Tangodurians

Goals for this Tango year: - Continue to improve leading - Get deeper into the movements and music - Starting again with foundations (feet placement, weight, balance, transfers) Always and forever a noob. Training for the first ASEAN Tango Championships, more about process than outcome really but have always been a competitive spirit so part of me really wants to make an impact. We definitely are not at the stage of winning but if improvement continues then it'll at least make a dent in the social dancing. Training. Why is it that Tango doesn't inspire the same practice spirit that a lot of other activities require (tennis, swimming, basketball, piano..heck anything I've ever picked up, or been dragged into, in my life so far)? Maybe it's the fact and core of what makes it so appealing, that we rest on our laurels because we depend so much on what the partner is giving (50-50) hence...we think that if we give 50 and the other person gives 25 then we might a...

It's been eons since I've written anything about Tango, even though it has now become so ingrained in my life and travels. Tango at this point to me is being used as an outlet. It's my yoga, it's my meditation. It's me traversing the world in 12 minutes, in receiving and transmitting, of letting my body become the channel through which the music flows through, of expression. Tango to me is at this stage, everything that I want it to be. Of course there's plenty of things to work on, but there comes a point where you are balanced in yourself and your awareness of this dance that allows you to express your truest "self". It opens different facets of yourself to you and I continue to hone how I communicate. It is true that only certain people "get it", or "stick with it" and more or less these are the people that end up being people I get along with. It's a bit of a screener for me too in terms of figuring out who I actually w...

Tonight. An avalanche of men. A tanda with a solid dancer. A playful vals with the lilting ochos. A dramatic sweep and trampolining skirt ganchos. A heavy rhythmic Noelia wannabe impersonation for the Milonga. An accented weight change that is not off-putting but very...interesting. Music was divine. All the solid songs strung together. Safe. But a good kind. Weight on point. Mindset on point. You see, Tango. It gives you these moments, these moments of pure fun, of showing off, of enjoying the music and really dancing to it while keeping an eye to what your partner is suggesting. If you stick with Tango you unlock levels as you go. Friends. Lovers. Strangers that turn into the most intimate acquaintance for 12 minutes. Being able to give and receive joy, this is where the true essence is. Forget about hierarchy or rank. Forget about being hesitant or snobbish about dancing with that one who doesn't look that good. Focus on yourself in the dance, even the quietest talker...

What is your ultimate goal? Do you dance because you want to become a professional? To make a living out of it? To perform on stage? Do you dance in order to connect? To socialise? Because a loved one started with you and its a part of you that you can never quite let go of, because it means that the final bridge is forever gone? Is it because a younger you once felt something inside you move so much that your perspective was forever shifted to a B.T. and A.T? Is it because it is a language that is global, allowing you to plug into any community and be instantly connected, without language, without culture, without boundaries? Perhaps you as a woman just want to be held, to connect with someone of the opposite gender, to feel led, guided and comforted in a world where gender norms are collapsing. Or perhaps, you are that masculine figure, tenderly protective of the person who has entrusted their sight to yours, letting the guard of personal space down to nestle in your arms an...

It has been a while since I have managed to bring myself back toward elements of beginning stages. Back to the days in tiled Union lobbies with an exasperated ponytailed guy telling me to shut my eyes and just feel. To stop fighting the lead and to surrender. What does it mean to be a good dancer? I sometimes think we are so caught up within this dance that we do not utilise everything else outside of it to inform our progress. Metaphors and imagery resonate so much stronger than describing a step ever will. What does it mean to be a good speaker then? Is it necessary to be Oprah before we deem ourselves worthy of the title? Hardly! Then why is it that we expect to dance like Rojas, like Hurtado, or any other headlining name? Maybe because Tango is so accessible, so fundamental in nature, like walking, that we believe we can partake in it, and expect to at a very high level. Truth is, it really does require training, it requires years of dedication much like ballet, gymnastic, yog...

God, that voice just makes this so mind blowingly good! Mujer, de mi poema mejor; mujer, yo nunca tuve un amor. perdón si eres mi gloria ideal; perdón, serás mi verso inicial. Woman—my greatest poem is yours! Woman—I'd never had your love before! Forgive me, for your being my glory divine; forgive me: you shall be first among my lines

This years tango fest was...curious, in the sense that it was a funny mix of people who were not from the region and decided to show up, as well as quite lacking in regional representation. But above all, it was kinda fun, and yet again I find myself miles away from the seriously nervous dancer I was 3 years back and even quite recently last year. I don't know what it is but I've found my feet I guess? This grounding that I need to not be nervous and to interpret the music and not care about what everyone else around me is thinking. Eons ago wise words were shared with me on the dance floor of Vitosh Guesthouse by J. "Don't bother with them, they're all too concerned with themselves anyway". Some things come back from the past and hit you hard when you realise exactly what was meant. Had a couple of dream tandas, beautiful waltzes where my partner exclaimed "you're flying!" and proceeded to try and lift a very panicked me. If I could respond...

