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Argentine tango blog
/ with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke |
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November 2004
Fandango Tango 2004, Austin, TX
Texas, Iran, Finland, UkraineNov. 29, 2004 - Saturday overnight milonga, Fandango tango, Austin, TX
The milonga should have been billed show with a bit of milonga. I had to drive back to Colorado on Sunday. That meant I needed some sleep. That in turn meant I had to leave milonga before 2 AM. Due to some evil DJing by Robin I had to stay till 2:30 - how can one leave when Sacale Punta by Donato is playing? I had to rush out the room after the song in case he decided to play Corazon de Oro next).
I do enjoy watching other people dance but prefer much more to dance myself. Instead, I had to watch for two hours some tango performances plus violin performance by eight year old prodigy plus neverending rumbling performance by host who happened to be in love with his head microphone. ? You can tell that I felt a bit cranky about having to leave without being worn out by dancing. It's good to have a 10-15 minutes performance break after several hours of dancing. This is what they do in BsAs an it makes sense. However when break drags for two hours it overwhelms the rest of the activity.
Clay pointed out that unlike Portland festival the show attracts many paying non-dancing spectators. Good for them and possibly good for tango marketing but what about me, who simply wants to explore tango geography by dancing with partners from around the country?
Nov. 27, 2004 - Random observations from Fandango tango festival in Austin, TX
Romans built Colloseum. Texans, not to be left behind, built giant highway overpasses. I do not see any other reason but pure aesthetic for the grandiose scale especially considering that highway entries and exits are clearly hazardous (in Austin).
A t-shirt weather in Austin. The city is overgrown Madison except instead of a lake in the middle of downtown Colorado river runs through it. Palm trees, bamboo and runners are in abundance along the river. There are several excellent beaches. Unfortunately they are flooded this week. So hot tub in the hotel is the only dip-in option for me. I tried to find some funky cafes, in vain. Then again I have not explored University area all that well.
It's a smallish festival so far (Wednesday and Thursday) - there are as many people as at the usual well attended milonga at Merc in Denver (about hundred). Yet, some good dancers are in attendance, mostly from New Mexico, even though all regions of US are represented (Seattle, North and South CA, New York, Boston, North Carolina, Seattle, Portland, Miami, Arizona, a dozen or so dancers from Colorado). I expect more people will show up for Friday milonga. According to organizers about 150 have registered for the classes.
Indeed more people have attended the Friday milonga. Talking of which, table placement was most unfortunate - all bunched at one side of the floor. Nearly impossible to attempt cabeceo or simply to watch dancers from second or third row.
Music. Robin (NY) DJed at Thursday evening minimilonga and deservedly got applause from the dancers after he was done. Obviously he knows more than just alternative tango. The rest of DJing was unremarkable except for some reason all of DJs played some not overly danceable modern bands toward the end of milongas. For dancing? Hard core Pugliese in the beginning of one milonga? No cortinas on Wednesday? On Friday two people have DJed for two hours each. Why?
People wandering around lobby wondering if there is any space to practice steps. Practica time would be nice. Well, after I wrote this I have joined the wandering people, who happened to be from Dallas, at the hotel's bar where we had danced for uninterrupted two hours to our own tango CDs. Definitely a highlight of this particular festival.
Where else but at tango festival can one wander into a passionate discussion of close vs. open embrace, which touches on physicality of the dance, universal estrangement, masturbation and Plato. Delicious hour. Way to go Tango Leva.
There are some good looking dancers in Dallas. You could see thirteen of them at very well made Tango calendar by Candice White. I had similar idea for a tango calendar, she had actually done it. Inspired like me by "Calendar Girls".
About classes. You have to buy entire day worth of classes at this festival, cannot buy one class at the time. This goes completely against the grain of how I take classes - one or two per day or per entire festival (my feeble mind cannot hold more material than that). So I have not taken any. However it gets even worse than that. If you do not take classes on Thursday you cannot get into the evening mini-milonga. Considering that this is Thanksgiving and pretty much everything is closed, all you are left with is books, internet and TV for entire day. Not very friendly if you ask me. Fortunately they have changed this particular policy, but a few people did not know that, got quite pissed off.
