Dancing Soul

Monday night class announcement

7 PM Mondays: BODY DYNAMICS
I am offering a new class, starting Monday, January 9th. The class will focus on learning stellar technique to add more ENERGY and feeling into your dance. A lot of us are looking for a way to take our dance up a notch so that we enjoy it more, and I have designed this class to help you achieve that goal. Although a lot of the material I bring to the class comes from my teachers, Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, you can apply it to any style of tango and get more pizzazz.

This session, we are working on anything that turns or pivots, for both leader and follower technique. Make your turns purr, your boleos sizzle, and your pivots snap, followers! Leaders: get those hips in gear for enrosques, quebradas, preparations for drags and sacadas, etc. Designed for intermediate and advanced dancers, or beginners with dance background.

Bring clothes that allow you to move, stretch on the floor, etc. We will do a quick warmup at the beginning of class, move on to drills and exercises, and end with putting it into the dance. You may bring a partner and work only with them, or come and switch around, switch roles, whatever works for you.

Class starts 1/9. 6 week session for $60, or $12 drop in.
Special for January-February: sign up for this session, and get the 8 PM advanced session for 1/2 price!

8 PM Mondays: ELIZABETH'S ADVANCED CLASS
This class covers topics that the dancers choose on the first day of the session, combined with work from Oscar and Georgina Mandagaran's technique. Each week, we will focus on 1-2 combinations of steps. We will learn/review any steps that dancers need, and then play with putting the steps together in different ways. We also work on how to make the combination work best with varied music (tango, vals, milonga). For dancers with at least three years tango experience, or instructor's permission. You may work with a partner you bring to class, or trade partners.

Class starts 1/9. 6 week session for $60, or $12 drop in.

Next classes start next week (and yes, there is class this week!)

Thursday classes start again on January 5th:

6 PM Beginner's Mind Practica:
Our practica is friendly, with no feedback unless you want it. If you are a beginner, I can introduce to other folks, answer questions, dance with you, etc. If you are not a beginner, I invite you to either come practice for yourself, or come and dance with beginners to give back to the community. Remember how nice some people were when you started? Be one of those nice I-dance-with-beginner types ;-) The practica is by donation.

7 PM Top Ten Moves:
Ten fundamental moves in ten weeks. In Argentina, many people only know this many (or fewer!) moves, but they do them REALLY well. This class is for beginners to learn the basics AND for more advanced dancers to polish those moves and build musicality and navigational skills (for the followers, this is the time to practice making each step exquisite). This is also a perfect opportunity if you already know one role, and want to learn the other. $80 for 10 weeks, or $12 drop in.

8 PM Musicality and the Next Ten Moves:
This session, we will focus moves that are sweet in both tango and vals (since we just did milonga last session). This class is for intermediates and advanced intermediate dancers. For each new move, we will put it into the dance, connect it to what you already know, and make it work on the dance floor. For followers, we will practice adornos (ornaments) and ways to make feet beautiful. Musically, we will work on putting moves together to make you partner drop at your feet with the beauty of your dance :-) $80 for 10 weeks, or $12 drop in.

There will also be Monday classes, which will be a six-week session; more to follow!

Bits and pieces that haven't fit in anywhere

Good massage place

Marta Rey does reflexology, massage, facials, moxibustion, etc., and has those strange but very nice Korean massage beds that roll your spine for you. I tried it once, and Gayle is back getting everything loosened up for the flight home. Both of us really liked how our backs and feet felt afterwards. Marta speaks some English. You can reach her to set up a time (you will need 2.5-3 hours for the whole works) at 4951-6755; 4953-7223; or 15-4061-3232. All numbers that start with 15- are mobile numbers. The other two are her work phone and her home phone; I am not sure which, but try the first one first. She is at Rivadavia 1966, 3rd floor, Apt. A (in Congreso). We got a deal for being friends of friends, so I am not sure of the price, but I think it's around 120ish pesos. Tipping is nice.

Good pedicure and hair place

Claudio Zappulla, Ayacucho 57 (also in Congreso) was hopping when we went in to schedule pedicures: we had to wait two days! Some friends get their hair done here, too, and vouch for the stylists. I don't know if they speak English, but the pedicure person did not. They aren't afraid to remove callus here. If you haven't had a pedicure outside the USA, don't panic when they start shaving callus off (last year, at another place, the girl broke open a disposable razor and used a blade from it; at this place, at least they have the right tools!). The little sander-like tool made everything supersmooth, but I'm very ticklish, so it was a bit of a torture for me. However, my feet felt GREAT afterwards. I think it was 75 pesos for the most thorough pedicure I've ever had. Telephone: 4953-6584.

