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Digest from 6 May 1999
to 7 May 1999
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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 03:00:03 -0400
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 6 May 1999 to 7 May 1999
There are 11 messages totalling 424 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Lunfardo y Gobello
2. Jorge Nel's Tango Congress in Miami Beach...afterthoughts (2)
3. FESTIVAL TANGOFOLIES 99
4. Rotating Partners :-) or :-( ?
5. Are dancers Tango-concert muzzle?
6. Baila Tango - Metin Yazir news
7. Rotating Partners
8. Rotating Partners...leaders perspective (2)
9. Leaning Post
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 10:29:19 EDT
From: "Carlos G. Groppa" <Tango4You @AOL.COM>
Subject: Lunfardo y Gobello
Hola!
A quienes les interese el lunfardo y Jose Gobello, presidente de la Academia
Portena del Lunfardo, hay una nota suya, titulada "Un cura lunfardo",
publicada en la revista Tango Reporter.
Se la puede leer en el Internet. Entrar en "http://www.tangoreporter.com", y
luego cliquear el indice.
Un abrazo,
Carlos G.
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 16:50:38 +0200
From: Helaine Treitman <treitman @GIOTTO.ORG>
Subject: Re: Jorge Nel's Tango Congress in Miami Beach...afterthoughts
Dear Arturo and the List,
I also got saturated with tango the during Jorge Nel's Congress, but I was
by no means "tangoed-out", though I took six hours of classes every day and
danced 3 hours more every night. On the contrary, I was ready and in shape
for what came next on my way back to Italy: two perfect nights of tango in
Utrecht and Amsterdam! After the Congress I was dancing cleaner and I felt
more stylistically versatile than ever before, which served me well in the
Netherlands, where the level of tango is perhaps the highest in Europe.
For the Miami Congress I had decided in advance to focus on classes by
three couples: Daniela & Armando, Eduardo & Veronica, Osvaldo & Lorena. I
was very happy with their teaching. Especially important to me were
Daniela's woman's technique classes, a private lesson with Daniela, Daniela
& Armando's tango fantasia class, dancing with Armando(!), Eduardo &
Veronica's vals and canyengue classes and their unique & fun tango fantasia
class, and of course, the cleaner technique that I always come away with
and really appreciate from any class with Osvaldo & Lorena. I felt so
fortunate to be able to get immersed in training by these masters who were
all available to us for 6 days.
While classes were rigorous, in this resort atmosphere on Miami Beach the
teachers were more relaxed and accessible than I'd ever seen them when they
come to a big city, and I was able to get to know them better. I think
they had as much fun as we did. The weather was gorgeous. I enjoyed my
time off with my husband Marc, who joined me at the hotel and who for the
first time got to know my tango friends and teachers. I also liked meeting
tangueros and tangueras from all over the US. And Jorge and Marta did an
excellent job of making the program run almost seamlessly. (I run a
resident school and know what kind of effort this takes!) Elberto and
other members of their staff, as well as the volunteer Miami tangueros like
Arturo, Frank, Gil and Carlos, gave generously of their time and attention
to ensure that we all had a good experience. Gracias, amigos.
The Hotel did give us a great price, and staying there was very pleasant.
They gave Marc and me an oceanfront room with a balcony in honor of our
anniversary; next year I'll reserve early and ask for the same room.
What I'd do differently next year is go to restaurants more selectively and
use the fridge in our room more to save money on food; I'd rather spend it
on more private lessons. And I'd make sure I had partners of my choice
agreed in advance of the classes, because my least memorable classes were
those where I wound up with a partner with whom I didn't click, or whom I
felt was at a different level. I'm wonder if there's a way Jorge and Marta
can screen the participants to assure they're in the appropriate level -
but I guess this problem exists in most workshops. (I was guilty myself
once of taking a masterclass with Osvaldo and Lorena, just because I wanted
to, when I didn't really belong there.)
So, to sum up, I'm recommending that you start planning for next year's
end-of-winter escape to sunny Miami Beach, where you can work as hard as
you want to on your tango while you're having a wonderful time.
Sincerely,
Helaine
--The International School of Art in Umbria, Italy
06057 Montecastello di Vibio (PG), Italy
Tel / Fax +39-075-8780223 US Voicemail 212-386-2705
http://www.giotto.org/ email: treitman @giotto.org
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 19:30:16 +0200
From: marie-lorraine bontron <mlb @DMTSUN2.EPFL.CH>
Subject: FESTIVAL TANGOFOLIES 99
Hola,
Tangofolie invites you to join the beautiful region of Lausanne for the fifth edition
of the international tango festival " Les Tangofolies de Lausanne 99 "
Information are available in french and english on our website http://www.tangofolie.ch
where you can also register Online.
Hoping to see you in Lausanne,
Un abrazo
Marie-Lorraine
PS: Ask info by email to infoTF99 @dmtsun2.epfl.ch if don't have access to the web...
