New blog header

I wish I could figure out how to over-ride the html language and make the header look exactly like the image...same size and resolution...I piddled with the html code, looking for the image attributes in there, but I couldn't find it...anyone know how to do this?

Otherwise what do you think of the new look?

(P.S. I will try to find the Denver photographer's name...to give proper credit...)

Gustavo y Giselle - Back Volcada

This is a video I took at a G&G workshop last summer in Atlanta.

Pay close attention at time stamp 0:43 or so, he leads her in two in a row, one on each side. Notice that his is very much tilting her axis forward toward him - making this a volcada instead of an enganchada. The one to the leader's left side (her left foot behind the right) is really hard for me to lead.

Oscar Casas - The Enganchada/Back Cross/Volcada

The way Oscar explains it, the enganchada (back cross, "hook") is executed in a more upright/vertical position. Tilting her axis forward at the moment of the back cross makes it a volcada. So, it's one thing with her axis vertical, and another when her axis is tilted forward toward the leader.

Mystery solved...mas o menos...

Mine looks like it might be more like milonguero ochos....and needs more work. Note that the clockwise one (on the close side) is fairly easy. The lead of the counter clockwise one requires a more rotational lead/entry (CC) to get her left leg to swing around behind her right.

Thanks for all of your interest and comments!

2008 Houston Tango Fest

2008 Houston Tango Fest
Originally uploaded by Houston Tango Festival

Laura Burlton Photographer...

Ney + Jennifer

Ney + Jennifer
Originally uploaded by Houston Tango Festival

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Tosca String Quartet @ Houston Tango Fest

Tosca String Quartet
Originally uploaded by Houston Tango Festival

Photo by Laura Burlton...

A beautiful photo by Laura Burlton. It's difficult to get good photos at milongas because of the low light conditions - especially of an orchestra - violinists "bowing" and moving their arms.

Laura used a Canon EOS-1D Mark II-N shooting at ISO 1600 (high ISO, but very low noise), 1/40th of a second (about as slow as you can go hand held, f1.2 which is about the fastest lens you can buy. ("f" stop is related to the exit diameter of the lens, the smaller the "f" number, the larger the opening, the more light that is allowed into the CMOS sensor).

The low noise at high ISO is one of the attributes that makes these cameras so expensive - hers probably ran about $4,000 a few years ago...the newest ones run inthe $5k to $8k range. It's just better technology - but it costs more. "Noise" in digital photography is like "grain" on film. Shooting a high ISO (ASA back in the olden days) film and pushing it in the darkroom would yield a very fuzzy/grainy negative. Here, the RAW file (digital "negative") yields a very fine "grained", low noise photo.

Superbowl Sunday

A man had 50 yard line tickets for the Super Bowl. As he sits down, a
man comes down and asked the man if anyone is sitting in the seat next
to him.

"No", he said, "the seat is empty".

"This is incredible", said the man. "Who in their right mind would have
a seat like this for the Super Bowl , the biggest sport event in the
world, and not use it ?"

Somberly, the man says, "Well... The seat actually belongs to me. I was
supposed to come here with my wife, but she passed away. This is the
first Super Bowl we have not been together since we got married in
1967."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. That's terrible. But couldn't you find
someone else - a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take the
seat?"

The man shakes his head, "No. They're all at the funeral."

A photo

Me and my tango partner a year or so ago...not my photo...I forget the photographer's name...was playing around with cropping for something else...and just like this particular crop...and figger'd I'd post it...

Tango :: The "Up" Lead

Generally, I try to shy away from technique related posts, because they are hard to verbalize on paper.

But, I figgered out something yesterday. I like to doing a little thing, it's kinda like a very tight cut ocho, not the ocho cortado tipico that we all know. It also has the qualities of a reverse volcada - to the leader's right (the easy side).

The leader does a very quick (left) "side together fwd left" step so he is in crossed feet and stepping forward with his left foot...then does a slight clockwise contra-body torsion and weight shift back to the right foot at the same time....essentially "popping" the follower's right foot into a reverse cross...

My point is...if you add a bit of uplead...so you are doing a contra-body clockwise torsion (ever so slight)...shifting your weight back to your right/trailing foot...and doing the uplead (ever so slightly) all at the same time...the effect is magnificent!

(it's the uplead part that came to me in an epiphany yesterday)

You will find yourself in ultimate control of her right foot...speed, intensity, trajectory, depth, energy...that "pop" will be amazing...

And, don't forget the subtle pause afterwards, allowing her to recover/resolve/uncross...and walk out...

Try it and let me know your thoughts...

Also, let me know if there is a name for this animal...I will try to upload a video of it tomorrow...

P.S. there might even be a small diagonal/side step with the right foot (by the lead) to get her axis over there so the right foot goes behind the left...

P.P.S. and, you can do only one, or chain together three or four in a row for effect...file this under "cool moves"...

The Universe :: Blue Eyes

So, in the news today is this: prior to about 4,000 B.C., or 8,000 B.C. (the scientists are not sure) - somewhere in there plus or minus 4,000 years - a caveman baby was born with blue eyes. Prior to that, there were no blue eyes on this blue planet - every Tom, Dick and Hairy had brown eyes. The scientists have figured out that there was a genetic mutation back then that sprouted blue eyes in humans.

This shit humbles me...number one, that this kind of mind boggling stuff happens here on earth and out there in the seven universes...call it God or intelligent design or science or whatever you want, but the way all this shit works is just incredible to me...number two, it's equally incredible that there are smart mofo's to figure it out 10,000 years later.

