Tango therapy

We all know that tango is a good form of physical exercise. And not long ago, there were articles in the press extolling the merits of learning to dance as a strategy for delaying the onset of dementia. Now, the therapeutic benefits of learning to dance tango are being studied in the fight against depression. Read more in ABC news online.

Who knows, soon you may be able to claim those lessons on Medicare!

Happy dancing,
Pat.

Australian International Tango Festival

Adelaide Tango made a significant impact on Australia's biggest tango event of the year. 22 tangueros from Adelaide took the opportunity to immerse themselves in the most diverse range of workshops yet, as well as five milongas in five nights!
The strong SA contingent received a special mention at the Opening Milonga, also DJed by yours truly. And at the final milonga on Sunday night, Arthur from Brisbane made the unsolicited comment that the Adelaide folk were not only nice dancers, but the friendliest bunch of people as well!

We were spoilt for choice with the widest array of workshop options, electric performances and seven renowned teachers from Buenos Aires. For the first time in the festival, the structure of the music and how it influences the dance was tackled in a thorough and practical manner in a series of workshops by Joaquin Amenabar, a BsAs professor of bandoneon, and tango dancer.
Joaquin's close work with a trio of talented local musicians meant that their live music at two of the milongas not only pleased the ear, but kept the crowd dancing.

Los Hermanos Macana were true to form and entertained with their comic antics. Cecilia Gonzalez and Donato Juarez, both regular visitors to Sydney, were in demand with their warm teaching style and focus on technique & elegance in figures. While Aurora Lubiz and Hugo Daniel's multi-faceted contribution to the festival included technique & coordination, various tango rhythms & chacarera, and a generous desire to share the culture of tango with us all. Not to mention Saturday night's mesmerising folkloric performance. For many of us, they were the stars of the festival and we sincerely hope to see them back in Oz soon.

Congratulations and thanks to Lilian and her tireless team of volunteers. It was indeed a festival not to be missed!

Pat & Bob.

Music for milongas workshop

Do you go along to a milonga and dance to anything that's played?
Have you experienced the music transporting you and your partner?
What goes into selecting music for a milonga?

These questions and more were tossed around and debated at the recent Tango Adelaide Club workshop, with lots of perceptive insights. A key thread was the emotional impact of music. Natalie's point about the influence of music in movies was not lost on us, at all. Here's an experiment for you. Just focus on the music accompanying a scene in a film or TV show sometime, with your eyes closed. How does it make you feel? I'll bet you find that the choice is not accidental, nor the impact incidental.

Sometimes the music is sublime to listen to, but does it move you to dance? Is dancing to it within your current capabilities? Especially with a partner in the tango embrace?

Does a piece of danceable music energise or calm the floor? When might a few tandas result in a chaotic dance-floor, put most people to sleep ... or irritate the hell out of you?

Stimulating stuff, but we only had 2 hours for the workshop, and we needed time to put the theory into practice ... by constructing danceable tandas. Walking the talk - that's when the things got really challenging.

Want to know more? Take look at Stephen & Susan Brown's highly regarded website.

Pat

Carel's surprise visit

What a treat it was for us on Monday evening! Carel Kraayenhof (bandoneonist from Holland with an Argentine heart) was in town for concerts with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and fortunately for us, was interested in making a contribution to the Adelaide tango community before heading off to Perth, then Sydney.

Passionate about tango, especially those of Pugliese, Carel delighted us and accompanied our dancing with various tangos, Romance de Barrio (vals) and even Milonga de mis Amores. But his interpretations of Gallo Ciego and Piazzolla's Adios Nonino were utterly sublime. All this, while seated on a stool in our humble Baptist Hall (which we discovered has great acoustics) with his sheet music spread out on the floor! Check out the photo gallery.

Next time he's in town remember to buy him a Guinness. He enjoyed his pint at the Daniel O'Connell.

Thanks so much, Michelle and Greg, for arranging it all. It was truly a night to remember.

Pat.

PS. Check the gallery for more photos.

Sharing the real estate ... aka floorcraft

Energy levels were high at the recent Comme il faut with 50 people in attendance. It was a great night! But it also led to several experienced dancers tentatively, and ever so politely, suggesting that a reminder about floorcraft might be timely.

Tango is, after all, primarily a social dance. In general, the flashy, cool moves which dazzled us all in our early days of learning tango, tend to be more suited to performance and are inappropriate at a busy milonga. You know the sort I mean: where a section of the dance-floor, disproportionate to the dimensions of the couple, is effectively unavailable to others for fear of lethal stilettos, or simply because they "need" the space. Dancing in control, in la ronda (ie. in one lane, following the line of dance) with awareness of those couples around, rather than zig-zagging, will mean that everyone can enjoy the dance. It's one thing being transported into the tango zone, but as someone's mother somewhere, sometime said, "It's not all about you! You have to learn to share."

Depending on the size of la pista (dance-floor) there may be two, even three, parallel lanes. "What about changing lanes, when there's a gap in the traffic?" I hear you ask. Well, the convention is that you don't ... at least not during a piece of music. The couple in that lane, or at least the leader, will know how much space he has to play with and you're courting disaster, in the form of a collision, if you cut them off. If there's plenty of room and you wish to change lanes, all you have to do is wait for the window of opportunity between tracks.
"Patience!", I hear mother say.

With all those parallel lanes, there's going to be a section in the middle which can also be used. In my experience, that tends to be used by dancers requiring more space. Navigation is less predictable, but the same principle applies, ie. ensure that your dancing doesn't interfere with others' enjoyment. How that works depends on the amount of space available.

Granted, these conventions are strong in BsAs where sheer numbers at milongas absolutely require them, and we're only in little ol' Adelaide. But as our tango community grows, we need them more and more. These codes have been refined over the decades and are still going strong ... because they work.

Interested in knowing more? Take a look at the piece by Tom Stermitz in ToTango from North America.

Happy dancing,
Pat.