The last two month of August and Sept have been the most enjoyable ones. I am very fortunate to known Dr. Robert M. Greenburg who invited me to Florida. I was in Hollywood, in the southern part of Ft. Lauderdale and from there I went to the Hotel Diplomat by the sea. What a precious view , ah to go out to the balcony and enjoy the sugar-like sea – what a marvelous experience. From this point we would attend the tango classes and the milongas. We also traveled down the coast from Hollywood to Miami Beach, enjoying the beaches and above all the delicious meals in very nice restaurants which Florida has.
Our first Tango class was given by
instructor Sr. Roberto Maiolo at Dance Masters of North Miami. The class focused on improving peoples dancing through technique and musicality. 
You may want to go to his website www.tangoinflorida.com . After the class we attended the milonga where they offered dinner. That night there were more than 50 persons and lots of milonguero men to dance with and enjoy the evening.
On Sunday we went to the International Club of Argentina Tango in Hollywood, Fla. It was there that I met the very handsome Pablo Repun. He taught us a very nice step called “la sentadita” which was easy to learn. Pablo is an argentine tango dancer who has been teaching and dancing tango professionally since 1993. Pablo is dynamic, friendly, patient and it is true, my dear friends, that he is handsome, tall, with a wonderful smile which makes you sigh. So that you may see that it is true what have said about him and his curriculum go to his website is www.pablorepuntango.com /
I would love to return to Florida. I owe this wonderful, unforgettable and unique week in Florida to my dear friend Robert. I have never felt less a stranger in a strange city. I feel blessed to have such a caring, faithful friend – thank you Roberto from the bottom of my heart.
Llegue muy cansada a San Antonio but with the news that it was going to be Daniel Monserrat's birthday, I went to Circa to celebrate his birthday with a cake and singing to him “las mananitaas”
On Aug. 27^th I went to Houston with my tanguera friend, B, the All Houston Milonga. Hosts were Robert and Valerie Schoenberg and Victor Collin. Below is Valerie with Jim Liu.
We met new tangueros and we invited them personally to come to our Posada Milonga which will take place in San Antonio, TX on December 16, 2005.
Seguir bailando tango amigas! It is sensual, passionate, melancholic and happy at the same time.
Last Saturday Sept 10th we attended the monthly milonga at Jazzercise. It was a lot of fun. We were fortunate enough to have the pleasure of Eric's company along with his lovely girlfriend Karen from Canada. Kathy from Austin brought a tanguero from Queretaro, Mexico. His name is Jorge - a great tango dancer. He danced with the majority of the tangueras attending the milonga. The ambiance >was a happy one and for the first time we had the pleasure of also having Fiacro Salazar, a future tanguero, be part of our celebration. The arrangements of the main table were lovely which consisted of lots of bougainvillea branches loaded with beautiful colorful flowers on a bed of banana tree leaves, and mini candles scattered throughout. There were plenty of hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks, wine, beer and the ever popular 
T E Q U I L A! Lots of people cooperated bringing wine and goodies - we danced till past 1 am Sunday - it was very, very enjoyable. 
T e`veo  en una         milonga !  
  Norma   
  norma@lavidatango.com

Ask Maleva !

Dear Maleva,
I am approaching my golden years, but still love dancing. My partner and I enjoy simple ballroom dancing and weddings, but need something new to spice up our dancing lives, and to possibly impress our friends. Tango looks more challenging than the waltz or foxtrot. As elder beginners, would we look silly?
Thanks,
Have to Dance

Dear Have to Dance,

There is a nice quote about dancing in general that goes: "People don't stop dancing because they get old, they get old because they stop dancing." If you can walk, you can dance! And this is especially true for the Argentine tango.

Other dances may be more about acrobatics and feats of physical competence. Tango is different and wonderful because it is about feeling something on the inside, not showing it on the outside, and about sharing a moment with another person. They say that people dance tango the way they are and as a person with a lot of life experiences you will have a lot to express. Famed Argentine teacher and one of my biggest influences, Susana Miller (who is herself in her late 50s) said once in a workshop that in her studio she sometimes dances with her sister and with her sister's daughter. Although both of these 2 women are great dancers and dance the same style, Susana said her niece feels very different from her sister and that the older woman has many things to say through her dance that come from nostalgia, experience and wisdom in life.