My kinda people - those with a 10,000 year mindset...

Here is the link to the article....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22934464/

Here is my favorite song related to "blue eyes"....eeesh the sound quality is terrible...I'm not smart enough to figure out how to make it better...so use your abstract mind to imagine it sounding better...

Houston Tango Festival - A photo

I found this on http://blogs.chron.com/aboutchron/

See full article at chron.com

Apparently the photographer is Mayra Beltran of the Houston Chronicle Newspaper.

The pianist is Glover Gill of Glover Tango. He also collaborates with Tosca String Quartet of Austin and does a regular Thursday night live gig/milonga at Lambert's Restaurant in Austin. And, he is a damned good composer and accordianist as well. I can't say enough good things about this guy.

Anyone care to ID the dancers?

Valentine's Day Part 1 :: Lingerie

I ran across this on msnbc.com of all places, on the front page.

If I had a girlfriend, and if I had money to burn ($775 for this puppy), I would be buying this for her...for Valentine's Day...

To be continued...(since I don't have a girlfriend, I will do a reverse vicarious thing and post everything I would do for her, if I had her in my life, for Valentine's day)...stay tuned for Part 2...

You can find it on www.catrionamackechnie.com...oh, and the designer is Carine Gilson...

Actually, now that I am about to click the "publish post" button, I am wondering to myself if it is not so much the lingerie piece that attracted me, but more the woman wearing it...hmmm

On Life :: Real men don't dance tango

Continuing from the end of my prior post...

I get this a lot...okay not a lot...sometimes...occasionally...especially when I lived in Aspen...I think (not 100% sure though) that some people (not all, mind you) thought I had to be gay because I danced tango - never to my face - just an undertone. I never really got that - because obviously I am dancing tango in a very intimate and very close embrace with soft, supple, sensuous, cuddly, warm women who 99 times out of 100 also happen to smell really, really good.

Ahhh...I just love the segue...especially a segue in the morning....which brings me to another post/topic...that 1 time in 100...when a follower does not happen to smell really, really good....

Tango :: Don't lose your tango

Photo by Bryan Lowe on Flickr.







Don't worry, I didn't break my leg!

I just remembered a post I meant to write a while ago. I was thinking about all the things I don't do - to make sure I don't injure myself and put my tango at risk. In other words, what we don't do (that we used to do) - and also what we do-do (perhaps that we didn't used to do) - to not put ourselves at risk for injury and/or to "enable" our tango....am I making any sense here?

Similar to the symptoms of tango addiction, but different...or is it?

Here are things I don't do::

Snow skiing (when I used to live in Aspen)...pretty much quit this all together...

Horseback riding...I went camping/horseback riding with friends in Moab in the spring of 2007...we had six or eight horses with us and everyone was going riding...I tried to make excuses to hang in camp (and take photos around the campsite)...but they made me go...and ride this very large high performance mare (hmmm, note to self....the subject of another twisted post...riding high performance mares...grin)...she didn't respond to neck reining...let me re-phrase that...she responded negatively and erratically when I accidentally neck reined her (versus bit reining I suppose)...and she almost jumped off a 6 foot high embankment down to the sandy creek...

There was something else...rather benign as I recall...that originally prompted me to write this post...something I thought of (or did or didn't do) and then thought about the risks to my tango...I think I was at the grocery store or Lowe's or something...can't remember...

Here's another one, I am a much safer driver (thank Aspen for 10 years of top speeds at 40mph for months on end)...no speeding...no agression...no offense...all defense...a crash might jeopardize my tango after all...

And another...taking it easy at the gym...I've got an old shoulder injury...so I am always cognizant of not re-injuring....don't want to fuck up my famous embrace...

Although yesterday...I was perched on the third rung from the top of a wobbly extension ladder...16 feet in the air...arching my back and twising my torso to change a light fixture...stupid move...very stupid...I risked my tango...although...it was my tango that kept me from falling...I conjured up all of my balance and contra-body torsion to be able to stand on this ladder in an offset postion...and install the light fixture....both hands in the air working on the light...no hands holding on...now, as I write this, I am convinced I would have fallen were it not for my tango...



Here are things I do-do for my tango::

Creative visualization (of dancing)

View and study YouTube videos

View and study my own video footage (mostly Gustavo y Giselle)

Listen to tango music (almost exclusively for close to three years)

Stretch my calf muscles and achilles tendon every chance I get - street curb, curb at the gas station, edge of a built-up dance floor, any change in elevation I can back up to and drop my heel

Tango specific stretches and weight training at the gym...

For tango in general...take beginner classes....for two reasons...okay three...1] I believe experienced dancers should always go back to the beginning...2] next to check out other teachers' teaching style/content/context/technique...and finally 3] and I believe new dancers (followers) should experience an experienced lead...in their first four weeks of classes....there is a mini-epiphany from most followers on the order of "ohhhh, so this is what it's supposed to feel like...." ....if they think that tango is what they are feeling/experiencing from the beginning leaders...then we will lose them...from tango...

Demo tango technique in public... once waist deep in a hot springs pool...with another man (tanguero)...at night....although there was no embrace...I was demo'ing...he was watching...luckily, there were huge clouds of steam...then we went to a sports bar to watch football, drink beer, talk loud and deep, and beat our chests...

Which brings me to another post/topic...men who dance tango must be gay...

What else? Leave your comments...I would love to hear others...