Nadia Aguilar & Erik Deslarmes at Bravita Milonga

 

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Gavito Tango Festival - Maestros Performance

Gustavo Naveira y Giselle Anne - Performance at Gavito Tango Festival in Los Angeles

Carla y Julio

Escenario obviously, but I like this...here's their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyjtango9189/

Carla Dominguez y Julio Seffino

Alex's Top Ten Tango Videos

Most of you already know this about me (my favorite videos that I post over and over again every few months), but I thought I would collect them all into one post...for posterity...not in any particular order...

These videos are why I dance tango...or represent why I dance tango...this imagery, these couples, the songs, the movement, the grace and simplicity, the connection...all represent what "El Tango" is to me, how I choose to hold it in my heart/soul and in my life, until the end of my days...

You will note there are actually 11 videos...and one song, La Cumparsita, at the end...oh well, I couldn't keep it to 10...

And, the title of this post should read "Top Ten Tango/Vals/Milonga Videos"...top eleven...




Javier Rodriguez y Geraldine Rojas | Rodolfo Biagi's "Flor de Monserrat"






Osvaldo Zotto y Lorena Ermocida | en la Confiteria Ideal | Carlos DiSarli's "Indio Manso"






Murat y Michelle Erdemsel | Aníbal Troilo's "En Esta Tarde Gris"






Detlef Engel y Melina Sedo | Superslow milonga to Canaro's "Milonga Sentimental"






Thierry Le Cocq et Delphine Blanco | Superfast milonga to Canaro's "No hay tierra coma la mia"






Ezequiel Farfaro y Milena Plebs | CITA 2003 (I thin) | Milonga Campera to Alfredo Zitarrosa's "Pa'l Que Se Va"






El Maestro Carlos Gavito y Geraldine Rojas | en La Viruta | Osvaldo Pugliese's "Emancipación"






Julio Balmaceda y Corina de la Rosa | Denver's Cheesman Pavilion | Fleury's "Milonga del Ayer" (live solo by Gregory "Grish" Nisnevich)






Enrique y Guillermo de Fazio (Los Hermanos Macana) | Milonga to Canaro's "Reliquias Porteñas"






Sebastian Arce y Mariana Montes | A vals to Biagi's "Viejo Porton"






Carlos "Carlitos" Espinoza y Karina Antonucci | Enrique Rodriquez' "Danza Maligna"





And lastly, no dancing, just an appropriate last tango | Italian Tenor Tito Schipa singing the original lyrics version of "La Cumparsita", which happens to be my favorite version of all 45 (or so) versions of La Cumparsita I have collected...

carlitos y karina :: danza maligna

Carlos Espinoza y Karina Antonucci. How did these two miss my radar? Google is devoid of anything about them.

Thanks go to Eduardo for this find - he must have one of those new-fangled Phased Array Pulse Doppler tango radars.

Not that my tango radar is that good, or is even functioning properly any more. (Although I can pick up a flock of sandhill cranes wheeling overhead at 2,000 feet, so it must not be that bad. [grin]) I was thinking just yesterday, as I was driving or working (I can't remember which), that I should do a "life trumps tango, life trumps blog" post. To basically put the word out that I've been busy these days and not writing much. Hell, not writing my ass. I continue to draw blanks about anything to write about tango related. I'm feeling very out of the tango loop - and missing my tango friends in the far corners of my world.

I was able to conjure up a topic yesterday after all, albeit a very old one - "Energy in the Molinete" - old in the time continuum of this blog. I remember our little tango group in Aspen debating this one ad nauseum - having drinks and a late-night snack at Jimmy's after tango class. Perhaps it was me debating and the others experiencing the ad nauseum. The gist of my drift is that in the ideal molinete, the follower takes over the leads "energy" as she takes her "back-side-front" steps. She doesn't take over the lead itself, she doesn't back lead, but just assumes the dominant/active/athletic energy, and then relinquishes it when the lead ends the molinete.

When this happens, it's amazing. It is subtle but intense. Two followers who/m I know can do this. Or rather, do it all the time by default. One in Atlanta. One in Denver.