There are many many people in the tango communities all over the world, especially Buenos Aires, who are in their 50s and 60s - perhaps they are even in the majority. I have danced with men who are even in their 80s, and a lot of times they are better than the younger guys!

So go out and learn to tango -- and you should never worry about looking silly when you dance, no matter how old you are!

Ask Maleva is published courtesy of 
  www.close-embrace.com 

PASSION

 OF THE

 AMERICAS

 2nd International Festival of Tango + Jazz

NOV.2-5, 2005 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

 
by Exotic Tango Vacations, LLC

Confirmed teachers: Paulo Araujo from Brazil, Percell St. Thomass from Alaska,Hawai'i. Hsueh-tze Lee, from Boston, Ma, USA. Eduardo Saucedo, from Buenos Aires

 Registration price: Aug 1-Sept 1: $400 After Sept. 1, space available, per event only.

MUSICIANS: BLAS RIVERAS Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Saxophone, GERARDO PEREZ Montevideo, Uruquay Bandoneon, GLOVER GILL Austin, Texas Piano, PEDRO CARTAS Queretaro, Mexico, Violin, GIL GUTIERREZ San Miguel d/Allende Guitar, ANTONIO LOZOYA San Miguel d/Allende Bass

Your Package includes: Tanguero Loco: Tango show,12 classes and 4 milongasOR Tango Genial: Tango show, 8 classes, 2 milongas, 3 extra events OR Tango Mundo: Tango Show,4 classes, 4 milongas, 1 tour and 1 extra event EXTRA EVENTS INCLUDE: Hot springs swim and lunch, Slow Food Mexican cooking class, Gorgeous Hacienda lunch *perhaps milonga.
ALSO: Tours of nearby fascinating locations, milongas in colonial and artistic settings, parties, adventures, and everything with the lively and exotic setting of old Mexico. Lodging included in separate packages starting at $549 up to $969 for 4 nights and basic package of tango. Hotel package prices will fluctuate as of JULY 1.

