Gavito Tango Festival - Maestros Performance

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

I haven't been to a Tango Festival in a long time -- Tango Maya Fest next week!

Not counting our local Austin Spring Tango Festival, which is like 5mins from our house. But a real, bona fide, big-time, fancy-ass tango festival. Probably Denver back in 2007. I guess I've really only ever been to two - multiple times each - Denver and Atlanta. Fandango de Tango back when it was in Austin - tango with lots of salsa and really bad DJ's. And then our Austin Spring Tango Festival, which we didn't go last year b/c we're boycotting. We were thinking about going this year, but then we heard they want to allow the reason we're boycotting to come back into the community, even though our primary venue/organizers have laid down a lifetime ban on the reason we're boycotting. Anyway, I digress. I'm going to write about that subject - the reason we're boycotting subject. Some day.

So we're headed to the Tango Maya Fest next week. Cancun. Mexico. A week of R&R. Sun, sand, swim, sleep, read, eat, dance, fuck, make love, and all that jazz. Three or four hundred dancers. I'm looking forward to it. Excited actually. I don't get excited, except when we're gonna, uh...never mind. Sugar G always excites me. Plus I need a vacation. This is kinda our first "real" vacation together. We did go to Marfa at Christmas. Oh yeah, New Orleans Tango Festival a few years ago. That one too.

Fwiw, Sugar G has attended this festival several times. Maybe even many times. This year is number 9 for the festival. I think she's attended at least 5 or 6 years.


So I guess I'll post and report a bit. Maybe. We shall see.


The headliners/maestro-as/teachers:


Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes





Guillermo de Fazio & Giovanna Dan





Luciano Brigante & Alejandra Orozco (the festival organizers!)





Daniela Roig & Hernan Prieto





Guillermo Salvat & Miriam Lea




Class/milonga schedule
click to view a larger image






#TangoMayaFest2019
Tango Maya Fest 2019

Impressive, too...2018 International Tango Festival Baden-Baden by sivis'art

Really nicely produced video here...of the 2018 International Tango Festival :: Baden-Baden...November 9-11, 2018...

International Tango Festival Baden Baden 2018 - by Sivis’art from Sivis'Art on Vimeo.

Find all the videos of the performances on the sivisart.com, a deserving atmosphere movie of James Bond, a magnificent place the casino and a beautiful room with an orchestra.



DIRECTED/EDITED BY Sivis'Art: »

Website : sivisart.com/

» Instagram : sivis.art

» Sivis"Art Facebook Page: facebook.com/SivisArt/

» Vimeo : vimeo.com/sivisart

» Youtube : sivis'art

»Music : Todo es amor - Fulvio Salamanca

The Houston Tango Festival 3° :: This Weekend

www.houstontangofestival.com

It's not too late to book a flight or pack your bags and jump in the car for a tango road trip - more fun and environmentally friendly with a carload.

You know what they say about Texas - everything is bigger and better. Not arrogant. Just true.

Throw caution to the wind.

Just do it.



Dear friends,

The Houston Tango Festival will start in 2 days. Please find attached an overview of the Milongas and Practicas.

Many hugs,
Antje [and Mikas]

.::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::. .::.
Houston Tango Festival Milongas & Practicas, January 14-18, 2010

.::. Thursday - Firehouse Welcome Milonga .::.
10pm to 3am with DJ Lung Kuei (New York)
Held at the beautiful, historic Fire Station in the Heights (107 West 12th Street at 12th & Yale). Includes in milonga price the "Art of Floor Craft" class with Homer & Cristina Ladas (San Francisco) from 9pm to 10pm. Wear something red or hot to this opening milonga!

.::. Friday - Live Music Milonga .::.
10pm to 3am with DJ Avik (Ann Arbor)
At Rice University - featuring live music performance with Glover Gill & Korey Ireland around midnight. Includes in milonga price "Chacarera" class from 9pm to 10pm with Santiago Dorkas & Cecilia Garcia (Buenos Aires)

.::. Friday - "Dancing with the Future Stars" Milonga .::.
10pm to 1am with DJ Tova (Boston)
At Rice University - special milonga from 10pm to 1am for those who have danced tango for less than one year or prefer less crowded floors.

.::. Saturday - Tangojunkies Practica .::.
- 4pm to 7pm with DJ Jay (San Diego)
At Rice University - featuring tangoshrine and well-traveled tango addicts.

.::. Saturday - The Three Graces All Night Milonga .::.
- 10pm to 5am with DJ Shorey (San Francisco)
At Rice University - featuring performances with teachers around 1am. Elegant attire encouraged.

