Seduced by Tango :: Interview #3 :: Lyn

http://www.seducedbytango.com/

P.S. This one was posted last August, so my numbers do not reflect the actual numerical order in which they are posted, but rather the order in which I find them and post them...thanks in advance for understanding...

Seduced by Tango :: Interview #2 :: Edwin & Amberlyn

http://www.seducedbytango.com/

Note that I'm not going to get into posting the dance "audition" videos. You can look those up for yourselves. I'm going to stick to the interviews. I will keep posting them for a while, just out of curiousity.

It's also interesting that the Interview video is listed as "Optional" on the producer's website. It seems to me that is the most important - or at least the most interesting. Wouldn't you still have "character development" in a documentary? At least in one like this where you are essentially doing an open casting call similar to American Idol or Survivor.

The Perfect Cortina

The Looney Tunes theme song...what do you think?

The only thing is that it's very short...only 10 seconds...



This one is 15 seconds long...

Lo que vieron tus ojos :: Francisco Lomuto

I just woke up, wide awake from another tango dream.

The only thing I remember from the dream is that this song was playing. A vals.

It's my favorite vals.

Here are Thierry LeCocq & Delphine Blanco dancing to it...don't watch, just listen...



Actually, now that I am up and working on my DJ'ing...it may have been this one that was playing in my dream..."Pobre Flor" by Alfredo DeAngelis...a "superfast" vals...my second favorite...

Here are Gustavo y Giselle dancing to it...again...included here for the music, not necessarily the dancing...although I do like the "floating leaf" back sacada thing that he does...that they do...

Seduced by Tango Documentary :: Interview #01 :: Laura Tate

After I read about this documentary, I did a search on YouTube and found only this one video/interview. I think she is the first person to upload her interview to YouTube.

It's well done - casual, "down home" (e.g. no fancy editing or anything), sweet, real, and from the heart. I think she represents the Argentine tango community well. Very well.

Here it is...interview with the divine Miss Laura Tate...or is it Mrs...?

I have already forgotten about Sabrina Masso...and I'm thinking about moving west...again...my second ex-wife was a California girl...(grin)...

Also, as is the case most of the time with YouTube, the audio track and video are not perfectly synch'd...compression algorithm issues...



And once again, here is the link to the documentary website :: http://www.seducedbytango.com/

Love is...

My mom just sent this to me...we've all seen it at one time or another...but I thought I would post it anyway....

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

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'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

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'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4

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'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5

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'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6

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'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4

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'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7

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'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8

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'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

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'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

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'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7

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'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6

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'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8

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'My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6

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'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5

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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7

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'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4

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'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones...'

Lauren - age 4

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'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7

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'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6

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'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8

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And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace

From today's New York Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/science/earth/17salmon.html

Also, I noticed that the "Argentine Nights" article (see post below), is the 4th most popular/shared article right now...

A fellow blogger, Deby of "La Vida con Deby aka TangoSpam" is mentioned at the very end of the article.

From today's New York Times Travel Section

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/travel/16buenos.html

A fellow blogger, Deby of "La Vida con Deby aka TangoSpam" is mentioned at the very end of the article.

Orquesta OSVALDO PUGLIESE Canta ADRIAN GUIDA

Tango on NPR

More tango in the mainstream media....

Note: The audio doesn't match the text on the page...so read...but do not listen...

http://www.theworld.org/node/16625

Seduced by Tango :: Documentary Film in production

Brought to us by Oleh in his post on Tango-L...
They stole my idea! That's what I get for thinking a thought and letting it float around there in metaphysical space for months on end.

I had pretty much this same idea a year or so ago - I was going to do a one man production - very low budget documentary - traveling around to festivals and soliciting volunteers - dancers/couples to talk about tango - and optionally have them dance to their favorite song (or two). I got stuck on the crux of what exactly about tango I would have them talk about - "how did they first get into it?" - "why is it so addictive?" - "their best tango secret/story?".

I still have never arrived at what the theme of the film would be - because I wanted it to be different. I wanted to try to capture the uncaptureable on film - "The Perfection of the Perfect Connection" - and beyond.

Jorge Luis Borges said it best..."The tango can be debated, and we have debates over it, but it still encloses, as does all which is truthful, a secret." It is that secret of tango that I ponder. It is the "fundamental truth of the universe" aspect of tango that intrigues me. The one that everyone experiences, everyone feels, but no one can verbalize. If you can't teach a feeling, then how can you explain it? How can you document it on film? That's my conundrum.

The last time I thought of it, I was going to just start doing interviews and let the theme evolve. I even went so far as to start asking around about production/funding help when I was back in Aspen last December. I ended up with one or two names.

Oh, well. You snooze, you lose. Good idea, Alex, m' boy, but lacking in the execution. It's all good though. Perhaps someday I will still create my own documentary.