Call Christina Johnson (601)442-5355 Or email kikibri@earthlink.net

Ney Melo on Etiquette . . . Do's and Don'ts of Inviting : Part One

 I have been thinking about writing this article for a long time, after having experienced many humorous and not-so-humorous episodes at the milonga. Many of us get caught up in learning the steps of the tango and then we get to the milonga and we don't know that there are certain unwritten rules about inviting and accepting or declining dances. While the 'cabeceo' - or inviting people to dance with eye contact and a nod - is alive and well in Buenos Aires, we live in North America in modern times, and as such our customs have to adapt. Therefore, I've put together a list of "rules" that, if somewhat adhered to, will make the milonga enjoyable for men and ladies alike. 
1) THE RULE OF THE "FIRST AND LAST" The first and last tango of the milonga experience have a significant meaning in the mind of a milonguero/a. Ideally, you'd want to start off on the right foot; you'd want to begin dancing with a capable and smooth partner in order to prepare for the long night of dancing that lies ahead. But just as a good partner will raise you to the next level, a horrible partner will knock you down a few notches. The saying among milongueros is that it takes two good partners in a row to knock out the effects of one bad one. Therefore, be careful about who you accept or invite as your first partner. The last tanda (a set of tangos) also has a significance. In Buenos Aires, it is said that you usually dance the last tanda with your lover or a potential lover. I take a more casual approach to this rule and I think that one should dance that last tanda with their significant other, unless agreed otherwise. If you are single, then it's open game whom dance with. However if you are dancing with someone whom you know has a significant other at the milonga, and the last tanda is announced, it is a nice courtesy to ask them if they need to go dance with that other person. 2) "NO BABYSITTING" Typical scenario: a lady is sitting down at a milonga and is approached by a gentleman who then invites her to dance. Rather than reject him outright, she says 'no, not right now', that she is tired, taking a break, waiting for a friend, etc. Instead of walking away, the guy decides to SIT DOWN BESIDE HER and wait for her to be ready to dance with him! This man has just committed what I call "babysitting". I have seen both ladies and gentlemen commit this fiendish act. When someone says no, it means that you should stay away from him/her for a certain period of time. This leads me to the next rule. 
3) THE DURATION OF "NO" After discussing this with many milongueros and milongueras, I've come to the following conclusion. No means No...for a little while. If you has been rejected, you cannot invite the same person to dance again at the beginning of the next tanda! Only after 2, 5, maybe more tandas later can you consider asking that person to dance again. Don't be a Stalker. Often times the rejecter may even track you down to claim that dance when they are ready -- that is if they were truly tired in the first place. 
4) " THE PENALTY BOX" Rejecting someone does bring a consequence along with it. This is the rule that if you reject someone for a tango, you cannot dance that same tango with someone better who comes along. You have to, at least, wait for the next song or preferably for the next tanda. You can think of those minutes of waiting time as being in hockey's "penalty box". Sometimes this is a double-edged sword because let's say you are in the "penalty box" but then a really amazing dancer who never asks you to dance finally asks you. You know that if you turn them down then you may never get your chance again, but if you say yes you will look like a jerk in the eyes of the first person that asked you (and then THEY may cease asking)! Sometimes you just can't win... 
5) "CUTTING-IN" I've seen old black and white movies where a Clark Gable or an Errol Flynn type will cut in between the beautiful, young starlet of the movie and her lame-duck partner who audiences forget about seconds later. Well, that only happens in the movies. I'm pretty sure that "Cutting in" is banned in all milongas in all the countries in the world. Back when I was a beginner, I once had someone kindly ask me if they could "cut-in". I kindly cursed them and their family in my mind. That's how serious it is! Invitations to dance happen during the cortinas (the minute of ambient music that is played between the tandas) not when 2 people are standing talking between the songs in a tanda. PERIOD.
 This Article will be continued in Part Two  In the November issue. 
Click here to visit http://www.NeyMelo.com

Roy Montejano's         
dos por cuatro
in Texas   

Dr. Karen Slklanka and Eric Lanoix share a dance.

On September 10, the San Antonio Tanguero’s held their monthly milonga only this time the proceeds were donated to the San Antonio Hurricane Fund a relief effort for hurricane Katrina victims. The idea to donate the funds to the hurricane relief fund was the thought of Tanguero’s Angela Avila and Frank Huddleston; of course the San Antonio Tangueros board of directors gave their stamp of approval. The music was provided by Dr. Terry Baugh president of the San Antonio Tangueros and refreshments were provided by Norma Valdez and Margie Schick. We want to thank the above mentioned people for their efforts and generosity during a time of disaster. We would also like to thank all the people who attended the milonga and were generous with their donations.

On another note on September 30, Norma Valdez, B Clifford, and Margie Schick held a Bar-B-Q milonga to raise money for the La Vida Tango E-zine's 3rd Annual Posada Milonga. Margie's secret garden provided a wonderful setting for an outdoor milonga during an evening that provided good music DJ'ed by Frank Huddleston and Angela Avila, wonderful food cooked up by Margie, Norma and B, and of course the local San Antonio women who attended made for great dance partners. It was a fantastic happening and hopes are that this can become an annual event.

Alvin, Margie and Virginia

BUENOS AIRES CULTURE ON THE WEB  

Interview with Ricardo Klapwijk:

"Tango is a gift Argentina has made to the whole world"

By Alejandra Rodríguez
Photos: Carlos Vizzotto (Courtesy: www.tango-argentino.info)

