Sunday, July 1, 2012
Roko Milonga.
I
wasn’t going to go, as I wasn’t needed and it was really hot and my eyelid felt
bruised and my eyeball felt swollen (so then I get stressed out about maybe
having intraocular pressure and what it all could mean but hoping that maybe it
was just a reflection of wearing false eyelashes for 16 hours straight not being
a very good idea). And really, other than Felipe de Colorado, there wasn’t
anyone I particularly couldn’t wait until next week to dance with. So I was thinking that it would be a
good night to just chill out and rest my eyes. But then I got the call that I actually
was needed. And so I went. I missed
most of the lesson, taught by Robin and Amanda Archuleta on Milonga, but it
looked like a good one. Thankfully,
the AC was working well. I had a
fun time. Felipe de Colorado was
there, and we got to dance a bit more.
Floor craft was a bit hairy at times. I didn’t stay too horribly
late.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Triangulo
Milonga.
It was a hot, sweltering night.
I wasn’t particularly keen on going dancing, but I was kind of a hermit
in June and a buddy really wanted me to go. I was also curious since everyone
says this is the place to be on Tuesday nights, and everyone is so friendly
there. So I schlepped myself on
over. It was freaking hot and humid
on the walk over there, the type of heat and humidity that saps the energy to
the bone (at least to my bones). When I arrived shortly after it opened, it was
already packed, much more packed than I like to dance in. As I was changing my
shoes, and as I glanced over, I saw that Felipe de Colorado was there! Woo hoo!!
I thought he had left to go back home the day before, but I was mistaken. He too, thought it was too hot and
crowded to comfortably dance there, so we decided to go to Jesse and Javier’s
Sangria practica at Dance Manhattan, just a few blocks away
instead.
Arriving at Dance Manhattan, Jesse warmly welcomed us and told us
what the deal was (where to put the admission fee, the sangria, the sign-in
book, how each room is set up – there is two, one that respects the line of
dance, and another one that does as well although a lot more “practicing” and
“experimental work” go on in there).
It was very thoughtful of her to personally show us the ropes since
neither one of us had ever been there before.
Felipe de Colorado and I had a good time practicing Intensivo stuff,
and just generally working on other tango things he knew in general. I worked on my following. :o)
Saturday, July 7, 14 and 28
Mariella’s Practica at
Dance Manhattan. As usual, I had an excellent time
here. It seems some regulars are
out of town on vacation. The
weather has been warm, but the AC working reasonably well. Still, it gets pretty humid in
there. The lovely Linda gave me a
fan seeing how hot and sweaty I get.
I thought that was incredibly sweet and kind of her. Susana y Cristobal have been making
regular appearances there, so I’ve been having a blast working with them on our
Intensivo homework.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
The Ball NY Milonga. This is a
newish milonga, only started last month. I was curious about it since the
YouTube videos of the space looked pretty good, and they advertised two rooms, a
traditional and an Alt. So I
managed to stay in NYC all afternoon, occupying myself with ever more studying
and watching $upercapitalist, a movie at the Asian American International Film
Festival (the movie is fantastic, BTW, and set for distribution on August 10 –
try to catch it if you can, it’s very entertaining). The milonga was OK. It wasn’t super crowded, but had a good
group of people so that most folks who wanted to dance, did. The food was ample (chips, pretzels,
fruit, cookies) and there was wine (Franzia in a box). The floor is nice hardwood. I am not too sure about the ventilation
though, as they had some huge floor fans that were going full blast. Normally, I
love fans, but the fabric on my dress was not the heaviest or longest, so I had
to be careful about dancing too close to those fans, lest I give all the other
milonga goers an eyeful of a lot more than they were expecting. I left early,
before the performance, as I was very tired and needed to wake up
early.
Sunday, July 8, 15, 22 and 29
Roko Milonga.
I’ve
been having a great time there, though generally missing the lesson. Robin has
been teaching a lot with Amanda Archuleta, and they’ve been doing a good
job. Mostly focusing on milonga or
turns leading/technique and the ocho cortado, including some mind-expanding work
on doing the ocho cortado on the other side. It’s been great.
-------------
I didn’t dance much at all in July since I was studying like a Mad
Woman. The fruits of my labor were not for naught though, as I comfortably
passed. That was a huge
relief. With one more test to go,
I’ll still be hitting the books for another month at least. With any luck, I will pass that test too, grab the final jewel of the trifecta for my crown,
and be anointed Rockstar Queen of the Universe. Or something like that.
At least in my mind.
;o)
