Phrasing Anyone?

Shoes Too Tight? Ok, somebody try this and tell us if it works.

They say that 90% of women buy their shoes too small.

If you read the comments they also describe a method using a blow dryer.

Guaranteed Way to Get More Dances at a Milonga (The Paparazzi Method)

It's very simple really...Smile. Smile when you are dancing, smile when aren't, laugh at yourself, laugh at life.

Do this experiment for yourself...look up photos of people dancing online, facebook, whatever...look for people you don't know.... that you would like to dance with, most of the time they will be smiling...look for photos of people that are not dancing, often they will not be smiling. Smiling often just makes people more approachable!

We have all seen photographs of ourselves and if we aren't smiling, many times we will cringe at our own image and wonder why the photographer took such an unflattering image of us, guess what, it's our own fault for not putting our best forward as often as possible. Pretend that someone is just waiting to take secret photos of you while you are at the milonga (Tango Paparazzi), sell yourself to the public.  The paparazzi method I've described will also help you with other very important concepts in Tango as well, things like posture, step technique, etc...

Smiling can actually change your mood. So put a smile on, even if you don't feel like it, and pretty soon you'll be smiling for real.  (Fake It 'Til you Make It!)

When looking for a partner to cabeceo, this is very high on my list.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  I want my partner to smile, it reflects well on my dancing ability.  And I've seen photos of people dancing and making almost painful facial expressions, no one wants to dance with a sourpuss.

I know, Tango is serious business, and some of the lyrics are well...depressing, but believe me it works.

You don't have to grin like the Cheshire cat, but you can!

Denver Memorial Day Weekend Tango Festival 2010

Last weekend I attended the Tenth Annual Denver Memorial Day Weekend Tango Festival.

I had a fantastic four days and for the most part the dancing was extremely good and I totaly enjoyed almost every milonga that I attended.

Here are a couple of videos that others took of the festival.

First the Tango Colorado picnic at Cheesman Park, the most beautiful day I can remember there.


And for a change of pace some Tango rap From Momo Smitt at the alternative milonga Sat. afternoon. (the video is sideways at first but staightens out after a few seconds)

Awesome video by Lyn Alwise

What a Way to Go

Nick Jones and Amy Anderson VERY FUNNY!

I think I saw this guy dancing in Buenos Aires.

Reviewing Old Video from Former Workshops

I recently was going trough some old videos stored on my hard drive in an attempt to get rid of some junk there, and I came across a few old files that show workshop demonstrations from years gone by.

I have a few observations about these old videos;

Most of the material has been incorperated into my dance even though at the time the material seemed difficult.

The videos show the material that these instructors went over in the class and to me it doesn't seem like enough material to occupy an hour and a half workshop.

It always seems like the instructors were trying to get to a more advanced concept but were stopped due to limitations of skill of the attendees. (The tango community where I live is small and often classes are made up of a very wide range of abilities often streching from very advanced to brand new).

There are things that I do not recall in the videos that are extremely important concepts and were discovered through trail and error later.

Sometimes it seems as if the instructors left things out that may have helped the students.

I need to do this more often as a refresher, it was a very usfull excercise.

What Does it Feel Like to Lead

I really like this,
when you watch it pay attention to the followers legs, specifically how the "light" falls mostly on her legs and body, much more so than it does on the leaders legs and body, this is where your attention is as a leader (after the connection). Just very well done in my opinion.

Denver Memorial Day Weekend Tango Festival 2009

Another Awesome Festival in Denver as Always!

I only attended six milongas and no classes, which is good because when I started out I only anticipated attending two, thanks to a couple of good friends I was able to stay two extra nights. (I really want to attend Daniel Trenner's classes but it just wasn't happening this trip).

Friday afternoon I arrived in time to catch the last hour or so of the afternoon milonga, really only danced four tandas and got to see a few friends I haven't seen for awhile. The energy was good.

That night at the Mercury also was fantastic, as Extasis was playing (always a treat). I especially enjoyed the more danceable tandas (thats a hint, if anyone is listening). I did get two compliments on my musicality (I guess some people have a hard time dancing to Pugliese). The floor was not as crowded as it has been in the past, really it was just right, similar feeling to the crowds in BA. Floor craft was a bit loose but not really bad at all.

