tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70256172739520068802011-11-06T22:57:34.175-06:00The Accidental TangoisteLearning to dance my way through life.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.comBlogger791100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-1442141496243395442011-11-01T22:39:00.001-05:002011-11-01T22:45:58.374-05:00Tango crushesAnd there is no doubt that an embrace that is too deceptively beautiful can be emotionally dangerous for an overly sensitive and boy-crazy girl like me who spends so much time crushing on someone unattainable or mourning a relationship which ended sadly. The tango embrace is only a simulacrum, the holodeck version of intimaccy.
--"Terpsichoral," the Tango Addict: "Embrace me, my sweet The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-6747484616144643312011-10-25T01:46:00.004-05:002011-10-25T15:58:20.794-05:00The iconoclastI'd come to think of him as a deliberate contrarian; the faster the music, the slower he dances, until creeping to a complete stop in the middle of the floor, in the middle of the song, holding some pose with his partner. I'd ruled out dancing milonga or vals with him, his languidness had come to irk me so; to me they are hardly worth dancing if they don't feel different from a tango. I was sure The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-85100579705910739202011-10-02T22:04:00.001-05:002011-10-02T23:50:43.918-05:00EchoesThe other day I was sitting in a local cafe, when a particular blues song (that I'd first heard as part of an alternative tanda) started playing, immediately followed by electrotango. I looked around to see whether DJ Oblivious was working behind the counter.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-31062906636290141752011-08-21T12:35:00.000-05:002011-08-21T12:35:56.262-05:00If there was any questionHere is a hint, ladies of tango: When you kick over the vase of flowers on a table at the edge of the floor, your boleo is too damn high.
(Or, possibly equally, the leader is a pretty poor navigator.)
And a tip for everyone: When it happens twice in one evening, you're not at a very good milonga. But we also knew that from the hopping (!) couples, the floating tango <!--[if gte mso 9]> The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-45892922672555668012011-08-19T15:58:00.000-05:002011-08-19T15:58:44.748-05:00The pianistI haven't had the time and energy to write much lately--nor the inspiration, because life events have been so busy and often tiring that I've hardly been able to really reflect on anything very much. This is just a quick note to breathe some life back into my poor neglected blog!
* * *
Today, tapping my fingers as I listened to tango music at work, I remembered--in that intense way that the The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-26464141905289051902011-07-05T21:49:00.004-05:002011-07-05T23:39:09.309-05:00The language of following II: AccompanyingBoth Jan (here) and someone calling himself Bill in Oz (here) have recently mentioned an idea of the follower in tango accompanying the leader, as a way of resolving the problems of possible negative connotations of the term "follower." I've been giving this some thought...
At first I thought it seemed belittling as well, as though the man is a star musical performer and the woman is only the The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-65306473322466126442011-06-29T09:59:00.005-05:002011-06-29T14:30:06.014-05:00The language of followingThis started out as a reply on Tango Therapist's recent post about the inadequacy, as he sees it, of the term "follower." Then it got too long to be a polite comment, and it always was rather tangential to the actual discussion in his blog, so I decided to bring it over here, so as to be able to rant freely about it.
The discussion on Tango Therapist's blog is about the reductive nature of The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-63651230926486154762011-06-28T09:36:00.001-05:002011-06-28T10:11:19.377-05:00It happens."That's one thing I especially like about dancing with you," he tells me, grinning. "We may screw up, but we'll screw up very precisely."The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-59776932919045644222011-06-14T22:39:00.002-05:002011-06-15T00:03:19.281-05:00MemoriamI read Jan's chronicles of the older milongueros and milongueras eagerly, hoping to recognize a face despite the short time I was there and the long and ever-growing time since then--and hoping that, if I do, the dash won't be followed by a recent death date. I don't think I've recognized anyone yet, other than a few who have (or had) wider reputations.
There is one who I know is gone. He was a The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-58914437442230403662011-05-14T09:19:00.003-05:002011-05-14T15:24:56.253-05:00Shades of grayI think I need to stop trying to see things in such absolute terms and simply accept the fact that sometimes, in some places, with some partners, I enjoy things that, under other circumstances,* I do not like. I believe this is called being human?
(I feel sorry for anyone trying to guess what I might be open to on any given night, though.)
