Fishnets & Fedoras

Tango Blogs: Kids, Passion, BsAs and Getting Ready to Tango

All the kids are dancing tango, apparently. I feel so much more trendy now…

I'm lovin' TangoCherie's updates on the Buenos Aires tango scene. I may never get down there, but she's letting me live the life vicariously.

Debbie of an Ever Fixed Mark bullseyes the scary passion of some online tango communities:

 

This is why I left a tango list. It got to the point where I was not reading any posts anymore because I did not want to deal with all the assertions of right and wrong about an art form that in its essence is improvisational, and therefor fluid. I know people who are anti-nuevo, anti-traditional, anti-alternative, anti-Piazzola, anti-occasional dancer, and so forth and so on. And they are all right and they are all wrong. It's all opinion and preference. And yet the force with which they assert their beliefs sometimes takes me aback.

TangoBaby gives us an insight into her preparation regimen before going out to tango.

And lastly, have you seen the new tango product?

A Guy Starting Out in Buenos Aires

So many of the bloggers in Buenos Aires are women, so I'm really enjoying ...where my tango journey begins, because it tells things from the perspective of am inexperienced guy. I enjoyed today's post in particular:

It is harder for a guy who is a relatively new face in a milonga to get good dances. Experience dancers don't look at you unless they have seen you dancing on the floor. The ones who easily accept your cabaceo are normally foreigners or not-so-good dancers.

Right now I don't mind not getting dances any more. I would rather have one or two great tanda a night then dancing 10 tandas. It is about the quality not the quantity. Like in everywhere else, I am building my dancer card one at a time.

Tango Oink

Funniest. Post. Evar.

New Tango Blog: Tangologue

Every time I turn my virtual back for a few months, the number of tango blogs seems to grow exponentially. I've got a browser window full of tabs with interesting new sites from devotees of the dance, and I'll try to share as many of them as I can.

Let's start with Tangologue, written by Ricardo of Tango Warwick in the UK.

Ricardo doesn't beat about the bush. When he likes something, he tells us. And when he doesn't, he makes that very plain too...

Lost Posts: August

Herein starts a new, and brief series of posts.

I'm desperately, embarrassingly behind on my tango-related RSS feeds, and am catching up now. I'll link to the best posts you might have missed as I go…

A Stolen Moment of Tango Pleasure
La Planchadora plays hooky and gets a moment of tango bliss

All About My Tango Shoes
Royce dissects her dancing footwear

Everyday Cabeceo
Some thoughts on invitation etiquette in Singapore. And taxis...

Return of the (Not So Good) Beginner

Pablo, he of the life as a not-so-good tango beginner (aren't we all?) is back blogging with a fancy-dancy new Wordpress blog.

Hurrah!

Voxy Classes, French Tango and Mind Games

I've been waiting for some tango to surface on Vox, a blogging service I love, and, at last, it's happened. Smoke is blogging about tango classes in great detail:

I started going to an Argentine Tango group class at Starlite. At first, I was not sure how to lead the Cruzada. Cruzada means "crossed"; in this case, Cruzada refers to the position of the legs. I was not sure how my partner was supposed to physically feel when doing this move. The correct way of leading the Cruzada is when the follower's right foot touches the floor, the leader should push her with his right forearm toward the left. This "push" is actually a pulse instead of a continuous push. Also, my parm is on her back, so I can't use my hand to lead this move.

Vidéos Tango is a French site, that compiles You Tube videos of (you guessed it) tango…

Equally French is Line55, which has a good selection of tango photos under the title Station Tango.

And did you know that Tango is a mind game?

When Tango Meets Erotic Art

A self-proclaimed erotic painter described a run-in she had with a tango dancer, after some very specific pictures:

Last weekend I was gallery sitting for one of the many exhibitions I'm part of over August and was delighted that a woman expressed interest in the two tango paintings I had got there, amongst others, and wanted to buy the original tango painting I did, which was illustrated on one of the cards I was selling. Unfortunately, I'd sold it two years ago and told her so, but was quick to point out that I could easily repaint it as close enough to the original that she wouldn't tell the difference, if she wanted it badly enough.

This, sadly, does not end well for the artist…

Frustration and Exposure in Ballroom Tango

A fellow dancer from the ballroom side of the fence shares a familiar experience:

So there we were on the dance floor getting ready for our first Tango of the night.  Music has started, we’re in position and I lead us out.  My wife informs me that we are off of the beat.  I can’t tell, but I take her word and I stop. There’s people piling up behind us. We start again and once again I’m informed that I’m off beat.  My wife tries to count it for me, but at this point I’m frustrated and I storm off the dance floor and tell her that I can’t hear the timing.  Not my best performance.

Painfully familiar, both in the frustration and the genuine attempts of the wife to help.

However, he also has some helpful advice for lady dancers in these summer months:

if your going to wear the cute sundress…make sure that you put weights in the bottom of it so your not showing everyone what your wearing underneath!

Sage words…

Tango: The Law, The Sell and The Benefit

Our favourite dance doesn't exist in a bubble of milonga all its own. Indeed, as Sallycat (the only cat who loves you back) is keen to remind us, sometimes the outside world impinges on the dance floor. In her case, the recent smoking ban in public places introduced in England has made her life much, much better:

It is now a total pleasure to be able to dance in our milongas without having to suffer the proximity to those whose second hand smoke irritated our eyes, lungs, and managed to stink our hair, skin and cloths.

Tango can also be used to sell candles, it seems:

Tango: Like two bodies that move effortlessly across the floor, sweet night-blooming Jasmine and fragrant Gardenia dance together in this exhilarating fragrance. Let the rhythm sweep you away.

But, hey, at least dancing is good for you:

Let me raise the question and reason on why dancing is good for you. It is actually a good form of exercise. It not only involves your whole body to move but it also definitely improves your health. It is indeed a form of cardiovascular exercise