Anyway, perhaps I'll expand on the subject when I have more time. It's a little more esoteric/abstract and difficult to explain and conceive of in here...I dunno...we'll see.

Happy tangos y'all...check out Carlitos y Karina...can anyone tell us more about them?



Oh, and the song is "Danza Maligna" by Enrique Rodriguez...one of my favorites...

Mother and Son, Mother and Father

Olga Besio (Federico's Mom) y Federico Naveira in 2008 at Salon Canning dancing to Carlos DiSarli's "Bahia Blanca":




Olga Besio y Gustavo Naveira (Federico's Dad) in 1999 at Sunderland dancing to Carlos DiSarli's "El Once":

I like to watch, or "You might want to sit down for this vals."

It might make you dizzy. A found YouTube object by Rigoberto. Real Tango. Tango Tango. Okay, vals, really.

This video is further evidence supporting my theory that Tango Tango does not involve white shoes, and that when white shoes are present (on the male of the species), Tango Tango is not what is being danced.

Sebastian Arce y Mariana Montes.

Enjoy. And comment. I like comments. (In the voice of Chauncey Gardener (Peter Sellers) in the film 'Being There', when he says to Shirley McClain's character, "I like to watch.")



(flip the switch if you don't want it in high def...it will load faster....)

a Evaristo Carriego :: El Maestro Carlos Gavito y Marsela Duran

Detlef y Melina

Matteo y Patricia :: Estilo Villa Urquiza

Detlef y Melina

Ricardo Vidort y Myriam Pincen - Chique (Canaro)

At Niño Bien in San Telmo...

El Pibe Avellaneda & Luna Palacios :: Salon Canning

El Pibe Avellaneda y Maria Plazaola Milongueando 2009

When a man "out embellishes" a woman

First, thanks to TangoPilgrim for finding this one. There are a few things I like about this performance/demo. Like Pilgrim, I like the vals - Se Fue by Lucio Demare. I like that it is being danced in Sunderland - there's something cool/funky about dancing tango in a basketball gymnasium. I like that there are no baggy pants being worn in the video. I like (to think) that there are very likely no baggy pants in the entire building. I like that the style is salon/close embrace mas o menos. I like the dance, just dial down the jazz, if you ask me.

What I don't like is that he is "out embellishing" his follower. I read this tonight - something Daniel Trenner said - "The man's job is to let the woman dance."

Let's not forget this fellers. It's not about us or our steps or our figures or our patterns or our moves or even our lead.

It's about the woman - dancing her and letting her dance.

She's there, in your arms, to dance and have fun and feel beautiful.

Make it so.

BE the tango you wish to see in the world.

There is a beautiful woman in that video...you may have missed her...

Tango En Vivo

My buddy Rigoberto [so named for anonymity] sent me the video below of La Cumparsita/D'Arienzo last night. I've seen it before, and thought that I had actually posted it in the past. I also remember posting the one of Adrian Guida. I was not able to sift through and find them, though. There was a period several months ago that I was posting stuff without tagging it. I'll have to go back and fix that. Orphans.

Anyway, there is something about live tango that stirs the soul. Something about transporting yourself back to the day when it was all live - or at least there might have been special events, like there are now, where a live orquestra was on stage.

Many people don't like to dance to a live orquestra, as the individual musicians sometimes don't mesh into one contiguous rhythym. I have had the pleasure of dancing to Extasis in Denver, and also Orquestra Color Tango at the Buenos Aires Social Club, where I developed a crush on their pianista. I'll lead off with them in the video line-up.

Thanks to Rigoberto for the subject of this post. Do a little searching on YouTube - there is an amazing amount of stuff out there. I've included some links at the bottom.

Oh, my point is that if you ever get the chance to see a live event/orquestra/duo/trio/quartet/quintet/whatever performance, or dance at one, definitely, most definitely, go for it.




Orquestra Color Tango :: Malena







Orquestra del Rey del Company y Juan D'Aienzo :: La Cumparsita
A live (TV) version of la orquestra del Rey del Compas, led by Juan D'Arienzo.
Note that this YouTube user/channel, has 837 videos of live performances of the Singers, Golden Age Tango Orquestras, Bandoneonistas, and modern day Orquestras as well. There are also interviews, film clips and TV show clips. Hugo, in NYC, has done a remarkable job collecting and cataloging a wealth of historical footage. We owe guys like this a huge debt of gratitude.