* That is, the vast majority of the time. In order to The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-5289528293138520562011-05-01T21:35:00.001-05:002011-05-03T10:38:34.227-05:00La MaestraShe modestly disparages her English-speaking abilities (unnecessarily; she communicates clearly and vividly), yet she is able to give some important pieces of advice that even rhyme:
"Tango is an invitation, not an obligation."
"Vals: More rotation, less transportation."The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-54390168485726376462011-04-12T01:32:00.004-05:002011-04-12T02:01:59.100-05:00Por una cabezaHe is about a foot taller than me, and as we dance, his cheek rests nearly against the top of my head. He is embracing me in an unusual way tonight, with his free hand lightly cradling my neck. Suddenly he remarks, "I hope you won't think this is obscene..."
Uh-oh, I think.
"...but the scent of your hair is bringing back memories for me."
Oh, thank goodness! Um--maybe.
Aloud, I say, still The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-60842377346703303712011-04-11T00:43:00.001-05:002011-04-12T00:04:28.792-05:00Pun-der appreciated?My regular teachers usually hold class in the dance room of the local rec center, and they generally have leaders advance around around the circle of followers with each new song. When my latest tango crush arrived back at me, over by the ballet mirrors, after the first circuit of the room, I remarked, with a smile, "Haven't I seen you at this barre before?"
Sadly, my wit seemed lost on him at The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-67180857996393354222011-03-26T14:41:00.006-05:002011-04-02T00:21:17.230-05:00DJ Oblivious"I'd add that a thoughtful and trustworthy DJ can also make good dancers less risk-averse, and that makes them more willing to dance with inexperienced partners. Because they know the music will be there for them if it's difficult, or for another dance with someone else!"
--Ms. Hedgehog, commenting on El Zorro Gris' entry on breaking the vicious cycle of bad music
So. True.
This is exactly The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-86372114296845046862011-03-25T14:18:00.002-05:002011-03-25T14:18:48.097-05:00On a bad dayHere is the ugly truth, if you want it: Sometimes I am jealous of every single other person you dance with.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-22722669770223926602011-03-25T01:42:00.000-05:002011-03-25T01:42:40.072-05:00Turn of phraseWe do not realize that we have misjudged how much time is left in the song. We step onto the floor and embrace for a few seconds; maybe we had the chance to change weight. And then the song ends.
We step apart in the brief silence between songs, and he makes a slight bow and remarks, grave-voiced but with a twinkle in his eyes, "Thank you; that was very ... pure."The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-85764488371340228352011-03-12T10:43:00.000-06:002011-03-12T10:43:40.632-06:00Don't try this at homeManaged a cabeceo with a partner several seats down the row from me, in the mirror of the room where the milonga was being held. We were awesome!The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-30990808994727679802011-03-09T23:11:00.000-06:002011-03-09T23:11:45.665-06:00Note to self:I have sought dances with men for stupider reasons than that I admired their chacarera, but it did not work out any better because of that.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-69694374182758662022011-02-18T00:06:00.007-06:002011-02-18T17:01:29.557-06:00The sacrament of tangoI recently found myself at rather a loss for words--which, as you may imagine, doesn't happen to me all that often. I was talking about tango with a friend, specifically about the differences between close-embrace and open-embrace tango. I was trying to talk about the lack of intimacy that I feel in open embrace, without using the word "connection." And I couldn't do it.
Maybe others' experienceThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-7823553103505770002011-01-11T12:39:00.001-06:002011-01-11T21:59:17.661-06:00The DuetThe beautiful caramel-skinned woman next to me brims with vibrancy and infectious good cheer. She and I have been chatting pleasantly all evening, whenever we are both sitting out. It is getting late, and the crowd at the milonga is thinning. This tanda, we both like the music for listening but not for dancing, so we wait it out.
She begins singing along with the music, although there are no The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-68112777456037317122011-01-06T18:37:00.000-06:002011-01-06T18:37:22.454-06:00The answer is always, Yes, dance!With gratitude for the inspiration of SallyCat--again.
Summer 2009:
I have just finished dinner in the apartment in Buenos Aires. L, my friend, traveling companion, and all-around partner in crime, has left to return to the States, as scheduled, so I face the prospect of almost another week by myself before my own return.
