Argentine tango blog                                  / with Interaction Design interludes / by Oleh Kovalchuke     Contact :  Oleh Kovalchuke  TangoSpring@gmail.com

	2006 :Current blog: :September: :August: :July: :June: :May: :April: :March: :February: :January:   2005 :November: :October: :September: :August: :July: :June: :January:   2004 :December: :November: :October: :September: :August: :Before August:			:Buenos Aires:  :Travel: :Dance Styles: :Technique: :Connection: :Teaching and Learning: :Tango is...: :History: :Etiquette: :Music: :DJing: :Odds:			:Interaction Design is Design of Time: :Process and Tools: :Advice and Solutions: :Books:

November 2005

Nov. 30, 2005 - How Argentine Tango relates to Interaction Design

The dearth of recent posts is due to lack of fresh insights worth writing about. I guess I have approached my usual three year saturation period. The only attribute I could add to “tango is intimacy without responsibility” definition is that the intimacy is inspired and facilitated by music since musicality is essential to getting in synch with each other.

Another reason for not writing to the blog is that I am spending more time thinking about interaction design. Tango did help me to figure out some of my personality traits aside from purely physical. Those are creativity, analysis and to some extent empathy. As well as weaker sides – dislike of pure maintenance. All of the stronger traits are important to become a good tango dancer and I think I will certainly keep tangoing as a hobby. Especially since tango is very therapeutic (for those of us who "live the lives of quiet desperation") - trip to Buenos Aires has been especially eye opening in this sense. All of the stronger traits are employed to even larger extent in interaction design. Hence the switch of focus. Possibly with another, "Interaction Design" blog.

Random
The Long Emergency by Kunstler is rather depressing if true book in spirit. The gist is: 1. Suburbia cannot be reformed to adjust to permanent lack of oil. 2. Moreover economy growth in the last century completely relied on unlimited supply of oil (this includes agriculture fertilizers, Wal-Mart business model, globalization etc.) 3. US economy and lifestyle high on cheap energy for the last century and a half will have much further to fall than societies with thriftier "backward" lifestyles. The fall will be very, very traumatic to every aspect of human life as we know it. His predictions for future however are off simply because he took nineteen centuries lifestyles and put them into the future without consideration of accumulated and shared knowledge available in all branches of human activity since those days. I thought Europe could do somewhat better since suburbia has not sprawled as much there but recent news about Golfstream and predicted 10 degree drop in temperature there are rather discouraging.

Nov. 20, 2005 - When to push the envelope (and when not to)

Russell Ranno wrote:

"Also, if you are dancing with unfamiliar partners, many are unfortunately not too excited about "pushing the envelope". "

There is a good reason for that. Pushing the envelope is spice of the dance. If you start to push the boundaries right away the unfamiliar partner might decide that this is your usual style of dance, that your style is too spicy to her/his taste and will stop dancing with you. All of this is written from personal experience.

The solution is simple: start simple, establish connection (first of all) and the boundaries - build mutual trust in other words. Then start pushing those boundaries depending on responsiveness and skills of your partner.

Caveat. With some exceptional dancers the connection is so obvious from the embrace you do not have to build the trust - it is there from the start - Laura, milonguera from Buenos Aires, who lives and teaches in Rome at the moment is one recent example that comes to mind.

Nov. 10, 2005 - Tango in Italy (Rome and Palermo)

Anticipation. Poster pointing the way to tango festival in Palermo, Sicily

Milonga at the tango festival in Palermo. Attrocious navigation. Several good dancers. Confident DJing by Melenita on the first day. Less so on the second day (different DJ).

Tango festival in Palermo, Sicily

Well, the festivals are usually organized to present workshops with traveling instructors, hence it should be expected that most of the attendees are those who come to take lessons and therefore more often than not are intermediate level dancers (beginners do not see any need to travel as yet). Compare to US there is more of unnecessary flair and less of rational thought. Hence my comment that officiency does not equal efficiency. Below are some cuff notes from the visit.

Day 1. Confident DJing. A and B level dancers. Atrocious floorcraft. Overall dancers are much younger than in the US.

Day 2. There is this guy with a lot of energy running circles around the floor with the same speed entire tanda. Tango music has structure and different levels of energy throughout the song. I guess it is not always obvious.