This is the one Rigoberto sent me...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUiH_HpWYSc [Embedding disabled by user.]





Osvaldo Pugliese :: Alberto Moran :: El Abrojito







The following is one of my favorites for the passion of the singer...sheesh man, the hair is standing on end all the way up and down my neck and back just listening to this now...

Osvaldo Pugliese :: Adrian Guida :: Y No Puedo Olvidarte







Extasis Tango :: Denver Tango Festival :: Mercury Cafe
Thanks go to miles/tangobliss for the video...







Javier Ponce :: Malena







Ashes in Order :: August Hoerr :: Shane Perlowin :: Asheville, NC :: Anaphora Tango
Ashes in Order is Shane Perlowin on guitar and August Hoerr on accordion. They are based in Asheville, North Carolina. This piece, entitled Anaphora Tango, was composed by August. August is the son of tango friends here.







And no post on this subject would be complete without mention of the esteemed and exalted Mr. Glover Gill and Glover Tango (and sometimes the Tosca String Quartet). Glover is a composer, pianist and accordionist.

This first one is "Mi Otra Mitad de Naranja", composed by Glover and performed by the Tosca String Quartet. More of a nuevo piece. The video is by tangohous/Mikas.



Glover Gill :: Mi Otra Mitad de Naranja [partial]



The second one I wanted to post I couldn't find. It's Glover's piano solo of the song "Malena". He is an amazing pianist, tattoos and all. His solo of Malena is even better than Lucio Demare's. Look for Glover's CD titled "Solo Tango". It's a good one. Get it!


Happy Wednesday to all. Oh, I almost forgot about the links...here ya go...

My Favorites on my YouTube Channel "ZGman" [Disregard the non-tango stuff, especially the rooftop rough sex/porno]

HAranguiz [Hugo in NYC] - Most extensive collection...

The fuckers at YouTube are cracking down. One link I was going to leave you is "Elvio07". It appears they have suspended his channel.

ElCachafaz08 It appears this might be Elvio07's new channel.

Here's a good playlist embed from Oleh/OneTangoSpring...no live orchestra footage, but a good catalog of 23 different tango orquestras...



Keep searching on your own...there's tons of stuff out there...

Gustavo y Giselle Anne :: Here's the video...

R&R :: Day One

Saturday Morning Dreaming :: I really like this table...

You know how sometimes when you are waking up - for me it's usually when I am sleeping in - and you drift in and out of these semi-dreaming, semi-sleeping, semi-waking states? It's nice when it happens. Rare.

I stayed at last night's milonga until the bitter end, although I didn't dance the last few tandas, choosing instead to watch. Oh, in case you didn't catch it, I'm in Atlanta at the Gustavo y Giselle workshop - here ostensibly for "just the milongas" - although I noticed there is an advanced class this afternoon that is still open to leaders. Anyway, I got to bed around 3:00 or 3:30 I suppose, and was having some nice dreamy feelings this morning as I was waking up. Feelings of contentment, of gratitude, for what tango has brought into my life. I was trying to remember all my dances last night. They were all nice dances, even my one community service dance. Even community service tango feels good.

Gustavo y Giselle's performance was great - outstanding - fantastic. The real treat for me was watching them dance socially - they were warming up and having fun. They are so good, that after you have seen them many times, that level of dancing becomes the norm them. The expected. The beauty and technique and musicality and connection are all somehow anti-climactic. Don't get me wrong - they are moving and a joy to watch - but somehow...something...I can't explain it.

And don't forget the passion. I was talking with a friend about Ezequiel y Sabrina and Javier y Geraldine and their passion when they were together. The passion seems to be missing with them now, with their new partners. But not with G & G, the passion is still there, although it's more like a bed of hot coals. Not a big fanning flame of passion, but a deep, strong, white-hot heat of love. I think I see that with them. They are such a great couple. I admire them. Last night was a room full of G&G disciples. We wouldn't have been there if we didn't admire and respect them.