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 11:37:37 -0700
From: JC Dill <tango @VO.CNCHOST.COM>
Subject: Re: Jorge Nel's Tango Congress in Miami Beach...afterthoughts
On 04:50 PM 5/6/99 +0200, Helaine Treitman wrote:
>I'd make sure I had partners of my choice
>agreed in advance of the classes, because my least memorable classes were
>those where I wound up with a partner with whom I didn't click, or whom I
>felt was at a different level. I'm wonder if there's a way Jorge and Marta
>can screen the participants to assure they're in the appropriate level -
>but I guess this problem exists in most workshops. (I was guilty myself
>once of taking a masterclass with Osvaldo and Lorena, just because I wanted
>to, when I didn't really belong there.)
Are you saying that people who didn't know one another were paired up at
the beginning of a class and then no one rotated partners during the
duration of the class?
Why?
It is generally accepted that rotating partners in a class is the only way
to ensure that you are BOTH correctly learning the lead and follow of a
move. Otherwise it is possible (and likely) that you will develop
compensating mistakes, and can only do the move with each other and not
with other partners.
I would NOT attend a class, workshop, or intensive weekend or week where it
was commonplace for instructors to not rotate their students.
I just attended Swing Break in Santa Clara. Every Instructor rotated their
students, and every student was expected to rotate, even if they "came with
a partner". This way, if you get stuck with a bad partner, it is only for
a short time until you rotate again to the next person in line. This also
helps when there is an imbalance of partners, if you are without a partner
it will only be for a short while until there is a rotation and then the
next person will be out (but again, only for a short while).
jc
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 14:00:37 -0500
From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Rotating Partners :-) or :-( ?
JC wrote:
>It is generally accepted that rotating partners in a class is the only way
>to ensure that you are BOTH correctly learning the lead and follow of a
>move. Otherwise it is possible (and likely) that you will develop
>compensating mistakes, and can only do the move with each other and not
>with other partners.
>I would NOT attend a class, workshop, or intensive weekend or week where it
>was commonplace for instructors to not rotate their students.
Rotating partners solves some problems, but it creates many others.
A few years ago, Susan and I attended an advanced tango class taught by a
well-known instructor who was a visitor to the area where the class was
being taught. (The name of the instructor and the location are
unimportant.)
Before we attended the class, Susan and I debated with ourselves about
whether we would be considered advanced. We decided to go to the class,
thinking we could always just dance with each other and not inflict
ourselves on others if we were not good enough to be there.
What a laugh!
Few who attended the class were even qualified to be called intermediate
dancers except in their own minds. Susan and I did not discover this,
however, until the instructor called for a rotation. For most of the class
we both had partners who could barely execute the most basic steps. We
learned very little tango.
I find it significant that for a recent week-long intensive and advanced
course that Gustavo Naveira and Olga Besio offered through Daniel Trenner's
Bridge to the Tango, all participants were required to attend with a partner
with whom they were prepared to spend 80 percent of their class time
dancing.
--Steve de Tejas
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 23:22:00 +0100
From: Jochen Herdel <jochen.herdel @HD.RHEIN-NECKAR.DE>
Subject: Re: Are dancers Tango-concert muzzle?
quoting: j.schulz @STR.DAIMLER-BENZ.COM (Schulz Johannes)
subject: Are dancers Tango-concert muzzle? (05.05.99)
Johannes,
> In Stuttgart (germany), I made the experince, that if there is a
> Tango concert, only a very samll part of the dancers come to the
> event, but nobody of the dancers will miss a big salon with Tango
> live music.
[...]
I know exactly what you mean.
Speaking for myself: What's first is the music. My love affair with Tango
Argentino started with the music. Then, some time later, came the dancing.
I can imagine to simply listen to the music without dancing, but I can't
imagine having to dance when there's no music. That would be senseless to
me (I'm *not* talking about practicing steps here!).
When the fabulous Sexteto Canyengue was playing in Heidelberg & Karlsruhe
last month, I was listening and watching both times to feel and understand
every note, each syncope... I virtually sucked all the music in. It was so
very very good. It would have been disapointing to dance to that wonderful
music, to have to deal with all the other folks around, to have to
concentrate on so many other things instead of just inhaling the music.
There are other Tango musicians who play a more steady and rhythmic Tango
you don't have to listen to so carefully to understand; it's no great deal
to dance to that kind of live music. It depends...
The best followers are the ones who feel the music (the way I do) and
understand my lead's relationship to the music. To dance with those ladies
is like magic. Others may know the steps and do them perfectly as well,
but it's simply not the same. They don't (know how to) listen to the
music.