Nice leather products

We wandered into a few leather stores, as my handbag started to disintegrate a week into our stay (it's "Ecoleather" aka vinyl). Camila Cueros, Lavalle 741, had pushy salespeople, but very good quality leather. The prices seemed high to me because I don't buy leather in the USA, but Gayle assured me that the prices were really good deals, compared to prices at home.

Good ice cream

Cadore Gelato Artigianale, Av. Corrientes 1695. I already mentioned this place last year, but I went back. I REALLY like their gelato!

Shoe repair

I think I already said this, but I'll put it here, too. Sarmiento 1882, half a block away from Neotango Shoes. They can get stuff done fast: they put croma on Gayle's shoes between yesterday afternoon and 9 am today. Fast, good service and repair.

My new favorite clothing store for tango: Tango-Imagin

Tango-Imagen Anchorena 606, tel,. 4864-3847, email: jazmin.tangoimagen@gmail.com, is next to Tango 8, and I hadn't seen it before. However, the nice ladies at Susana Artesanal steered us that way after we couldn't find what we wanted at their store. What a nice place (both). At Tango-Imagen, three people do the cutting and sewing and selling, so they know the fabrics, they know what they have, and they can take special orders. They have a mix of performance stuff, going out to dance clothing, and practice clothing.

The man who helped us makes most of the pants they sell, but he was able to look at how one outfit fit Gayle and suggest another one because the fabric was stretchier. It only came in one size fits all, but that stretchier one was perfect, and she bought it. Pretty designs, nice fabrics--how can you lose? Check them out! Buy their clothing!

Favorite seafood restaurant

La Gran Taberna, Combate de los Pozos 95 (esq. Hipolito Yrigoyen), has things from quite cheap to very expensive. We went on the less expensive side, and stuffed ourselves. What I really like about this place: the waiter took our order, and then said, "Look, that's too much food for the two of you. What if you share one order of the fish, along with your salad and sauted asparagus?" Where else would they suggest you order less of the most expensive part of your meal? Also, we ordered two glasses of wine, and the waiter brought us a bottle: he said that, if we shared a third glass of wine, it would be the same price as the whole bottle. Now that is service! We helped the waiters with their English homework, too. They have a second door on Combate de los Pozos that is their take-out service. Yum! Reservations: 4951-7586.

Slightly cheaper, nice place

Puenta Cuore Restaurant, Rivadavia and Ayacucho (in Congreso), had nice salads. I had an excellent merluza (fish) and steamed veggie meal. Gayle had yummy pasta. The restaurant is on a corner, and it was fun to people watch. The waiter was attentive.

Vegetarian possibilities

There are a lot more vegetables in restaurants than ten years ago. Also, I found three vegetarian restaurants in the area between Lavalle and Corrientes; between Callao and Junin. I didn't try any of them. Sorry, Geofrey! I know you wanted more information.

Gluten and life in Bs As

If you don't eat gluten, eating out is almost impossible if you are also a vegetarian. I opted for eating more meat than usual, and went off my gluten-free lifestyle. Thank goodness I'm not allergic! Many people said they had heard that some people can't eat gluten, but I didn't meet anyone who said they were gluten-intolerant or allergic to gluten. They don't eat in restaurants here, I bet!

Miscellaneous thoughts

1. Song I don't have that I wish I had bought: Di Sarli's Volver a Sonar. At least that's what the DJ Sunday at Canning wrote down for me. Hey, I still have a few hours!

2.  Our taxi driver one night would need to change his name to emigrate to the USA: on the placard showing his license, etc., it claimed that his last name was Moron. I kid you not.

3.  I think American milongas would be better if we kept the idea of a set or two of something different, interpersed during the evening. I love having a chacarera set and a set of "tropical" (cumbia, salsa, merengue) during the evening to relax my body, take a break from concentrating, and enjoy the other dances that I love. I would accept a set of "rock 'n roll" as long as it wasn't all Dixieland jazz (a bit overplayed here) or Elvis (don't get me wrong: I love him, but too much is too much).

 

Bikes in Buenos Aires

It is striking how much pro-bicycle change has happened in the past two years. I was amazed to see a bike lane on CORRIENTES! Wow!

Areas in downtown have bike lights and green boxes, just like in Portland:

This one is on Suipacha, at Diagonal Norte.

I talked to a few of the taxi drivers. The general view is that one must get accustomed to the idea, but that it is snarling traffic because of street size. For example, on a two-lane, one-way street with parking, no other changes were made. Cars are still trying to fit into two lanes, and people are still parking their cars on one side. No adjustments have been made, except to drive closer together and closer to parked cars. Eek! Eventually, I think some streets will either lose parking or be reduced to single lanes, but it is not clear to anyone if the government of the city has considered this carefully.

