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Hola queridos Amigos Tangueros,
We
are very, very happy and ecstatic about the sale of the
tickets for the Posada Milonga which this year will be
held Sat.,
December 16th. If you have not as
yet purchased a ticket, I suggest
that you do so
ASAP, as they are going pretty fast and the space
is
limited. Click here to
read all the particulars about the Posada
Milonga.
I would like to report the fund
raisers for the Posada to help keep the cost of the
tickets down are going great. We are very excited
that all of the raffle tickets for the TV are sold,
thank you all very much. We wish you lots of luck – may
you be the winner of this wonderful TV. We will announce
the winner the night of the Posada.
The newest
project has already started, we are offering for sale
a
lovely bag for our tango shoes which sports our
logo “La Vida Tango’s Posada Milonga”. It’s a beautiful
shoe bag and the price is only $6.00 each. We have
already sold quite a few.
Virginia y Alvin . .
.
The Milonguita
which was held on Monday, September 4th., at my home
“que es tu casa” was a total
success.
Cory y Reginaldo . .
.
Special thanks
to Daniel Monserrat for his support and
help.
Juan y Del with Arturo in the back . .
.
Also, thanks to
all of you who enjoyed this beautiful evening with
us.
Steve y friend .
. .
We are
hopeful, that our next milonga which will be held in
Margie’s lovely gardens. $10. donation to benefit the
Posada Milonga ballroom fund. BYOB. Click here for
map> 1911
River Oaks Lane S A TX . We have no doubt it will be
a success, since all of you, my dear tanguero friends
have always given us your support. The date is Saturday,
October 7th at 8:00P.M.
till ??? . . . until our
bodies and feet can no longer take it!
Then
don't forget November 4 in Austin, TX at Kat
Kennedy's home, there will be belated celebration of El
Dia De Los Muertos. We encourage you to bring a photo of
a deceased relative to honor their life. Dancing starts
at 9pm, ends at 1pm, music DJ'ed, BYOB, donation $10. to
benefit the Posada Milonga ballroom fund. Click here for
map> 2327
Westrock Dr, Austin TX .
I
anxiously await your presence at our next
milonga, Norma
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Hola
Tanguero’s
How has everybody been lately? I see gas
prices are dropping dramatically, that is always good news. Speaking of good news
Fandango de Tango is right around the corner coming this
November in Austin Texas. But real news occurred in a
more recent event in Austin this last weekend September
22-24.
Monica Caivano, Selena Caldera, the
UT Tango Club and members of the Austin tango
community
sponsored Sharna Fabiano and Isaac
Oboka.
Christina and Orazzio dance at the UT Milonga
. . .
The six
classes and the three milongas, were as usual well
attended.
Monica
and the instructors Sharna Fabiano and Isaac Oboka . .
.
The Austin
crowd does a great job keeping tango alive and well,
they exhibit a cohesion that is not found in every tango
community. Kudos for all the hard work and sacrifice the
people of Austin give in striving to advance the art of
tango.
Sharna
and Isaac perform at the UT milonga . . .
They constantly bring in
different talent from different areas of the country and
world. Why do they do this? Because they, as well as
myself, love the art, the dance, the music, the
intimacy, and sensuality that tango provides.
* All Photos by Roy
Montejano
|
"THE ARTS
OF TRASPIE"
Special 3 hour Tango Seminar
in Monterrey,
Mexico"
at the UNIVERSITY OF MONTERREY
Saturday, October 14, from 2pm to 5 pm
Instructor
ORLANDO BUDINI
Argentinean born, old milonguero and producer of
"Metatango Festival" spends most of the time in Europe,
Buenos Aires and USA,
dancing and teaching at the most popular
milongas. He started to teach the art of traspie in
Distrito Federal Mexico with great success last January. Orlando teaches
to understand and use the
"beat" to "traspie", the music to enjoy and dance close
embrace Tango Milonguero and Milonga con traspie.
SPACE IS LIMITED CALL FOR
RESERVATIONS IN
USA:
832-723-6578
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Dear
Maleva
1. Should a follower always follow the leader
although there were times where she felt that the dance
could have been danced in a different style or the music
could have been interpreted in a different way? Can a
follower tell the leader how she felt?
