HOMELAND OF TANGO

A R G E N T I N A
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Argentina is located in the southern extreme of South America. With a continental extension of 2.791.810 Km2.(including Malvinas Islands, other South Atlantic Islands and part of Antarctica). Argentina is the second largest country in South America and the eighth in the world.
Including the Antarctic Sector, Argentina claims a total area of 3.761.274 Km2
It is some 1425 Km across at its widest from east to west and stretches 3.800 Km from the north to the south.
it is bounded by Bolivia and Paraguay on the north, Brasil, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Chile on the west and south.



Relief


The western part of Argentina is occupied by the Andes mountain range, the great mountain system of the South American continent. Here we find the Aconcagua (6.959 m), the highest peak in the world outside those existing in the Himalaya.
There also exists several parallel ranges to the east of the Andes, such as the Eastern Mountain range and the Sub-Andean sierras to the north ,The Pampean Sierras to the north and centre from the Aconquija up to the Sierras of Córdoba and San Luis, and Buenos Aires sierras systems such as Tandilia and Ventania
The central part and the east of Argentina (except for the parallel groups to the Andes already mentioned) consist almost entirely of a flat or gently undulating plain.




Climate and Regions


Argentina has exceptional natural beauties, for it comprises a diverse territory of mountains, plateaux and plains with all the climatic variations
There are several climatic and landscape regions




1) NORTHWEST
It stands out for its tropical climate, its colourful mountains, the Puna high plateaux, the gorges, the valleys and the characteristic settlement patterns that make up the history of this land.

2) GRAN CHACO
Primarily forestal area with forests of subtropical climate, swampy lands and ponds.

3) MESOPOTAMIA
In the northern part the subtropical climate prevails whereas, in the south the climatic conditions are more temperate . It is rich in flora and fauna. Its territory consists of slopes, ponds and swampy lands cut through by important rivers .

4) CUYO
With its montaneous characteristics (The Aconcagua lies here), it has an arid temperate climate. However, man, through artificial irrigation, has turned it into an ideal land for the viticulture and viniculture.

5) CENTRAL SIERRAS
The central sierras of Córdoba and San Luis offer a quite bening dry temperate climate. They posses numerous rivers and artificial water mirrors.

6)HUMID PAMPA
The Pampa with its temperate climate posseses the most productive lands of the country (and one of the best ones of the world) for the agriculture and cattle breeding. Its plain landscape is just broken by Tandil and Ventania Sierras.
The East is characterised by the vast populated beaches of the Atlantic coast.

7) PATAGONIA
The largest region with the coldest climate (especially in the southern part). The west consists mainly of a montaneous landscape peppered with spectacular woods, lakes and glaciers. The centre offers sterile plateaux and the east vast beaches with spectacular and unique colonies of marine animals for sightseeing. The southern extreme of this region makes up the southermost point of the world.





Population
Argentina has a low demographic density. It consists of around 36 millon people, mainly established in the urban centres. The 85% of the population is descendant of inmigrants from Europe. As opposed to most Latin American countries, in Argentina there are relatively few Indian half castes (people of mixed races: european and indian).

Almost half of the population of the country live in the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires. The urban population makes up the 88% of the whole whereas the rural population represents the 22%.

The figures give us a population density of 13 inhabitants per km2 with an annual growing of 1,5 %.



Main Cities:


BUENOS AIRES
11 millons (Federal Capital and the Conurbation)

CORDOBA
1,2 millons.

ROSARIO
1.15 millons

MENDOZA
851.000

SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMAN
626.143

LA PLATA
520.647

MAR DEL PLATA
519.707

SALTA
367.099




Language
Spanish is the official language and is spoken by the great majority of Argentinians.
English, French and Italian are, in lesser or greater degree, widespread languages within the country





Culture

Argentina's cultural roots are mainly europeans and that is clearly reflected in its arquitecture, music, literature and lifestyle.

It has an intense cultural activity. It is seen in the festivities, expositions, cinemas, theatres, and concerts that take place in the principal cities.
Buenos Aires has aproximately 100 cinemas and 90 theatres with a great diversity of spectacles that turn it into one of the cities with the major theatrical activity in Latin America
In the Borges, Recoleta y General San Martín cultural centres the cultural dynamics of the country and the world are exposed.
The Colon Theatre, which is among the best three lyrical theatres, stands out for its arquitecture and its perfect acoustics. It is visited by the most outstanding personalities of the classical music, ballet and drama of the world.
Other important theatres are the National Cervantes and the Municipal Gral. San Martín Theatres.
Painting and Sculpture are given great importance. This is reflected in the prestigious art galleries existing in the principal cities of the country.