I saw a lot more bikers than ever before (and a lot of motorcycles in the bike lane). I also saw one crazy rollerblader going down the middle of Corrientes, in between the cars. That guy must have a death wish!

 

Rude people on the dance floor

When annoying men try to teach on the dance floor (and yes, I know women do this too), I have found I have a limit to my politeness.  When one French man informed me that I had anticipated a step, I said nothing, but when he REPEATED it at the end of the tanda: "You anticipated one step."  One step in the tanda!!  I am afraid I told him that it was rude to criticize on the dance floor, and that I had not said anything about his mistakes, but rather, had fixed them. Grrr.

The other rude man--as opposed to those who are trying to be helpful--was at Nino Bien.  An awful Argentine dancer hauled me around the floor, and then suggested I go to La Viruta to learn that style of dance.  It was obvious he didn't care whether I was enjoying the dance, and he didn't bother try to adjust at all: he just pulled me in tighter and higher, until I could barely keep my feet on the floor.  I smiled at him and told him that good technique works with everyone, and walked away. Grrr.

I have taught dance for 25 years, and I would never dream of saying things like that to another dancer while dancing socially!!! Shame on them.

 

We really shouldn't go back to the shoestore . . .

Street fairs: San Telmo, Recoleta, and the non-existent Plaza Italia fair

After seventeen years in Eugene, I feel pretty much "done" with Saturday Market artesanal fair and street fairs in general. However, on a sunny day, wandering around the city by perusing blocks and blocks of street vendors is a nice way to spend some time.

San Telmo

Our first Sunday was sunny and warm: perfect for going to the street fair.The fair is a combination of artesanal objects for sale (clothing, jewelry, art), antiques, tourist gear (magnets, Tshirts, tango CDs)  and made-in-China things sold by Bolivians.

I didn't end up buying anything, but Gayle had a lot of fun with artwork. In fact, we had an epic search for a bank machine, as the only one I knew in the area (at Plaza de Mayo) was down for repairs. Even the sellers had no idea where to go for money, as they didn't live in the area. In the end, we identified several in walking distance of the fair with help from Gayle's iPhone; got money; and made several artists happy.

My favorite was Oscar Divito, from whom Gayle bought a beautiful painting (acrylic on canvas). Check out his work on his link. Warmhearted, gracious, nice person AND art. He is usually at Defensa and Alsina (a bit towards the Casa Rosada from Alsina).

This street fair is huge compared to ten years ago: it used to stretch a few blocks in all directions from Plaza Dorrego at Defensa and Humberto Primo. Now, it starts at Defensa where it meets the Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada (the equivalent of the White House, but it's pink), and continues all the way to Plaza Dorrego. Wow!

Recoleta

Recoleta street fair is at Plaza Francia: it's not actually on a street. Instead, booths are set on winding paths starting in front of Recoleta Cemetary and stretching down the hill. This fair reminds me a lot of Saturday Market in Portland and Eugene: there were Brazilian drummers, a smell of pot, hippie girls, etc.

The offerings are similar to Saturday Market, too. I saw a LOT of crocheted tops, leather handbags, ceramic mugs and jewelry. However, there were some very beautiful handcrafts. The most beautiful were the handcrafted marionettes, which I would have bought to take home if I had had any money left by that time; after the bank search the weekend before, I didn't want to repeat the forced march around the neighborhood.

Sublime Cueros had a nice selection of leather boxes and knickknacks. They also very fun jewelry boxes shaped like mini chests of drawers in bright colors. Pretty! There were many other leather workers as well.

Plaza Italia

Ten years ago, Plaza Italia had a big street fair. I hadn't checked it out for ten years, so we hopped in a taxi and went across town to check it out. The other street fairs have decimated the population of this fair. Can you call something a street fair when there are only ten booths, and only five are populated? Very disappointing.

There is a street fair here, but it is only used books. If you are interested in used books, you could probably spend all afternoon wandering through the booths. It strikes me as much smaller than the book fair along the Seine in Paris, and it is not nearly as picturesque. However, if you want used books, there they are. Personally, I would choose to hit the used bookstores around the Corrientes and Callao area.

My friend Alejandro from college recommended a huge bookstore, El Ateneo for my buying pleasure, but as I found out about it Saturday night, and it was closed Sunday, and Monday was a holiday, I don't think I'm going to make it over there today :-(

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2011: The best night I've ever had in Bs As

Ok, that was the best night of dancing I've ever had in Buenos Aires, perhaps in my entire life in tango!!!  And at Niño Bien (Humberto 1, 1462)! We arrived at the beginning, right at 10:30. We didn't get good seats, but it didn't matter! Oh, dear, too many exclamation points, but that's how I feel: the good dancers finally found me! For Thanksgiving, I am thankful that people made up this awesome dance and spread it around the world.