2. I have
observed that advanced dancers (follower) sometimes
begins the dance in close embrace and midway thru the
dance it became open. Did lots of fancy stuff than
return to close embrace. Is this due to the floor craft
or the figures that requires her to change the embrace
throughout the dance?
Thank you, Not Following
Dear Not
Following,
For the first part of your
question about whether the woman must always follow the
leader even when she has a different interpretation is a
pretty sticky one. Basically I have 2 answers for
this:
a. The Response for A Beginner or Intermediate
Level Follower: Your job is to follow whatever the
leader does, even if he is off the music or not dancing
the style you would want him to. Exerting this kind of
control over the dance is called BACK
LEADING.
b. The
Response for An Advanced Follower: Exerting this kind of
control over the dance when you are experienced enough
to know what you are doing and when you have a sensitive
leader is called FOLLOWER'S VOICE . This is not the same
as stealing
the lead (which you can also do if you know how to
lead). The trick is that you do it in a way that the
leader doesn't even know what you've done. You see, if
you're going to manipulate a man, he cannot be aware of
it for it to work.
Just a few examples of how
you can express your "Follower's Voice":
-Slowing His
Steps Down: Quite often leaders get over-excited and
will start to rush around the dance floor. If it's too
much for you, you can put some extra resistance in your
steps to literally slow his movements down. This has to
be done gently though. My partner calls this the 'Matrix
Move'. He says when women do this it's like time itself
slows down and he's still doing the movement he was
planning to do, but somehow it comes out in slow motion.
Cool, eh?
-Asking for a Longer Pause: If you want a
little more time during a pause, then you can 'hold' the
leader in place for an extra beat or two. This is
effectively done by 'grounding' him with your embrace.
Think about pressing down slightly with your left arm
and not letting him start to step just yet. If he steps
anyway, then obviously you must
go with it.
-Adding Energy: You can add a little more oomph
to your steps if he is dancing like a wet fish,
especially in turns.
-Adding or Subtracting Steps:
Also realize that once you become familiar enough with
tango vocabulary that it is second nature to you, there
are times that you can take an extra step, or leave a
step out, and still wind up in the same place the leader
was sending you. And of course what you can get away
with also depends on the level of the leader. You will
find some brutish guys are totally oblivious to or
totally ignore anything you try to add and then you must
just dance at their mercy.
For the second part of
your question: A change in embrace is led by the man
most always (though the follower could suggest that she
wants to open up or close the embrace). And yes, some
figures are better for close embrace, some are better
for open. The figures, the floor craft, the feeling will
dictate the embrace. | |
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Dallas
"The Cradle of Tango in
Texas"
Part
Two:
Cafe
Madrid Initiation, Imported Tango Teachers, Local
Producers and The
Second Generation
Cafe Madrid was the designated place to have
dinner for the "Tango gang" after the usual
classes or practicas and the new students used to
came along with us. It was some sort of
"initiation" for them and they were very happy
enjoying being there sharing the tango chat and
the moment. Those dinners become so popular that
if a new student was invited to the after class
dinner they had to ask that night the class. The
group was very exclusive and our dinners for tango
dancers only. Now that the time has passed I' m
beginning to think that several of those girls and
guys attended the practicas just to be able to go
with the tangueros gang for the dinner at Cafe
Madrid. It was really fun, friendly and enjoyable.
We usually had "tapas" for dinner, we talk about
tango, tango and more tango and taking the tables
and chairs out of the way after the dinner,
everybody had for dessert .... A TANGO DANCE!. A
real nice student and good dancer girl came out,
in those times, to be fundamental for the new born
"Tango Argentino Dallas".