.::. Saturday - Alternative Colorful Socks Milonga .::.
- 10pm to 1am with DJ Andrew (Eugene)
At Rice University - featuring tango rap performance by Momo. Colorful socks encouraged.

.::. Sunday - Ultimate Texas Practica .::.
- 4pm to 7pm with DJ Mercy (Houston)
At Rice University - featuring the historic appearance of the Ultimate Mustachioed Tango Mariachi Band. Jeans, boots & Texan attitude encouraged.

.::. Sunday - Dark & Light Milonga .::.
- 10pm to 3am with DJ Lampis (San Diego)
At Rice University - featuring live music by Dancers' Orquesta led by Korey Ireland (Kansas City).

.::. Monday - Anythinggoeslonga .::.
- 4pm to 7pm with DJ Jaimes (Seattle)
At AvantGarden (411 Westheimer) - featuring full bar, tango jam and anything goes.

Check updated festival schedule, pricing and locations here: www.houstontangofestival.com

Atlanta Tango Festival :: April 15-18, 2010

This is a re-post of an old post, from April of last year. I "drafted" or hid the post for some reason back then, I'm not sure why. Perhaps because I felt like I was being too negative, or perhaps I felt like I didn't want to "review" milongas.

Anyway, here it is in it's entirety - new title though. Originally it was Atlanta Tango Festival :: O horror, horror, horror! because of an issue the organizers had with the hotel.

My friends in Atlanta put on a great festival - estilo milonguero/close embrace - by dancers for dancers style, so don't let the title of the original post mislead you. Make your reservations now.

Atlanta Tango Festival Website



Imagine making your hotel reservation for a festival weeks or months in advance, arriving to check in, and being told that the hotel was booked, and that you were being bumped to a hotel about five miles away from the festival venue. This happened to a friend, and although I have not confirmed this, she said that a large block of rooms was bumped.

Now there is the hassle of dealing with the shuttle - 20 minutes to get to the new hotel - 1 hour to get back to the venue for the welcome milonga. There is the hassle of not having the convenience of your room just minutes away - freshen up, take a power nap, just rest, whatever.

I haven't confirmed any of this with my friend Angel - one of the organizers - but I'm sure they are livid - this is not a good thing for a hotel to do - no matter what the reason.

The only saving grace is the rooms are now comp'd - as in free.

I didn't make my reservation soon enough. I'm staying "in a van", "down by the river".


THE ELEGANT MILONGA ::

TAKE THE FUCKING HAT OFF OF YOUR HEAD!!!
Two dickweeds were wearing fedoras at the "elegant" milonga last night. Any southern gentleman knows you take your fucking hat off when you come inside. The sun isn't shining at 3am inside, it's not raining or snowing inside, leave the hat at home or in your room.

Plus, if you know anything about tango, then you know the history of the fedora. Wearing it in a milonga just shows everyone what an idiot you are.

It shouldn't matter, I shouldn't care, but it irritates the shit out of me.

SYNOPSIS ::

I stayed until the bitter end. It started out good, then I went into a slump, and it ended on a good note. I was having an off night in general. My walk was weird, everything was weird - internally - my issues.

THE A/C ::

The air conditioning was off for the first couple of hours or so. Here was Alex ::


Angel was very responsive in getting the hotel engineering staff to deal with it in short order.

Not a big deal.

THE FLOOR ::

Nice, smooth, 36" panels making 36" lanes. In spite of the organizers' announcement about using the "lanes" - most leaders disregarded this. Guys didn't seem to be able to stay in the middle of their lane, preferring, or defaulting to the edge of the lane.

I liked the organizers' choice of words - it's about "floorcraft discipline".

CASH BAR ::

I bummed two bucks to add to my four to buy a glass of wine. It's nice to have the cash bar in the ballroom, but not many people were drinking.

FLOORCRAFT/NAVIGATION/LEADERS ::

I would say it was "normal" for most festivals. The only thing I can suggest is that teachers need to spend a lot more time on floorcraft and navigation with beginners. Also, it would be nice if festival organizers produce some sort of flyer or pamphlet. Beyond that, you can't really do much unless you want to start policing the floor, which would not be good.

I frequently found myself trapped between a nuevo and one of the many idiot leaders. I think a lot of my floorcraft/navigation issuses (with other leaders) are my own issues resulting from dancing on a crowded floor. The better I get, the more I can navigate around the yahoos.

I found myself spending time in the corners - and herding certain guys to stay in their own lanes.