I had not realized how much her cheerful company had made the trip more The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-61684057669584706042011-01-03T23:24:00.003-06:002011-01-04T23:35:49.807-06:00History repeating?I think it was two years ago that I first went to Nearby City with tango friends to dance over New Year's.
(...Yes, I think it must have been, because last year I spent New Year's home with a disgusting cold, watching a marathon of The Thin Man movies on TV. At least someone in the house was terribly glamorous and witty and jet-setting, even if it was only the people on the screen!)
That year, The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-72307134852755430432010-12-20T00:16:00.000-06:002010-12-20T00:16:39.745-06:00Beauty/truth"This is the tango community: A bunch of people who touch each other as if this were what human beings do best."
--Tango Beat: "Tango Uniform (A Christmas Story)"
"He wants the woman to feel secure and relaxed. I realised that in the beginning he deliberately played his dance cards close to he chest because he was taking care of me. He sensed me. He found me. He knew what I could handle. He The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-26329281777420271782010-12-19T23:43:00.002-06:002010-12-20T17:23:51.968-06:00Warm dancing on cold eveningsI've been on a badly needed vacation, and it was my second night of dancing in an entirely new city. My first night there was at a small milonga at a lovely studio downtown--mainly older dancers, not students. It was a nice introduction to their community; I had several nice dances and started meeting people, and they were very friendly and welcoming.
But the second night. Wow.
The milonga was The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-43236598945474546682010-12-13T12:34:00.003-06:002010-12-20T00:17:41.268-06:00Getting ItWith my red dress and red lips, my hair pulled back on the sides, and my black t-strap shoes, I felt a little bit retro, in the best possible way--channeling a glamor queen of the 1940s. I'd had a great day and was feeling good when I walked--maybe sashayed, a little bit--into the milonga.
My first dance lived up to my hopes. The moment I sat down one favorite partner asked for the next tanda--aThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-67469976312112188392010-11-29T02:39:00.005-06:002010-11-29T16:17:46.124-06:00On Tango BlackFrom the time I was a tiny tot, on up through high school, even college, my grandmother always used to take me shopping for new Christmas and Easter outfits. It was very generous of her. She is an amazingly lovely and classy woman, who always knows how to make herself and her home beautiful and welcoming for family gatherings. Taking me shopping was a way for her to help me look and feel The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-52951758501655390232010-11-09T19:42:00.002-06:002010-11-09T22:52:54.817-06:00More people I want to dance like when I grow up
Pocho and Nely are my first tango grandparents. (They don't know it, of course.) But I think Osvaldo and Coca might be the other pair. Look what they can do!The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-27762846378104263842010-10-11T22:27:00.002-05:002010-10-11T22:29:28.905-05:00Well saidThings I have been meaning to note, so I can remember...
From a post by TangoCherie a little while ago, on the close embrace:
People from "English" cultures are not used to being that close to someone who is not their sweetheart or beloved relative; sometimes their emotions get all confused after a tanda of moving together as one, hugged so dearly by a stranger.
--"Don't Fear It, Embrace ItThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-45149986556209127152010-10-10T17:12:00.004-05:002010-11-09T19:46:24.224-06:00El maestro viejoHe demonstrates something of the evolution of the embrace and way of dancing vals over the centuries since it was introduced to Buenos Aires, beginning with a very open, formal embrace and winding up with the close embrace that we are all familiar with. He remarks that his parents had met while dancing this way, before the war--that this was how he came to be--and warns, with a twinkle in his The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-27130489726350192552010-10-03T02:44:00.007-05:002010-10-07T15:26:55.173-05:00I shaved my legs for this?I recognize that my limitations in tango are mainly self-imposed.
Because milonguero style is by far not the preferred style in My Hometown, but I love it and am generally just not very interested in dancing open-embrace/nuevo style, or dancing tango to non-tango music.
Because I'm picky about who I will dance with and when. If we have had Bad Dances before, and I do not observe improvement in The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-18415297095542696912010-09-27T01:31:00.003-05:002010-09-27T15:42:19.691-05:00Let's do the Time Warp again!The last time I went to the Tango Bar, I danced a lot, by comparison to other nights there recently. There were no sublime dances, but there were several fun ones. Although at times the wild dancing on a crowded floor prevented me from fully enjoying my dances, I laughed a lot that night.
