiful milonga experience.

Bajo Un Cielo De Estrellas

2010-04-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Amazing vals. Pure tingles.

Bajo Un Cielo De Estellas sung by the master of emotion, Alberto Podesta, for Miguel Calo. I love the way the piano flies away on 0:36s to 0:42s.

It's on Valses Inolvidables, Milonga.co.uk calls this collection "high on romance".

Milongas Look Like Their Owners

2010-04-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

I really believe that the most important factor in defining a milonga is the people who run it.

Off the top of my head I can think of examples that fit this theory. A very nice chatty friendly slightly quirky fun milonga. A safe consistent tortoise-not-hare milonga. An ugly arrogant tense physically-dangerous messed-head hole. Lazy, inconsiderate potential-unrealised school-hall.

An example of where a good person translates into a good milonga is Eton's monthly milonga.

The venue, Baldwin Hall, is lovely, wooden beams, atmosphere and history.
They put effort in to make it nice, cloth table covers, flower arrangements, lovely lighting. The London milongas are butt-ugly in comparison.
Sweet and savoury snacks for free, tea and coffees for free, water in nice cups and jugs for free. No rip-off prices like London, and no unhygienic water outlets.
Great music selection, in tandas, and selected live in response to the crowd, not a preselected CD compilation. I've never been disappointed with the music here. They even project "Now: Tango, Next: Milonga" on the curtains to let people know what tandas are coming up.
The organiser (who's a nice chap buy the way) lets people know that he expects them to behave properly on and off the floor. There are polite guides on each table, and the website lists the polite request in the "Floorcraft and Etiquette" section.

All of which translates into tango. Dancing with total beginners here is a real pleasure. Because, here, you don't need much more than walking to the music, some involvement, an atmosphere, and it all comes together. Entrega even.

Listen up London milonga organisers - this place puts you to shame.

Now that is Bad

2010-03-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Corrientes is a funny place. Sometimes it is amazing. Often it is demoralisingly rubbish.

This last Saturday it was most definitely rubbish. The tandas were flat and uninspiring. The place gets too hot and this time they put up an ugly aircraft engine sized fan, with aircraft engine sized noise to match. It drowned out the music.

The layout means you can't cabeceo anyone unless they are sitting next to you. Even asking with the dreaded "beggars hand" is difficult as you have to jump over chairs and stride across the dance floor. Most guests are sat in the dark of this secondary school hall.

Worse was the attitude of the organisers. They've always tended to be lazy and inconsiderate of their guests - but last Saturday it was worse than usual. There were sudden gaps in the music (did someone keep pulling the wire out?), there were cortinas that went on and on whilst the DJs sat and chatted to their special friends, there were tandas of unpredictable length (eight?), and the music was really badly chosen, showing no sympathy from the disc jockey. All while the organisers sat and giggled amongst themselves and their special guests. Terrible.

As for the special guests - yet another waste of time showing off super fast feet, with no tango soul or feeling.

This is a shame for Corrientes. It is one of the longest running milongas, and was considered amongst the best, most authentic. For beginners, certainly something worth graduating to. It was the place to hear good tango, see good tango, and learn how to behave good tango.

Corrientes - if you want to know how its done, learn from Eton Milonga. Considerate welcoming hosts, lovely decoration, free hot drinks and food, good floorcraft, and lovely music.

A friend of mine suggested this last Corrientes was worse than a recent night at Negracha. Now that is bad.

Chancers, Prancers, Not Dancers

2010-03-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

Sigh. Yet another perfectly reasonable milonga interrupted by "special guest teachers" doing a demo.

Most of these chancers are not tangueros. Sure they can jump around a floor, they can flick and kick, tippy toe and slide. It's because they've all been trained as contemporary dancers. But that's not tango.

Alas, what happened to the close embrace, the tango walk of a real man, each step meaning something, the thoughful profound consideration of movement and music. What happened to the dignity, the groundedness? Why do they no longer walk ploughing the bloodied earth?

Woe, when I hear the crowd whistle, yelp and clap everytime these prancers do some clever trick.

This is damaging because the real tango is being slowly but surely lost. The new generation of dancers are exposed to this faux-tango as examplary. It's not their fault, they've not seen anything to inform them otherwise.

Today, They Dance Differently

2010-03-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Tango Baile Nuesto is strange film. But it captures the essense of tango. The tortured history, the elegance, the formality, the everyday people, the tension. The low footage quality gives it appropriate texture.

You'll see real dancers from a bygone age. The greats - Portalea, El Finito, Balmaceda. Dancers who had character. Not the modern lot who are characters.

Today, they dance differently. Now, this foot no longer accompanies the woman... but it goes ahead. And in this way you can make "figures". They used to call it "Verdura". I don't do it.

Humbling anecdotes. Laments. I would recommend newbies to listen and learn from their tango ancestors.

Tango, has to give you goose pimples, otherwise its no good, brother.

Some of the finest most elegant dancing I've ever seen. No wonder they call him El Finito.

Kung Fu Tanda vs Shuffling Panther

2010-03-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

Apparently the nuevo kids call the old style "shuffling".

Kung Fu Tanda

Shuffling Panther

Angry Teachers

2010-03-05T04:52:00.001-08:00

I love it when teachers get angry with their students. I shows they give a hoot. Something not too common.

This is the Tango

2010-03-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

Guadalupe Jolicoeur narrated a series of radio programmes on the tango.

For me it really captured tango. She really loves the music, its history, the people, the culture. And it comes across.

The programmes have a lovely smokey melancholy nostalgic texture to them. They include some great recordings too.