The reality is there will always be leaders who won't amount to JACK SQUAT with regards to floorcraft & navigation.

DJ'ing ::

Par excellence...there were only a few times that I wasn't "moved" by a tanda...but overall a fantastic traditional mix...great cortinas...as good as it gets...I think it was Shorey Myers...

HAIRCUTS ::

I noticed Robert Hauk got a haircut. Then I noticed a few women who got their hair cut. Then I noticed a lot of women with either really short hair, or bob type cuts. A couple of them told me they cut it because of tango - to make it easier to deal with on the dance floor.

THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CATEGORY ::

I was talking to a friend who is new to tango about "stuff". I told her that for me, when a woman falls into my "happily ever after" category, that I am intimidated to the point of not or never asking her to dance. She pointed out to me that I am an idiot for doing this - although she conveyed this much more nicely than saying that I am an idiot.

Miss "Happily Ever After" smiled at me and said good night at the end of the night. I will dance with her tonight.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA ::

Florentino Ariza, in order to dull the pain of his unrequited love for Fermina Daza, began sleeping with large numbers of women. Six hundred and twenty seven or something like that. He kept a journal, numbering them, and entering a brief comment about each.

Rather than continue with the blog commonality of nick names like "Miss Happily Ever After", I'm going to use Florentino Ariza's method...

THE LADIES ::

#1 :: Thou shalt not covet thy new friend's partner...

#2 :: Young and beautiful...

#3 :: Her scent, like honey, is still with me this morning... a sweet kiss on her temple after walking her to her car...

#4 :: Trembles in my embrace... I like this one... I dreamt of her this morning...

#5 :: Pleasantly large breasted... in the natural sense...

#6 :: Saved me from myself in the end... noticed the salty taste of her perspiration after kissing her cheek... licked it from my lips on the way back to "the van", "down by the river"...

Six, maybe seven followers, nine or ten tandas. Not enough. Not enough for a man who very recently said "I just want to dance..."


NOTES TO SELF ::

It was an "off" night for you...your dance was "off", but don't let that get to you...dance more and sit less...don't let painful beauty scare you...think about the "one follower, one tanda" concept...drink less vino tinto...be more discerning, but dance more milonga...re-evaluate your "quality over quantity" approach...overcome your floorcraft, navigation and fedora issues..."it's not what happens to you, but how you CHOOSE to react to it..."...don't let your pig-like sweating propensity deter you from inviting...bring a towel...

Don't let the "horror, horror, horror" send the wrong message - that was only about the hotel issue - the horror of guests getting bumped, and the horror for the organizers - a "worst nightmare" scenario...

Overall, it was a great milonga. Atlanta puts on a great festival. It's a "warm and friendly" atmosphere. Everyone is smiling and chatting and having fun. Put it on your calendar and come on down!

P.S. To the leaders carrying on conversations whilst dancing - shut your YAPPER ...

This is happening right now...

The Denver Labor Day Tango Festival. One of the best in the world if you ask me. For dancers, by dancers. The Cheesman Pavilion Milonga is in full swing right now. Potluck bar-b-que type thing put on by the Denver tango community.

It may not be obvious, but I'm not there. We talked of going, but higher priorities called. Perhaps next year. The other priorities are tango related. The next post about it is coming down the pipeline in a few. I'm uploading the pics now.

Okay, so the photos are from the Memorial Day Tango Fest in 2007 - the last time I attended. But you get the idea.

I miss ya'll. I know you're having fun and getting in some great dancing and visiting with old friends. Tell everyone I said hello.

Houston Tango Fest ::: Mark your calendars

January 14-18, 2010

Festival website: http://www.houstontangofestival.com/



Great bunch of people/dancers/organizers those Houston folks are. You won't regret this one. I've been wanting/trying to go to the last two, but regrettably have missed them. I've heard good things. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make it to this one.

See you there.

2° Houston Tango Festival :: Jan 22-25, 2009

http://houstontangofestival.com/fest.html

The 2° Houston Tango Festival is right around the corner, both in proximity and time - January 22-25, 2009.

Here is the lineup ::

Teachers
Brigitta Winkler [Berlin]
Tomas Howlin [BsAs/Montreal]
Cecilia Gonzalez [BsAs]
Donato Juarez [BsAs]
Javier Rochwarger [BsAs]
w/ Monica Caivano [Austin]
Tova & Carlos Moreno [Boston]

Special Master Classes
Horacio Godoy & Cecilia Garcia [BsAs]

Immersion Tango Workshop for Beginners
Ector Gutierrez [Baton Rouge/New Orleans]

DJs
Avik Basu [Ann Arbor]
Jason Laughlin [North Carolina]
Ramu Pyreddy [Philadelphia/DC]
Shorey Meyers [San Francisco]
Vijay Namasivayam [San Francisco]
Yulia Kriskovets [DC]

Orquesta
Glovertango [Austin]

Yoga
Andrew Dugas [Houston]

I couldn't bear to watch, check your ballroom dynamism at the door, or I ate too much...

