PRACTICA IN DOWN TOWN VANCOUVER

SUNDAY EVENING EVENT
**************************



:Sunday Practica at El Centro – Join us for a POTLUCK at 6:30 p.m., the practica starts at 7:30 p.m. (422 Richards Street, 2nd floor). Included in the weekend package or $8/$5 students. $50/10 visit passes also available.

MONDAY PRACTICA IN VANCOUVER

TANGO PRACTICA
****************



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

PRACTICA IN DOWN TOWN VANCOUVER

El Centro Practica
******************


WhenSun Jun 28 7:30pm – Sun Jun 28 11pm (Weekly at 7:30pm on Sunday)
20090628T193000/20090628T230000Weekly at 7:30pm on Sunday
RRULE:FREQ=WEEKLY;BYDAY=SU;WKST=SU20090405T193000
Wheremap422 Richards, Vancouver

Created ByEL CENTRO Argentine Tango Dancing
DescriptionEveryone is welcome at Francis and Emiko's open practica. All levels and styles. No partner required. Traditional music. Refreshments served.

$8 drop-in
$50 for 10 visits (no expiry, non-transferable)
$5 drop-in for students (with student I.D.).

For information: 604-685-0034

Tango moments

An often asked question is: Why do you do tango? There are several answers to the question, depending on the person, but in North America and other non Latin American cultures, the answer is probably that something is missing in the culture - the emotional warmness from physical contact with others. We innately seek this contact in our lives, and so tango fulfills us. Ultimately, we are all looking for a feeling from dancing. That feeling nourishes our spirit, and really is essential to all of us. Tango is very special and unique. Other dances may allow you to have a partner in your arms, but the feeling is not quite the same.  Of course, the feeling we get from tango may not always be a blissful one, however, on a given night, with a given partner, a special connection may be formed where one (or both) of the couple is transported and the divine manifests itself through the dance. It's called the Tango Moment, and dancers live for it. Some, so much that they will keep coming to dance, even though the connection with many of their partners is not giving them this tango moment. The tango moment is fleeting, and elusive. 

So how do we achieve a tango moment? How do we give someone else the experience that they desire? In this dance, ones personality comes forth whether they know it or not. We all transmit information to one another at a subconscious level, and in tango, people become even more sensitive to these transmissions. So perhaps the best suggestion to improving your connection to someone, is to improve your self outlook, but also to embody compassion and feeling for your partner. Years ago, I talked with Argentine master teacher Alicia Pons through a friend who translated. We talked about the feeling of the tango. I was new to dancing, and here was a woman who had been dancing for literally decades, with the best milongueros of Buenos Aires, imparting some details. I told her that I played an instrument, and that to me, tango was much like music, it could be done mechanically, but great music was always played with feeling. She replied 'Yes!! It is this way with all great arts, and tango is the same.' Earlier, we had danced. I was a neophyte and hardly able to do her justice, but it was an opportunity to dance with someone special, so I asked, and even though the form was probably not good, the spirit of much feeling was transmitted. Near the end of our conversation, my friend and translator parted with us to return to the dance floor. Alicia's english was very limited, as was my spanish. But, she said 'remember,' and then switched to Spanish: 'Tango es en el corazon.' Tango is in the heart. 'Aqi' she said, and tapped her chest. Si Senhora, I replied. Tango es en el corazon. Then, she offered the kindest praise that a Milonguera could. I will never forget Alicia, for her grace and compassion both on and off the dance floor, and, because, she was one of my first 'Tango moments.'

TANGO WAYS

M I L O N G A
******************




Dancing in a milonga is a little bit like driving on a highway. There are lanes: usually two, an inner lane and an outer lane. You can't move from one to the other without looking first to make sure that you can do so safely. Generally it is preferable to be in the outermost lane, because then you have one less side to have collisions on.

The middle of the room is a definite no-go area. Dancing there is tantamount to taking a stroll on the middle of a highway median. It causes potential danger to yourself and your partner and everyone around you. There is really no excuse for moving back and forth across lanes or cutting across the room.

There is a simple truism that eludes too many of our tango friends: Tango is not a race: there is no finish line. Therefore, there is no reason to overtake. You can dance as fast or slow as you want and take as big steps as you want, but we all need to move around the dance floor at relatively the same speed. Patience! We have available to us a number of techniques to slow ourselves down when the pair in front of us is not advancing quickly: Make a big step and then pause. Or turn and turn and turn, always moving forward a little bit with each turn. Or take backsteps, but of course never taking a big backstep against the line of dance. There's nothing wrong with covering miles and miles doing little circles behind the person in front of us, waiting for them to move on. And of course there's the simple rockstep, easy-peasy and fun to play with musically. Being patient gives you a chance to be creative in response to your environment (a beautiful thing), rather than show off your imagination by dancing as though you were in a vacuum (not lovely at all).

By the same token, you may have learned some very expensive figures, but you should at all costs avoid doing stationary figures on a crowded floor. Learn to make them move incrementally. Keep them advancing! After all, we don't just dance with our partner, we dance with the entire room.

