February 18-24

Friday, February 19, 2010

Monte Cristo Club Milonga with lesson beforehand by Gary Weinberg and Lisette Perelle. The lesson had a few extra followers, so I voluntarily sat out for a lot of it. The intermediate class built on what they learned in the beginner class, so the sequence included some back ochos, a change of direction, and a back boleo of the left leg while the right leg was the standing, supporting, strong one. It was a good lesson, with opportunity to delve a bit deeper into the technicality of leading and following the sequence. The milonga itself was just OK. It was sparsely attended, and there were several female tango hog ambushers who kept monopolizing the preferred leaders. Such a pity that dancing with these skilled leaders has not improved the ambushers’ dancing much if at all in the last several months. I guess they’d rather go the lazy route rather than work on their own technique and foot and ankle strength. But I suppose working on foot and ankle strength must be a scary proposition when the risk of fractures is so high because of extremely compromised bone density and long-term calcium deficiency (and at such a young age! tsk tsk). Still, I did manage to dance a couple of tandas with Milan, who is an outstanding dancer, so it made the night totally worth it.



Saturday, February 20, 2010

Homer and Cristina Ladas workshops at Stanford. I got to the place in record time, thanks to my handy dandy GPS (I don’t know how I ever got around without it), and so decided to make a quick run to Subway for fuel for the day. (They are having a special right now where their non-premium subs are all $5 footlongs. To optimize fueling, I load up on the veggies, sans the raw onions, and have them cut the footlong into three sandwiches.) I had time to snarfle down one of the 1/3 sandwich before class began.



At the break, Cheena and Cristobal of CCSF were in a bit of a pickle because they didn’t want to forage for food. So Cheena asked for the last third of my sandwich, which of course I gave to her, and which she shared with Cristobal. Then I spoke to Cristobal about the importance of fueling for the day for the body and for the brain when you plan to spend 5 hours at workshops. Normally, he knows this of course, but since we all had to head out for Stanford at 11:00 a.m. from our homes, lunch/food were not on the top of their list of things they thought about. I also told Cristobal about the stash of food I have in the trunk of my car (which he probably thought was a little strange), inspired by YouTube’s Scooby’s video. I don’t have all of Scooby’s recommended food items in my stash, but the concepts and ideas are what I applied based on my lifestyle, the goals of which are to prevent me from getting to the point of gnawing hunger or dehydration and to even out blood sugar fluctuations so that my brain function is not compromised. My stash isn’t appetizing from a culinary standpoint (whey protein shake, anyone?), but mentally it’s just a nicer place for me to be to not worry about food and when or where my next meal comes from.



The notes from the specific workshops, and eventually the videos (once the Mac conversion thing gets figured out by the real tangostudent) are at www.tangostudent.blogspot.com



Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Late Shift Milonga with lesson beforehand by Juan Cantone & Sol Orozco from Buenos Aires. Maestros are excellent teachers. They hail from Buenos Aires, but are both fluent in English. Their teaching style is clear and balanced with lots of technical detail on the both the Leader and Follower side. They also have excellent eyes for detail, and showed ample individual attention to the students in this group class. They are here for a week or so more, and it would be definitely worth it to go to more of their lessons. They are particularly excited about the workshops they are co-teaching with Santiago Croce and Amy Lincoln (see tangomango.org for date and details). The milonga was fun. El Russo is visiting from Portland, so we had a chance to catch up on our tango lives since Luciana Valle’s Intensivo. I asked him about Valentango, and he confirmed that there was indeed significantly more followers than leaders. It was great fun dancing with him. I had no idea he was such a good dancer, since at the Intensivo we only danced with the Maestra’s hand-picked student assistants. Later on, I had a chance to finally dance with several of the leaders I wanted to dance with the night before, and sure enough, they confirmed the hog ambushing behavior of several followers.



Sunday, February 21, 2010

Homer and Cristina Ladas workshops at Stanford. For some strange reason, on this day both lessons had twice as many leaders as followers, so we had to double up, two leaders to one follower, which actually worked out OK. (Though maybe leaders would have a different opinion on that.)