The following post is laced with profanity. Mostly the F word. Okay, only the F word.

NOTES TO FESTIVAL/MILONGA ORGANIZERS ::

As the organizer, the buck stops with you. Just because it's your Nth annual event, doesn't mean you can sit back and rest on your laurels.

Observe with a critical eye.

Listen with a critical ear.

Feel the energy of the room with your heart and soul.

Feel the temperature of the room with your skin. From meat locker one night, to muggy, subtropical evening the next is indicative of a problem. Make sure you've got the building engineer or facilities guy on a short leash. If guys are shedding jackets and changing into dry shirts in the men's room - check the T-stat.

Get rid of the fucking plastic wrist bands. The implied/default assumption that people are going to try to steal from you - steal a milonga, or steal a class, is insulting. Tango people don't steal tango. If a few do, fuck them, but don't fuck with the rest of us. Tickets or badges or a list or even a stamp on the hand are the best - least obtrusive.

I'm stopping here, not sure of where to go with this...each year bring in someone with a fresh viewpoint and tweak things...with a "continuous improvement" mindset and approach...and don't lose sight of the fact that your festival is for the dancers, not the teachers, not the DJ's and especially not you.



NOTES TO STUDENTS/DANCERS ::

DO NOT EVER TEACH OR WORK THROUGH 'MOVES' ON THE DANCE FLOOR AT A SOCIAL MILONGA. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING YOURSELF, AND YOU ARE EMBARRASSING THE WOMAN YOU ARE DANCING WITH. WE ARE EMBARRASSED FOR YOU, AND FEEL SORRY FOR HER.

Do not ever teach or work through 'moves' with your partner [you just learned in class today] in the corner, off the dance floor, at a social milonga.

TANGO IS NOT BALLROOM. TANGO IS NOT SWING. TANGO IS NOT SWANGO. TANGO IS NOT SALSA. TANGO IS NOT TWO-STEP. TANGO IS NOT MERENGUE. TANGO IS NOT BACHATA. TANGO IS NOT MAMBO. NONE OF THESE DANCES OFFER ANYTHING, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING, THAT CAN BE TRANSFERRED OR CARRIED OVER TO TANGO. THIS MEANS CHECK YOUR BALLROOM DYNAMISM AT THE DOOR, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

EL TANGO ES EL TANGO. Google it, do the research, and figure it the fuck out.

In a social milonga setting, do not lean against the wall and do ballet type stretching and leg swinging. Even if you are an old fart. If you need to warm up and stretch, do it in your hotel room, outside where no one will see you, or in the privacy of a toilet stall after you've taken a dump.

Wash your fucking hands when you leave the bathroom. With soap. Your followers and the leaders who dance with them after you do will appreciate it.

Ladies, do not hold on to a chair and do boleos to warm up before dancing at a milonga. This is a turn off.

For festival milongas, go buy some black slacks at WalMart for $19.95. Jeans are a sign of your lack of respect for all that tango is, dude. Especially the high waisted Wranglers, cowboy. Do the jeans at local milongas, practicas, and classes, no problem. Tango is supposed to be elegant and beautiful. Jeans ain't elegant nor beautiful.

If you can't tell by now, I am in a mood.

Your woman just wants to dance. Dance her. Dance with her. Do your best to make her feel special. Purge all thoughts of yourself, your 'self', your feet, your 'moves', the figures you just learned today. That stuff will sink in - in time - with practice - with dancing - with sleeping - but not tonight. Be present with that woman in your embrace. The Power of Now.


NOTES TO DJ's AND ASPIRING DJ's ::

Think "Top 40".

You know the dance, the feeling, is totally inspired by/from/of the music. Play music that inspires, that makes people get up and want to dance.

Like it or not, you are educating the newbies. If they learn to dance to crap, they will dance like crap, and they will only want to hear crap. Don't play crap no one's ever heard before. We don't want to dance to the music you like. We want to dance to the music WE like. If it's something new and unusual, just make sure it's good. Damn good.

