video
we love the possibility tango creates to dance anywhere, with our without music, moved by the connection and the possibilities of the bodies.
here’s a video we call snowtango.
we love the possibility tango creates to dance anywhere, with our without music, moved by the connection and the possibilities of the bodies.
here’s a video we call snowtango.
On January 11, we visited Queer Tango San Francisco. They have a monthly milonga. During our visit it was mostly women, but the guy who Duro danced with was fabulous. They are very friendly and welcoming and we recommend you go for a visit. You can check the dates on Amy Little’s website, but they don’t have their own website yet:
Last night we attended Homo Revolution, a national tour of Queer hip hop artists. It’s interesting to reflect on the acts and meanings of queer hip hop as we think about building queer tango. Read more…
When you get a chance, please read our brand new guide to tango etiquette. It includes exciting topics like emotions and how to ask someone to dance…
We started with Tina Herreman’s excellent guide to tango manners, then we added to it and queerified it.
On the last day of the beginner’s series, we’ll practice using the queerified codigos.
(thanks to lexa’s blog for this post!)
Tango Tales radio show is not about playing music only - it is about educating the listeners about Argentine tango - music & dance.
The show is broadcasted on Saturdays 9:00-10:00am on Portsmouth Community Radio ( listen on line www.wscafm.org),
but you can DOWNLOAD the most of the episodes from the show’s site: www.tangotales.com.
WWW.TANGOTALES.COM HAS MORE FOR YOU:
- browse movie, book and music recommendations
- new CD releases
- read essays by other tango lovers
- sample the extensive list of alternative tango music (yes, sample - not just read the list of titles)
- browse links to the most informative sites & pages (not just links to more links!)
COMING SOON:
- podcasting via iTunes (just subscribe to the service and the new episode will be ready for you to download into your MP3 player - LISTEN ON THE GO)
- sampler of Argentine tango music by the modern musicians - for dancing and listening. The best of the best.
HERE ARE THE MOST POPULAR SHOW EPISODES:
Brief history of tango music. Told by the semi-professional pianist Max Valentinuzzi, who played during Golden Age
www.tangotales.com/archive
Jorge Luis Borges: blindness.
Jorge Luis Borges: tango poetry
www.tangotales.com/archive
Histories of old tangos: La Paloma, El Choclo, Caminito…
www.tangotales.com/archive
Understanding the genius of Astor Piazzolla (with Osvaldo Golijov, Yo-yo Ma, Carlos Prieto)
www.tangotales.com/archive/Piazzolla.htm
ABOVE ALL… TANGO is a COMMUNAL AFFAIR:
if you have something interesting to say - about music or dance - you are welcome to contact me!
Thank you for listening and contributing - Elmira
Elmira Cancelada
show host, Tango Tales
Portsmouth Community Radio 106.1 FM SATURDAYS 9:00-10:00 AM ET Internet:www.wscafm.org
Social dances are called “milongas”. It’s like a party or dance night. Usually it is at the same place every week (some are once a month). Every city has a website announcing the milongas. Usually there is a fee at the door (around $10) for 4 or 5 hours of dancing.
Some people dress up, others dress very casually. The milonga is a space in which you are welcome to express yourself flamboyantly with your clothing and be sexy.
We recommend that beginners attend a milonga along with a group of friends to make sure that you have people to dance with. at milongas, there is a code unique to tango which governs how people ask others to dance (these are discussed here)
Note that “milonga” has a second meaning, which is a type of music, a very fast and bouncy type of tango music.
Argentine Tango is not about flying legs and melodramatic performances of emotion. It is a social dance that anyone of any age can do, to any music or no music, to create an extraordinary level of connection with another person. It does not require previous dance experience or rhythm. (In fact one tango musican claims that tango dancers are often “atemporal”).
Practicas are an informal milonga. There is a DJ to play music and people show up to practice with whoever is there.
Some people come with a partner and do not change partners.
Many people come alone, in order to practice with various people.
Some people change partners after the tanda, others may dance together for a long time. It is more flexible than a milonga.
Unlike at a milonga, it’s ok to stop during the song and ask questions, practice a move over and over, or give feedback.
People dress up less for a practica, the lights are usually on, and it is cheaper $0-$5.
We require our students to learn both leading and following. There are several reasons for this.
All teachers focus on the fundamentals of tango, but have different ideas about what those fundamentals are. For us, the fundamentals are
We emphasize these aspects of connected moving which we believe are more fundamental than standard sequences of steps. We believe that it would be wonderful if students had the patience to just walk for one year to fully establish these aspects. However, we understand that is a bit boring, so we do continue with additional moves. We try to avoid sequences that require memorization, and we focus on quality of motion and connection.
How to ask someone to dance/the cabeceo
We recommend that you dance with lots of different people, even if you have a main partner.
At milongas and practicas we dance three or four songs with one person – this is called a “tanda”, sometimes separated with 15-30 seconds of contrasting music, called a cortina (curtain). If there is no cortina, you can just count four songs.
Tandas are usually songs of the same type. There are three types of tango music: tango, vals (waltz), and milonga. Milonga is the fast one. The tanda may also be a group of music by the same composer or in the same style or era. So you get a whole tanda of milonga music, or vals, or tango music with a certain feeling.
Leaders often wait to hear the type and style of music before deciding to dance and selecting a partner.
Close embrace tango involves touching another person with half or more of your body. This is very intimate. The codigos of tango are a set of “codes” that make some structure around this intimacy. The codes vary a little bit from milonga to milonga, city to city. We have not found a comprehensive list of the codigos in English. Although the codes are highly gendered, much of their intent is also relevant to queer people. Eventually a new set of codes will develop that incorporate the complexities and ambiguities that queer tango introduces.
We’ve written about the codigos that we encourage you to follow.