After the workshops, we had a chance to work on the material (or just dance) with our classmates at the practica. I must say, I had more fun at this practica than I have had at a lot of milongas I’ve attended. I was able to dance with some very skilled new-to-me leaders, which was a true pleasure, very refreshing and re-inspiring. There was plenty of space to do real-estate intensive dancing without disturbing others sharing the dance floor. We also had a chance to work out in our heads and bodies the material we learned in class. I had planned on going to a milonga later on that night, but was in such a happy place after the practica, that I decided not to push my tango luck.



These workshops organized and hosted by the Stanford Tango Club were great. The facility is new with maple hardwood floors, clean bathrooms, and a kitchen area with microwave, sink, and refrigerator. The most well-attended workshop had ~50 people (25 couples), and everyone behaved respectfully toward each other. Many of the attendees came from Santa Cruz and Monterey, so it was fun dancing with them as normally I don’t venture down south far enough for us to cross paths. On the weekend, there is ample, free lot parking within steps of the facility. Some might find it tricky to navigate the Stanford campus, so I was glad I had my GPS. The half hour breaks in between the 75-minute lessons were ample time to get food if necessary, or work on the material on the dance floor with guidance from Maestros, if requested.



The notes from the specific workshops, and eventually the videos (once the Mac conversion thing gets figured out by the real tangostudent) are at www.tangostudent.blogspot.com

February 11-17

Saturday, February 13, 2010
The Late Shift Milonga with lesson beforehand by Brigitta Winkler. As usual, this was a fantastic lesson. We began with posture exercises to get our cores up and forward. Then we worked on the embrace, while maintaining good tango posture. Next, we worked on pivoting, and then the Leader catching the Follower pivot to lead her to step back in ochos. Next, we practiced just walking with pivots and ochos. The figure was a simple one, based loosely on the ocho cortado, but instead of a forward left foot step for the Follower, it was more of an open side step (perhaps slightly diagonally forward) with her left foot. The way the Leader led this was to have a back cross step of his left leg, so that directionally, her movement was more to the side, rather than forward. After her left side step, she could go back into the cross. He could link this with right leg sacadas of her left leg. It was a very good lesson, where we really focused on some deep conceptual ideas and technique. The milonga itself was fun. It wasn’t too crowded, and so floor craft was good. I was asked more than once why I wasn’t in Portland (for Valentango). Since I had heard that there are usually more women than men at Valentango, it didn’t make sense to go. For the guys, however, it would have made perfect sense. :o) At this particular milonga, there were a few more men than women (which made for a great time for the Followers). I started out with my aurora borealis 9 cm CiF’s, but an hour later switched to lower 8 cm PH’s, which felt like slippers after that. It’s amazing how much pressure difference there can be in 1 cm heel height. Jr. Scout Extraordinaire was there, and is permanently for the most part going to lower heels to save on the natural foot aesthetics and health (so sensible, that JSE). (JSE has the exact same pair of aurora borealis 9 cm CiF’s I was wearing since we bought them on the same trip together, as did a bunch of other folks on that trip…we could have made a formation team based on that shoe alone!)