Invest in your music collection. Make the acquisitions. Spend the $2k to travel to Buenos Aires and listen to what they play there. Spend the $1k on music while you're there. Spend another $1k on more stuff once you're back home. Beg, borrow or steal everything else. Pay attention to what all the other DJ's are playing. Do the research. Do the hard work categorizing everything. Do the hard work listening to EVERYTHING in your collection. Do the hard work. If your collection is not there, if it's weak, if the hard work has not been done, then you are not a DJ and do not offer yourself as such - especially at the festival level.

For a milonga that goes until 3am, playing nuevo/alt music at midnight is too soon. This is a TANGO festival. People have traveled far and wide at great expense to listen to TANGO music and dance EL TANGO.

If you must play nuevo/alt music, play music that is tango danceable. Look for a 4 beat. It's not a good sign if your nuevo song has half the dancers dancing swing or some swango aberration. Nuevo/alt music should inspire nuevo and/or traditional tango, not some other dance. Again, this is a TANGO festival.

Re: Milonga tandas - there are not that many milonga tandas in an evening. There are a great many FANTASTIC milonga songs. If you are playing foursies in a TTVTTM format, there will be three milongas per hour. In a six hour milonga, usually the max, you are looking for 18-20 top shelf milonga songs. Don't play some 'off' crap we've never heard.

If lots of people are sitting, this is a bad sign. If almost no one is sitting, this is a good sign. If the people staying until the very end do not want to sit down or stop dancing, this is a good sign. If the crowd appears to be thinning early-ish, or people are noticeably just getting up and leaving, this is a bad sign.



IMPORTANT NOTE ::

I am NOT an authority on tango, milongas, festivals, DJ'ing, teaching, learning, etc. Take this with a grain of salt. This is my personal opinion, mis dos centavos. I ate too much and woke up from a bad dream about hammerhead sharks trying to eat me and I should have just gone back to sleep.

Oh well...there ya have it.

I did have one excellent vals tanda with a good friend tonight, and then I left.

It's not too late :: El Fandango de Tango

The Fandango, as we call it here in Austin, starts on Wednesday with the first classes and milonga. It's not too late to book a flight and a room. Drive on in if you are close enough. Although in Texas, that's a loaded statement. Nothing's close in Texas.

Los "maestros" are:

Fabian Salas y Maria Paz Giorgi
Guillermo Merlo y Fernanda Ghi
Diego di Falco y Carolina Zokalski
Nito y Elba Garcia
Alex Krebs y Luciana Valle
Pablo Pugliese y Noel Strazza

The topics of the classes are not announced until the morning of the day of the classes. The DJ's for the milongas are not announced in advance either. You find out when you get there. It's one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive festivals in the U.S. $589 for the full, unlimited pass. $159 for the "all milonga" pass (seven milongas), $119 if you skip the Thanksgiving brunch milonga (six milongas). Plus, there's no 'a la carte' class pricing, only full day passes. You could ski all four mountains in Aspen, rent skis, have lunch and drink apres ski at Ajax Tavern for less. Ricardo won't like that I am being negative, but it's a festival that really discriminates against local dancers (especially our UT student contingent), and sometimes the truth hurts. But, he's been doing it for 10 years now, and I'm sure he knows what works for him.

The hotel/venue is a nice one - the Omni Hotel Southpark - 5 minutes away. I had a luxurious delusion at one point of getting a suite, and having a "hospitality suite", sort of like a green room that all festivals are sorely lacking. It's an extravagance I can't justify right now. My recent move and then the long road trip set me back about four or five festivals, including airfare and hotel. Or two festivals in Europe, or three trips to Buenos Aires. Or one Nikon D-3 body. Oh well. We do what we gotta do.

This festival has a "ballroomy" undertone to it. At least that's what I felt last year. I understand that the organizer Ricardo comes from the ballroom world, and I hear that the event organization and pricing structure is similar to what you might encounter for a ballroom dance event.

That being said, I had some really good dances last year, one or two amazing dances, reconnected with old friends, and made some new ones. I'm looking forward to seeing friends from Dallas and Houston. My Phoenix cohorts can't make it though. Bummer.

Albuquerque aka Denver Tango Festival :: This weekend!

That's right, they are dancing tonight (and last night) in ABQ! Tomorrow night, Sunday night. Lots of dancing - all milonguero. All my friends are there and I am working through the weekend. Even on Monday. Suckage.

Here's a tentative schedule...for those of you Googling for it online...

http://www.laeternamilonga.com/lab08_sched.html

Aack! Sorry, I forgot about the Las Vegas Tango Weekend.

In posting about upcoming U.S. Tango festivals, I totally forgot about a small, but intense one. I haven't actually been, but I've heard good things about it from friends who have.