The characteristic music of the city of Buenos Aires is the world-famous tango. Folklore includes several and varid rythms and styles according to the different regions of the country.
The typical Argentine food is asado (barbecue: meat cooked over live coals), appart from empanadas ( a sort of turnover meat pie or pastry that comes with a variety of other stuffings), tamales ( a dish made of corn meal, chicken or meat wrapped in corn husks), humita (dish made of grated corn, sweet peppers and tomatoes wrapped in the green leaves of corn) and locro ( dish made of meat, potato, pumpkin, corn and sweet pepper).
However, and due to the important migrating current that populated the country , there exists a quite varied international cuisine: Spanish, Italian, French, German, Scandinavian, Greek, English, Sweddish, Hungarian, Dutch, Chilean, Mexican, Basque, Jewish, Russian, Ukranian, Chinese, Japanese, Thailander and Arabian.

Our country characteristic drink is mate (infusion).
The quality of its wines and meats is worldly known and the new Argentine cuisine has reached an international level standing out due to its qualified chefs.

UNDERSTANDING OF TANGO

IMPACT OF TANGO DANCE
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What happens when a dancer wants to look good? He looks in a mirror. A mirror is something which tells you about yourself how good is it what you do. You watch yourself from an outsider's point of visual view.
Are there other means to tell you about yourself? You can direct your internal eye of attention into your own body. What to look at? Move your hand in the air. You hardly can feel what does it do. Now tense your muscles, stretch you joints. Suddenly your arm, leg, foot, the whole body become "visible" to you. Maintain moving with "visibility" feeling tension and stretching. If you lose "vision" for a moment, find that mini-muscle, adjacent or remote joint, move the whole thing a micron, change the angle so that "vision" comes back. Welcome to a world of your own body!
Manipulating with tensions in your muscles and keeping joints and muscles stretched you can create an appropriate "mirror" to "visualize" each of your movements. It may require paying attention to other muscles and joints, not participating as much in a movement as one might think.
Is there something else? Each of your body parts has more than 1 muscle and it has mass. So you can scientifically speaking make that part "oscillate". My favorite example is Brazilian Samba moves. Cuban movement with pelvis is another example. Belly dancing. Corte in Argentine Tango. Oscillating movements can be very complex or very simple, but all of them are incredibly "visible" to your internal eye and deliver great pleasure when you do it right. To do it right you only have to master a synchronization technique of participating elements of the body. Of course, that involves training to obtain the skill or to develop additional muscles. All oscillating movements are done in this way: one component accumulates energy while another releases it, then they change roles, and so on.
As soon as it has been found how to do it right, the oscillating movement becomes very easy. It requires very little energy. This is called "resonance". Each resonance has one most important feature - one or several "resonance frequencies" - how fast you are to do the movement to feel right. A little bit faster, a little bit slower, and ... Boomms, here you are! It happened. Now maintain it. This is a sign of doing it right - it becomes easy. Very easy, as if it happens itself.
If you move the center of oscillation of the oscillating part to another point in space, or change tension in the surrounding muscles, or change the geometry of participating elements, the "resonance frequency" will change too. That is another way to achieve and manipulate it. Not changing the rhythm, but changing mechanical parameters of the involved and surrounding parts of the body. Because variation of the parameters changes the theoretical "resonance frequency", you are able gradually transform one oscillating movement into another one. You can incorporate additional "things" into the movement. Once they are in sync, they variate the movement - it becomes a dance.
Resonance as phenomena has one amazing property. Once you do a rhythmic movement with one part of your body, another part which has the same "resonance frequency" will resonate, vibrate, and start oscillating with large amplitude. So, it is only matter of finding the right rhythm, tension, and geometrical structure ...
Here I have to say about damping. In order for one part to resonate when another oscillates, the propagation path should not damp. The best transmitters are solid, so your arms, legs, abdomen, everything should not be totally relaxed, but as I would say, alert. Make your body a spring! By the way, one of the ways to make it alert is rotation. In a well alert body, a tap with a toe is transmitted well right through the chest to your partner!
What happens if you sharply stop the movement? Any movement including an "oscillating" one? It generates "a rebound" of all muscles, bones, and organs in the involved area. It happens because they have mass and are connected to each other resiliently. Each one of them and all of them together start to vibrate and oscillate and you feel it!
The art of dancing includes an ability to make every part of your body visible to you, vibrating, and responding. You body become an orchestra with bright sounding instruments for one important listener - yourself.
There are 2 ways of dancing Tango. In first, you do not have a strong physical connection with your partner. A female dances herself. She becomes a "Super Oscillator". Man introduces controlling influences to change kinematic and dynamic parameters of the "Super Oscillator", providing extra supply of energy when needed.
Second way is when you create a strong connection with the partner either in open or in close embrace. You establish a "transmission path", and then you are able to listen to the orchestra inside your partner. When I dance, I can "see" absolutely any part of my partner's body which she is willing to show me through her art of "making a body an orchestra". However, establishing the connection, you combine your own orchestra to the orchestra of your partner. In order to have pleasure they should "sound" in unison.
Even more. Establishing strong connection, you establish new pairs for oscillations. You are creating more instruments! And there are many more of them possible than just in a single body.
This is why I love Argentine Tango. This is the only dance known to me in which the main topic is the art of combining two bodies together to listen to intense dance inside a partner and to establish a "combined orchestra".
If you have not mastered dance - you have to have a glass mirror to control what you do. When you mastered dance you are able to "look" inside your own body. When you dance in couple, all what you do is reflected in your partner's body and responds. Your partner becomes your mirror. You are looking at the partner and you are looking at your own reflection. And if it feels right, it is beautiful.

