Celebrando Tango: Musica Y Cultura June 16-18, 2023 Somerville, MA

 Friday, June 16, 2023

Somerville, MA

Celebrando Tango: Musica Y Cultura June 16-18, 2023

 

I had nothing scheduled for the holiday weekend, and after receiving an email about this event and checking for a reasonably priced Airbnb, a few days later I was off and running… er driving.

 

The schedule for the opening night was as follows:

·       7:30-8:30pm Tango Class by Masters Guillermo & Eduardo: "Sacadas/Displacements Variations for both roles"

·       8:45-9:15pm Argentinean Food Buffet Experience

·       9:30pm-1am "Tango Bar" Milonga

 

But when I got there, they seemed to have flipped the buffet with the class, which made sense and gave us time to socialize before class.

 

The buffet was delicious and ample with empanadas, migas, choripan, alfajores, flan, churros, and don pedro.

 

The class was interesting seeing two maestros teach together.  Guillermo taught the first part of the class, consisting of a series of sacadas, and Eduardo taught the second part of the class, consisting of a different series of sacadas.  It was a good class, with entertaining banter between the two maestros as they taught.

 

The milonga was fun, well attended and interesting.  I had a nice time.

 

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Somerville, MA

 

Two workshops taught by Eduardo Saucedo and Silvana Brizuela

 

Class 1: 12:00-1:15pm

"Combinations of Ganchos"--all levels

​The sequence taught was very interesting, and began with a side step, followed by the Leader leading a Follower left foot leg raise to a series of ganchos and enganches.  It was a good, challenging class.

 

Class 2: 1:30-2:45pm

"Vals: Single & Double Time w/alterations"

When maestros first demo’d the sequence they were going to teach, it seemed impossibly long and complicated.  But the sequence was broken into two pieces, and by the end of class, most students were able to do it and look pretty good!  It was an excellent class, and I had forgotten how joyful and grateful Eduardo was (it had been more than decade since I last had a class/workshop with him).

 

Class 3: 3:00-4:00pm

Chacarera for all with Silvana

I truly wanted to stay for the class, but I was starving.  A quick glance around suggested that it would be follower-heavy, so I ended up going to a local Mexican place for a birria burrito bowl instead.  Then off to my Airbnb for some rest before the milonga.

 

"La Milonga" DJ: Guillermo Merlo

Live Music by "The Boston Tango Orchestra"

Performance by Eduardo Saucedo and Silvana Brizuela

 

This milonga was extremely well attended, even more than opening night. It was a great event. The local band, a quartet, the Boston Tango Orchestra, was awesome.  The performance was impressive and included passionate words of gratitude from Eduardo, as well as him sharing a poem he learned when he was 17.  It was in Spanish, so I didn’t catch the meaning, but it was still moving.

 

The performance concluded with chacarera, and after the first go-round, Maestros invited dancer participation, so of course I participated since I love chacarera!

 

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Somerville, MA

 

Two workshops taught by Eduardo Saucedo and Silvana Brizuela

 

Class 4: 12:00-1:15pm

Tango Nuevo: Breaking the embrace

We learned two different ways of breaking the embrace: (1) just letting go of the open side, and then reconnecting. (2) arch turn for Follower to dancers in butterfly, to step back in in front of each other. It was a fun class.

 

Class 5: 1:30--2:45pm

Volcadas & Colgadas

We learned a simple colgada (shared axis turn), focusing on correct posture for the Follower and the Leader leading it appropriately, and both dancers trusting each other, and the Leader’s correct foot placement as he steps around the Follower.  The Volcada taught was the basic one.  It was a fun class.

 

6:00-7:00pm

All Level Tango Class with Silvana Brizuela

This was a very basic class as many of the students were very new to tango, so we focused on walking, weight changes, basic box step, and elementary sacadas (which surprised me, considering the level of dancers).

 

7-10:30pm

Guided Practica by Silvana and Milonga

Many of the students in the prior class stuck around for the practica, and a few students from the weekend workshops showed up as well.  So it made for a nice group of people to get our tango groove on.  It was super helpful to drill some of the material we learned from the afternoon workshops.  Silvana was a delight as it seemed to me she made a point of dancing with everyone!  I wish all practica hosts would do the same.

 

Overall thoughts on the weekend: The weather was perfect temperaturewise.  The community is welcoming and reasonably skilled.  The Maestros and Maestra were awesome, super encouraging and fun.   The food was ample and delicious.  It was an awesome way to spend the holiday weekend.