Los Hermanos Macana [Enrique y Guillermo di Fazio] will be there!

It's September 18-21 - just a few weeks away, but that's one of the nice things about Vegas, you can pretty much just drop what you're doing and show up. Show up in the city that is, not the festival - you still would be wise to pre-register, although you have missed any early bird registration deadlines.

Here's the website :: http://www.lasvegastangoweekend.com/presentacion.html

It's being billed as a combination of Tango instruction simultaneously with Master Musicians - strongly focusing on musicality.

Here's the lineup ::

Hermanos Macana
Graciela Gonzales
Fernanda Ghi y Guillermo Merlo (Teachers and Organizers)

Special Guest Musicians::
Pepe y Pablo Motta (Pablo Motta Trio)
Anibal Berraute Quartet
Melanie Hutton (Singer)
Hugo Latorre

I've taken workshops before with Fernanda y Guillermo - they're great - I'm sure the entire event will be a good one. You could expect the majority of folks from Arizona, California, Vegas, Reno and other western states.

Plus, I imagine the airfares to Vegas are some of the lowest in the country right now.

Upcoming Tango Festivals! :: Make your plans now!

It's not too early to book airline tickets and make hotel reservations for two upcoming tango festivals in Texas.

The first is the 10th Annual Fandango de Tango in Austin over Thanksgiving. It's billed as "An Immersion in the Art of Argentine Tango". I know this is a conflict for most people - family and Thanksgiving celebrations surely over-ride a tango festival. But, if you can make it, it's a good one!

Here is the info:

Nov 26-30
Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark
6 milongas :: 90 hours of classes
Early registration deadline is October 1. [$200 deposit by Oct 1, balance by Nov 1]

"Headliners" ::
Fabian Salas
Nito y Elba Garcia
Guillermo Merlo & Fernanda Ghi
Diego di Falco y Carolina Zokalski
Pablo Pugliese y Noel Strazza
Alex Krebs y Luciana Valle

Here is the flyer.
Here is the website.
Here is the registration form.



The other one is the Houston Tango Festival January 22-25, 2009.

Here is the line-up ::

Teachers
Brigitta Winkler Berlin
Tomas Howlin BsAs/Montreal
Cecilia Gonzalez BsAs
Donato Juarez BsAs
Javier Rochwarger BsAs
w/ Monica Caivano Austin
Tova & Carlos Moreno Boston

Special Master Classes
Horacio Godoy & Cecilia Garcia BsAs

Immersion Tango Workshop for Beginners
Ector Gutierrez Baton Rouge/New Orleans

DJs
Avik Basu Ann Arbor
Jason Laughlin North Carolina
Ramu Pyreddy Philadelphia/DC
Shorey Meyers San Francisco
Vijay Namasivayam San Francisco
Yulia Kriskovets DC

Orquestra
Glovertango Austin

Yoga
Andrew Dugas Houston/Eugene, OR

I hope to see some of you there. I'll be attending both!

Il tango degli ombrelli CTF 08 :: Capri Tango Festival

Anyone know the name of this song and the orchestra? I think it's Biagi, but my Biagi collection is weak. I'm going to have to work on that.

Also, the sound quality is great on this video - note to videographers - always try to position yourself very near the speakers for maximum audio quality.

Mark your calendars :: Capri Tango Festival :: June 2009

This is last year's "official" video. I wonder how the tango is?

Let's go.

Atlanta Tango Festival :: O horror, horror, horror!

Imagine making your hotel reservation for a festival weeks or months in advance, arriving to check in, and being told that the hotel was booked, and that you were being bumped to a hotel about five miles away from the festival venue. This happened to a friend, and although I have not confirmed this, she said that a large block of rooms was bumped.

Now there is the hassle of dealing with the shuttle - 20 minutes to get to the new hotel - 1 hour to get back to the venue for the welcome milonga. There is the hassle of not having the convenience of your room just minutes away - freshen up, take a power nap, just rest, whatever.

I haven't confirmed any of this with my friend Angel - one of the organizers - but I'm sure they are livid - this is not a good thing for a hotel to do - no matter what the reason.

The only saving grace is the rooms are now comp'd - as in free.

I didn't make my reservation soon enough. I'm staying "in a van", "down by the river".


THE ELEGANT MILONGA ::

TAKE THE FUCKING HAT OFF OF YOUR HEAD!!!
Two dickweeds were wearing fedoras at the "elegant" milonga last night. Any southern gentleman knows you take your fucking hat off when you come inside. The sun isn't shining at 3am inside, it's not raining or snowing inside, leave the hat at home or in your room.