| Everyone
knows and remembers Deborah Anglin who under the
direction of Carlos Zarazaga (Mr. President),
took over all communications among the tango
fans, teachers and venues,creating a internet
web page. Deborah, always enthusiastic and ready
to help becomes the indispensable "Tango Diva"
(as she referred herself). Also a "Cafe Madrid"
addict and after the first dinner "initiation"
one of it's weekly regulars. Funny I do not
remember her having missed even one. Deborah’s
usual and favorite dessert... besides tango of
course,was "peras al vino". |
Carlos Zarazaga, president of "Tango
Argentino Dallas" and his wife Jessie,
milonguera and one of the old times tango
students |
Daniel Trenner was one the first "imported"
serious Tango intents in Dallas with a work-shop
on Arlington Campus, to my knowledge this was a
Steve Brown initiative. A very nice experience and
an important first step but more was needed at
those beginning moments. To an old tanguero like
me with some tango years on my back, the real
launching and the spark that really ignited the
flame of Tango in Dallas was done the moment that
Michael Walker and Luren Bellucci. These very well
known teachers from Santa Fe, were presented in
the "Dance2City" Studio with an spectacular
exhibition that impressed all the audience… even
the "glamorous ball room people"! They were, I
believe, the second outside teachers in Dallas
after Trenner. I'm not sure who financed and
produced this event which was very successful,
bringing tango instruction to Dallas fans and
students from all over Texas and other states .
The Browns looked to Dallas tango masters like
Mariela Franganillo (the tanguera from San Telmo)
and others. While Carlos Zarazaga’s intervention
made it possible to enjoy the expertise of
Florencia Tacetti who in our Cafe Madrid after
class dinners, used to dance (and this is secret)
not only tango ... but also Flamenco. I met and
dance in those milongas and presentations with
Monica Caivano (a nice "paisana" and now a teacher
in Austin) several times, Joan Bishop (now
teaching in Houston) used to be there too. Erika
Sutton a successful teacher in Chicago was also
part of practicas and milongas. Lisa Elisson now a
Dallas teacher, milonguera and tango entrepreneur,
not only was there but also decided to stay there
and many, many others. Those first little
festivals and work-shops in Dallas along with the
ones in Austin by the tango pioneer Ricardo
Moncada, had a lot to do and I'm positive about
this, with the most enthusiastic, serious and
professional beginning and realization of some of
our best tango dancers, teachers and venues almost
everywhere in Texas.
From the firsts days and the firsts tango
teachers and milongas: Phyllis Williams, one of
Susan and Steve students and Robert Bondy, one of
my own milonga students came out as, lets say the
"second generation" of Tango teachers in Dallas,
holding our tango flag high and alive with they
work and love for the dance. It is still fresh in
my mind one night when we were celebrating one of
the ladies birthdays and every body was waiting
their turn to dance with her a little bit. Being
my turn I was dancing with her and, when I was
ready to do a back gancho in hers "molinete",
Phyllis who was the next to dance, touched my arm.
This accidental distraction made me miss my gancho
and kick the birthday girl in a middle of her
knee, oops! Phyllis Williams (La Rubia Mireya)
impassioned by the dance from the beginning and
for a time was an active part of the newly created
T.A.D. Later she became a producer, bring the
expertise of Graciela Gonzalez to Dallas. After
that the classic experience of one of the most
beloved and respected instructors from Argentina,
the world wide known friends Nito and Elba. She
started to teach and made partnership with another
practicas habitué: Darryl Gaston ( El Morocho) a
very good dancer from Los Angeles student of the
legendary Carlos Gavito. Robert Bondy in the
meantime with his unique particular "pinta
milonguera" (milonguero stomp) started to teach
with Lisa Ellison, the experienced and nice
tanguera who moved from Houston and open
Pavaditas. Laurie Vega, close to T.A.D. and
another one of the students from those times, made
hers way to become a successful tango organizer
and choreographer. She is now the organizer of a
nice milonga called, "La Mariposa" like the one in
Rome. John Trimble, if I remember well, started to
teach in Carrolton or Fort Worth while I was
holding my second or third workshop of milonga in
the city. Deborah Anglin, Erika, Lydia, Terry West
and Paula White are also an important part of both
generations, while Rocky Howard, Cliff Davis,
Alice, Judy, Jessie Marshal (now the happy wife
and partner of Carlos Zarazaga) and many others,
were the sincere and enthusiastic tangueros first
tangueros. Because of their essential energy and
active participation the success of all those
practicas, milongas, work-shops and of course...
