It's April, so it must be milonga!

It must have been around the year 2000 that we gained an affection for milonga, and that affection has grown to it being our favourite tango form. Maybe it's the relentless beat, or the playfulness that the music invites, or the opportunity to be creative with relatively simple figures. As soon as those great Canaro & Donato milongas come on, we have no choice but to dance ... and have fun.


We always look forward to the time each year when we can teach some milonga, and April (& maybe later in the year too) is it. Both classes will have this topic for the month - the Tuesday class will start at the beginning and concentrate on milonga simple, the Monday class will build on what has been learnt in previous years and focus on milonga simple & traspie. There is the opportunity in both groups for new people to attend for this topic - simply contact us.


The hardest thing about milonga isn't that it's fast - many milongas are not - but that it's essential to land on every beat ..... that means leading each single step fractionally ahead of the beat so both leader & follow hit the floor with the step on the beat. After that, it can be as simple as you wish - think of walking with your partner in close embrace, with lots of personal style, matching the milonga rhythm exactly ... now you're dancing milonga. Add a few simple movements, pick up some of the moods & melodies of the music, and now your milonga is taking more shape. Both classes will work on musicality exercises, a range of relatively simple figures and lots of practice to develop this.


Still not too sure what milonga is? Then take a look at Osvaldo & Coca - these are champion dancers (literally) whose whole focus is on the music. If you want to see some quite extraordinary milonga (yes, totally unattainable by we mere mortals), then look again at Javier & Geraldine's performance ... seamless!

Aus International Tango Festival

This year's event in Sydney looks like having a bigger focus than past festivals on tango suitable for dancing socially in the milonga. Since most of us dance tango as a social activity, rather performing to an audience, this makes the festival even more relevant, and most of the workshops applicable to the majority of us. The teachers come with a diverse range of strengths and interests, so choosing will be difficult. Here's the link, if you haven't yet taken a look. There will be a milonga each night, too.

By the way, bookings for workshops open tomorrow.

See you there,
Pat.

Favourite three male dancers

When I thought of my three favourite male dancers, I had little trouble - but it took some analysis to work out why those three were so prominent in my mind.

Hugo Daniel kept repeating "intention" when I spent a number of hours working with him in 2007, and when I watch him dance, I see it, and I see the intensity of feeling that he puts into every moment.

Javier Rodriguez was a great favourite of mine back in the days when he was dancing with one of Pat's favourites, Geraldine Rojas, and what impressed me about him was his speed, his turns, his creativity, and I loved his milongas.

Finally, who could go past the late, great master of tango, Ricardo Vidort, who would lead his partner with subtle, almost imperceptible movements of his body, while his feet played out the changing rhythms of the orchestra - watch his body as he dances to Chique, then play it again and just watch his feet.



So should we try to copy our favourite dancer's or teacher's style? Not at all - even if we were remotely capable of getting close. Besides, performance and social dancing are different. Our mentors can, nevertheless, give us clues on technique and tango style, but in the end, we have to develop our own style - how we can best reflect what the music says to us, within our partner's embrace.

From Hugo I take 'intention', from Javier the creative potential in milonga, and from Ricardo subtlety & musicality. But that's just the start - tango is a never-ending road, isn't it?

Bob

Sunday night at the Czech House

If you're in Melbourne on the second Sunday of the month, head across to the Czech House in North Melbourne where Melbourne Tango hold their monthly milonga. We had a fabulous time last Sunday, and being a long weekend it finished later than usual at 1am.

The traditional Buenos Aires style milonga is organised by a passionate group of volunteers, who really look after their guests. A free lesson with guest teachers and music by guest DJs (yours truly last Sunday) make the $10 entry a steal!

Happy dancing,
Pat.