Sunday, February 14, 2010
Studio Gracia Milonga with lesson beforehand by Jorge Torres. I skipped the lesson; it was the most crowded that I have ever seen a pre-milonga lesson at Studio Gracia. And rumor has it that the 10-couple private later this week at Keiko’s studio was sold out way in advance. So apparently the San Francisco Bay Area continues its star-struck love affair with Jorge Torres. The milonga itself was also quite crowded. Thus, floor craft was as best as could be expected under those conditions, meaning that it was not the greatest, but decent enough, considering. Jorge and Chino danced a D’Arienzo vals for the performance, which was probably good; I did not actually see it because it was so crowded, and I did not want to stand up or sit on the floor. So I remained where I was, seated. Natasha did a great job with the Valentine’s day and Chinese New Year theme, with the biggest chocolate candy-filled heart I had ever seen in my life, a chocolate Valentine’s day cake, and Chinese New Year’s candies sprinkled throughout the food area, along with her usual ample food spread of sodas and wine, croissant sandwiches, bread and dip, fruit, etc. It had been a while since I had been to this milonga, and noticed that they changed things around a bit, with the food area now in the outside garage area where the two sofas used to be. Now one of those sofas is where the food used to be. They also got rid of the hairdryer seats and put in proper lounge chairs instead. This new food/seating orientation improved the traffic flow, especially in that corner where it used to get packed with people nibbling and noshing, and entering and exiting the dance floor. I had an OK time; there were more followers than leaders, so I sat out more than I liked. But it was still very nice dancing with friends, old and new. DJ Emilio did a fine job as usual, and played two versions of Poema (the first one early on was Juan Sanchez Gorio’s, and the second much later in the evening was the one we all love from Canaro).


And not tango-related, but here's an excellent article on how to Buzz Off: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10451703-2.html

February 4-10

Saturday, February 6, 2010
There are some days when you know you just shouldn’t go dancing, but you go ahead and do it anyway. :::sigh::: Saturday was such a day. I had turned my left ankle earlier in the day. It was quick, sharp turn, but I didn’t hear any tearing. So after getting home ASAP, I took some arnica and iced it, then compressed it, and then rested it (though I didn’t elevate it). Feeling no pain, I decided to go to the Late Shift.

The Late Shift Milonga with lesson beforehand by David and Mariana. The lesson began with some basic footwork, pivoting and balance exercises. Then since there were many beginners in the class, everyone – men and women - worked on forward ochos. After that, we did a simple sequence of the 8CB to 5 (cross), into two forward ochos. From here, we turned the second ocho into a regular Follower’s forward volcada of her left leg, as her right leg is the stable, strong, supporting leg. I was surprised that maestros decided to teach this concept to a class with so many beginners in it, but it seemed to go over OK well enough. The lesson itself was not that heavily attended, and like I said, had many beginners.

The milonga started out a bit slow with a few more leaders than Followers. It filled up as the night progressed, but still had more leaders than followers (which made for a great time for the followers, but perhaps not such a great time for the leaders). I got to dance with one leader who I hadn’t danced with in at least a year (not because we hadn’t seen each other at milongas, but because I just fell off his radar screen). We danced three tandas (but no two in a row). He will likely become one of my favorite vals dancers since he definitely gives his partner a feeling of flying, gliding, and spinning during valses. Up to this point, I was having a fun time.

11:30 p.m. rolled around, and I started to bonk. Then I had a tanda where a follower stepped directly back onto the top my left foot, nearly piercing it with her stiletto. I pulled my foot back quickly in pain, only to kick my right foot inner anklebone with my left stiletto. :::sigh::: I hung up my dancing shoes for the evening after that, as I was just in too much pain to dance, with a couple of large, purple and pink bruises and broken skin on my left foot and right ankle. Like I said, there are just some days where you get all these signs (in my case turning my ankle earlier in the day), and you push ahead anyway only to get injured even more.

After that, I sat for a while, happy to talk to some tanguero friends. A bunch of people came from CCSF as the after party to the semester milonga that same night.

Christy Cote and George Garcia did an impromptu performance of milonga that was quite fun. Since there were so many maestros at this milonga, I was thinking out loud to my buddy that it would have been nice for all of them to get up and a do a performance together like they do at festivals with all-maestros dances of tango, vals, and milonga. It would give our local maestros another platform to show off their expertise and perhaps pick up some more students (group and private) in the meantime (and what local teacher wouldn’t want that?). This could especially be done on a night when it was the usual local teachers/organizers David and Mariana teaching (instead of a guest teacher couple, who would usually do a performance).