Day 3.
Waiting 20 minutes for milonga to start - officiency does not make efficiency. "Pelotudos" - such a descriptive word for bouncers (they employ professional bouncers in Italy).

DJ pretty much sucked. He didn't play Calo and Tanturi at all choosing rather boring selections from Canaro and Pugliese. As it happens the last two were the orchestras I have attempted to dance to. His milongas where uninspiring either. Maybe because of that my energy was rather low. Also I have forgotten the crucial triple S maxim - "Start Simple, Stupid" and tried to lead some rather advanced stuff without building the trust with new followers first. And without feeling true inspiration for doing advanced things either (music once more). Advanced steps uninspired by music = disaster - three followers have excused themselves. Moral dropped, mojo lost, Amazon opportunity missed, suicidal thoughts.

Palermo - in a word, congestion. In two words - great coffee and congestion. In four words, coffee, congestion, dilapidated buildings, smell of freshly done laundry. Smells - the prevalent is laundry - this is hanging everywhere from windows and balconies, good cured meat, occasional stale fish and urine.

Palermo is where cars share sidewalks with people and streets.

Cefalu - genuinely nice people, Giulietta Mazina would be in her milieu in this town. Visit for beach and cute shops, medieval streets. Passeggio at 20.00 worth staying late in town. Haphazard architecture.

Accent in Cefalu (30 minute train ride from Palermo) - you want to hug and snuggle with this accent.

Food - US is probably the only country where grapes taste like apples and apples taste like styrofoam.

Palermo - A religious person should visit for the sites to make the sites functional and meaningful. Otherwise boredom inspiring awe of architecture displayed by fatigued tourists wielding assorted maps feigning interest, demonstrating book-guide infused day-long wisdom.

So how good is level of dancing in Rome?

I have been asked this question several times. As in many other well established communities there are some very good dancers (Marica is one of them, for example). There are also many not so great dancers. I think overall level is slightly higher than in Denver. I attribute it to two facts: 1. There are more milongas (at least one every week), 2. that at one of more popular milongas, El Firulete, they show videos of real milongueros (not show dancers) during milongas - inspiring.

There are many milongas in Rome and dancers choose to go to those they feel comfortable at. Via Serpenti and El Firulete are two milongas for those who prefer milonguero style.

If you are intermediate level open frame dancer the tea dance on Sunday is for you.

As often the case music can make or break the milonga. One of such break cases was Sunday tea dance at Tanguera. Organizer put a CD of Pugliese and sound-alikes and changed it once in 40 minutes to play three-four valses. The entire two hours I have waited for danceable music the same drivel was played. Result? A bunch of open frame dancers going through figures on the floor. Wall size mirror on one of the walls has not helped the matter at all.

Many followers in Italy focus mostly on footwork to exclusion of connection. It is possible to pay attention to both of course as Laura has demonstrated so aptly. What is this obsession with who are my instructors though. Who are instructiors of milongueros in Buenos Aires? There are no milongueros teaching in Colorado. Moreover my style has changed a lot during my three month stay in Buenos Aires without taking any lessons simply due to observation and "template effect" of dancing every night with many different followers there.

Tanghera is milonga where the host is the star of the evening - armed with microphone he would not shut up even as the music plays. That grew old after first ten minutes. The better dancers at this milonga have the style of their own - it is milonguero, kind of, except the guy takes humongously wide steps.

It is very small tango world after all: bumped into an Italian guy whom I have seen dancing in Cordoba, Argentina, of all places! He mentioned that there was a girl from Norway at that milonga whom he also met in Buenos Aires last April.

Rome - after couple hours of street walking wandered into an open lecture about fossils in botanical garden attended by 30-40 avidly interested folks.

Rome - exceptionally photogenic city (see below).

Back to the USA. What strikes as you get off the plane is how relentlessly bland everyone looks (the same impression I got after BsAs too).