The perennial question of floorcraft. It was adequate for the room. The large size of the room in other words was the saving grace of the craft. I noticed that the savvier of the dancers tended to stay in the safer, outside lane. I tried to make myself look savvy and danced in the outside lane too - this way you have to worry about getting bumped from one side only, the left one.
After classes are done the lobby of the hotel is invaded by people with laptops - it has free wireless hotspot. Some listen to soccer games straight from Buenos Aires. Others write to Tango-L.
If you are in Austin and have a car at your disposal drive 35 minute south to exit 191 and find small tourist trap called Gruene. Have a steak and watch sunset at the restaurant perched on top of high river bank, then go to one of the oldest dance halls in Texas and dance some tango to country music. That should make your stay in Austin much more memorable and certainly different.
Overall mixed feelings about this festival. On one hand it's always exciting to discover new and fun partners. On the other foot DJing, class schedule and floor layout clearly could be more inviting.
Off to Saturday, overnight milonga.
Nov. 19, 2004 - Dancing rhythm with the melody
Insightful quote from Close-Embrace website. Interview with Korey Ireland, tango musician and dancer:
Imagine trying to step on every melodic note of Reliquias Portenas for example. It would be something akin to an epileptic seizure. But we could let melody suggest places to add little rhythmic moments and perhaps places to use less activity. I think often, good dancers use the melody to keep the dance from becoming routine. Melodies often share very human characteristics, like the need to breath, or to balance tension and release. This can be a great influence on the dance.
and some perceptions of tango growth:
...my perception is, the number of tango CDs released in the last year is probably triple the number released in the year 2000. I find that very encouraging. Even better, in this country, the number of tango bands that perform for dancers at least once a month, has probably increased five fold in that same time period.
Nov. 18, 2004 - How floorcraft relates to horse races
From Robin:
There is a simple truism that eludes too many of our tango friends: Tango is not a race: there is no finish line. Therefore, there is no reason to overtake.
Brilliant. Of course some dancers overtake simply because they have limited dance vocabulary, do not know what else to do but to march forward.
Nov. 17, 2004 - More on passion and technique
WHITE 95 R wrote:
...I've met plenty of passionate incompetents who in their overconfidence and hubris will make a huge mess out of whatever they touch. I'd take technical competence and solid credentials over passion anytime when it comes to many aspects of life. Engineering and toolmaking come to my mind (I'm very familiar with these fields) and I know for a fact that technical competence is paramount to success and respect in those professions as well.
Consider these:
1. All the tools were created initially in a moment of "passion". Indifferent people have no desire to make them.
2. Passionate incompetents could have enough passion to stick around to learn the skills. Indifferent incompetents? How do passionate competents compare to impassionate "competents"?
3. Solid credentials (recognition by peers) are result of deep interest, passion (unless you are talking about degrees and other superficial labels (incompetent doctors come to mind), which is separate topic altogether).
Nov. 16, 2004 - Passion and technique, the sequel
Good follow up from Sean in PA:
Strength is essential, but otherwise unimportant.
I think that quote is by John Roebling, but I can to find the source. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know. Regardless, it refers to great structural design. Modified for great dancing, it might read:
Technique is essential, but otherwise unimportant.
If you prefer Euclidean logic, consider:
You might say:
All great dancers have excellent technique.
But you can t logically say:
All dancers with excellent technique are great.
Most of us prefer to dance with partners who have both passion and technical competence. But if I can't have both, I'd much rather dance with a passionate beginner than an experienced but sterile technician. If I can't evoke an emotional response from my partner, I finish the tanda feeling used and abused; and I won t ask her to dance again.
Nov. 15, 2004 - Tango radio stream over internet
In addition to Todo Tango you can now listen to uninterrupted tango mussic at Radio Tango. They do play some not so hot choices and the sequence is rather random.