The video of the first song/dance is still uploading an hour later. I'll try to get it posted later.

The milonga last night was a treat. I would guess there were about 150 folks. Great DJ'ing by Avik...but a leader/buddy and I were talking about how there was a large proportion of "fast". Fast tangos, fast vals', and some painfully sloooow milongas. Overall, an A+ on the DJ'ing, you just can't really find fault there.

I had a wonderful surprise running into friends from Phoenix. I hadn't seen them since Austin back in November. It was great to catch up with them. That's one thing I love about tango - all the great people. We're going to have dinner tonight before the milonga.

There were lots of other familiar faces to say hi to and catch up with. Catch up and then dance a tanda (with the followers anyway).

My tango was okay. Not bad for not really having danced in four months. Stuff started coming back to me by the end of the evening. I completely forgot about volcadas. I was talking to my buddy from Phoenix, joking about Gustavo & Giselle's reverse double counter clockwise rotation back volcada with a twist, a gainer and a pike. I was joking in envy, it's a clean, simple, difficult to lead volcada that is a signature for them. Anyway we were laughing at my verbose descriptives, and it dawned on me that I had forgotten about them altogether. I'm not a big volcada dude. I'm a big dude, okay, but, I'm not big on volcadas, and not big volcadas either. I have a sweet little milonguero volcada "normal" that I do. At most, I may follow it up with another one, linked to the first, on the close side with a walk out in crossed feet over there. Anyway I forgot about them until the last tanda. I'm sure more "stuff" will come back to me today and tonight.

One thing about volcadas for the ladies. I noticed this one follower doing a "heel drag" version with a lead who appeared to be stuck in volcada mode. I thought to myself, "Self, isn't the follower supposed to trace her toe on the floor, and not her heel?" Maybe it's something new, but I didn't care for it. It was as if she were scraping dogshit off the end of her stiletto. I dunno, maybe she was.

Also, I saw a new left hand form. I will call it the "hook 'em horns" form. Hook em' horns is a saying and a gesture with regard to the Texas Longhorns. Index finger and pinky finger extended. There was a leader dancing this way and I winced a little bit, but then thought it cute. It's all good you know. He will learn and/or come into his own. There was also a fair amount of the "bang bang you're dead" form. Left index finger extended like you are making a gun with your hand - shooting it at the ceiling like in the old west days in a saloon.

Floorcraft and nav were good. There were a few issues in getting around the edges of the dance floor - to the entrance/exit, to the food/wine table, and to the restrooms. Some people were talking that the overall/general level of dancing was lower than expected/desired. All my dances were good. I was a little rusty, but I just got into the connection/embrace first and foremost, focused on music/ality, and it all turned out just fine. Nice dances. Nice women. Lots of really good looking women. There's something I'm going through these days where women just seem to be getting better and better looking, softer skin and hair, they smell better, their teeth are whiter and more perfect. What's up with that? I think it must be some cruel trick God or the Universe is playing on me.

Oh, and my left shoulder was killing me last night and this morning. I stopped on the way here yesterday and bought some Motrin. That seemed to help. A lot. The pain would be worse without it. I only noticed my hand dropping a bit during one dance at the end of the evening.

The only down element of the evening was that I dripped vino tinto all over my favorite shirt. Well, one of my favorites. It's a light blue linen number with nice embroidery down the button placket thingy - whatever you call it. I think it will be okay, I hand washed it in the bathtub. I need to get some stain remover. There was a crack in the bottom of the plastic vaso and I didn't notice until it was too late.

My plans for my R&R day today? (for my international readers, R&R is "rest & relaxation...) A big breakfast. Lay out by the pool and read and sleep. Go see the new Batman Movie. Perhaps try to shoehorn my way into the advanced class late this afternoon - mostly as an icebreaker to meet more followers.

I better get my ass in gear. I'm burning daylight.

Also, kudos to Ronda and Manuel...they throw a nice party...

A vals :: La Tapera [Edgardo Donato]

I like this song...the vid happens to be of Alberto and Paulina Dassieu, so it's a good one to watch...