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Outdoor Tango at Land’s End. It had been several years since I had been to Land’s End, and I could remember when it was just a gravel lot. Things have changed drastically for the better since then. The parking lot is now tiered and paved with spaces clearly marked, and there are port-o-potties (bring your own hand sanitizer!). The milonga takes place at the foot of the Land’s End trailhead at the far western part of the parking lot, just above the old Sutro Baths. The portable rolled linoleum floor, about 10 feet by 30 feet, is laid on top of the granite / cement tile floor. Being an outdoor milonga on a Sunday afternoon means that dresswise anything goes, though it behooves dancers to wear layers and definitely bring a jacket, sunscreen, sunglasses, and water / snacks if they are planning on staying the whole time. People are OK with wearing hats, though that means you will be dancing in open embrace. Personally, I would leave my stilettos and Sunday best at home, but that’s just me; I am sure there are lots of folks in the tango community who like to really dress up, anywhere, anyway, anyplace, anyhow and they are certainly welcome to. It is a beautiful spot above the beach and surf, surrounded by professionally maintained landscaping, though it can get very windy and chilly toward the end of the day as the sun goes down. On this particular Superbowl Sunday, there were only a few dancers. Still, I had a good time since I had a chance to dance a lot with the host, Maestro Ivan Shvartz. One of his other students was there, so we had time to play around experimenting (such as with Maestro leading the two of us at the same time, or all three of us dancing together). Many non-tango people in the area to hike or sightsee stopped to watch us and applaud, making it a good place for those who want to get their performance or practice groove on, or if they want to experiment being a DJ as attendees are encouraged to bring their own ipod/mp3s/tandas. It was a bit chilly on this day; I am sure it is a lovely place to go in the Fall or on an unseasonably warm Summer day. Afterwards, tangueros can grab a drink at the Cliff House or Beach Chalet. Public transitwise, the 38 Geary - Point Lobos gets you reasonably close. It’s a free parking lot, but can get crowded on popular sunny days. Still, there is street parking nearby or more free at the lot further down at Ocean beach (a 5-minute walk away).

January 14 - February 3

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Late Shift Milonga with lesson beforehand by Chelsea Eng and Luis Carpi (of Dallas). I like to support Maestra’s teaching gigs outside of CCSF, and I was curious as to who this “Luis” was since there was no elucidation on tangomango.org. I got there late for the lesson, so missed the beginning. Luis seemed familiar, but I could not place him. The figure they taught included a Follower clockwise molinete of back, side, forward from the promenade position with a Leader’s right leg pivot, and left leg is extended back. This Leader’s left leg back trailing extension is a result of the torsion in his upper body. From here, we can link this figure twice to the same promenade to Follower’s clockwise molinete to a Follower forward step to the outside of the Leader on the close side, then into a side step that pivots a lot on the Follower’s left leg, into a promenade. The point of this figure was to add dynamics and energy with the promenade, instead of making it a regular molinete or two linked molinetes. During class as Luis made his rounds, he remembered me from Fandango de Tango in Austin. Though the step was relatively simple, we had a chance to really drill and work on the finer points of technique, and hopefully apply these foundational building blocks to our overall tango development. It was an excellent lesson (Maestra was fantastic as always).



Luis was in San Francisco just for a visit, as his curiosity about our tango reputation got the better of him. He would also like to visit Portland at some point. As a teacher, Luis shows great promise and potential. During class, he was very concerned that he answered/clarified an important point about Leader’s technique and the wherefores and whys of the lead, and paid individual attention to the specific leader student who had a particular question, making sure he had answered the question sufficiently. I got a chance to speak with him later after the lesson, and got a few salient points about his development: his main teachers/influences are the fantastic George and Jairelbhi Furlong http://www.evolutiontango.com/ and Phyllis Williams (translator at Fandango for Nito y Elba) http://www.la-vida-es-una-milonga.com/index.html, all excellent Dallas teachers.