dinners at Cafe Madrid was possible
In the past few years Dallas has welcomed new
tangueros blood. This last generation, the newest
and the ones that probably never visited
Dance2City Studio and were never introduced to the
Cafe Madrid dinner initiation either: Jarielbhy
and George Furlong, one of the most popular and
active tango couple and organizers in Dallas. They
were the tango couple who represented my own
"Metatango Festival" and our State of Texas at the
"World Tango Dance Championship" in Buenos Aires,
Argentina in 2004, competing side by side, with
the best international tango dancers.
| As the
crowning jewel of all this nice and real tango
history, Tango Argentino Dallas sponsored by the
City of Dallas as a non profit organization, the
gang of tangueros have made it possible for us
to enjoy, nothing more and nothing less than
what has already become one of the most
important tango events in Texas: The live
concert and milonga with the Color Tango
Orchestra. |
The Color Tango Orchestra's at the
gala
milonga in
Dallas.
|
There is no doubt in my mind that all the
effort, days and hours of work, red tape,
applications, lobbying and public relations spent
to accomplish this important support granted by
the City was, it is today and it will be tomorrow
the master peace and legacy of Carlos Zarazaga,
his team and all their dedication and love for the
Argentine Tango.
At the last minute a working engagement forbade
me being able to attend that milonga. But I as
there any way because, without leaving my plane
seat and for the 8 hours of my trip I had replayed
in my mind one by one most of those memories. And
believe me, I had said hello, I had hug and I had
talk to all my friends, my tango dance partners
and ex-students. And I had shared with them, just
like in the old times, all those unforgettable
days and moments experienced years before.
Furthermore I'm promising to all of you today
that, in my next "Metatango Festival", I will
dedicate the final exhibition and show to commend
and honor those leaders, the first ones, the
pioneers, those who had made possible what tango
in Dallas is today. After that, I will buy,
dedicate and post with the help of Karen Halman,
Susan Brown, Carlos Zarazaga, Jeramy Bede and
Steve Brown, two real big bronze commemorative
plaques: One in the hall wall of Dance 2 City
Studio and the other one right in front of the
Cafe Madrid Restaurant, each one saying: “In this
place Argentine Tango was cradled and raised in
Texas"!
* This articles does not intend to be a
chronological history of events or a complete
biography of each one of the teachers or students
mentioned. All the contents are based in memories
and personal experiences in a particular place and
time of my long Tango
life.
OB |
| |
|
Tango à la
Parisienne
a Tango Story
by
Robert Osbourne . . . |
|
| Part
One.............................
It’s Friday night, and Natasha’s slew-footed prance
down la rue du Temple winds its way between chairs and
tables and happy-to-be-free drinkers and diners
overflowing onto the sidewalk from bars and restaurants
lining the street.
The tango bar at The Bistro Latin is located above a
small movie house that specializes in erotic Latin
films, often with a tango theme. Next door to the movie
house, the front of a jazz café opens to the Rue du
Temple. Jazz addicts, diners and drinkers sit around
tables scattered along the sidewalk. They tap their feet
and beat time to the sizzling jazz-sounds, using spoons,
knifes, forks…whatever they can lay their hands on.
Inside the cafe, musicians bend and twist over their
instruments, their eyes shut tight, their brows
glistening with sweat and furrowed as if in pain. A
primitive pulse, deep in their musician souls, beats out
a throaty jazz-sound that rises to fingertips and lips
they themselves do not control, and, like jasmine from
the soft fleshed thighs of Bourbon Street whores, the
sweet sounds drift onto la rue du Temple and find
Natasha’s ear.
Her slew-footed prance slows, and her hand slides up
her thigh to rest on a cocked hip as she turns an ear to
the music. The point of her stiletto-heeled shoe taps
the pavement, and her hips begin to move, slowly at
first, up and down, in a seesaw motion that rides the
beat. Then her tight, impetuous ass begins rotating
slowly. Her tapping toe rises and her back arches. She
kicks a nylon-clad leg high into the air, and off she
flies between the tables, dancing a high-legged,
impromptu jazz that stops traffic, empties the café and
brings the sidewalk table-crowd to their feet, glasses
raised, arms held high and hands clapping to the
beat.