  Mauricio y Javier The Singapore Tango Festival was magical. Absolutely magical, mainly because of the presence of Sexteto Milonguero for two of the nights. Dancing to live music is SUCH a treat and it seriously made me feel like my soul was soaring. Some amazing dances were had. I got told by a lead who I hadn't danced with in over a year that I had changed my dancing style (better I hope), and I agree with him. Very happy with how I'm dancing right now, but obviously more to improve! Taiwanese guy made me so so happy by saying that I danced really really well =P. Self promotion I know, but it was a very smooth dance and there was a particular move that fit the music so well and with so much precision that even I was surprised. The final saturday at UP from 4-7am took the cake though. Beautiful environment, soaring ceiling, springy wood floor, gorgeous and friendly hosts. One not to be repeated unfortunately since UP is shutting and they're moving countries. ...

From the very beginning of learning this dance, back, back, way back to the fundamentals of walking backward (in flipflops no less), I've heard it said again and again and having espoused it myself, that if you can walk, you can Tango. Makes it sound so easy until you're grappling with music, space, embrace, another person, arms, legs, timing, tangled. ARGH. But it's true isn't it? Lead comes from the top. I've been having trouble describing the difference between Tango and Salsa to people who don't really know either dance. Calling Salsa showy and loud soon begged to be re-assessed when you think of the pained and contorted expressions that often end up on our face in Tango (sometimes...sometimes it's really an uninhibited expression of what we were feeling at that time). But I think I've found it. You dance Salsa with your legs, you dance Tango with your chest. That's it really, that's how it's so different. You learn Salsa with ...

The best tango dances are things you don't go searching for. They come out of nowhere, like 80 year old dancers in the hot environment of a Tango school in New York asking you to dance, you in your flats. You in your flats compared to the 4-inch CIF's whizzing past you. You in your flats, only a few months into this dance...yet knowing a bit more of your surroundings, being aware of the hierarchy, but not of how to handle yourself in this particular hierarchy. It's like your body is doing one thing while your mind is doing another. The best dances are not anticipated, because the more your anticipate, the more it becomes a struggle. The best dances come and make you feel like a comet whizzing through the night sky, like each of you is a twirling star in this galaxy of ours, and you're charting your own set course, never bumping into each other. Dance. Dance. Dance as though no one is watching you. Because in that moment you're in your own little universe and ...

A long long time ago, someone once said to me "she's like a feather". Last night someone told me I'd gotten lighter. As in, dancing. Grounding yourself makes you lighter, how paradoxical :)

Tango is like a scent, that unexplainable entry that hits the very core of memory, yet unformed, tangible, oh so tangible edges, but forever just a feeling. Like a memory that has just slipped your net and you wait for serendipity to find it again. It might attack when...you're driving home late at night without too much on your mind, or in a darkened club high on life. Sometimes when I see certain pictures of a certain classroom, all I can wonder is...was it just a dream?

3rd workshop of day 3 of intense tango fest and my feet and mind had just about enough. I went downstairs in the Union to get a subway and sat in the quiet that envelopes the basement during Spring semester when no one else is around. Teachers were good, met new leaders that I connected well with, was amazing having a La Cumparsita for every day =), felt so normal but I still missed my gaggle of girlfriends to laugh over things about and gossiping over shoes! It was brilliant trying to see whether a year on I could match the amazing skills that AA leaders have and I was not disappointed with myself, or with them. Where Leaders>Followers?! Gasp, shock, horror. But inspite of everything, the tango that really left me feeling connected was just general weekly practica with the old guards of tango. The ones that are always there, it was brilliant hanging out with them too and reminds me about how I discovered the other people that make up Ann Arbor, not just the undergrads, it...

I've pinpointed why Tango is so appealing. Well, not really, more like really acknowledging it now! We all want to be that one dancer that leaves our follower/leader gasping BECAUSE. Well, they would never have felt such an amazing connection before. It's honing ourselves to that point in time where we can meet any leader and be confident in our own skills to be able to match whatever he is throwing at us. Then leave, like a gust of wind, woosh! Good Tango week in KL!

There is a malay song that goes as follows: "Andai dipisah lagu dan irama, Lemah tiada berjiwa, hampa" Which basically means, music and rhythm, if separated, leads to a disappointing, soulless (read:dispassionate) endeavor. Last Saturday, at my now 5th Milonga ever, I tried really hard to focus less on my footwork and more on the music. I absorbed the music and tried to just really feel the movements my partner led me into, perhaps getting a gist of his interpretation of the song. I have come to realize that the joys that i experience in tango relates more to how these little beats in each song gives way to tiny little rock steps or provide room for an abbreviated ocho cortado amidst the normal walks we take more often than not. yes, a fancy gancho or a boleo, when appropriate, takes my tango soul to a new level of euphoria, but those tiny improvisations, when executed to near perfect timing to the music makes my tanda magical. It differentiates just dancing for the s...