At the last proper milonga in town, I happily danced even more--although only later in the evening. There The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-10134344573688174752010-09-21T12:19:00.000-05:002010-09-21T12:19:58.357-05:00Science of the embrace?NPR: "Human Connections Start with a Friendly Touch."The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-46565428864643797632010-09-08T22:57:00.002-05:002010-11-07T19:30:47.720-06:00And then, sometimes...Fucking tango.
I wish I could find where I originally read this, but I think the blog is gone. But this has really stuck with me. Here is how I remember it:
The woman was American, living in Buenos Aires long-term. One evening, one of the older milonguero/as, observing that she always left the milonga alone, told her, "Find someone to take care of you. The milonga is not enough."
I'm in a The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-78877367357079519562010-09-05T23:51:00.001-05:002010-09-05T23:54:06.375-05:00Tango shoes on a non-tango blogIt appears that the superfantastic Plumcake, one of the writers of the Manolo for the Big Girl blog, enjoyed at least a brief flirtation with tango--or, anyway, with tango shoes, and apparently at some point with a tango instructor--some time ago.
"Holy Grail Found in Buenos Aires!"
"Two Thursdays ago found me on my knees with my head in the oven," she begins. (A tango-spirited opener if ever The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-24437883442204059542010-09-02T09:23:00.001-05:002010-09-02T09:23:30.590-05:00Follow-up: The anti-grouchI ended up going dancing last night. It wasn't a completely flawless evening (if there is any such thing in tango--and maybe that is an important thing for me to learn), but it had some excellent moments, and that was enough.
Maybe more than the dancing itself, it was good for me to get out of the house and see some tango-pals. It is impossible not to cheer up when you walk into the place and The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-55708922265160901452010-09-01T15:49:00.001-05:002010-09-06T19:33:03.121-05:00On the bright side......I did finally arrange a waltzing lesson with my fellow student, a few weeks ago. (In exchange for cookies--Vienna fingers, of course!) Now I can waltz! And it turns out it's pretty easy and fun! Why was I so scared of it before?The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-53608806797197569312010-09-01T12:41:00.001-05:002010-11-08T00:13:43.265-06:00Other times, it's ... still the little things.I need to stop being so susceptible to the charms of handsome young men who dance well. My tango-crushes lead to nothing but heartache. Granted, the disappointment is usually very minor--I might be unhappy for a day or so at most, once I realize that there is nothing there that's going to carry off the dance floor; I know that--but I'd really rather not go through it at all, if I could manage to The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-23441250113074277372010-08-19T22:57:00.000-05:002010-08-19T22:57:19.154-05:00Sometimes it's the little thingsSo I was dancing "La Cumparsita" at the Tango Bar, for the first time in ages...
(Incidentally, it felt nice to be able to dance it; I like the arrangement the DJ there plays, so I like to stay and listen, but I always feel a little sad if I can't dance to it.)
...with a partner that I've been dancing really well with lately, which was an extra pleasure. Of the many lovely moments in my dances The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-59761087656734133532010-08-16T13:31:00.003-05:002010-08-16T13:48:31.520-05:00Stranger in a strange landEven though I have danced in Nearby City before, with considerable success (at least, to my own standards), Saturday night I knew almost no one at the milonga. Two leaders and one woman; that was it. Several of the men that I know, who might otherwise have been there, and at least one other lady were in Buenos Aires for the festival there, I knew.
I bided my time and finagled dances as best I The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-82721269933887614842010-08-14T10:13:00.000-05:002010-08-14T10:13:01.458-05:00A good nightI love being surprised by new good partners.
In other news, I am the queen, but not many people know it. :)
Which is to say, my dances were not as many last night as I might have liked, but they were very good. On to the rest of the weekend!The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-59042659519511960252010-08-12T23:10:00.000-05:002010-08-12T23:10:41.525-05:00Gift from a partner, 2008After dinner (my first empanadas!) I tell him about how I'm starting to plan a vacation to Buenos Aires, where he studied for a year and learned to dance, and he becomes almost as enthusiastic as I feel. "Wait a minute," he says after a bit, and hurries out of the room.
