The Tango-L mailing list archive

Digest from 23 Nov 1999 to 24 Nov 1999





Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date:     Wed, 24 Nov 1999 03:00:02 -0500
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject:  TANGO-L Digest - 23 Nov 1999 to 24 Nov 1999 (#1999-72)

There are 8 messages totalling 321 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. <No subject given> 2. tonights fun Lesson :) etc (from the kiwi tanguero) 3. public lessons 4. Exercises 5. The Beginner's Steps 6. New Years Eve Gala kick-off for the millinnium(Palo Alto Ca. 7. Suppliers of instruction videos 8. (no subject)


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 12:50:57 +0100 From: Garrit Fleischmann <fleischm @STUD.UNI-FRANKFURT.DE> Subject: <No subject given> Hi Mohan, as far as I know, the new years party in Nijmegen is booked out. Info about EL Corte in Nijmegen can be found on the Webpage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tango_el_corte_nijmegen_nl/homepage.htm You should mail them in order to know, if it's definately booked out. So long, Garrit > Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 13:12:26 +0100 > From: Mohan Pakkurti <mohan.pakkurti @KI.ERICSSON.SE> > Subject: new year party in nijmegen? info needed... > hej! > Can someone point me to information about the new year party > in Nijmegen(sp?) in Netherlands. I am interested to go, but don't > know who to contact for details. thanks for any information. > Cheers. > Mohan P. > Stockholm, Sweden. ________________________________________________________ Garrit Fleischmann email: Garrit.Fleischmann @gmx.de oder kontakt @cyber-tango.com Tango: http://www.cyber-tango.com/ Witze: http://www.cyber-tango.com/jokes/jokes.html ________________________________________________________


Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 02:29:32 +1300 From: Alex White <alex_tangofirulete @XTRA.CO.NZ> Subject: tonights fun Lesson :) etc (from the kiwi tanguero) Dear Tangueros del barrio mundial, I'm feeling quite enthusiastic after teaching my Intermediate / Advanced class tonight. And couldn't resist to share some thoughts... Partly due to the fact of having a gender imbalance (of more women than men). I decided to reverse the leading / following roles. For the main part of the class. I was impressed by how well many of the students followed / lead & they had lots of fun too (shown in lots of loud laughter). So we all had a great time :) Then proceeded to do a "basic" but enjoyable "pendulim-type leg displacement move". One problem I sometimes have, is that I get several people who have done classes elsewhere who think of themselves as "advanced" dancers - yet do not know how to execute "basic" fundamental elements of Tango. ?!?!?! Because of this I prefer that all my "new" students attend several (depending on the individual)-at least 6 beginners classes before proceeding to a higher level. --Does this sound ok to do? The classes are starting to grow quite a lot - which is great! I do regular street dancing - in promotion of my classes (on a fine summer's day, when there is one in Wellington!) This plus several other marketting bits and pieces should, hopefully see me stay working with tango "fulltime"...(I've been faithfully relying on the class income since I last returned from Argentina in June. (I was at the CITA '99). Anyways....back to my bandoneon practise....(thanks all who sent me bandoneon info ! ) My website is nearly done: Any feedback on it? , (links?) www.come.to/tango_firulete - I really appreciate the great tango talk on this list. And the positive atmosphere. HAPPY DANCING PARA TODOS!!!!!!!! Alex White TANGO FIRULETE alex_tangofirulete @yahoo.com Ph: +(64 4) 567-9406 +64 (0)21 254 3891 Tango argentino classes; Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays. http://come.to/tango_firulete :)


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 06:40:56 -0800 From: AisA <aisstilla @YAHOO.COM> Subject: Re: public lessons >Jack Karako wrote: >>Some very good dancers are not good teachers, the >> reverse is not true. >> Good teachers are good dancers. JC Dill wrote: > I strongly disagree with this. > Many excellent teachers, especially teachers of > beginners, are actually not > "good dancers". So you are saying that someone who can not execute what he/she is saying can still be a good teacher. I think Jack's statement may be rephrased as: Good teachers are/were good dancers. > It is more important to be able to > TEACH than to be able > to DANCE. In this context I agree, and yet still don't see how a good teacher can not dance well. There is something wrong in this vision. Dance training is not much comparable to horse riding. Please. The fact that lady Sally can teach without being on a horse has nothing to do with the inability of a so called good tango teacher to execute tango. best __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:54:22 -0500 From: Nitin Kibe <nkibe @WORLDBANK.ORG> Subject: Exercises >Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 15:58:54 EST >From: Timothy Pogros <TimmyTango @AOL.COM> >And as far as beginners doing advanced steps, HELP I'm pulling my hair out. I >have a beginning class followed by an intermediate class, followed by a >practica. Everyone want to do the qounchos first. No one practices the walks, >the lead and follow. I really think there is no getting away from it. Now I >start all classes no matter what level with something basic or beginning and >then go from there, but still no one practices the walks. >Does any one have a fun exercise for walking technique, something that will >keep everyone's interest. Most times when I start a walking exercise, people >will either sit down or go BS with someone. Yes, Sandor and Daniela began their classes at the London Tango Festival with a very enjoyable and useful set of exercises, about 25-30 minutes long, which was worth the price of admission by itself. The set covered walks, ochos, stretches, lapizes, amagues, syncopations, etc etc to catchy and rhythmic "club" tangos. Unfortunately, I did not take a private lesson, their condition for allowing videotaping (I don't have a problem with that, by the way). However, I did suggest to Sandor that he consider making a tape of the exercises for sale as a stand alone item. Let us see what happens. Nito and Elba too have some exercises on a tape of their workshops in Stanford, circa 96-97, but more limited and less "fun". I daresay others do too. Regards. Nitin Kibe


