Tango Shoes

I can think of no better way to remember our stay in Argentina than buying tango shoes. Every time we go to a milonga and dance the tango we will have a remembrance. We stuck to our budget this year pretty well. I got 3 pair and Doris got 3 pair. We went to a shop that takes your measurements and custom makes the shoes. It's a lot of fun looking through the pictures of shoe styles and samples of leather. I like being able to get a pair of shoes unlike anything we can get back home.

Made it to Argentina

We made it to Buenos Aires this morning. It was a very long flight from Newark, 10 hours and 45 minutes. We left at 9:50 PM so spent the night on the plane. I don't really sleep on a plane so I got to see several movies.

We took a nap immediately upon getting in and will probably turn in early tonight. We walked around San Telmo a bit this afternoon. We are sitting on the patio visiting with some the other guests right now.

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.

Tango at Freedom Plaza

Our dance instuctor in Argentine Tango recommended that we try the free Sunday evening Argentine Tango Milonga at Freedom Plaza put on by the Capitol Tangueros. The event is held every Sunday evening from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM during the summer. There were dancers at all levels of expertise. The outdoor dance surface was a little rough for the traditional ballroom dance shoe so it's better to wear either leather sole shoes or dance sneakers.

We are glad we went. The best way to get better at dancing is by dancing.

Freedom Plaza is located at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave NW, near Federal Plaza Metro Station. Admission is free.

Argentine

A few weeks ago we were talking to some of our friends about getting a group together and going to Buenos Aires next year to go to the Milongas. The only problem is that Steve and I really do not know Argentine Tango very well. So I looked around and found Tango Duos. We started taking weekly private lessons in Argentine Tango last Saturday from Anthony who is an excellent teacher. He specializes in Argentine Tango and Salsa. Hopefully we will make it to Buenos Aires but even if we don’t, we should know some Argentine Tango by next year. Of course, we will also continue our private lessons with Ben at Studio One in ballroom dancing.

I Tango, You Tango, We Tango

We made our first foray into Argentine Tango last weekend. I saw an ad in the Weekend Section of the Washington Post for a performance of I Tango at the Lisner Auditorium down at George Washington University. We had been hearing about Argentine Tango, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to see what it is all about.

For the performance The Argentine Tango Society flew in 12 of Argentina's most accomplished Tango dancers in a premiere event. After the performance, the Argentine Embassy hosted an authentic Milonga, a Tango party. Also appearing were the young dancers from the American Ballroom Theater Youth Performance Company, who starred in the documentary movie, Mad Hot Ballroom. It was two hours of some excellent music and dance. These couples can really move. Both the dancing and music were world class.

We had planned on going to the milonga, but the traffic and parking around Dupont Circle defeated us. We should have taken a cab from the auditorium to the Embassy.

We continued our foray last night by going to the Dance With Me studio in Herndon for a group lesson in Argentine Tango. We were instructed by Susan Cox. She is a great instructor, especially for beginners. She taught us enough in a hour and a half to do the basic step and even added a fan and a turn.

Here is an interesting article about Tango from the Society of Neuroscience.

A Movie Review: Take the Lead

We always go to all the dance movies. Last week we saw Take the Lead. It was a cold and rainy afternoon; perfect for going to the movies. Other people must have thought so too because the place was packed.

Take the Lead is a feel-good Cinderella story complete with a ball at the end. Antonio Banderas stars in the story that is loosely based on the life of Pierre Dulaine. Pierre started a program to teach ballroom dance to grade-schoolers in the NYC public school system. This movie follows the same premise with a program to teach high school kids in Chicago.

Pierre is riding his bike home from a dance when he witnesses some kids wacking away at a car with a nine iron. He picks up a parking pass that the kids drop as they run away. It turns out the car belongs to the principal of the local HS. While returning it, he hatches the idea to teach ballroom dancing at the school. The principal thinks he's nuts. She lets him try with the incorrigibles assigned to detention. The students in detention think he's an alien from another world. Through his persistence and love of dance he wins them over and inspires them to compete in a city wide ballroom dance competition.

The story line and plot development are good but predictable. It does have some great dance scenes. Doris really enjoyed it when Antonio Banderas demonstrated the Tango. A wonderful line from the movie described a tango as 'Sex on hardwood'.

This was a really good movie, especially for dancers and we highly recommend going to see it.