The milonga was fun, with dancer quality quite high, and though it was crowded, floor craft the best I’ve ever experienced (I never thought I’d ever write that!). Maestra’s and Luis’s performance was excellent-- very fun, very musical, very technically precise. I danced more than I had in a long time (and freely and joyfully), but bonked around midnight. Thankfully, Mariana put out some pinwheel/mini aram sandwiches that really hit the spot and kept me going for another 90 minutes. I also discovered the water fountain, which I had heard about but had never actually seen (after going here for years). What an eye-opener. There will be no more complaints from me about running out of water, though I will continue to bring my own water bottle. (Bargain tip of the week: Cost Plus has wide-mouth stainless steel water bottles in really nifty colors for a whopping $5). It was a really pleasant, fun night.



Sunday, January 31, 2010

Café Cocomo Milonga with lesson beforehand by Chelsea Eng and Luis Carpi. The Beginning lesson focused on Follower forward ochos with Leader matching her steps. She should reach with her toe, and the Leader should receive her step, but also determine how far the Follower goes. Follower should match Leader’s energy. They also added the Leader parada after the Follower’s pivot, to Follower pasada. I found the instruction very clear from both Maestra and Luis. Maestra made the distinction of the practica versus milonga, versus class, where we are always working toward the ideal. In the Intermediate lesson, Maestra and Luis taught the Leader back sacada of his left foot to Follower’s right foot from her left foot back ocho / back cross step to the open side of the embrace. The Leader rotates counter clockwise, then takes one back step, and then can do another Leader sacada. The Follower receives the sacada with her right leg, as her left leg is the supporting, standing one. To receive the sacada well, it is important that the Leader have enough room to do it. Here, the Follower needs to give him enough space by taking a big back cross step with her left leg so that it gives the Leader enough room. Her left leg also needs to be strong and stable, and her body upright on axis and balanced (it should not tilt or lean back). Her body needs to have strong abs, and soft supporting knees, with feet spread against the floor. The Leader’s right hand needs to be loose to let the Follower take a generous back cross step. The receipt of the sacada can be read off the floor, keeping it close to the body, and then down the left side of her left leg, in an out, up, in, down, forward sweeping movement. The Follower’s left leg is the standing, supporting leg, and its stability and strength are important with respect to how her right leg reads the receipt of the sacada. The Leader’s right arm should not be tense at the point of his back sacada. It needs to be relaxed so there is a change of embrace. The Follower’s left hand slides down the Leader’s arm toward his right elbow or mid arm at the point of his back sacada. After this Leader’s back sacada, the Leader grounds into the floor, lowering to be more grounded, then he steps back with his left leg while Follower simultaneously steps forward with her right leg. By grounding at this point, the Leader maintains the Follower’s weight in the split middle position, and he walks around her continuing with the back step he already took, to a side step, forward step, to a side step in a counterclockwise molinete, the next forward step of which turns into a parada of his left leg after the Follower pivots and the rest of her body comes around as a result of the torsion in her upper body as she maintains connection with the Leader’s chest as he goes around her in his molinete. Then we played with linking these moves, with the Follower pasada with her right leg over the Leader’s left foot, to pivot, then to do a back cross step with her left foot, into the Leader’s left leg back sacada of her right foot. For the Leader, he does a small step to the side to do a weight chance, then pivots, and then does his back sacada. The Follower can do a right foot boleo at the point of the parada/pasada if the energy is there and led by the Leader or with momentum. One beginner female student asked about the potential adornos that can be done during this figure. Maestra answered that our goal was in the beauty of the movement itself (my read: precision, fluidity, and grace, not tricking or blinging it out). Luis commented that this sequence required a lot of contra body movement, and included lots of dynamics to generate body fluidity. If we can master these concepts, other steps in tango become easier. It was an excellent lesson.


The milonga itself was OK. Unfortunately, Mimi was not there to keep us fueled for the evening, and I made the mistake of having an early dinner. So I found myself distracted by the lack of food more substantial than pretzels, veggie snaks, and cheese puffs. My bad. The dancing was good though; I had a very nice time. It wasn’t super crowded, but there were many reasonably or very skilled dancers, so I had a good time. Maestra’s and Luis’s performance was great.



SO WHAT AM I EXCITED ABOUT THESE DAYS?
Brigitta Winkler!!!
The Superbowl (GO Saints!!!)