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:41:00 -0500 From: Michael Ditkoff <Michael.B.Ditkoff @USDOJ.GOV> Subject: The Beginner's Steps I've followed with keen interest the postings about beginners from Renaldo, Timmy Tango, Tom, and Emanuela. I suggest the following to beginners and to teachers. Great musicians practice before concerts. Not only do they practice the compositions on the program, they practice scales, in different keys, over and over. Ballet dancers perform warm up exercises (including basic moves) before performing. Baseball players practice catching before games. Q. What's the point? A. To be good at difficult motions, you have to be good at basic motions. Let's be honest. The pyrotechnic moves attracts people to tango. Beginner's eyes are bigger than their skill level. They don't have a clue of the complexity of some moves. After losing my balance several times, I realized I couldn't (and shouldn't even try) figures beyond my skill level. Balance is everything. Without balance, dancing is like walking in cement. IMHO, I feel teachers should emphasize smoothness of walks. My goal is take my partner and go down the floor like skaters on ice. For myself, more passion and technique is always better than a complex figure performed badly. Men need to learn the most important person on the dance floor IS THEIR PARTNER. When people pay to see them dance, they can concentrate on the audience. Until that time, concentrate on the partner. For myself, I can't have a good dance unless my partner has a good dance. Tango is communication between two dancers. IT'S NOT DAMN STEPS. Pay attention to Renaldo's post. He gets compliments for his walking and passion. Timmy Tango wrote that he pulls his hair out in exasperation. Wrong!! Tim should pull on the hair of the beginners. That will get their attention. Have a good Thanksgiving one and all. When I return to email next Tuesday, hopefully I won't be spammed. But that's the chance you take when you post.


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 21:11:28 +0100 From: Alexis Cousein <al @BRUSSELS.SGI.COM> Subject: Re: New Years Eve Gala kick-off for the millinnium(Palo Alto Ca. Donna Sotiropoulos wrote: > > Hi everyone, > Freddy @ Cafe Fino who was so supportive and our last event has agreed to let > us kick this event off at his retaurant tonight. > Things will start happening at 7:30 tonight at Cafe Fino. We will dance to > some good music and start the millinium celebration. One year early for the millenium on my calendar- as the Gregorian calendar starts with 1 AD (there is no year zero AD), the first millenium is years 1-1000 AD, and the second is years 1001-2000. The third starts on Jan, 1, 2001. Well, thanks to your original spelling, we can have it both ways: we'll let the "millinium" start in 2000 ;). -- Alexis Cousein (at home) Systems Engineer Silicon Graphics Belgium NV/SA E-mail: al @brussels.sgi.com Office Tel.: +32 2 6790050


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 16:04:25 +0100 From: Niclas Mattsson <niclas @ENTEK.CHALMERS.SE> Subject: Suppliers of instruction videos Hi! Simple question: are there other suppliers of tango instruction videos (on the internet or not) apart from www.bridgetothetango.com? Especially anything in Europe? Extra costs for shipping, customs, sales tax & european formatted tapes are at least $35 for a $50 video tape delivered from USA to Sweden, so I'm looking for a better option ... Also, has the 5 video set of "Asi se baila el tango" by Osvaldo Zotto and Mora Godoy been translated to English? I know there is a one video summary in English, but I'm interested in the whole set. Thanks!! Niclas Mattsson


Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 17:05:25 EST From: Donna Sotiropoulos <VERGAD @AOL.COM> Subject: (no subject) Hello List, I want to thank all who joined our kick -off and helped with the event Monday night at the Cafe Fino iin Palo Alto in the Bay Area of California. It was a great success and I felt it brought the Tango community even closer together in the Bay Area. I was very happy to see people from San Francisco join us .I know it is very much of a trip for you. I know the Millennium Event will also be a great success and a lot of fun. Get your tickets early to insure yourself a spot on the dance floor to help the MayView Community Health Center.You can call @650 938.3261 or Angie @ 969.0411or for more information http:www.inscenes.com/party.shtml?party or http://www.quality.stanford.edu Thanks again Donna Sotiropoulos


End of TANGO-L Digest - 23 Nov 1999 to 24 Nov 1999 (#1999-72) *************************************************************