He comes back with something in his hand. "Here," he says, holding it out to me. "You can have this."
It's a pocket-sized The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-46812885607488747332010-08-05T02:31:00.002-05:002010-08-05T19:52:43.710-05:00Well, dog my cats! (In which I am surprised and humbled.)It is early in the evening, and I'm dancing with a fellow I sometimes have trouble with. For one, I don't always feel like I can follow his steps smoothly, but as though I'm almost falling, or coming down too hard on forward and side steps with him. And let's not get into my opinion of his wild dancefloor experimentation with other partners.
(I must say this for him: he's always been polite and The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-43350474057539852022010-07-27T22:32:00.004-05:002010-07-30T12:24:17.625-05:00They say you never forget...Last July, after many adventures, I finally found myself sitting at Los Consagrados, my very first milonga in Buenos Aires. It was early in the evening, I think, and not very crowded. I was there with my teachers, sharing their table. Sr. had a plan, to dance with me early on to show that I could handle myself on the floor, but just then he was dancing with Sra. I had not yet set foot onto the The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-58485337088729613292010-07-10T01:23:00.007-05:002010-07-22T16:13:07.306-05:00Apologizing, admiring, aspiringI've been trying to break myself of the habit of apologizing as I dance. (And I'm not the only one...) No one wants a tango overriden by an ostenato of "Whoops! Oops! Sorry..." I reckon it becomes more disruptive than polite, eventually--maybe immediately.
(Besides, I need to save that refrain for my non-tango waltzes, at the local country dances. That reminds me, I need to ask a fellow student The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-64526801367775196592010-06-25T15:19:00.002-05:002010-06-25T20:52:42.130-05:00The maestro and MarilynThrough his interpreter, he tells our class that the secret to good leading is to embrace the follower as though she is the most beautiful woman in the world--someone like Marilyn Monroe, perhaps.
Now he holds out his hand to his wife, and she steps forward to take the embrace. As he holds her, he sighs theatrically and says in his own, heavily accented English, "Ah, Marilyn! At last I have The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-41504659006279674982010-06-25T01:34:00.007-05:002010-06-28T22:31:56.663-05:00Classical and baroqueWhat I'm about to write is probably heresy to some and tremendously obvious to others,* but still...
(The British Museum; image from the University of Texas at Austin, Department of English)
(Image from hossocan.seesaa.net: French baroque architecture)
I don't really like Geraldine Rojas's dancing--and not entirely on the grounds of "That's not something you The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-27731916755492519572010-06-24T21:04:00.002-05:002010-06-24T23:14:42.994-05:00A memory to cheer me upIn Argentina one evening, I was nearly on my way out of Los Consagrados with a friend, B, when a group just coming in stopped to say hi to B. She introduced me to the oldest man in the group, who promptly asked me to finish the tanda with him.
(This seems to be a point of etiquette at many milongas I've been to, both in BA and closer to home; if someone introduces you to a dancer of the oppositeThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-4566449034348074882010-06-20T22:13:00.004-05:002010-11-09T19:46:24.225-06:00Roses and thorns: clothingThings I love right now:
(Image, and proof that I really cannot wear junior sizes any more, courtesy of Kohl's.)
Wide-leg gaucho pants in a nice, flowy fabric
Had I caught on to the beauty of these a couple of years ago, when they were more popular, I would have/should have stocked my wardrobe with them. They are. So. Comfortable. But because I am generally at least a year The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-53458151233430210332010-06-18T22:46:00.004-05:002010-06-24T14:19:09.157-05:00Notes on a learning experienceAnnoyingly, have been sick for the last, approximately, ever. (Okay, week; it just feels like forever. My whole body hurts from coughing, and I am fast using up those hard-earned sick days.) So no tango for a while.
Since I can't dance at the moment, I thought I'd write a little bit about what I've been trying to work on in my dancing for the last little while. The general theme is dancing The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-17588836358442307762010-06-12T16:34:00.001-05:002010-06-12T19:20:02.007-05:00The old pro (and the tango princess)He is dapper in a trim black suit, with the effortlessly gentlemanly manners of many of the older Argentine men that I've met. Though I stumble a little a couple of times in our first song together, our second is better, and he makes a joke of it, saying that maybe by three AM he'll be able to lead me perfectly.
