Eyes Closed

This is the title of a new documentary on tango.  It shows how tango helps us connect with others in a time where fast communication via cell phone or the internet reigns.  Tango gives us the opportunity to connect heart to heart.

200th edition of B.A. Tango

Tito Palumbo celebrated the 200th issue of his magazine with a cocktail reception at La Casa del Tango in Almagro and invited everyone who has associated with his magazine.  It was a lovely gathering of milonga organizers, tango teachers, musicians, and milongueros.  It was a special occasion to socialize with tango friends in a relaxed atmosphere with delicious hors d’ouevres, wine and sweets. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tangasm

I wasn’t aware that this word was in use until I checked the internet this week.  I was thinking about the tandas I danced with a certain partner a few days ago, and this word seemed appropriate to describe my experience.

I don’t want to share the details of my tangasms.  Everyone should experience their own.  I can’t begin to define it because words are inadequate.   Even if I tried, I wouldn’t convey all the feelings in the moment. 

It’s not something to think about or to anticipate.  You never know when it will happen.  When one surrenders to being in the moment, one is prepared in body and soul.  

My tangasms end with a gentle sigh.  My smile tells it all.  I feel the pleasure and sit quietly afterwards.  I have no interest in dancing the next tanda because I want to savor the moment. 

Tango has been described as foreplay, so tangasms are a nice way to end a tanda.

Besamé mucho, pero ahora, no!

Hugging and/or kissing almost everyone one comes into contact with on a daily basis is normal for porteños.  It’s a habit I have acquired during my ten years living in Buenos Aires.  I enjoy walking the streets and seeing people connected with each other–holding hands or arms entwined is common for everyone.  I have become so accustomed to the Argentine way that I normally take a friend’s arm while walking on the street.  I, too, like this feeling of being close and connected.

This normal pattern in porteño life has come to a temporary halt for some. It’s winter and the threat of flu is on everyone’s mind.  Schools are closed for the month, and some concerts have been cancelled.  There were fewer passengers on subway trains.  The milongas have a reduced number of dancers.   

I was walking in San Telmo this afternoon and noticed Ricardo Suarez at the door of his electrical repair shop on Estados Unidos 412.  I waited until the customer had left.  I knocked on the door, and Ricardo opened it, but apologized for not greeting me in the normal way.  He is 85 and doesn’t want to catch any virus.  He told me that he didn’t go to the milongas last weekend and doesn’t know when he will return.  Obviously, he is taking all precautions this winter to avoid being sick.  He can’t afford it at his age.

Argentines are used to greeting one another with a kiss on the cheek.  But for the time being, many are refraining from it.  Even a handshake is off limits.  The city where tango was born is taking a step back from warm embraces.  It’s not an easy thing to do.

Tango’s icon

Carlos Gardel is synonymous with tango to porteños.  He was born December 11, 1890, in Toulouse, France and arrived in Buenos Aires with his mother Berta Gardés in 1893.  They lived in various neighborhoods.  From 1925-1926, Gardel rented an apartment on the second floor at Rincon 137 in Balvanera, about a block from Café de los Angelitos on Av. Rivadavia, where he lived with his girlfriend Isabel del Valle.  His last residence was the house at Jean Jaurés 735,  now the Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, in the Abasto neighborhood which he bought in 1926, and lived with his mother. 

Gardel was also a dancer.  The details of his death on the airfield in Medellín, Colombia are varied.  Many will be gathering today at his tomb in Chacarita Cemetary to pay their respects to Carlitos, who died June 24, 1935.

Club de Tango

During my first visit to Buenos Aires in 1996, our tango tour group was taken on a special tour of tango sites by Oscar Himschoot.  I remember that the Palais de Glace in Recoleta, where young porteños danced in the 1920s, was one of our stops.  During another trip in 1997, I visited Oscar’s tiny office on Paraná in San Nicolas from which he edited his monthly magazine Club de Tango and fulfilled orders for books, scores, and compact discs from tangueros around the world.  The two-room office contains posters, cards, DVDs, CDs, books, sheet music, and Club de Tango magazines.

Oscar was working on compiling a book of milonga lyrics.  He completed it before his death in 2005, but it hasn’t been published.  His wife and granddaughter have that project in hand.  Oscar found approximately 1,500 milongas for his book. 

There are others  like Oscar Himschoot who love tango so much that they continually investigate it.  One has to step outside the milonga in order to find them.

One of Oscar’s most popular books is El tango: la pasión del 2 x 4.  Ediciones La Llave S.A. printed 100,000 copies of this 80-page booklet in 2000.  I bought it recently at Club de Tango, along with the book he co-authored with Ricardo Ostuni: Los Cafes de La Avenida de Mayo.  The former has 19 chapters giving a brief synopsis of tango’s origens, the bandoneon, lunfardo (one of Oscar’s favorite subjects), the first tangos, the singers, the 1940s, the tango in movies, etc. 

I had been searching years in book stores for El Tango en la sociedad porteña 1880-1920 without success.  After attending a lecture by Dr. Emilio Santabaya in May and hearing how highly he recommended the book, I set out to find it.  The publisher Hector Lucci listed Club de Tango as the source.  I went for a visit and requested a copy.  Two days later, Oscar’s wife Hilda called that she had obtained the book for me.  It has been published in larger print by Abrazos Books, although it hasn’t been translated to English.  I admit that I was stunned by the size of the book, but the larger type font meant more pages.  It is the definitive work on the early history of tango taken from public records by Hugo Lamas and Enrique Binda. 

