Tangodurians

Honestly, it has been a struggle to get back into Tango. I'm having a bit of difficulty figuring out why, but it might just be a combination of having disconnected from it in my regular weekly schedule because of COVID, same COVID making it impossible for me to travel to other countries to dance and join Marathons, a number of years since starting and feeling stagnated, and honestly just feeling a waning interest overall. There is still motivation there, it isn't entirely gone, but life has gotten into the way. The using Tango as a bit of an emotional crutch has also been replaced by a real life human being, so that is yet another reason for the increasingly ambivalent attitude I seem to be having to the dance nowadays. All that being said, I did just fly to Singapore this weekend for Tomas workshop and because damnit, I am fan #1 in Malaysia, unabashedly! Time to see if it's time to kickstart the organising again!

Hello 2022! Is this the year that we have finally recovered from COVID? At least I've stopped freaking out about being in a crowded space without the semblance of a shield called a facemask, just as I have mysteriously also never tested positive for COVID yet having the classic symptoms of its later manifestation. All that is to say, it's back to milongas and lessons in somewhat full force and having amnesia for the last 2 years. In the middle of Embrace Berlin right now which is an interesting coalition of turbocharged Tango milongas happening throughout the week, primarily enjoyed by the local community and feeling more of a home-turf Tango situation vs. an international weekend of cross country travelling. First ever lessons with Horacio Godoy y Maricel Giacomini and what a trove of historical/musical facts - musicality at its finest. 1930's Milonguero - 1920's and earlier music rhythm was based off a habanero rhythm with the melody line emphasising the beat on 1 and...

I suppose we must grieve a little. Not only for the collective disaster that is happening globally, or the ugliness of humanity, or the looming unsustainability of climate change, or the destruction of equilibrium on this planet. Some more direct sadness in the deaths of 2nd degree connections, the stories of business destroyed, livelihood impaired. The direct and indirect way that everything in this planet is interconnected, in such intimate and profound ways beyond our understanding. I have not let myself feel the loss of Tango as deeply to process it. But herein lies the pain of losing an outlet that meant so much to me, that continues to hold sway over my imagination, that continues again and again to be my kryptonite. 15 months since my last milonga. 15 months since the last embraces of friends, partners, buddies. In a way, it captures exactly the pain of the world, of lost connections and the ability to be in each others presence without the looming fear of worry and the pote...

Ah 2020. You have been upended in the most ridiculous way possible by a virus that has destroyed every single activity we do for fun, leisure, pleasure, necessity, survival. Because, humans. Was so looking forward to a year of dancing starting with the Taiwan Valentine's Tango Marathon, leading into STM v5, London, Portugal and maybe BA by the end of the year. Guess what! ALL GONE, DESTROYED. It has been a year since I went to a marathon/event. I am probably the saddest I have been when it comes to the dance front. 11 years ago I made it such a part of my identity that it has accompanied me through the years of visiting different cities for work, for holiday, for weddings, for connections, for reunions with exes, for meeting new interests. Shaped my 20's like nothing else has and only grows stronger year after year. 2020 was the reset required. Mentally, emotionally. This relationship with Tango remains my strongest and most developed of my many relationships with many a...

Well well well, here we come again to the end of another Tango year in 2019. Granted, this year was a lot more muted for me, just one Tango Prelims Championship, one Fame Tango Weekend extravaganza, one Tango marathon (shit, just one?!). This years tango centered very much around home, no crazy travels (thanks to change in job), no multi-country tango events (thanks to no budget + no time), a smattering of lessons. But internally, centeredness, duende. Next year, Taipei Tango Weekend, Singapore Tango Marathon + Lisbon for food, travels and Tango. Where is my tango this year? 10 years since that fateful day running to Michigan Union in shorts and t-shirt with flipflops, hair wet from a swim on a balmy end of September day, 3 to 4 weeks into the new semester. Not knowing this would kickstart one of my greatest passions in this life. The one that brings me into the world of friendships, arguments, travels and meetings. All sorts of people, friends, acquaintances, annoyances. The ...

Off the back of a weekend that required me to leave work early and sleep cray hours to finally get back into a semi-human mode of work and sleep. Thoughts? When I first started tango, I jumped straight into a Fire & Ice festival in Ann Arbor January of 2010. That was my first taste of a tango festival which was relatively social and a good scene in hindsight. Coming back to Malaysia I've participated in the KL Festival every single year, Singapore festival twice, Taiwan festival once (24 hour on a whim - fuck it all flight), Shanghai festival once. Other than that the flavour of the day nowadays is definitely geared more toward marathons/encuentros, and for a good reason. Festivals in this part of the world are seriously so tipped toward a certain "type" that it is far more worth my money and sanity to go for the social dancing rather than the festival format. Granted, lessons were good, always learning, picking up new things. Competition was, so-so for me, was...