BEGINING OF TANGO DANCE

TANGO EVOLUTION
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The origins of tango can be traced back to the middle of the last century - back to the arrival of the men who would make up the "generation of 1880" (amongst them the founding fathers of independent Argentina), to one of their paradigms of government: to govern is to populate, and to the influx of Europeans and Asians into the Rio de la Plata region. Thus, all the necessary conditions were in place for the genesis of "something" accessible and universal enough to bridge ethnic, linguistic, religious, historical and social barriers.To this ethnic melting pot (comprising descendants of former African slaves, oppressed American Indians, Spaniards, Frenchmen, Syrians, Turks, Poles, Portuguese, Germans and so on) were added Spanish tanguillo and Cuban habanera music - and what it produced was tango. Never in human history has there been an example of popular culture of such richness and scope and which combines such a range of contributions. And if that were not enough, tango s popular origins, which it preserved for some 50 years, gave it a firm anchorage in a country which was not yet 200 years old.Tango was first written down at the end of the last century, producing 'la milonga" - the 2/4 time (fast for what we know today as tango).And so tango was born and matured on the geographical and cultural periphery of a cosmopolitan city where the social "elite" had its eyes on Paris. El Queco, Sacudime la Persiana, La Cara de la Luna, La Morocha, are some examples of tangos from this early written period (most of which had daring, salacious and/or picaresque lyrics).With the immigration of Polish Jews, tango was introduced, along with the mazurca, into brothels (where its entry was aided by the prospect of an embrace), by two Jewish mafia organisations. It then reached the street corner (an early meeting place), later the tenements, and with the the formation of the first orchestras (duos, trios and quartets), the bars of the poorer outlying districts. By that time there existed a tango culture. There were bandoneonists, guitarists and violinists to play it, and the first tango singers, who would intone the choruses. The bar-cum-store where tango developed early on gave way to more open, spacious places where customers could listen to tango and also dance to it. They had platforms and even stages for orchestras and singers. It was the age of the first orchestras, the first singers and the first dancers.For reasons of snobbery or other motives, tango attracted good boys and girls from bad homes and bad boys and girls from good homes. This was the eve of a golden age: one of great orchestras, singers and composers who produced a series of recordings and films which were responsible for spreading River Plate culture throughout the world. Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Laurel and Hardy, as well as Cachafaz, Tito Luciardo, and Carlos Gardel, and more recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino, Robert Duval and Madonna have all danced tango for the cinema.Dance is one of the most basic forms of human communication. It is a ritual often used by primitive tribes to seal or celebrate agreements. This is how tango began as a dance, and how today it allows a Dutchman and a Japanese woman a three-minute non-verbal exchange.There are tangos for every occasion. Christ on the cross, the excommunicated Galileo, Romeo on the balcony, the arrogant dancer, the mother who gave her sons to the battlefields of France, pretty girls in aprons - tango sings of all of these things. It is a reflection of man and his environment. It is a mirror which does not lie. Which is why it always has been, and always will be marginalised. As in Snow White, the mirror shows us just one reality - and it is a reality that the wicked Queen (or the powers that be) could never accept.A few further considerations Tango was born not as society's prodigal son, but rather, some might say, as its stepchild, and its entire history has been a catalogue of proscriptions. Because of its humble exurban origins, it was not accepted by city people, and much less by the ruling class.The Catholic Church branded it the work of the Devil, because of its connection with pagan carnival rites which celebrated the King/God Momo. Clearly, the male-female