Plus, if you know anything about tango, then you know the history of the fedora. Wearing it in a milonga just shows everyone what an idiot you are.

It shouldn't matter, I shouldn't care, but it irritates the shit out of me.

SYNOPSIS ::

I stayed until the bitter end. It started out good, then I went into a slump, and it ended on a good note. I was having an off night in general. My walk was weird, everything was weird - internally - my issues.

THE A/C ::

The air conditioning was off for the first couple of hours or so. Here was Alex ::


Angel was very responsive in getting the hotel engineering staff to deal with it in short order.

Not a big deal.

THE FLOOR ::

Nice, smooth, 36" panels making 36" lanes. In spite of the organizers' announcement about using the "lanes" - most leaders disregarded this. Guys didn't seem to be able to stay in the middle of their lane, preferring, or defaulting to the edge of the lane.

I liked the organizers' choice of words - it's about "floorcraft discipline".

CASH BAR ::

I bummed two bucks to add to my four to buy a glass of wine. It's nice to have the cash bar in the ballroom, but not many people were drinking.

FLOORCRAFT/NAVIGATION/LEADERS ::

I would say it was "normal" for most festivals. The only thing I can suggest is that teachers need to spend a lot more time on floorcraft and navigation with beginners. Also, it would be nice if festival organizers produce some sort of flyer or pamphlet. Beyond that, you can't really do much unless you want to start policing the floor, which would not be good.

I frequently found myself trapped between a nuevo and one of the many idiot leaders. I think a lot of my floorcraft/navigation issuses (with other leaders) are my own issues resulting from dancing on a crowded floor. The better I get, the more I can navigate around the yahoos.

I found myself spending time in the corners - and herding certain guys to stay in their own lanes.

The reality is there will always be leaders who won't amount to JACK SQUAT with regards to floorcraft & navigation.

DJ'ing ::

Par excellence...there were only a few times that I wasn't "moved" by a tanda...but overall a fantastic traditional mix...great cortinas...as good as it gets...I think it was Shorey Myers...

HAIRCUTS ::

I noticed Robert Hauk got a haircut. Then I noticed a few women who got their hair cut. Then I noticed a lot of women with either really short hair, or bob type cuts. A couple of them told me they cut it because of tango - to make it easier to deal with on the dance floor.

THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CATEGORY ::

I was talking to a friend who is new to tango about "stuff". I told her that for me, when a woman falls into my "happily ever after" category, that I am intimidated to the point of not or never asking her to dance. She pointed out to me that I am an idiot for doing this - although she conveyed this much more nicely than saying that I am an idiot.

Miss "Happily Ever After" smiled at me and said good night at the end of the night. I will dance with her tonight.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA ::

Florentino Ariza, in order to dull the pain of his unrequited love for Fermina Daza, began sleeping with large numbers of women. Six hundred and twenty seven or something like that. He kept a journal, numbering them, and entering a brief comment about each.

Rather than continue with the blog commonality of nick names like "Miss Happily Ever After", I'm going to use Florentino Ariza's method...

THE LADIES ::

#1 :: Thou shalt not covet thy new friend's partner...

#2 :: Young and beautiful...

#3 :: Her scent, like honey, is still with me this morning... a sweet kiss on her temple after walking her to her car...

#4 :: Trembles in my embrace... I like this one... I dreamt of her this morning...

#5 :: Pleasantly large breasted... in the natural sense...

#6 :: Saved me from myself in the end... noticed the salty taste of her perspiration after kissing her cheek... licked it from my lips on the way back to "the van", "down by the river"...

Six, maybe seven followers, nine or ten tandas. Not enough. Not enough for a man who very recently said "I just want to dance..."


NOTES TO SELF ::

It was an "off" night for you...your dance was "off", but don't let that get to you...dance more and sit less...don't let painful beauty scare you...think about the "one follower, one tanda" concept...drink less vino tinto...be more discerning, but dance more milonga...re-evaluate your "quality over quantity" approach...overcome your floorcraft, navigation and fedora issues..."it's not what happens to you, but how you CHOOSE to react to it..."...don't let your pig-like sweating propensity deter you from inviting...bring a towel...





Don't let the "horror, horror, horror" send the wrong message - that was only about the hotel issue - the horror of guests getting bumped, and the horror for the organizers - a "worst nightmare" scenario...

Overall, it was a great milonga. Atlanta puts on a great festival. It's a "warm and friendly" atmosphere. Everyone is smiling and chatting and having fun. Put it on your calendar and come on down!