He arrived to Argentina 15 years ago to dance Tango with his former couple, Nicole Nau. Then they foresaw a 3 months stay, but finally they lingered. Six weeks later they formed part of Marathon's cast at the Teatro Colon, directed by Jaime Kogan. That was the beginning of a new story for Ricardo Klapwijk, "el Hollander", a 40-something engineer who one day decided that his life was no more a constructor's life. "I lost my heart for Tango -he synthesizes-, and I couldn't express myself through architecture as I did dancing".
Today he shares his passion for Tango and his life with Rotraut Rumbaum (Sol, her artistic name), and split his time between Buenos Aires and Germany, where he offers classes and workshops in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Tübingen, Wiesbaden, Erfurt and other cities.
Last September he presented -as the producer- the opera-tango Orestes in Buenos Aires, after a successful debut-tour in Holland and Belgian. These days, he is doing a sort of tourney round Frankfurt's surroundings, presenting at a different place every evening of the month. January will encounter him to Buenos Aires once more, with his tango lessons in Corrientes and Rodríguez Peña, and the task to keep on working to take Orestes abroad and to the Argentine provinces.
"Tango is an international language", says the "holandes", and his blue eyes shine. He fiddles with his hair that falls over his shoulders while he revives those first years in Buenos Aires, when he used to attend Tango Mío and Café Homero. "Homero was a magical café -he remembers-; we danced there every Fridays and Saturdays, and early dancing and milongas hosted Goyeneche, Juarez and many other artists after their shows".
His unmistakable accent is not out of tune with his "porteño" expressions. And as if it was necessary, he explains: "we are European; we started to dance a different style". But dancing is the common code which joins him to Buenos Aires and its versatile and contradictory culture. Ricardo knows that many people will find strange that a Dutch and a German give Tango lessons, not only in Europe but in the very birth city of that sensual and passionate dance.
Diaphanous and beautiful, Sol intervenes, with delicate firmness. She speaks German while he observes her, and then he translates: "Buenos Aires is an immigrants' ball, an encounter among different cultures which date at Tango. This aesthetic character repeats in Berlin, a multicultural city that dances tango". Sol says that in Europe, tango followers travel a lot, and wherever they go, they dance tango; they communicate with each other through dancing. "This is related to the origins of Tango. Tango is a way to connect with other cultures and the encounter is caused by the dance. A fact that is starting to happen at Buenos Aires' milongas", she asserts.

But, how did this Tango Argentino rage get to the rest of the world?
According to Ricardo, "the Tango wave in Europe began with Piazzolla, because though he was so porteño, his music was universal. Nowadays, Pugliese is very much danced because it is modern. But they don't dance Old Guard; orchestras like Troilo's or D'Arienzo's are difficult for foreigners to express through the dancing".
A connoisseur of Tango past, the Hollander explains that "there are moments in the history of Tango when it opens to the world; it happened with Piazzolla, in the first place, and then with Tango Argentino, Claudio Segovia's company, who took tango dancing out of Argentina. Since then, Argentine masters started traveling to Europe to teach, like Eduardo and Gloria did. And today we found that in Germany and Holland you can differentiate dancing styles".
Coming to methods and techniques, differences are unavoidable. "Tango lives its own improvisation, and this is a huge difference for Europeans, Japanese and Americans, who come from more organized cultures. That's why it is difficult to understand that you also have to express tango from yourself, not just dance a standardized Tango".

Sol has been dancing and teaching Tango for the last four and a half years. She learned in Berlin, where she used to live and work. She studied drama, contact, costume and several dances. She explains that the German teaching system differs from Argentine method. Each school has certain number of weekly classes (1 ½ hour) and the course is very methodic and systemized; "it is the process that better works according to German idiosyncrasy".
Then, Tango will not be Argentine anymore?
Sol replies with no hesitation: "Argentina is gaining from Tango spreading round the world; now Tango is valued inside the country because of its significance gained abroad". Ricardo adds; "This has already happened twice in Tango history, with Gardel and with Piazzolla; both of them were valued here after they had success abroad". Finally, the Hollander reveals: "Tango is a gift this country has made to the whole world. Tango makes Argentine culture's values to be known, something that not many Argentine people can feel. To live in a country as if it was an exile and, at the same time, to recognize that your culture imposes on the world is a conflict Argentine will have to solve".

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!

Tango Art for
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