embrace and the tenor of some of its Iyrics also played their part. In 1934, Casmiro Ain "El Vasco" danced tango in the Vatican before Pope Pius X and there received his Holiness's approval. From that point on our clergy merely tolerated it. In local festivals throughout the length and breadth of the country there could be music, choirs or folkdances, wherever they might be from, but no tango. For the city of Buenos Aires there were police edicts, and both municipal and government orders prohibiting tango in some of its forms.Even today, although the present government announced at the beginning of its term that it would promote tango culture in primary education, it took eight years to formulate a law to do so.Twenty years after its formation, the Orquesta de Tango de la Cuidad de Buenos Aires has neither its own premises for rehearsals nor a permanent venue for its performances. For over four years it has not had the necessary funds to repair the only harp in its possession. Over two years ago it lost the budget for transporting its piano to educational concerts which it gives weekly in public elementary schools. The orchestra does not have, nor has it ever had dancers to accompany its performances.The de facto government that defeated President Yrigoyen in 1930 banned tangos by Gardel which were accompanied by the guitar, and those which used lunfardo (Buenos Aires slang) in their lyrics. The government of the last military dictatorship prohibited songs by Enrique Santos Discepolo, such as Cambalache for example.Without doubt, it has been the representatives of a prudish morality who have most fervently opposed the expansion of tango culture - but they have not been the only ones. As was said earlier, musical recordings and movies helped considerably in spreading Argentinean culture and cultural models to Spanish-speaking countries. With the result that a Peruvian, a Colombian, a Cuban or a Venezuelan wanted to use Argentinean expressions, drink mate, wear lengue, and listen to Gardel, when it was required that everyone chew gum, drink coke and wear jeans. It was a question of switching one archetype for another, of bringing a corporate action against one type of culture - that of tango.As stated above, tango could be defined as a mirror of man and his environment. In this mirror the individual discovers his own shabbiness, his defects, or simply sees his feelings reflected in his expression. Add to this the rebellious nature of some of its lyrics, and it is easy to see why the guardians of main-stream culture want to BREAK THE MIRROR - that is to say, do away with tango. This is why tango does not feature in the mass media, much less in opinion-forming programmes. From an economic and philosophical point of view, we are living in a new era; with post-modernism and late neo-liberalism since the end of WWII, and now with the death of ideologies. All of which is undoubtedly more a product of intellectual theorizing than of observation. It was many years ago that the tango lyricist Celedonio Flores wrote that at Corrientes and Esmeralda, or any other street corner in any other city in the world "there is a cockatoo who thinks he is Carlos Gardel", but he could well have been talking about the likes of Fukuyama and the supposedly globalizing philosophers (who know only too well that the 'mind creates the phenomenon'). Their empty theories merely reflect the necessity of those in power to steer us towards individualism, and tango is gregarious and communal. Tango is modern.Winds of Change Blow from the NorthThanks to the travels of numerous representatives of tango at various periods, but principally thanks to the prolonged continuity of Tango Argentino, tango came to interest certain cultured, at first, and later perceived cultural elites and to finally establish itself amongst those of refined sensibilities throughout countries of the Northern Hemisphere. To such an extent that our culture is sought after and in demand abroad. Hotels, boarding houses and B&Bs all over Buenos Aires are primarily occupied by Japanese, Canadians, Americans, French; Germans Italians and so on. They are marking the beginning of a new era. They come in search of the roots of tango and are not fooled by "for export" versions. They want the real thing. Most can detect ãwatered-down'' offerings. This is the great challenge for them and for us.