Jochen
--
mailto:j.herdel @hd.rhein-neckar.de ** http://www.rhein-neckar.de/~hd
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 16:27:24 EDT
From: Jack Karako <JKarako @AOL.COM>
Subject: Baila Tango - Metin Yazir news
Hello everyone,
Baila Tango in addition to it's regular saturday night milongas in New York,
also started offering regular lessons. (319 5th Avenue @32nd St. 4th Floor)
In June, Metin Yazir will start offering a comprehensive list of classes.
Please check our web site for further details www.BailaTango.com,
For registration to these classes and/or for private lessons with Metin
please e-mail me at JKarako @BailaTango.com or call 212 641 8859.
It is going to be a hot June in New York :)
Jak Karako
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 22:05:03 +0200
From: Colin Brace <cbrace @LIM.NL>
Subject: Re: Rotating Partners
On 05/06/99 at 02:00 PM, Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
wrote:
> Rotating partners solves some problems, but it creates many others.
I too have ambivalent feelings about rotating partners. Its advantages
are that for many beginners it can be hard to find a partner -- this can
be a particular problem for women -- and come-one, come-all classes are
a way of jump-starting this hurdle in the learning process. On the down
side, it can be frustrating to end up a dancing with a partner of
incompatible size or ability.
In BsAs, the vast majority of the beginning/intermediate classes are
open to individuals, and some teachers, like Corine de la Rosa (Julio y
Corine), are extremely scrupulous about rotating partners when the sexes
are unbalanced in number to ensure that all the women get a chance to
dance. However, I also have had less than glorious experiences: at the
workshop of one well-known teacher there, I was assigned to a English
woman, a head shorter than me, six or seven months pregnant and wearing
birkenstock sandles, who had never taken a tango class before, and
wandered in off the street, more or less. Unfortunately the teacher
didn't rotate us for the rest of the class, so I hardly got a chance to
practice the rather complex figure he had taught. It was, to put it
charitably, an exercise in futility.
Teachers: if you rotate, do it consistently please.
--
Colin Brace <cbrace @lim.nl>
Amsterdam
NL
http://www.lim.nl/tango
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 16:45:39 -0700
From: Bruss Bowman <Bruss @QMACS.COM>
Subject: Re: Rotating Partners...leaders perspective
>From a leaders perspective, rotation of partners either in our out of a
class setting will only serve to make you a better dancer in the long run.
I too, am very familiar with being stuck with a partner of rather bovine
characteristics in the course of a class and realize that it's not the most
enjoyable experience. However, leading a wide variety of women on a regular
basis teaches you to 1. be sensitive to varying skill levels 2. force your
lead to be more clear and exacting.
Two dancers, Gustavo and Fabian both share a common trait that I,
personally, admire very much and am working towards. They both have the
ability to take a woman of minimal experience and make her look like a star.
An ability like this is not obtained by only dancing with one person or with
people you consider to be at "your" level but by dancing with followers of
all levels and challenging yourself as a leader to be able to lead beginners
like they were a Milena Plebs.
Of course all this assumes a class or practica setting, when "Emancipation"
is being played at Estrella you can be certain I will be found partnering
the very best woman I can find :-)
Bruss Bowman
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 20:52:14 EDT
From: Kathy Seymour <KNSandJTS @AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Rotating Partners...leaders perspective
In a message dated 5/6/99 8:09:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Bruss @QMACS.COM
writes:
> I too, am very familiar with being stuck with a partner of rather bovine
> characteristics in the course of a class and realize that it's not the most
> enjoyable experience.
Wow.............define "bovine", please.
> I will be found partnering the very best woman I can find.
How would you know if you never give the Rubenesque women a chance. Like my
dear, fat, old mom used to say, "Big people are usually very
graceful...........they have to be to balance on those tiny little feet."
Moooooooooooooooooooooo to you,
Kathy
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 22:39:15 -0400
From: "Walter M. Kane" <oldzeid @FRONTIERNET.NET>
Subject: Re: Leaning Post
> From: Tom Stermitz Monday, May 03, 1999 9:25 PM
>
> > From: Kate Withey Tuesday, April 27, 1999 5:35 PM
> >
> >> ... weight does NOT have to be downward.... the weight you give
> >> your partner being UPWARD.
> >
> >Forgive me Kate, but I have to ask this:
> >
> >Can you fly? ;-)
> >
> >Tangringo
>
> You jest perhaps?
>
> What Kate expressed is very, very effective & beneficial. This one,
simple
> little mental rearrangement makes a tremendous improvement. Language may
> not always be precise, but casting your weight upward captures the image
> nicely.
Sure, I jest. The concept may be fine, but the terminology is not only
imprecise, it simply doesn't communicate the concept; at least not to me.
Absent anti-gravity machines, weight, by definition, is down. If there is
something about posture and attitutude that can have a beneficial
(uplifiting?) effect on your partner, I'm sure it needs to be shown, and
can't be taught in an email message. But if you want your reader to have a
clue, there must be a better word for it than "weight."
Tangringo
End of TANGO-L Digest - 6 May 1999 to 7 May 1999
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