P.S. To the leaders carrying on conversations whilst dancing - shut your YAPPER ...

Tango :: Fandango de Tango - The Final Analysis - Re-posted

Five milongas in five nights. I think I danced more in the past 5 days than I have in the past year - not counting my eleven days in Buenos Aires last April.

Based on my overall "milonga only" experience, I am not sure that I would come back. I had more "fun" than I think I ever have at past milongas...but...

The reasons?

DJ'ing:: 80%
The DJ'ing was not at 100% and it should be - should definitely be - at the "festival" level. I sat out a good part of the time - all under the same DJ.

OVERALL LEVEL OF DANCERS:: 60%
Another reason is the overall level of dancing - I would say that over 50 percent of the dancers there were at the beginner level - perhaps "advanced" beginner. The beginning leaders were evidenced mostly by floorcraft (or lack thereof) and by general bad form.

Some of the followers I danced with had difficulty with a subtle lead to the cross, no mastery of the ocho cortado, bounced at times during the walk, and got confused when I was walking in crossed feet and automatically switched their feet into normal walk. I would call these women beginners.

THE BALLROOM EFFECT:: 60%
This is just my personal opinion - but I got the feeling a substantial number of the attendees were ballroom people. I would say in the range of 20-30%. I base this on a number of factors - dress being one (I was embarrassed for a few women) - shoes being another - style of dance - skill level of lead and follow. Teaching on the floor. The biggest issue or symptom would be the lack of floorcraft and navigation skills amongst the leaders. Others complained of this so it's not just me.

The big piece of evidence was the roar of the crowd and long and loud applause after Fernanda & Guillermo's performance. Granted, they are technically skilled dancers - pros - magnificent dancers. But, the performance was too Vegas-y, too ballroom-y, too glitter-y, too sequin-y, too showy, too fantasia-y, too much unlike-y what Argentine Tango represents to me. And they got the hugest applause of all. That spells b-a-l-l-r-o-o-m to me.

I think the ballroom people get bored with the ballroom scene, and the Argentine Tango community is something of a novelty for them. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to have them convert - or add it as one of the many dances they dance. Someone has to dance all those other dances - just not me.

I think it's great for them to come over to AT. I would just expect that they make attempts to develop proper form, the proper lead (nothing at all like a ballroom lead), avail themselves of the vast knowledgebase (Google) of codigos, floorcraft, and the traditions of AT.

CLASSES & TEACHERS & PRICING:: 90%
The only reason I give 10% off is because there was no "a la carte" class pricing. You had to buy a one day pass - all classes & the milonga. What about the working single mom? What if she could only arrange to attend one or two classes during the entire weekend? I supppose it might be by design - to keep the classes less crowded -but still rake in the income needed. This was the 9th Annual Fandango - I'm sure Ricardo has figured out the numbers by now.

Overall, this is one of the more pricey festivals. I heard other complaints throughout the weekend.

The teachers were great. Even though it didn't take any classes - I have taken workshops with all of them except Alex Krebs and Pablo Pugliese. They are all top notch, even if they aren't exactly estilo milonguero.

Oh, and not announcing the class topics until the morning of the classes - big fugaboo to me. This happened the first couple of days I think. Then they had the schedule for the next day available the night before. With no a la carte pricing, I suppose it didn't matter. Kudos to the upcoming Houston Tango Festival - they had postcards there - already printed with the class topics.

FINAL ANALYSIS:: 85%
Keep in mind these are my own personal opinions, based on my own "milonga only" experiences as a leader. I didn't do any of the classes.

This definitely not a "milonguero" "close embrace" "tango tipica" festival. Not like Denver at least. If I lived in Austin (or in Texas) I might go again next year, but if you are spending big bucks to fly in and stay in the hotel, your dollars might be better spent - yield a better return - on a different festival.

Good but not great. But I still had some great dances, and lots of fun.

Tango::Fandango de Tango - The Final Analysis

Updated...I finished the post...finally...

Tango::Fandango de Tango - The Final Analysis

Tango::Fandango de Tango - The Last Tango in Austin - Sunday

place holder...please check back!

Neophyte Drama

The Librarian

Followers bitching and whining about not me dancing with them…the guilt trip approach in lieu of cabeceo

Opera Glasses

Why I don’t don’t dance with really beautiful women...

More bad DJ’ing to start the evening out..."elevator" tango (music)...(not just me...everyone that I know was complaining)...but then Alex Krebs takes over at 11:30pm...and the dancing begins...