Argentine Tango

We've been hooked on Argentine Tango for the last couple of years. Of all the types of dances that we've been exposed to over those years, Argentine Tango has been both the most challenging and the most rewarding. All dancing is a special way of communicating with your partner. You are together there in the moment talking back and forth without speaking. Argentine Tango is so much improvisation that it brings that communion between partners to another level. The dance and the music are inseparable and both evoke passion. I remember a great line from the movie Take The Lead when tango is described at "sex on hardwood".

We saw our first tango show and took our first lessons in 2006. We started taking regular private lessons from the Tango Duos the following year. Along with our lessons we found venues like Freedom Plaza where we could practice. We've found that we only get our money's worth with our lessons if we practice, practice, practice. We had already set our sights on going to Buenos Aires someday and wanted to know the dance.

We finally made it to Argentina in June of 2008. We were there for 2 weeks and really had a great time. The only hiccup was that we discovered in the Milongas as they are danced in Buenos Aires, they don't dance quite the same Argentine Tango as is generally taught in the States. What is taught in the US are styles like Tango Nuevo, Salon, and Fantasia. These are generally very energetic with a lot of kicks and turns. The Milongas in Argentina tend to be very crowded. There isn't room for large movements so the Milongero style is more subtle. It was such a pleasure to watch the dance that matched the music so well. We were determined to find someone who could teach us the Milongero style of Argentine Tango. We tried a couple of teachers and things just never worked out.

We recently found a teacher who understands what we want and who we are compatible with. We're taking instruction more in technique than specific steps or dances. We've been taking lessons long enough that we have a lot of steps. While we will never be competitive dancers, we still want to improve our dancing technique. A lot of what we are learning now is applicable to not only Argentine Tango but the other dances that we know.

The journey is the destination.

Pablo Veron Argentine Tango Workshops

We had an opportunity yesterday to take 2 workshops from Pablo Veron. The first workshop was in Vals, a type of Argentine Tango that has a 3-count beat much like a Waltz. The second workshop was in Milonga. A Milonga can describe either a dance event or something that 2 people can dance at an event. The Milonga is an Argentine Tango with a very snappy beat. The steps have a lot of syncopation and everything moves very quickly.

Pablo Veron is internationally known for his Tango and teaches around the world. He also starred and danced in the movie "The Tango Lesson". We felt extraordinarily fortunate to get into his workshops. The workshops were great in that they reminded us of things that we had forgotten in these forms of Argentine Tango.

To top the day off, Robert Duvall and his wife hosted a Milonga at their farm in The Plains, Virginia. The Milonga was a charity event in support of The Knowledge is Power Program charter schools. KIPP is a network of free open-enrollment college preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. The Milonga was held in the second story of the Duvall's barn . They have a great room with a lot of space. The room filled up quickly with a lot of Tanqueros showing their moves. It was clear that Mr. Duvall and his wife enjoy the dance also.

We had a really great time.

Connections

I've heard it said there are 4 connections involved when dancing Tango. There's the connection to your partner, the connection to the music, the connection to the floor and the connection to the other dancers. We got to practice all these connections when we went to an Argentine Tango workshop at Glen Echo Park held by Sharna Fabiano and Korey Ireland of Tango Mercurio.

We made a day of it with our friends, Janet and Jeff. We went to brunch at the Ft Belvoir Officers Club. We usually go there to dance. It is a little hard to do on a Sunday when they put the steam tables on the dance floor. I hope they get up the syrup I spilled before Wednesday. (Just kidding. I have more respect for a dance floor than that.)

We had our lessons in the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park. The weather was perfect and the Spanish Ballroom has one of the best floors around. There was a Basics for Elegant Tangos lesson at 1:00. This was followed by a Variations for Playful Tangos at 2:00. They had a Pre-dance Intro Lesson at 3:00 with a Milonga at 3:30. All in all, we got about 4 hours of Tango in. The lessons were great. They really emphasized the musicality of dancing Tango and the connections. I think the thing that I enjoyed the most was that they brought their own orchestra. The Community Tango Orchestra is a volunteer organization lead by Korey Ireland who is not only a tango instructor but also an accomplished musician and the orchestra's director. The beautiful music, great instruction and wonderful venue really made the day something to remember.

Technology and Me

I've been working with computers for decades. You'd think that I would have a better relationship with pieces of technology than I do. Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode where machines were taking over, bent on destroying mankind? I think there may be some truth to that story.

The other day we had some power outages. It got unseasonably warm and everyone turned on the AC at one time. That and a transformer blew out. It took a while for the electricity to come back on and stay on. It kept going out for a few moments then coming back on just long enough to go around and reset all the clocks before going out again. We thought it was on for good by the time we went to bed but it must have gone out again during the night. I went down to the kitchen to get some breakfast to find that the coffee hadn't started and the pot was flashing "12:00". I figured that I would just start it up and start setting clocks again. No such luck. With this model of coffeepot the time has to be set to get it to work at all. I had never set the time on the coffeepot. Doris usually gets this job. It turns out that there is a trick to it. One that I couldn't figure out, especially since I hadn't gotten my morning shot of caffeine yet. I messed around for a few minutes, pushing buttons and trying to coax it to give me some much needed coffee. I finally gave up and set the kettle on to boil so I could make some instant coffee.

I then turned to the microwave to heat up my bowl of oatmeal. It must have been designed by the coffeepot maker. I couldn't get it to go until after I had set the time. I'm already frustrated and cranky with being defeated by the coffeepot. I'm pushing buttons on the front of the microwave trying to set the time, not getting very far. It starts beeping at me and "CHILD" is displayed on the LED panel.

It's bad enough that the stupid technology won't work when I want it too. It didn't have to insult me, too.