I follow her down the street, enjoying an occasional
glimpse of black garter. Natasha passes under the
flashing red neon "Bar de Tango" sign that hangs
from the second floor above the movie house. She pauses
at the entrance.
The theater marquee advertises "Une Programme
Retro de Valentino." I take a look at the posters
and admire the slick, Brilliantine shine of Rudolph
Valentino’ black hair. His wide belted gaucho outfit and
his whip, casually balanced between long, white fingers,
suggest an intriguing degeneracy; and his cruel,
black-eyed squint stares back at me.
Natasha twists the barrel of her lipstick and
compresses her lips, admiring herself in the mirror of
her compact. Her cheeks are flushed, and on her face a
fine haze of moisture reflects the lights
of the marquee. "How do I look?" she asks. I put my
arm around her and give her a hard squeeze. "Ughh!" she
says. I kiss her painted lips, "Got to check the
merchandise first hand," I tell her.
We enter the foyer of the theater. The blonde girl
behind the ticket booth looks up from her copy of
Mademoiselle, recognizes us, and drops her eyes
back to her magazine. She's wearing a lace blouse that's
so brilliantly white it makes me want to blink. Except
for this, her lips, full, perfectly symmetrical Leslie
Caron ellipses, would be too red. She isn't wearing a
bra, and she catches me stealing a look. Next to the
ticket booth, a flight of stairs leads to the upstairs
Tango Bar. The musicians are playing a tango waltz; I
feel its sensuous rhythm rise in my blood, and, as we
climb the stairs, my feet mark the beat.
to be continued . . .
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/B%20Clifford/My%20Documents/My%20Music/My%20Webs/lavidatango.com
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Celeste
Carballo: "I'm doing my own vision of tango"
|
The author, composer and
singer of rock and roll presents
a
repertory with tangos
of her own, and
other creators,
at the Torcuato
Tasso,
in San Telmo
By Alejandra
Rodríguez |
|
"Me vuelvo cada día más loca"
(I'm getting more crazy everyday) sang
-successfully- in 1982. It was the time when National
rock obtained the license to sound in the postwar and
pro democracy Argentina. Celeste Carballo was
becoming a hit. "Voy a ver si se me pasa el dolor,
cantando un buen rock & roll" (I'll see if pain goes
singing a good rock & roll), she claimed. But
she's always flirted with other rhythms: a zamba, a
chacarera, even blues.
And how did you get to
Tango?
I'm porteña from Villa Devoto, and
the youngest of eight children who always listened to
tangos. Tango belongs to me. I realized all I had
to say, without n disguising the lyrics into canyengue;
I mean, with nowadays daily realism. In 2000, I sang
El día que me quieras with José Colángelo
and his orchestra, invited by the city government. It
was amazing! We met there, I had already written
Buenos Aires no tiene la culpa, he chose it and
two months later he had the music ready.
|
|
In 2001, when she was recording her CD
celesteacústica, she decided to include
Un tango desnuda, and in 2004, her last
record celesteacusticados! presents a
version of Buenos Aires no tiene la culpa,
with Horacio Romo (bandoneón) and the
arrangements by Alejandro Terán (strings).
But she had already had an approach to 2x4 with
Charly García, when they presented a video
in 1992 with the theme by Gardel & Lepera,
El día que me quieras, with the
participation of Julio Bocca. The theme was
part of her record Chocolate inglés, which
obtained the ACE award (Association of Show
Chroniclers) to the best rock n' roll record of
the year. |
Celeste goes on enumerating
milestones of her story with tango: "Two months ago, a
record company from Australia ( itunes.com) asked me for the rights of Buenos Aires no
tiene la culpa to edit it in a CD among other songs
from Argentina. And now, I've been called from Tasso to
perform at its space for new tangueros". The show
combines her own tangos with something by Gotán
Project (who she considers "original" and says:
"they made another nut-turn after Piazzolla's"), and by
María Graña (one of her favorite tango singers).
"I'm doing my own vision of tango", she
completes.
|
And
what is your vision of tango
about?
