The amazing Roberto Segarra

 
He'd be seen sweeping ladies, young and old, off their feet at Buenos Aires milonga venues, such as Obelisco Tango.  We'd shake our heads and wonder how he did it.  Last May we saw him, as always in great form at the ripe old age of 97!!  Born in 1920, he had danced to the great Golden Age orchestras playing live.  Imagine that!

However, his time had to come. We heard of his passing this month through Janis Kenyon's blog.

Here is the sprightly Roberto dancing, along with a brief interview (with English sub-titles) about his life in tango.




We'll miss your gleeful smile and joyful dance, Roberto.

Without the pause, there is no tango

In this interview, Gabriel Misse talks about the importance of the milonga - where, he says, real traditional tango is danced.

Among his thoughts he also states: You have no pause, you have no tango. This got us  reflecting on how much we value the pause, as crucial to connection and musicality.  However, it's not easy.
Here's some food for thought:

What dancers might be experiencing at a pause

• What's he doing now? (anxiety, apprehension, tension in the body, readiness to leap into an anticipated movement)
• People might be watching me now that I've stopped (self-conciousness)
• I don't think I have enough control to lead the pause effectively, and then hold it (fear of failure)
• Ahh, I can put both feet down now, and have a rest (balance problems)
• I'm not sure I can get the timing right moving out of the pause (lack of confidence in skills)
• What figure is he going to do next? (brain in overdrive)
• This feels beautiful. I'll savour the intimacy of this shared moment.

Certainly, the pause can be challenging until it's mastered.  But it's definitely worth the effort!

... and finally, a quote from Carlos Gavito:

I believe that tango isn't the dancing step but rather it's what's between one step and the next, where there's nothing, where the silences are, where the memory and remembered things are.