TANGO IS A WAY OF LIFE

TANGO IS AN ADDICTION
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The rules of addiction:One: you keep doing itTwo: every time you do it you feel happyThree: it turns your life upside down but you don't care.
Today I wrote of bloody feetAnd undone laundryAnd family being neglectedTo a woman who begged to knowHow do you take out your garbagehow do you dustAnd how do you washWhen you're a dancer andA member of tango list?
I don't, I answeredYou are rightWe just dance.
She asked:“Is chasing that tango momentout of desperationto fill the emptiness inour heart?
“Yes”, I said.
“Or is it a way to order our livesSo that we can do something thatInspires usMakes us each smileAnd the laundry be damned?”
“Yes”, I said.
Read what Cherie wrote in Buenos Aires:“During my stay I didn't shopor sleep or eat exceptoccasionallynaps andfood on the run, and I lived on wine.
At midnight I would wrap my feetAnd pad my toes and stuff themInto spike heeled pointy tango shoesAnd hobble to the elevator.I suffered tillBlessed numbness set inAn hour later.
Then the music began andI would float on air acrossThe hard cementUntil the morning.After two milongas I'd have breakfastAnd then go home and peel the shoesOff my bloody feetAnd soak themAnd then fall into bedSmelling of men's cologneFeelingDeliriously happy.”
So, go all you addictsYou dancers and poetsAnd milonguerasSpend your lifeForever running afterThe moment thatMakes you happyBecause most peopleDon't even do that.

TANGO TUNES

LA CUMPRASITA
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The cafe 'La Giralda' in Montevideo, Uruguay, occupies a special place in Tango history. It was there in the year 1917 that a young Gerardo Matos Rodriguez gave (anonymously) the music score of a tango he had written to the orchestra of Roberto Firpo to play for the first time. Gerardo was then an adolescent (17 years old) who was barely making it as a student in the faculty of Architecture in Montevideo. Was it modesty? shyness? fear of ridicule? who knows why he wanted to remain anonymous? Firpo only knew that the name of the young composer was Gerardo. It was only later that the full identity of the author was known. He was young, educated, well mannered and sensible. He was also a bit naive. He sold for 20 pesos his rights of authorship to the Breyer publishing house. After some moderate success the composition was forgotten.Seven years later, in 1924, Gerardo was living in Paris and he met Francisco Canaro who had just arrived with his orchestra. That's when he found out that La Cumparsita was a major hit. The tango lyricists Enrique Maroni and Pascual Contursi had added words to the tango and renamed it 'Si Supieras'--If you knew. All of Buenos Aires was hearing, dancing, and demanding to buy the score for the tango that was seemingly everywhere in shows, recordings, and broadcasts. Shortly after, La Cumparsita arrived to Paris where, in the full grip of the roaring 20's, people danced charlestons, shimmys, one-steps, bostons, and when the crowd asked for a tango, they danced La Cumparsita. From Paris La Cumparsita spread to the four corners of the world and has since and forever after become a synonym for Tango.Gerardo Matos Rodriguez spent the next 20 years in and out of court trying to regain his rights as author of the most famous tango in the world. The first trial was between the composer and the Breyer and Ricordi publishing houses --Breyer had sold the piece to Ricordi. After a long battle, Ricordi agreed to pay royalties to the author. The second lawsuit was against Maroni and Contursi. They had added lyrics to the tune without permission. Gerardo won on the basis that he had surrendered his right to the music while being a minor. A legal loophole, but the law is the law. In 1942, a third lawsuit was established to discontinue from sale the recording made by Carlos Gardel. This of course engendered a fourth lawsuit, this time by Maroni and Contursi's widow, for damages and seeking their rights as authors of the lyrics.There are quite a few tangos that have different lyrics set to the same music. In some instances it was due to the ribald nature of the original lyrics that necessitated a change once the tango left the bordello. In the case of La Cumparsita, it was its popularity. "La cumparsa/de miserias sin fin/ desfila/en torno de aquel ser/enfermo/que pronto ha de morir/de pena/por eso es que en su lecho/solloza acongojado/recordando el pasado/que lo hace padecer" --the original lyrics written by Gerardo, have nothing to do with the "Si supieras/que aun dentro de mi alma/conservo aquel cari~no/que tuve para ti.../ Quien sabe si supieras/que nunca te he olvidado/volviendo a tu pasado/te acordaras de mi..." of Maroni and Contursi (you can hear the original lyrics in the El Bandoneon CD of Angel D'Agostino and Angel Vargas. Maroni's and Contursi's are everywhere else.) And there are French versions, American versions, and several other languages. Needless to say, to hear "Tantalizing/your mask is only/half disquising/I have no trouble recognizing/your features which I'm idolizing" --The Masked One, lyrics by Olga Paul-- is rather amusing if not down right hilarious. Given that the author of La Cumparsita (at the time) was just an amateur pianist, the technical merits of the melody have always being questioned. Gerardo had only composed the first two parts. Moreover, the first part lacks a clear beat. Firpo himself had to add a third part and the harmony to the first. Yet, the composition acquired such a monumental following that those who critize it do so at their own peril. Julio De Caro played it smart. He said of it, "[It's] a flag that transcended frontiers in the whole world, going forth thru its golden door to erect itself as one of the symbols of our music-dance." Astor Piazzolla was much more candid, "Its the most frighteningly poor thing in this world --speaking of the D-C-A-F rhythm-- Nevertheless, if you add a bass note to enrich it and pour on top of it the melody, you can create a counterpoint that raises the conventional melody. It is like an ugly person that dresses nicely, it improves his looks. That's how La Cumparsita is improved. With good clothes."One last thing to note is that the most celebrated tango in history was first recorded as a "B" side song. One of the most popular orchestras from 1917 was the Alonso-Minotto orchestra which was signed up by the Victor recording house to produce a series of records. Now, the deal called for pairs of tangos. One for each side of the record. As it turns out, they were missing one, so someone suggested La Cumparsita as a "filler." And so, Alberto Alonso at the piano, Minotto Di Cicco, bandoneon, Juan Trocoli and Juan Jose Castellano, violins, recorded themselves into history. Of course, like everything else about tango, there is disagreement on this. There are other sources that contend that Roberto Firpo was the one who first recorded it. Indeed, in the CD "La Cumparsita, veinte veces inmortal" credit is given to Firpo as being the first. In any case Minotto and Firpo seem to have collaborated in the arrangement that eventually was recorded.