The Alternative Milonga Saturday afternoon, This is always one of my favorite milongas In Denver. The music was right on, and everyone seemed to be having a great time (smiles clear across the dance floor). I did see a video of myself dancing during this milonga and was somewhat disappointed with my posture when I am dancing in open embrace with a shorter follower, as I have said before video does not lie so I have some work to do (whats new!).

The Elegant Milonga Saturday night, is it just me or does this milonga always feel a little stiff until about midnight (maybe it's just coming down from the high of the Alternative milonga earlier in the day), still I had many great tandas with old friends and new, I really don't remember sitting for longer than two or three tandas all evening (a man has to have a glass of wine and socialize from time to time). Tara finally kicked us out at three thirty.

Sunday Afternoon Milonga at Cheeseman Park Pavilion, this is arguably one of the best settings for an outdoor milonga and picnic that I have attended, despite heavy rain earlier during the day, everything went off without a hitch. Photographers were a bit of a navigation hazard as they were not one bit shy about getting right out there in the thick of things (I would like to get a look at those photos, and videos!). Several people choose not to attend this milonga (fear of rain I guess) man did they miss a treat, it seemed like almost everyone that was there was dancing most of the time (I'm guessing around three hundred people) after eating I danced almost every tanda.

Sunday evening, SLEEP ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Awaking in time to catch the last four and a half hours of the All Night Milonga (in retrospect this might just be the best way to do this milonga, much better than going early and dropping into bed dead at 6:30Am) the best vibe happens during the wee hours anyway! After the music stopped and the applause died down, I got some of the best hugs I've had all year.

Ain't Tango great!

Cabeceo, the trip to BA really taught me a great deal about how to get dances with the followers I want to dance with (don't hesitate, just do it or miss out), and navigating in difficult situations.

I only had two gripes, both about other leaders at this festival;
1. Leaders who will not move. (you can never trust someone who is completely terrified in traffic).
2. Leaders who are only interested in long slow figure demonstration for a nonexistent audience, with a complete disregard for the music and others on the dance floor.

Watching Tango Makes You a Better Dancer!

I watch a lot of videos on Youtube (at the time of this posting over 7500 mostly tango related). I know, I should get a life, but remember, I live in a Tango Wasteland. As it turns out this may actually stimulate the same areas of the brain that are used during the actual dance (see the link below for reference if you like).

I am not saying that one can learn to dance Tango on the internet, they cannot.

I know one couple that took a few lessons and decided they could study this way and improve their dance. They do dance, and it is unique. It is not tango by any stretch of the imagination, mostly a lot of very poorly executed big moves (volcadas, leg wraps, ganchos, etc... mixed up with a few snipets from other dances all smashed together) Painful to watch! Painful to be anywhere near them while they are dancing, yet they enjoy themselves (who am I to judge).

On the other hand according to this article once someone has a personal knowledge of a dance and has experience actually dancing the dance they can process what they are seeing and actually learn something purely through the visual.

There really is no substitute for one on one personal instruction from a competent instructor.

ref link

Also this

Tango Epiphanies 6

Video does not lie and will show you the reality of your tango. There is no better way to learn from yourself.

Luciano Mares

Luciano was a friend who taught in my community several times, his dancing was always amazingly clean and precise, his personality helped form my idea of what tango is. Sadly he passed this morning as a result of a complication from a knee surgury he recently had (blood clot).
He will be missed.

What Could be Sexier!

This post has to do with changing your style of dance to fit music, or the mood of the milonga that you happen to be dancing at to make the tango your own and the experience unique, mostly about bringing the tango connection home.

To illustrate what I am talking about I'm posting two different videos of a pair of my favorite dancers




This is my idea of tango which can be be danced in a milonga that somewhat, but not to crowded, when you have a partner who is fairly progressive and you both feel a little more adventurous and when you both want that real close physical connection, or when the music just screams "tradition". Of course a lot of the time I like to get even more conservative than this, even to the point of just walking, (with the right partner of course).