I laugh and tell him that I'll let him say that, even though I know my mistakes The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-58209129984941911912010-06-06T12:19:00.008-05:002010-07-30T12:29:28.976-05:00OMG, shoes!
Oh, drat. While I was fondly browsing the Dress-Up Lady's shoe site last night, I ran across a gorgeous pair of CiFs that are sorely tempting me. My size; my heel height; black with white polka dots, and red patent leather--of course, since they're CiFs, all arranged in a very striking design. WANT.
I just have to keep repeating to myself that I already have a lovely pair of wonderful The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-21173960109758612492010-06-06T03:23:00.024-05:002010-06-22T12:24:39.987-05:00L'histoire de mes Comme il FautsComme il Faut shoes, sometimes called the Manolo Blahniks of tango...
I.
About one year into my tango career, I went to a festival in a nearby city where some shoe and clothing vendors were set up. One of them was highly recommended by my friend and frequent traveling companion, L. She'd had an excellent experience buying from them online--and she just adored the pair of Comme il Fauts that The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-361923622071151512010-06-05T01:42:00.005-05:002010-06-06T00:42:03.440-05:00"Te espero..."
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The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-75299942058743984722010-05-20T02:50:00.002-05:002010-06-08T20:13:15.914-05:00Alt.TangoThat was the first time I think I've ever danced with any degree of success to alternative music. Dancing to things other than classic dance tangos just usually doesn't feel right to me, somehow--like that music, and the movements of tango, don't complement each other.
Plus, with the unpredictability of a lot of alternative music, and the fact that I have a really hard time executing a lot of The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-31228318591079761702010-05-15T15:18:00.009-05:002010-05-15T20:20:21.658-05:00Shapes and sizesWith thanks to Mari, author of My Tango Diaries, whose posts and links lately have helped catalyze a lot of what I'm going to write about now. And to the others who look for the beauty in all those around them, even when we cannot see it ourselves.
It starts here:
Marcela Duran and Carlos Gavito; photograph by Alex Waterhouse Hayward.
I have to admit that I don't know a lot The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-28582835180710932332010-05-10T11:29:00.017-05:002010-05-10T16:21:34.194-05:00Addendum: Stairway Wit, Part the FirstThe French, as so often happens, have a wonderfully apt term, l'esprit de l'escalier, "stairway wit." It's what happens when you think of that devastatingly clever thing you should have said, only when you've left the party and are on your way down the stairs (metaphorically speaking). Herewith, the brief, sad tale of this weekend's flirting fail.
I was dancing with a partner I like--we'll call The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-57487587241075459212010-05-10T10:54:00.005-05:002010-05-12T17:14:01.261-05:00ConnectionsWell, that was unexpectedly satisfying! A gamble paid off: I can add a new partner to the list of people I can dance with at the open-embrace group's events! I hope he'll be at their next milonga, because I'm looking forward to dancing with him again. He led a few things I'm not very good at (a volcada, for instance), but overall was clear, smooth, unhurried, and easy to follow. I felt like I The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-90419191494525282042010-05-06T10:33:00.006-05:002010-05-06T12:10:58.257-05:00Asking, receivingLast night, for reasons of misc. old personal crap,* I decided that the thing I needed most (aside from hugs from loved ones, which are always on offer) was a few good dances. Tango: the greatest mood-enhancing drug of all!
The only option in my town midweek is usually the Tango Bar, which I have not had great luck with lately. But I figured at least one favorite partner would be there, since heThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-36684057849865140702010-05-03T13:28:00.011-05:002010-05-06T16:38:19.966-05:00As long as I am making ugly confessions......Let me talk about how I am critical of the menfolk too.
(Oh my burning biscuits, way to make your blog appealing for potential readers, Accidental Tangoiste! Look, it's leading up to a positive message, I promise!)
So there is this guy, right, and he's a new leader. My teachers are raising a super-promising crop of new dancers, and it's really exciting! But this guy and I, we got off to a The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-58820043102033815792010-05-03T11:14:00.004-05:002010-05-10T17:35:57.408-05:00Trying it outSo I gave it a try this weekend. There were two milongas, hosted by different groups, which is rare in my little town. At the one hosted by the more nuevo-leaning group, I made a conscious effort to not mentally badmouth either myself or other women out of a spirit of competitiveness and insecurity, like I mentioned in my last post.