When you start dancing in the middle of a song, you'll discover that your colleagues have already established a ronda, the revolving circle of dancers that you have to join. You don't do this by plonking yourself smack-dab in one of the lanes, having a wee chat with your partner, and then launching off. This will make people pile up behind you or, worse, overtake you, probably hitting someone else in another lane. Your own bad habits might not get your partner hurt, but they're likely to cause someone else to have a collision.

Zigzagging is a big no-no, as is cutting across the room. In Buenos Aires, no matter how elegant or musical you are, if you cut the floor like a jigsaw you are considered a jerk.

1. There is no reason in a salon to overtake. Overtaking is bad form.

2. You can't stop the flow of traffic for more than a few seconds. Otherwise, the leader behind you will be forced to overtake you, switch lanes, and risk hurting someone else.

3. Stay in your lane! If you move diagonally to the line of dance, you're asking to get hit. Or, by moving suddenly in front of someone else, you may cause them to get hurt. Just because your partner doesn't get hurt doesn't mean that the two couples behind you won't bump because of your sloppy floorcraft.

4. New York has a bad reputation for floorcraft. We all have a responsibility to change this. Our partners' achilles tendons will appreciate this.

5. Exercise extreme caution when leading and executing boleos. People can really get hurt. If you are led to do a high boleo, you have the option to keep it low. If you lead a high boleo, you must be certain that you will not hit anyone.

PRACTICA IN DOWN TOWN VANCOUVER

Sunday Practica at EL CENTRO
Every SUNDAY, 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at Academie Duello, 422 Richards Street, 2nd Floor (at W. Hastings St., Downtown). Yerba mate and snacks always served. $8 drop-in, $50 for 10 visits (no expiry, non-transferable), $5 students.

ELCENTRO MILONGA IN DOWN TOWN

EL CENTRO Milonga
Saturday, July 11, 2009 (second Saturday of the month)
9:30 to 1:30 a.m.
at Academie Duello, 422 Richards Street, 2nd Floor
(at W. Hastings St., Downtown), $10/$7 students.

very close to Waterfront Station Skytrain/Sea Bus/Transit

TANGO LYRICS

C I E G O
***************



Version en castellano English translation
Sumando mentira tras mentira,
infamia tras infamia,
mataste mi querer..,
Me diste el horrible desencanto
de haber querido tanto
lo que no pudo ser...
Ni siquiera te guardo encono;
no te desprecio ni te perdono.
Dejaste tan sólo en mi existencia
la misma indiferencia
que vos tuviste ayer.

Ciego, estaba ciego en mi delirio...
Ciego, porque ese amor era un martirio
Y ahora que cayó
la venda de mis ojos
me asqueo al recordar
tus lindos labios rojos...
Ciego, bendita sea mi ceguera
si al fin
saltó la venda y vi que eras
una vulgar muñeca de cartón!...

Comprendo, tal vez un poco tarde,
mis celos de cobarde,
mi angustia y mi temor...
Pensaba que cuando te perdiera
la vida misma diera
en aras de mi amor...
Porque veo que no me muero,
que estoy contento...que no te quiero!...
Y en medio de tanta indiferencia
la luz de la experiencia
me alumbra el corazón.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Adding lie after lie,
infamy after infamy,
you killed my love...
You caused me the horrible disillusion
of having loved so much
what it couldn't be...
I don't even have rancor;
I don't despise you nor I forgive you.
You only left in my existence
the same indifference
that you had yesterday.

Blind, I was blind in my delirium...
Blind, because that love was a martyrdom.
And now that the blindfold
fell off my eyes
it disgusts me to remember
your pretty red lips...
Blind, blessed be my blindness
if at the end
the blindfold fell and I saw you were
a vulgar cardboard doll...

I understand, perhaps a little late
my coward's jealousy,
my anguish and my fear...
I thought that when I'd loose you
my own life I'd give
for the sake of my love...
Because I see that I'm not dying,
that I am happy... that I don't love you...!
And in the midst of so much indifference
the light of the experience
illuminates my heart.

CONTACT:
CANADA2010@IN.COM

TANGO LYRICS

D E S D E - EL - A L M A
*******************************

CASTELLANO ENGLISH
Alma, si tanto te han herido
¿Por qué te niegas al olvido?
¿Por qué prefieres
llorar lo que has perdido
buscar lo que has querido
llamar lo que murió?

Vives inútilmente triste
y sé que nunca mereciste
pagar con penas
la culpa de ser buena,
tan buena como fuiste, por amor.

Fue lo que empezó una vez
lo que después dejó de ser.
Lo que al final, por culpa de un error
fue noche amarga del corazón.

¡Deja esas cartas!
Vuelve a tu antigua ilusión.
Junto al dolor
que abre una herida
llega la vida, trayendo amor.

Vives inútilmente triste
y sé que nunca mereciste
pagar con penas
la culpa de ser buena
tan buena como fuiste, por amor.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Soul, if they have hurt you so much
Why do you refuse to forget?
Why do you prefer
to cry for what you've lost
to look for what you've wanted
to call for what has died?

You live needlessly sad
and I know that you never deserved
to redeem with sorrow
the blame of being good,
as good as you were, for love.