As Atahualpa
used to say, 'my theme is the road'; all songs
speak about the same things just in different
ways. Buenos Aires no tiene la culpa, for
instance, tells about the porteño that leaves to
New York in search of a better life. I tell him:
'make some Money and come back home', don't lose
what belongs to you, defend it 'in situ'. Un
tango desnuda speaks about a woman who stays
in the dark at night, dreaming of being in another
bed, in some place else, but she stays there,
maybe because she is afraid; she can't realize
that 'life is already an abysm'. Tango provides me
a great freedom to think. |
 |
Even more freedom
than rock?
Rock is very restricted. The best of
rock happened in the 70s'. Today rock appears to me
deciduous, old; if it doesn't achieve reconversion…,
rock needs a Piazzolla. In 2000, Daniel Melingo
invited me and I sang with a bandoneon for the first
time; it was very exciting! Then, I started to write
tango lyrics. I realized about the freedom of forms that
tango has; even more than rock or blues. This is the
reason why there is so much richness of compositions and
styles within tango; for instance, thanks to Horacio
Ferrer, there was a great change in tango
lyrics.
So, there's no more rocker
Celeste?
I'm an author, a composer, and an
arranger. I'm also writing chacareras with
Cuti Carabajal. It is a space to tell things that
happen in our country. From folk music I can tell the
story of Gauchito Gil, for example. And the other day, I
wrote a very bust blues on the Riachuelo, 'to
this rotten river'.
|
|
There is a
certain combination of city and countryside in her
life, of neighborhood and traveling around the
world; maybe the alchemy necessary to stay away
from fixing to a style for ever. My oldest
brother, Eduardo César Carballo, textile chemist,
was an amateur tango singer -Celeste recalls-. I
had a good tango school at home". Her father was
Asturian; he worked for Fontanares Tobacco
Company, and opened a dairy with her mother at
La Paternal neighborhood. "They sold it
after a time and moved to Villa Devoto,
where I was born -she tells-. When my old folk
retired, I was 5 years old and we moved to the
countryside, in Coronel Pringles". In those
years, she switched "from riding a broomstick to
her own real horse". The family spent Summers at
her elder sister Dora, in town. "When I turned 10,
we moved back to Devoto", Cecilia
tells. |
Do tangueros resist you for
coming from rock?
I had no resistances in the
tango ambience. Susana Rinaldi said: "This
guacha sings super well". I sang with Rodolfo
Mederos at the San Martín theatre. Néstor
Marconi recorded El día que me quieras with
me at Chocolate inglés. In 1992, the city
government asked me to take part of a festival in Av. 9
de Julio, I sang El día que me quieras along with
maestro Carlos García -'not Charly', she
explains- and was acclaimed".
Have you already
learned to dance tango?
I took two lessons and I
felt an absolute idiot. It is a different language, but
I'm going to try again. The question of the feminine and
masculine roles get mixed up there (and you have 4 o 5
more tangos to write...). My head blew up when the
teacher told us that any one in the couple can conduct,
depending who knows exactly the complementary step. I
want to make a video learning to dance tango, to play a
little with that.
And when
will you launch a tango record?
I had no idea about a tango record. I need
substantiated material for it; I don't want to play
Cambalache. Adriana Varela asked me for a
tango. I'm shaping some stuff. It has its turns. I write
a lyric and compose at the piano. But then you have to
put it in scores and find the right person. I met
Dani Tomas (coauthor of Chocolate Inglés)
in Los Angeles in 2003 and we composed Más que
amor, a tango that is still unreleased. In 2000, I
sang Tiempo de blues with Amelita Baltar;
I liked it but I haven't edited yet because I'm
reshaping it. I'm also writing a tango along with
Analía Lenchantin, a classic music piano player,
who is dedicated to tango in Los Angeles. Things need a
time to have a certain sense of reality; otherwise it is
like a lie.
Photos: Celeste
Carballo Web
Visit
Let'sTanGO! for more information about porteños’
culture, including tours, sites of interest,
restaurants, museums, milongas and tango shows in Buenos
Aires. Enjoy it ! click here!
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Revised
November 08, 2006
©
2004
LaVidaTango
E-zine
it's time to start thinking
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