WORLD TANGO CHAMPIONSHIP IN JAPAN

TOKYO TANGO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009

[ Upcoming Tango Events in Asia ]
[ The 6th Tango Dance World Championship in Asia ]Date: July 4th - 5thPlace: Tokyo, Japan.Schedule:July 4th (Sat) Elimination Rounds　　　　　 Hamamatsucho Seavance HallJuly 5th (Sun) Semi Finals Finals Awarding Ceremony Milong　　　　　 Otakumin Hall ApricoWebsite: http://www.latina.co.jp/html/campeonato/enindex.html

NEW TANGO STYLES

DIRECT FROM ARGENTINA
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ALTERNATIVE TANGO STYLES
In Buenos Aires they say that if you watch ten couples dancing Tango you will see ten different styles. While it’s true that many people develop their own particular style of dancing, in reality it comes down to a choice of two specific and very different styles; these are often called Tango Milonguero Style [or Buenos Aires Style] and Tango Salon Style.
Each style has its own types of music, embrace and steps as well as different techniques of dancing. Also important is that the psychology or mind-set of the dancers appears to be different according to which style is being danced.
TANGO MILONGUERO
Although Tango Milonguero evolved from the Salon style to suit the crowded ballrooms of Buenos Aires in the 1940s and 50s, much of the music suitable for this style is older than that for Salon style. This because it is typically danced to a syncopated rhythm [2 x 4] that was popular in the pre-salon days. This is often slow and sombre in nature which perfectly suits the Milonguero style, particularly as danced by today's older generation in Buenos Aires. Among the many younger people who enjoy this style, the more up-beat music of Juan D'Arienzo and Rodolfo Biagi are popular.
The most striking quality of Milonguero style is the very close embrace that is a requirement of the dance. The couples lean forward to make contact from the waist to chest and the hold does not change throughout the dance. The lady drapes herself around the man with her left arm around his neck, her eyes are often closed; she surrenders.
The dance has an intimate quality which, at first glance, one would assume could only be danced by lovers. However, this is not true and friends and strangers alike dance Tango Milonguero. Because of the close embrace the steps are generally small and relatively simple; exciting, characteristic Tango moves such as Ganchos, Sacadas and Voleos are rarely danced.
One frequent complaint of many ladies is that, because of the close embrace, they have little freedom of movement and little or no means of self-expression. This is generally true and the great Juan Carlos Copes teaches that the man must learn to dominate the woman through his arms and feet. However, he then goes on to say that the man must always remember that he is dancing with a lady.
One advantage of this style of dance is that it requires very little space and can be danced on crowded dance floors and in small spaces. In Buenos Aires it is mostly danced by the older generation of Tango dancers, although it is also surprisingly popular among many younger people. However, it must be said that those of the younger generation who can be seen dancing the Milonguero Style are usually equally comfortable in the Tango Salon Style; that is, they are able to dance either style to suit the particular occasion or situation.
TANGO SALON STYLE
Although this may be a personal preference, the most beautiful Tango dance music is invariably in the Tango Salon Style and often has a more accented ‘tango-beat’ [in 4 x 4 rhythm]. Pugliese, Calo and Di Sarli are typical of the smoother and more elegant Salon style.