It's vastly easier at the events hosted by my teachers, where The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-77263723412028163762010-04-30T14:00:00.012-05:002010-05-10T16:57:47.415-05:00Saying yes to myselfThis post, over at the ever thought-provoking Shapely Prose, has pretty much made my month. It gets me all choked up, with every new comment that I read (and there are 400+ of them, so I haven't read all of them yet!), just to hear about how amazing people are, and to see women unabashedly celebrating themselves and their accomplishments! Even complete strangers--but also myself and my friends; The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-72445041721525748922010-04-29T14:45:00.002-05:002010-04-29T15:12:39.329-05:00SallyCat on the Secret and the GiftThis! Yes! This Is Why!
I may have coherent thoughts somewhere in my mind, about things and stuff? But right now I am blissfully lost in the memories of dancing with my own favorite partners. Because Sally gets it exactly right.
(...And to think I might never have seen it if I hadn't happened to read Mari's Tango Diaries just this very day! Clearly I need to spend more time thinking about and The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-55723430207341042072010-04-26T11:15:00.003-05:002010-04-26T12:35:51.145-05:00EmbodimentSo, my work involves sitting at a computer for eight hours most days. This means that for a good portion of my life, currently, I live right behind my eyes. The rest of my body can start to seem ... auxiliary.
Tango is one of the few times each week when I occupy my entire body. I need to use my whole physical self, head to foot--and my mind is engaged simultaneously. I become a whole person.
The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-7972160159602882962010-04-20T11:43:00.003-05:002010-04-30T15:55:10.622-05:00Bajofondo Tango (2009)It is true, I cannot dance to this--not tango, at least, although maybe someone else could. The music has wrapped itself in a new sound for a new generation, and the impulse of the press of bodies around me is vertical rather than horizontal. But I think there is still tango in its soul; still the sorrow, the anger, the fierce surge of joy--the raw, throbbing heart of the city. The grit and the The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-74932850691524814502010-04-12T22:26:00.012-05:002010-09-01T15:54:04.570-05:00Tango in the CitySo it was Tango Time in the Big City. In the interests of sparing my feet (and getting more rest and, most of all, spending time with friends who I haven't seen in far too long), I didn't take as many classes as I might have, but it was very worthwhile--as, indeed, it has always been at this festival. I got to dance with many of my favorite partners in the country--and not just the country but The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-77414662797388250082010-03-26T11:21:00.005-05:002010-03-29T15:00:01.143-05:00Tango en françaisWhat I want to know is, who teaches these Frenchmen how to tango? Last weekend in Nearby City, I got to dance with someone who turned out to be another lovely and delightful French leader. France is three for three, on my personal scorecard! With this small sample size, of course, it is probably too soon to generalize about the whole of the French tango community, but I'm inclined to think The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-56973962685354793902010-03-25T16:41:00.012-05:002010-04-07T11:27:30.903-05:00En el bar de tango...Not really my most successful evening, but it can be a difficult venue; the floor is small, the seating arrangement a bit inconvenient for getting dances. People need to cross the dance floor to get to the kitchen, the bar, the restrooms... Navigation is perilous, even in the arms of a good (and careful) leader; one man can only do so much when others are not being equally courteous. I've had The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-35267965556153315622010-03-22T13:59:00.010-05:002010-03-29T15:00:23.878-05:00Cinderella's lament (not about the shoes!)I've been finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile my two lives, of tango and work. From a glorious evening of tango, where I feel beautiful, graceful, powerful, flirtatious, elegant--I come crashing down on Monday to my workday world, where I am, well, not.*
I want to live in that enchanted nighttime tango-world all the time... but I'm not sure anyone really does or can. I don't know muchThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-73339567224199744092010-03-12T15:14:00.024-06:002010-03-23T12:39:20.002-05:00Female empowerment and the cabeceo: A very linktastic postSomething has been brewing in my brain, lately, from thinking about the cabeceo and the etiquette of asking for and declining dances, combined with a recent burst of pondering about Nice Guys (TM) and what Good Girls do. They're all connected in a way that I could articulate clearly and succinctly at about 2 AM on Monday but somehow can't right now--but I'm going to have a try, while there's The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-75331530168590177602010-03-10T14:22:00.020-06:002010-03-26T10:47:55.679-05:00On the cabeceoI've been reminded again how much the cabeceo facilitates a pleasant experience for both men and women, when I attended two milongas for a workshop weekend here in my hometown (but not the workshops themselves; have to pick and choose events these days).
