The Tango-L mailing list archive
Digest from 27 Oct 1999
to 28 Oct 1999
Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
To: Recipients of TANGO-L digests <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 03:00:03 -0400
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
From: Automatic digest processor <LISTSERV @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 27 Oct 1999 to 28 Oct 1999 (#1999-47)
There are 7 messages totalling 257 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. right, wrong, faults and excuses
2. Trip to Buenos Aires
3. About learning to dance Tango
4. The good old days (2)
5. Is it usal?
6. Glas Kat
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:27:26 +0200
From: Peter Niebert <Peter.Niebert @IMAG.FR>
Subject: right, wrong, faults and excuses
Some recent postings made me write this down:
* * *
You do not always know when it is wrong.
You always KNOW when it is RIGHT!
Both, leader and follower contribute to the dance - also by "mistakes".
It is rarely the woman's fault, mostly the man's fault.
"Mistakes" are a problem only for the perfectionist.
Tango has the tendency of making you a perfectionist!
The one makes a mistake is responsible of it.
A mistake of the leader can make the follower feel or look bad.
A mistake of the follower can make the leader feel or look bad.
After a mistake of the leader it is the leader's responsibility
to arrange the smooth continuation of the dance.
After a mistake of the follower it is also the leader's responsibility
to arrange the smooth continuation of the dance.
Dance with love for your partner. Or do not dance with him/her.
If you dance with love for your partner, you need never say sorry.
Peter
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 21:29:55 -0600
From: tangobabe <tangobabe @IAMIT.COM>
Subject: Trip to Buenos Aires
Could someone who went to CITA last March share their advice with those of
us going to CITA-2000?
What is Club Espanol like for classes, milongas?
What hotels are best that are within walking distance of Club Espanol?
What are the best places to eat?
What are local tangueros like in the milongas?
What are various teachers like?!!!
Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated!
Muchas gracias,
Gina.
_____________________________________________
Free email with personality! Over 200 domains!
http://www.MyOwnEmail.com
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:13:20 -0500
From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Re: About learning to dance Tango
It is difficult for most of us to judge how historically accurate are
the claims that some instructors make about what was the traditional
method of learning tango. I cannot personally verify that men
traditionally learned by dancing the followers part while older men
from their neighborhood or family led, and that a young man switched
to the leader's part only when they became skillful enough in
following. Some older milongueros and stage performers do say they
learned tango this way, but generalizing from these few may not be
appropriate. Some older milongueros also condemn the practice of
teaching tango with the use of same-sex partners and deny that it has
much historical precedence. It is much safer to say that practices
may have varied from family to family and neighborhood to
neighborhood.
Of course, even if learning tango with a partner of the same sex does
not have the strong historical precedence that some might want us to
believe, it may still be of value to the student. Learning the
follower's part is helpful to leaders because a leader must have some
basic knowledge of the follower's part to lead it properly. That a
man must dance with another man to learn the follower's part is a bit
more difficult to justify, however. Learning the leader's part
appears to be of limited value to most followers, although it may give
them an appreciation of the demands on the leaders.
That the professor might benefit from encouraging students to work
with partners of the same sex in his classes should not be overlooked.
A short-term benefit to the instructor is that the instructor no
longer has to cope with any of the gender imbalances that migh occur
in his classes. In addition, an instructor who also advocates
genderless tango, may increase its acceptability by exposing his
students to the practice. A further advantage comes to the instructor
if he is able to raise his visibility through the controversy he
creates with his semi-accurate interpretations of tango's history.
--Steve de Tejas
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:13:18 +0200
From: Jean-Pierre Jacquet <jpjfilms @CYBERCABLE.FR>
Subject: The good old days
This is to add spice to the discussion on the men learning with men in
the old days... Check out
(http://www.radio.cbc.ca/archives/programs/random/TANGO.HTML) a great 3
part broadcast from CBC out of Vancouver (downloadable), hosted by
Guadalupe Jolicoeur (with a name like that, you can't go wrong). Not
only does she movingly evokes the days of her grandmother and tango
dancing, but she also relate this tidbit: the tradition was for the
client of a bordello to dance 3 tangos with the lady of his choice
(hence the carried over tradition of 3 sets songs at milongas?); if she
found his dancing acceptable, they would retire to a more secluded area
to finish their business. And Jolicoeur goes on to describe how young
men would learn and practice their dancing outside the bordello, on the
streets, with other men, in order to hone their skills, a sine qua non
to eventually enjoy the payoff, so to speak.