The embrace for Tango Salon is close but often with little or no contact at the chest. It has a more elegant and upright style than Milonguero and, with both partners having their weights forward, i.e. forming an inverted ‘V’ shape, the first contact is often made at the head. In Buenos Aires it is not uncommon to see couples dancing with their foreheads touching.
Unlike in Tango Milonguero, the embrace in Tango Salon can change from a close embrace to a more open one. It is this characteristic that gives the dancers the greater freedom necessary to dance a much wider variety of steps and figures than is possible in the Milonguero Style. The woman in particular has much more opportunity to express and impose her style and personality on the dance, rather than merely being a passive follower.
My earlier comment about the psychology, or mind-set, of the dancers can be illustrated by a quotation from a modern Tango dancer and teacher – the great Ozvaldo Zotto who is the epitome of elegance and teaches in the Tango Salon Style. He describes his leading as an invitation to the lady, which may be compared with the comment of Juan Carlos Copes who seeks to dominate the lady. However, Ozvaldo Zotto then goes on to say that 'the lady can either accept the invitation, or decline - in which case the game of Tango comes to an end.' The result, in either Tango Milonguero or Tango Salon, is the same – the lady must follow, however, in Tango Salon there is more a feeling of the dance being a collaborative adventure rather than the man dictating the entire sequence of events.
THE CHOICE OF STYLES
In Buenos Aires there are many teachers who will teach either Tango Milonguero or Tango Salon and a few will teach both. As stated earlier, many of the new generation of Tango dancers are able to dance comfortably in both styles.
Milongas [or social dance occasions] in Buenos Aires will generally play music that is suitable for either the Milonguero Style or the Salon Style and they are rarely mixed. Most people know what to expect before they arrive and the convention is that you dance the style to suit the music, which is normally determined by the teacher, school or other Tango-organization that has arranged the milonga.
It has to be said that the Tango Milonguero Style, because of the close embrace, while being easier to learn is more difficult to dance than the Tango Salon Style. It is common that Salon Style is learned first and, as the dancers become more experienced, the embrace naturally becomes closer thereby making it easier to learn the Milonguero Style.
some idea of the Milonguero Style can be gained from the way we teach figures such as 'La Calesita' and 'La Hamaca' in which the man embraces the lady and brings her to his chest.
SHOW-TANGO OR ‘FANTASIA’
Apart from Tango Milonguero and Tango Salon, the third Tango style which must be mentioned is Show-Tango or, as it is known in Buenos Aires – ‘Fantasia’.
As the name makes clear, Show-Tango is the choreographed Tango seen in professional Tango stage-shows and movies such as The Tango Lesson. It is frequently the first style of Tango seen by people outside Argentina and can give a completely wrong first impression of Tango.
When you learn Show-Tango figures, the first thing the instructor will tell you is that these figures are for the stage only; they are not to be danced in the milonga.
Because it is choreographed, many social dancers look down on Show-Tango, describing it as ‘artificial’, ‘gymnastics’ or 'not real tango'. The truth is that the best Tango dancers – those who are good enough to go on to professional careers, become Show-Tango dancers and all the great names in Tango, such as Miguel and Ozvaldo Zotto, are Show-Tango dancers. The technique, balance, speed and agility required for Show-Tango far exceeds that required for social dancing and by learning, and practicing, some Show-Tango style, the average dancer can greatly improve the quality of his/her social dancing.