The first milonga turned out to be the most satisfying evening of tango I've had in quite a while--rather unexpectedly, since all of this was The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-63364769626878039152010-02-15T09:48:00.006-06:002010-02-16T03:17:16.451-06:00Navigation, fellows, seriouslyYou guys were the only two couples on the dance floor and you still managed to lead your partners to crash into each other? Even granting that it's a pretty small floor there, I--just ...Sigh...The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-45850956718331799072010-02-11T11:19:00.010-06:002010-02-15T10:09:02.611-06:00El AbrazoOne thing that really bugs me, in close-embrace tango, is when the leader has his weight back on his heels, rather than meeting the follower halfway to create the shared axis that makes it all work. It's a beginner's mistake, I think, but some leaders never seem to grow out of it. It's hard to follow a man who does this, and it makes me feel--and, in fact, look--like a heavy bag of groceries he'sThe Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-31472760838060619202010-02-09T20:53:00.004-06:002010-02-11T11:57:02.816-06:00Tango glossaryThis is just one of a number on the Web:http://www.tejastango.com/terminology.html#CSo far, I've found it a reliable resource.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-65581558240006523792010-02-08T21:27:00.002-06:002010-02-08T21:31:52.629-06:00Advice from way backHe smiles at me. "Sometimes your progress will be like a spiral. You'll have some difficulty, you'll work through it and appear to move away from it, but that same thing will resurface again later, in a new form. But you'll be coming at it from a higher point."(This was back when I was first realizing that tango is secretly about life.)The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-29613935988854814762010-02-07T01:49:00.032-06:002010-03-23T12:37:12.763-05:00Gambling at the milongaDear Internet,
Here is more than you probably wanted to know about me: I have a funny way of knowing that I've been sitting out more than I'd usually prefer, at a milonga. (Other than my back getting stiff, my butt getting sore, my skirt making marks on the backs of my thighs, actually, um, having an objective sense of the amount of time I've spent dancing vs. sitting, and other ordinary and The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-80681029739679068412010-01-31T17:17:00.008-06:002010-02-11T11:56:50.381-06:00Tango etiquette link roundupFirst of all, The Basicshttp://www.inscenes.com/etiquette.htmhttp://www.tangoconcepts.com/etiquette.htmlMore like an article on basic technique, really--but containing some excellent pointshttp://sftango.com/Tango_Dance_Etiquette.htmlNey Melo's article on inviting and accepting--or declininghttp://www.close-embrace.com/invitingetiquette.htmlTinaTangoes: various tales of milonga manners (or lack The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-75942794933490593252010-01-30T11:13:00.000-06:002010-01-30T11:14:12.858-06:00On and on...I just noticed how long both of my first two posts are. Clearly, keeping things to a more reasonable length should be something I work on. I don't want to perpetually go on for M i l e s, the way some tango-bloggers do!Maybe it'll come more easily as I start to feel like I've established my identity here and figured out my purpose a bit more clearly.The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-29921290692835357692010-01-29T22:58:00.038-06:002010-03-29T15:01:00.071-05:00At the tango barIt hasn't been my best night. There aren't usually many men I can dance with at these tango nights at a local bar; the regular group here dances open embrace, and I'm not very good at that. I've stuck with the milonguero style in close embrace nearly exclusively, because I'd rather be very good at one thing than less good at two.
(Not to say that everyone who switch-hits does so with diminished The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7025617273952006880.post-59195160246015997602010-01-28T00:01:00.008-06:002010-03-23T12:43:52.973-05:00The beginningI stumbled into tango about four years ago. Like most great things in life, or so I've heard, it began more or less by accident. After graduating college and entering the working world, I found myself with obscene amounts of time on my hands in the evenings. (What do people do when they're not plowing through piles of literary criticism and frantically writing papers the night before they're due?The Accidental Tangoistehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17345900075435510748noreply@blogger.com6