It appears that they are off to a good start - with Robert Duvall as the host. I'm not so sure about this casting decision - "Starring Pablo Veron". I'm not sure he is the best representative for "what social tango is all about" - which appears to be what the film is themed around. I suppose it may have been the commercial considerations driving that decision.

It has been picked up (apparently) by PBS. It's in pre-production. They are asking for everyone who is interested to provide an interview video and a dancing video - uploaded to YouTube and then uploaded to the producers.

The website says that chosen dancers will go to Buenos Aires - expenses paid - for one week in early 2009 for filming. That's a good sign. It won't all be filmed here in the U.S.

The one demerit from me is this, they are saying it's okay to do your dance video "to any music". This means they will get every yahoo out there in nuevo and ballroom land submitting videos. They should/could have narrowed their focus, and reduced the number of video submissions they will have to review, by narrowing the focus of the music to "Golden Age tango, vals, or milonga, from a recognized orchestra, from the 1920's through the 1950's...." I personally believe that this is the music that more properly represents "social" tango.

But, my guess is they will also touch on nuevo tango in the PBS special, and possibly tango fusion/collision with modern dance, if/when someone submits that.

I like their idea to have people videotape and submit their own videos. They don't have to move an inch in this initial phase - and then they can pick and choose a shorter list of those they want to interview and film dancing on "film".

One problem with this is that they might miss some really good dancers, really good representatives of "social" tango, and some really interesting characters who may not care to submit on their own. A woman I once danced with comes to mind. She is an astrophysicist - double PhD's in Particle Physics and Plasma Physics - entering the French astronaut program - and a dream to dance with. My connection with her was "out of this world", "interstellar". Some of you may know her. Perhaps it as it should be.

Anyway, Here is the website :: http://www.seducedbytango.com/

Check it out.

Postscript...from the website...

About Seduced by Tango
is a feature-length documentary hosted by Robert Duvall and intended for PBS broadcast -- follows acclaimed Tango artist Pablo Veron as he works with non-professional dancers from around the world. Each of these dancers is from a different culture, each has a different story to tell. Although their differences might be profound, Tango is what unites them as they work together toward a common goal: to perform tango at a milonga in Buenos aires,the birthplace of Tango. Along the way, we will come to understand the dramatic history of Tango as dance, music, and a metaphor for human connection.

??? I should have read more before I wrote my post. Based on this description, it's not quite the documentary that I was thinking. It sounds like they are selecting "social" dancers from around the world and having Pablo prep/choreograph them for a non-social performance. I don't get it. Do you? ???

So never mind, they didn't steal my idea after all. It's still out there floating around.

I'm sure there will be lots more to post on this subject in the coming months.

Strange Dreams :: Enchanted Rock :: Tango with Sandra Bullock

I dreamed that I was driving my daughter's new (used) car, a VW, going about 80mph on the highway. Then a dude on a beach cruiser bicycle (big fat tires, no gears, coaster brakes) pedals up alongside me, also doing 80mph, and I notice he is wearing flip-flops. He and another dude on a bike are tooling around, accelerating and deccelerating and weaving in and out of the traffic.

I was alone in the car, talking to my daughter on a key fob. That's right, the keyless entry thingamajigger was working like a cell phone. I had the sunroof open, so I had to talk into it, and then hold it up to my ear to hear her reply.

We were trying to coordinate logistics for a family reunion/camping trip - getting vehicles loaded and everyone to the campsite. I think it was Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, Texas.

I was bummed because all my camping gear was still in storage in Aspen. I was trying to figure out how I was going to camp out for two or three days with only the clothes on my back, and nothing else.

Sidenote: I used to spend a lot of time at Enchanted Rock - camping and rock climbing. (I used to teach and guide rock climbing trips there - in my younger days.) I started going there before it was well known and popular - even before it became a State Park. I remember times when I would be the only one there - my one vehicle in the pink crushed granite parking lot - and having the entire park to myself. Back in the days when it was actually lush, before all the overuse symptoms you see there now.

I even briefly entertained the idea of buying the land when it came up for sale. At the time, there was a mobile home park developer who was going to buy it and make a moble home retirement community and RV campground out of it. I was outraged (as a card carrying member of the Sierra Club at the time), and hatched a plan to do a grassroots donation program - $10 or $20 each - I needed to raise $1.7 million if I remember correctly. Luckily, the State of Texas stepped in and bought it.

That's it...strange dreams...

Postscript :: As I end this post, I have a vague recollection from this dream rolling around in my mind...I'm not sure if it is commingled with some other "stuff" up there...but I think...maybe...I was rushing to make the drive out there...because I was going to be dancing tango with Sandra Bullock...and I didn't want to be late...

Hardee har har...

I'm going to keep my big mouth shut and just show you the video...