You can visit Club de Tango at www.clubdetango.com.ar and when you are in Buenos Aires.  Hilda is there from noon to 6:00 to personally attend to customers.

Once upon a time . . .

Women didn’t undress at the table in a milonga.  Nor did they apply makeup, arrange their hair, or change their shoes for all to see.  They once entered a milonga as a theater, where everyone made an entrance at the door. 

Two nights ago, I saw a young foreign woman escorted to her table during a tanda.  She carried a backpack and wore lots of clothing for the cooler weather.  She peeled off a jacket.  Then she removed a sweater over her head.  She was oblivious to those around her.  She was about fifteen steps from the ladies’ room where she could have gone to change, packed away her clothes, but instead she changed her clothes in a cramped space at the table.  She wore high black leather boots and then removed her socks.  Women on either side of her returned to the table while she was in the process of putting on her shoes while bending over.   I watched the whole process in amazement.  No one pointed her in the direction of the ladies’ room.  I wanted to ask her if she saved valuable time getting dressed at the table rather than in private. 

Those who play tennis or golf would never change their shoes on the court or course–they do that in the locker room.  Actors and performers change into costume in a dressing room. 

The milongas in Buenos Aires no longer have the atmosphere of elegance and formality they did ten years ago.  Once upon a time, there was respect for others who went to dance.  Everyone was well-dressed because they had respect for the tango.  The fantasy of the milonga has been washed away by the flood of tourism.

Tango trance

This word has been used to describe a state of mind which tango dancers experience.  If they haven’t found it, they seek it.  If they have, they want it all the time.  They talk about a feeling of floating or not knowing where they are.   Tango dancing has become an addiction or obsession to many for this reason.  It provides many with an experience or connection that they haven’t found in other activities in life.

A few years ago I was going to dance tango regularly and had the opportunity to listen to a variety of orchestras and become familiar with them.  The right combination of tanda and partner could result in a divine feeling of pleasure by surrendering to the moment. At times I was glad that my partner was there to guide me back to my table. I had my eyes closed so as not to be distracted by those around us.  I wanted to concentrate and feel what my partner felt in the music. I never felt I was in a trance.  I wanted to be present. 

Tango requires us to be in the present moment with our partner.  If we are distracted or allow our minds to wander, we aren’t present.  And our partners can feel it.  It is a discipline in a way, a different level of awareness that we can bring to tango that we don’t necessarily have in the course of busy lives.  We can develop our level of presence when we dance in an embrace. 

If we feel disconnected from life in general, tango brings a different perspective.  We can’t avoid connecting in the embrace and being present in the moment.  This isn’t a trance–it’s being in a state of awareness.  We can take that awareness to everything we do.

__________

trance: a hypnotic state resembling sleep in which a person is unable to move or act of his or her own will.

Ten-minute relationship

The milonga is where men and women can meet for the first time without introduction. Tango is the main agenda.  It begins with a glance across the room. Eyes meet. Heads nod. Two embrace one another for a ten-minute relationship and then part.

Tango offers a way to know others first with a hug.  Talking about what we do, where we live, etc. isn’t important.  The body expresses everything.  We even get to know ourselves better.  Tango changes us.

Tango is a temporary relationship that requires trust.  We agree to those terms whether we know it or not.  We open our heart to a stranger.  We can be changed by the experience.  We can feel something deep in our soul.

No other dance can compare with tango.

International Dance Day

The official message for Dance Day 29 April 2009

The future of dance lies where there are persons who do not dance.

These belong to two categories: those who simply did not learn, and those who think that they are not able to dance. They represent the greatest challenge for the dance teacher’s profession.

In line with UNESCO’s struggle against prejudice and discrimination, we are trying to expand the boundaries of dance and to change the current perception of what a dancer is.

Dance performances are not necessarily exhibitions of extreme physicality, accurate precision, or bursting emotion – they can be celebrations of interaction between performers. We can enrich dance concerts with dancers, singers, actors, narrators, mimes, acrobats etc., of all ages and all degrees of ability.

Bringing the ‘excluded’ into dance is a moral duty, but also opens a great door in times of economic crisis and unemployment. In every country there are millions of persons with physical or mental disabilities. We believe they are ready to dance.

They will create jobs to thousands of dance teachers. They can be assisted by the Ministry of Health, whose budget is many times bigger than that of the Ministry of Culture.

Integrating marginalized persons into the practice of dance is as important as integrating them into the workforce.

CID holds to the philosophy that everyone can dance.
Dance Day 2009 is dedicated to inclusive dance. Let us include all members of society into our classes and our performances.

Prof. Alkis Raftis
President of the International Dance Council CID
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, Paris

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International Dance Committee
International Theatre Institute/UNESCO
International Dance Day Message 2009 by Akram Kahn

This very special day, International Dance Day, is dedicated to the one language that everybody in this world can speak, the inherent language of our bodies and our souls, of our ancestors and of our children.

This day is dedicated to every god, guru and grandparent that ever taught and inspired us.

To every song and impulse and moment that’s ever moved us to move.

It is dedicated to the little child that wishes it could move like its star. And to the mother who says, “you already can.”

This day is dedicated to every body of every creed, colour and culture that carries the traditions of its past into stories of the present and dreams of the future.

This day is dedicated to Dance, to its myriad dialects and its immense power to express, transform, unite and delight.

This video proves that people everywhere of all ages love to dance.