Jean-Pierre Jacquet
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:03:35 -0700
From: Bruss Bowman <Bruss @QMACS.COM>
Subject: Re: Is it usal?
To the list,
I'm publishing this response to the list in behalf of Julian Miller Ramil
from the San Francisco Bay area.
Miller's response:
Hola Senior Christoph,
I'm Julian Miller Ramil, the host of the Tuesday
Night Milonga at El Valenciano. I apologize for your
unpleasant experience. My partner and I are always
open for suggestions to improve the ambiance of El
Valenciano. Unfortunately, on the night of your
visit, we were away conducting workshops in Hawaii.
We've addressed the ventillation problem to the owner
and it is in the process of being repaired. Regarding
the music of El Valenciano, we usually play tangos,
valses & milongas arranged during the era of
1935-1945. Although in Buenos Aires the standard is
to play sets of 4 pieces, we usually play sets of 3
for each orchestra such as: Carlos Disarli, Juan
D'Arienzo, Pedro Laurenz, Rodolfi Biagi, Anibal
Troilo....Since our Milonga is officially schedule to
run 9-midnight, we become open to requests without
bias after midnight, so you may hear modern
arrangements. Small talk that begins after each
song and carries on to the beginning of the next is a
very common practice. It's not easy to end a short
conversation punctually at the beginning of the next
tango. In the future we will inform our guest host to
be more attentive to the crowd and the music. Thanks
for your feedback.
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:07:26 +0100
From: white95r <white95r @HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: The good old days
You young people have so good. Why, when we were your age, we had to dance 5
kilometers, uphill, in the snow, barefoot and with other guys ;-)
Manuel
Original Message -----
From: Jean-Pierre Jacquet <jpjfilms @CYBERCABLE.FR>
Subject: The good old days
> the tradition was for the
> client of a bordello to dance 3 tangos with the lady of his choice
> (hence the carried over tradition of 3 sets songs at milongas?); if she
> found his dancing acceptable, they would retire to a more secluded area
> to finish their business. And Jolicoeur goes on to describe how young
> men would learn and practice their dancing outside the bordello, on the
> streets, with other men, in order to hone their skills, a sine qua non
> to eventually enjoy the payoff, so to speak.
> Jean-Pierre Jacquet
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 22:41:47 -0700
From: "Richard T. Simoni, Sr." <rtssr @BATNET.COM>
Subject: Glas Kat
Thanks to all who attended the Grand Opening. The club was very
comfortable what with the nice air-conditioning system. The lighting was
exquisite, the perfect atmosphere. Dale Meyers and his Strictly Tango
band added the excitement, along with the beautifully turned-out
dancers. The sushi bar was open all evening and the full restaurant will
be open in several weeks.
The GLAS KAT welcomes you to attend
EVERY MONDAY NIGHT WITH LIVE TANGO BAND
Hours 8:30 to 12:00 PM
with a beginner level Argentine Tango lesson at 7:45 - 8:30PM with
George Guim instructing. George will adapt the lesson to the
participants.
San Francisco's newest and most exciting dance club, Monday nights
dedicated to dancing Argentine Tango to the live music of Dale Meyers
and his STRICTLY TANGO band
Beautiful, brand new club built from the ground up as a dance club with
fabulous sound and lighting system. Two level (high) dance space with
tables and banquets, grand wood dance floor, 2nd level restaurant, two
bars, smoking room, and much more. A very elegant night spot to say the
least.
Located at 520 4th Street at 4th and Bryant in San Francisco
Entrance $10.00 per person at the door
Plenty (hopefully) of street parking in the neighborhood
For information call (650) 328-2718
End of TANGO-L Digest - 27 Oct 1999 to 28 Oct 1999 (#1999-47)
*************************************************************