Anticipation. Poster pointing the way to tango festival in Palermo, Sicily	Milonga at the tango festival in Palermo. Attrocious navigation. Several good dancers. Confident DJing by Melenita on the first day. Less so on the second day (different DJ).	Weekly tango lesson in Palermo (the lesson is not festival related but it is next door to my B&B, modified 8-count "basic" patern has been taught, not recommended except for picturous location).	Friday milonga Tanghera in Rome. Tandas: 4 tangos+3 valses or milongas separated by one entire song of salsa or swing. Annoyingly cheerful announcer / entertainer. Performance of five tangos by five aspiring singers.	Anteroom to Sunday tea milonga at Tangobar, Rome. The tea (pictured) and pastries are free. The music is exclusively Piazzola, Pugliese, Color Tango and such. The quality of dancing reflects the music.	Bar in the anteroom to Sunday tea milonga at Tangobar.
Milonga at The Garden of Tango (il Giardino del Tango), Rome. Some good dancers including female organizer. Three tango tandas by Calo almost in a row. Otherwise reasonable DJing.	Sunday milonga El Firulete, Rome. The large screen in the back shows clips of milongueros dancing during milonga. The best DJing in Rome from what I have sampled. Many good milonguero style dancers. This and Thursday milonga at Via dei Serpenti are two the best milongas in Rome.	Poster promoting tango performance at termini (central railroad station) in Rome.	As I have walked toward this square at Trastavere, Rome I have heard familiar sounds of Adios Muchachos. Curiosly the arrangement was that of polka. Without skipping a beat the band moved to Besame Mucho and Solo Mio.	Roman faroles.	Twilight in Rome.
Roman ruins. These are of ancient bridge. There are more bridges and ancient ruins in Rome.	"Marcelo! Come here!". The most photographed fountain in Rome. Unexpectedly there is no spacious square in front of this fountain - somewhat of letdown.	One of many less famous fountanellas in Rome. The water is drinkable and always runs.	Fellow tourist. Atypical attire for a tourist, typical equipment and approach to exploring Rome.	An art student is another common pilgrim to Rome.	Meanwhile pigeons take a bath. Common pasttime of tourists in Rome is to stay in line.
This line will be engulfed by Saint Peter cathedral in the next hour so that I was able to go take a look inside the cathedral too.	Notice how coastline resembles outline of the square in the preceding picture. Beach next to Palermo.	Common pasttime in the vicinity of beach.	You can see Saint Peter from many different vantage points in Rome.	Common pastime of some Romans on sunny day.	You too can rent a bike at Villa Borghese park. One of more pleasurable highlights of the visit to Rome. The guy who rents the bikes needs to improve his grip though.
Why stay in lines to go to museums if artists have done that already and made shop displays as rich, colorful and fascinating. These hand painted fans are only $100 each.	Romans are well aware of fashion and not afraid to display it.	Yet another view of Saint Peter cathedral.	Bigger people get bigger shrines others get numerous smaller ones. Usually they are built into the building walls. This one in Palermo is free standing.	Most common attractions all in one place: naked woman without arms adorning a fountain, farol and a church.	When the buildings are centuries old they often get recycled. Palermo. I wonder how many floors do they have in this building.
Rome is point-and-shoot photogenic. This passage with scooter rapair shop must have some stories to tell.	Colorful walls. Rome.	Colorful laundry. Palermo.	You can buy fresh fish right at the peer in Palermo.	Or you can get it later at the street market.	Bicycle street in Palermo.
This is why Italy is soccer powerhouse.	Sidewalks have multiple use in Palermo (including car parking).	In Palermo you can have a kebab outdoor at four in the morning. And you will not be alone.	You will see scenes like this all the time.	Or like this. Rome is romantic city.	A stroll along the river bank is very relaxing. This is where I got conned out of $30.
Rome	Rome	Cefalu	Cefalu	The best espresso I have ever had.	And where to get the best espresso I have ever tried in Palermo.
That's Harrison Ford pointing the way for the men in need but who is the girl?	Suddenly. Around the corner in Palermo. Meet Federica Fellini.	Cefalu 1	Cefalu 2	Cefalu 3	Also Cefalu

 

	2006 :Current blog: :September: :August: :July: :June: :May: :April: :March: :February: :January:   2005 :November: :October: :September: :August: :July: :June: :January:   2004 :December: :November: :October: :September: :August: :Before August:			:Buenos Aires:  :Travel: :Dance Styles: :Technique: :Connection: :Teaching and Learning: :Tango is...: :History: :Etiquette: :Music: :DJing: :Odds:			:Interaction Design is Design of Time: :Process and Tools: :Advice and Solutions: :Books: resume (MS Word)