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LET US LEARN TANGO

BASIC STEPS OF TANGO
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1. TANGO BASIC
Man - FIRST ACTION(LEADER) RF= RIGHT FOOT, LF = LEFT FOOT
Lady -FOLLOWER
1.
RF back MAN
1.
LF fwd
2.
LF pass RF & to side (long step) MAN
2.
RF pass LF & to side
3.
RF pass LF & fwd, O/P MAN
3
LF pass RF & back
4.
LF fwd MAN
4.
RF back
5.
RF close to LF MAN
5.
LF cross in front of RF
6.
LF fwd MAN
6.
RF back
7.
RF pass LF & to side, with pivot to left on LF. MAN
7.
LF pass RF & to side, with pivot to left on RF.
8.
LF close to RF MAN
8.
RF close to LF
Note:-
The description of the Tango Basic may be separated into components.

ALWAYS ON TUESDAY MILONGA

Location
Polish Centre4015 Fraser st. at 24 Ave.Vancouver, BCMap (via Google Maps)
Time
8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Admission
$5
Web site
http://claudehazel.allexit.com

LEARN TANGO STEP BY STEP

IMPORTANT POINTS FOR BEGINNERS
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1.
Listen to the music and try to follow the beat and the rhythm. The Tango is generally a slow dance and movements should be smooth and unhurried. Try to finish each step at the end of the beat so that the next step can commence immediately, thereby giving the dance the smooth characteristic required.
2.
Make each step clear and precise. Complete each step and transfer weight before commencing the next step. A normal stride length should be used; avoid steps which are too long or too short. Steps should be made with the balls of the feet touching the floor first. The moving leg should be straighter than with a normal walking action; avoid excessive flexing of the knees.
3.
Do not wear boots or heavy shoes; you need to feel and ‘grip’ the floor. Non-slip trainers are also unsuitable as you need to be able to pivot on the balls of the feet. Leather-soled shoes are best.
4.
Both partners should keep their weights forward over the balls of the feet and, when facing, should make an inverted V shape. Tension should be maintained in the arms and upper body. All the action takes place below the waist and the upper body should be relatively still; do not move the arms independently of the body. Ladies, support your own right arm; do not hang on the man.
5.
Dance close. This is the way the Tango should be danced. Because of the inverted V shape made by the dancers, the first bodily contact will often be at the head. Men should look slightly to the left and ladies slightly to the right. When slightly separated to dance open figures, such as Giros, look at your partner’s face. Do not look at the floor or at the other dancers.
6.
Men, do not hold your partner too tightly; good dancing requires freedom of movement for both partners. And, in the words of the great Juan Carlos Copes, ‘always remember that you are dancing with a lady’.
7.
Do not dance in one place, move counter-clockwise around the floor. Figures may be characterized as progressive (linear) or stationary (rotary). If you dance a stationary figure follow it with a progressive figure. Remember how to change direction so that you are always moving in the correct alignment. Do not meander around the dance floor.
8.
Ladies, do not anticipate moves. Follow and add your own style; there are many embellishments that you can add to the dance which do not require a lead from the man. Men, provide clear leads and signals; always remember, your most important job is to lead the lady.
9.
Both partners should maintain good body posture at all times. The Tango is an upright dance; keep the body straight, the head up, the shoulders and elbows down and the man’s left arm back. Maintain tension throughout the body, do not be too relaxed.
10.
Do not just execute the steps. Dance with energy and style. Try to add some emotion; men, be bold; ladies, be playful, suggestive or seductive. Use some imagination; remember, the Tango is more than just a dance.

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MONDAY EVENING PRACTICA

MONDAY ONLY PRACTICA IN VANCOUVER
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Come practice, experiment, and develop your dance. This practica promotes a diversity of styles and an exchange of ideas in an informal, accessible and creative environment. A place to move, think and be inspired.
Monday Nights 8 - 10pm$5
2474 Prince Edward St, Vancouver map
> Práctica Tips
> New Reversed Roles Práctica Fridays 5:30 - 7:30