It was what once began
what later ceased to be.
What at the end, for the fault of a mistake
was a bitter night for the heart.

Forget those letters!
Come back to your old dream.
Together with the pain
that opens a wound
life arrives, bringing love.

You live needlessly sad
and I know that you never deserved
to redeem with sorrow
the blame of being good,
as good as you were, for love

Do You Have Any Questions, Requests or Comments?
CONTACT US
CANADA2010@IN.COM

TANGO LYRICS

C R I S T A L
*******************
CASTELLANO ENGLIS
Tengo el corazón hecho pedazos,
rota mi emoción en este día...
Noches y más noches sin descanso,
y esta desazón del alma mía...
Cuántos... cuántos años han pasado,
grises mis cabellos y mi vida;
loco... casi muerto... destrozado,
con mi espíritu amarrado
a nuestra juventud.

Más frágil que el cristal fue mi amor junto a ti...
Cristal tu corazón... tu mirar... tu reír.
Tus sueños y mi voz
y nuestra timidez
temblando suavemente en tu balcón...
Y ahora sólo se
que todo se perdió
la tarde de mi ausencia.
Ya nunca volveré, lo se bien, ¡nunca más!
Tal vez me esperarás junto a Dios, ¡más allá!

Todo para mi se ha terminado.
Todo para mi se torna olvido.
Trágica enseñanza me dejaron
esas horas negras que he vivido.
Cuántos... cuántos años han pasado,
grises mis cabellos y mi vida,
solo, siempre solo y olvidado,
¡con mi espíritu amarrado a nuestra juventud!
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

My heart is in pieces,
broken are my emotions this day…
Nights and more nights without repose
and this restlessness in my soul…
How many, how many years have passed,
grey are my hair and my life!
Crazy …almost dead…destroyed,
with my spirit clinging
to our youth.

More fragile than the crystal was our love…
Crystal was your heart, your gaze, your laugh…
Your dreams and my voice
and our timidity
trembling gently in your balcony…
And now I only know
that everything was lost
the evening of my absence.
Now I will never return, I know it well. Never again!
Perhaps you will wait for me, in God’s company. In eternity!

Everything has finished for me,
everything for me transforms into oblivion.
Tragic experiences have left for me
those black hours that I have lived!
How many, how many years have passed,
grey are my hair and my life!
Lonely, always lonely and forgotten.
With my spirit clinging to our youth….

Do You Have Any Questions, Requests or Comments?
CONTACT US
CANADA2010@IN.COM

TANGO LYRICS

C H O R R A
***************************

CASTELLANO ENGLISH
Por ser bueno, me pusiste en la miseria,
me dejaste en la palmera, me afanaste hasta el color.
En seis meses me fundiste el mercadito,
la casiya de la feria, la ganchera, el mostrador...
Chorra!
Me robaste hasta el amor...
Aura
tanto me asusta una mina
que si en la calle me afila
me pongo al lao del boton.
Lo que mas bronca me da
es haber sido tan gil.

Si hace un mes me desayuno
con lo qu' he sabido ayer.
No era a mi que me cachaban
tus rebusques de mujer...
Hoy m'entero que tu mama,
"noble viuda de un guerrero",
es la chorra de mas fama
que piso la treinta y tres.
Y he sabido qu' el "guerrero"
que murio lleno de honor,
ni murio ni fue guerrero
- como m' engrupiste vos -
Esta en cana pronturiado
como agente 'e la camorra,
profesor de cachiporra,
malandrin y estafador.

Entre todos me pelaron con la cero
tu silueta fue el anzuelo donde yo me fui a ensartar.
Se tragaron, vos, "la viuda" y "el guerrero",
lo que me costo diez años de paciencia y de yugar...
Chorros!
Vos, tu vieja y tu papa.
Guarda!
Cuidense porque anda suelta,
si los cacha, los da vuelta,
no les da tiempo a rajar.

Lo que mas bronca me da
es haber sido tan gil.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

For being nice, you drove me into misery,
you left me hanging from a palm tree, you even stole my color.
In six months you bankrupted my little market,
the stand at the fair, the hooks, the counter...
Thief!
You even stole my love...
Now
a woman scares me so much
that if one approaches me on the street
I hide behind a cop.
What really pisses me off the most
is to have been so stupid.

For a month I have suspected
what I've learned yesterday.
It wasn't me who were after,
your woman's fleeting love...
Today I learned that your mother,
"noble widower of a warrior",
is the most famous thief
that set foot on the 33rd precint.
And I found out that the "warrior"
who died with full honors,
didn't die, nor was a warrior
-as you lied to me-
He's in jail booked
as a hit man of the mafia,
professor of truncheon,
scroundel and swindler.

The three of you took me to the cleaners
your silhouete was the hook where I happened to get caught,
You, the "widow" and the "warrior" went through
what I worked hard and patiently for ten years...
Thieves!
You, your old lady and your dad.
Watch out!
Take care because she is on the loose,
if she catches you, she flips you upside down
she won't give you time to run.

What really pisses me off the most
is to have been so stupid.


Do You Have Any Questions, Requests or Comments?
CONTACT US
CANADA2010@IN.COM