Download 3 hours of good stuff from here or here, or listen online. The original program notes:

March 21, 1999 - The Song Writers
The tango was once described as a collection of sad thoughts you can dance to. The music is filled with melancholy and desire. This week Guadalupe Jolicouer leads us to the birthplace of the tango to explore this most passionate music.

March 28, 1999 - The Dance Lesson
It's been 50 years since the golden age of the tango drove people to the dance floors of Paris and Buenos Aires. But this week you'll want to grab a long-stemmed rose because the music, the fashion, and the passion of the tango return.

April 4, 1999 - El Nuevo Tango
The final episode of This Is the Tango is a survey of the tango's role in the 20th century, with a special focus on the music of the extraordinary composer Astor Piazzolla.

What's a Cabeceo-er To Do?

2010-02-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

So you walk into a milonga. Find a seat. Settle in, soak up the atmosphere, listen to the music, watch the floor, watch the dancers. Then a tanda comes on and you want to dance. What do you do?

You look around. Cabeceo.

But what do you do when no-one else is doing the same? Or worse, looking like they are, but aren't. If you see what I mean?

Your Own Axis Is Not Sharing

2010-02-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

I've always believed that "stand in your own axis", "don't lean on each other" to be anti-tango.

tango-commuter selects a quote from Javier Rodríguez which explains where we Europeans went wrong:

People are attracted by tango because of its embrace, they search for it, but once they come to class they prefer a more open position where each dancer is in his own axis, maintaining his feeling of independence. They want to dance with each other, they are dying to be embraced, they need each other, but they neither show nor accept it.

No disrespect to all the teachers who keep insisting that couples should stand in their own axis, maintaining their own balance, always independent, but seriously, you're missing the point of tango.

Sharing balance, axis, need big trust. Which is why you don't take it lightly. You don't do it until you're ready to. But like all difficult things, it takes work, and the pay off is amazing.

Tango is two people dancing with each other, not next to each other. Inter-dependence, not in-dependence.

Tuck Your Shirt In Tanguero

2010-02-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

Imagine the last time you walked to a bus stop. Now imagine you're a waiter in a posh hotel restaurant, wearing immaculate dress, groomed perfectly, and you're carrying a tray of very expensive chocolates and coffee to your guests. You walk differently. You carry yourself differently.

This is why men should wear a formal style jacket when dancing tango. You move differently. More properly. It is elegant, and it makes you feel elegant, and this feedbacks to you moving more elegantly. Hopefully it makes you behave more elegantly too.

Wearing sneakers, combats, a t-shirt and maybe a backward cap yo, will make you feel and move differently. Not tango.

And it's respectful to followers who have waited all week, put on their best for a evening of escape. They don't deserve some slacker who looks like just he popped out from under fixing a car.

Entrega

2010-02-24T17:19:00.000-08:00

In Search of Tango, is In Search of Entrega. Like Duende in flamenco.

They are both transcendental, they are immaterial, of the soul. They are not just elation, but capture darkness. Madness. And they pay homage to the memories of generations of tangueros gone before.

Dancing Closer to the Floor

2010-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

Leaders are always told to dance up, stand up, don't look down, stop stooping, stop bouncing up and down. Upright and masculine. Like a soldier, not a cowboy.

I agree, entirely. A man dancing tango should be masculine. Andreas Wichter uses more subtle language and asks men to always remain dignified when dancing.

But I've been wondering how to keep the stability from more bendy legs, and to stop myself tip-toeing up into the sky.

They key I think is the opposition (tango is full of oppositions, contradictions, which actually make sense after a while) - bottom half into the ground, top half up.

So I'm going to try to dance lower. Lower in the sense that my hips and legs will actually be slightly closer to the ground so that my feet plant and plough the floor, but at the same time keep my top up, in shape not actual height. I wonder if that will work?

Postscript - again to break the rules like all good artists should, I do actually believe you can use varying height in your dance. When the music gets all twiddly and twinkly you can rise up on the spot, tip-toe if you like, and dance up like a squeezed straw. But it must be the icing, not the cake; the exception, not the rule. It's not so different to a big swooshing side steep taken from up, then down and across, and back up, like the path an electric cable takes between to pylons.

No Salon Room at Pushkin House

2010-02-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

I'm told Adrian Acosta started a Salon Tango room at 33 Portland Place. The rules applied - no overtaking, no lane crossing, no threatening moves - and the aim was to create a considerate tango for everyone to enjoy.

I went once and it worked really well. Aside from the group benefits, the tango itself became much more distilled, more musical, more intra-tango, less extra-tango.

The venue closed and moved to Pushkin House. I went along for the Salon room which was advertised as still being in place. Alas, no. There was a room with the rules printed on a board, but the crowd was not dancing tango. The hosts had to twice stop the tandas and remind people of the rules, but it fell on deaf ears.

Kicked twice, and bumped more. Once by a so called teacher.

It didn't help that some of these so called teachers were doing massive 3-lane crossing steps and dancing a way which was certainly not considerate to other dancers on the floor.

If anyone reading this doesn't "get it", think of driving on a motorway. The car in front keeps swerving, cutting up and jumping lanes with no logic or pattern. This is what it feels like in a bad milonga. You can't relax, go with the (counter-clockwise) flow, and put your mind and heart to the music and your partner. It's not fun being in defensive evasive mode all the time.

Sounds stupid that I have to explain it - but really, after all these years in London, no milonga , no teacher has cracked it.

I did have a dance with a follower who appreciated the music and didn't get bored from the lack of kung-fu. Thank God there are still a few people out there who have found Tango.