Nov. 14, 2004 - What is an idiota?
Robin has the answer:
An idiota would be someone who tried to dance to the cortina or stood there on the dancefloor with their embarrassed partner while the cortina was playing.
The rest of his advice on proper milonga behaviour is equally good. Read it here.
Nov. 12, 2004 - Passion and technique
From Leonard Kunkel via Tango-L:
"Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion."
Martha Graham
1894-1919, Dancer, Teacher and ChoreographerNotice that Martha talks about great dancers who have already mastered the technique. One still need to take classes to get there. Good news - if you are passionate about the dance, classes are not burden at all.
Nov. 10, 2004 - DJing at Mercury Cafe - the reception
Well, the reaction I got was quite warm. There was a steady stream of people inquiring just what I have just played and not surprisingly when I played "Corazon de oro" very few dancers remained seated. I think I could see about five people still sitting by the end of the song - must have had broken legs or something. I did make couple mistakes: at some point the music was a bit too loud - hard to judge from the booth; and I have been forced to extend the first 1.5 hour to 2 hours, added Canaro after Laurenz - Garcia would be a better choice.
Nov. 9, 2004 - DJing at Mercury Cafe
I am going to DJ at Merc this Friday. Extasis will perform and I will DJ in the gaps. It's rather hard to cut 23 hours of good music to 2 hours of great. I started by making 4.5 h selection since I didn't know if Extasis would be at Merc this Friday. Some great music by Orchesta Tipica Victor, Garcia, Di Sarli, Rodriguez had to be left out in the final two hours selection. Here is the final cut:
First 1.5h, rhythmic: tango [Fresedo/Di Sarli - Malerba] - vals [Rodrigues/Canaro/Garcia] - tango [D'Arienzo - D'Agostino] - milonga [D'Agostino/Donato] - vals [Canaro] ---- in case Extasis is not ready yet, tango [Laurenz]
Extasis, slower, sensual, flowing
20-40 min intermission, high energy, intricate, sensual: valse [De Angelis] - tango [Calo] - milonga[Canaro/Di Sarli/Demare] - valse [OTV/D'Arienzo/Troilo] - tango [Troilo - Pugliese]
Extasis, slower, sensual, flowing
10-30 min end, alternative tangos and valses + La Cumparsita
Denver is not Colorado Springs and DJ quality there has improved lately. I wonder what kind of reception will I get.
Nov. 5, 2004 - One word, volumes of meaning
From description of p.s., the movie: "Louise (Laura Linney), an admissions officer at Columbia University, is intelligent, pretty, successful, and unfulfilled." Say no more...
The five stories: the story of Louise, the unfulfilled admissions officer, the film makers who made this film, the film critic, who described the movie this way, the movie goers who will be enticed by the description, and me, who found it amusing. There are many more stories besides these, the obvious ones of course.
Nov. 4, 2004 - Balance and connection
A word of advise I should not forget to give to beginners: "Just like in "real" life you have to be on your own balance - the more grounded (self-reliant) you are the more you can contribute to interaction with your partner, the more meaningful is your contribution. Hence stand on your entire foot (no tip-toeing, I need to feel where your feet are) and lean forward just enough to be able to communicate. Do not cling - desperation is wearisome." Well, maybe not to complete beginners.
The very first step I teach is shifting weight from one foot to another in place (no embrace). To facilitate torso comunication I tell students to transfer about 2/3 of their weight on the balls of their feet (in addition to showing the correct posture, leaning without bowing, leaning without presenting perky butt etc.). That leaves about 1/3 of the weight for the rest of the foot. Obviously the exact numbers are bogus, but the concept is there.
I was reminded about this recently by one of my students who told me that her other instructor told her to walk on the balls of her feet. When she was doing that the image of her feet, her "presence" felt too blurry, not crisp enough.
Nov. 3, 2004 - More pics from Halloween milongas
Pirates invade Monterey bay milongas in October. From Claire (http://www.tangomontereybay.com).
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