I danced with a man with whom I had a great tanda of Pugliese the night before, plus a DiSarli set last night. I have no idea what we danced tonight, but we danced even better together. Then another guy in a suit grabbed me. He had only danced nine years, but nine years in Buenos Aires is like dog years are to human years. Then two younger guys who had been intently watching me asked me to dance over the course of the next few tandas, and they were great! I think I've forgoteen another good dancer who helped make my night.

It's not that I didn't have mediocre tandas: I did boy scout tandas with a few foreigners and one Argentine man. However, they didn't get in the way of the really good sets. No one was horrible; even the foreigners for the most part were musical, if beginners. Also, having led in Niño Bien myself, I know how crazy it gets to navigate between the old guard being pushy and the foreigners being clueless. I think that the fact that even this milonga is less crowded, made it danceable all night, whereas it used to become impossible for about an hour in the middle of the evening.

What made tonight memorable was musicality. All the good tandas were led with very few complex steps, but with high affinity for the music and intimate knowledge of the songs. One guy complimented me, saying that it was unusual for a woman to know the music (he apologized and said people, but I think he meant that people who don't lead don't listen to the music sometimes). The old milongueros called out "Esa!" when I nailed an ending right in front of a bunch of them (YES!).

It's almost 4 am and I need to go to sleep because I have a massage at 10 am, but I'm so jazzed up that I don't know if I can sleep. Happy, happy, happy.

Milongas: finishing out the first week

Things are different this year in Buenos Aires. The high inflation rate has made everyone tighten their belt a bit, especially the elderly. A few men who I danced with last year have told me this year that they no longer go out nightly. They now go out two or three times a week instead. The difference is obvious in some of the milongas that had been preserves of the older guys. There are more women per male dancer than before. There is a higher percentage of foreigners than before. Also, there are simply gaps in the ranks: empty tables at places that never had empty tables.

Monday

Monday at "Maipu" (La Nacional, Alsina 1465) was packed full, more than any other milonga so far. I have been used to all milongas looking like this. The organizers said that tons of tourists are here right now, making it difficult to seat everyone. We were seated way in the back because we got there late, but one of the organizers, Dany, took a liking to me and made sure that some guys headed our way. Over the course of the night, we got to dance more and more, and ended up dancing continously by the end of the evening. Still, the ratio of foreigners to locals was high, especially later in the evening.

The organizer took a picture of me posing with one of his friends. He told the guy that he was going to cut that part of the picture out and keep the part with me in it. His friend told him that the camera was going to break and other stuff like that. I like it when the guys get silly together.

Tuesday

Tuesday at El Beso (Riobamba 416) was a workout in terms of cabeceo. Again, we were put in the last row, with two rows of women in front of us; mostly foreigners. Luckily a few guys we knew already saw us, and came to get us to dance, because the male:female ratio was off. I think it is due to the higher cost of going dancing because the bar area was almost empty, and it used to be where all the guys stood who could not get tables; it used to be standing room only.

A little old Argentine guy got stuck back in the corner, and spent a lot of time mumbling about "how dare they do that to me, when they put the young guys up in front?" but the waiter told me he knew the guy couldn't dance. Ouch! Does that mean he thought WE couldn't dance? I'll show him.

I had a really special tanda with a guy called Eugenio. I had danced with him Saturday night. He is not an advanced dancer by any means, but has a really good sense of rhythm, nice musicality--and awful floorcraft. He asked me if I had a husband, and I told him I had a son and a boyfriend; and asked him the same questions. He said he had two grown children, but that his wife had passed away after 35 years of marriage. He told me that was ten years ago, and then pulled out his phone and showed me her picture: the wallpaper on his phone. I tried to tell him how lucky he was to have had the love of his life married to him for that long, and he answered, "Lucky? Lucky? She died!!" The next song of the set was really emotional, and so was our dance. It felt completely different from the other songs in the tanda. I almost burst into tears myself, and I could tell he was struggling. Wow.

I had seen a guy from California walk in, and had avoided a cabeceo because we didn't do well on the dance floor the night before. However, when the rock 'n roll set came on, he was standing up, bouncing around, so I figured he could dance that. Yes! We did a good swing, and then an awesome salsa. It felt good to cut loose a bit and shake it! Much as I love tango, I don't think I could ever abandon my other dancing because it gives me other things that tango does not.

Just before we left, Gayle had changed her shoes, and I was walking over to change my shoes, when a few guys gave us grief about leaving before the end of the milonga. After all, we hadn't even looked at them! I told them we'd been sitting there all night, and they hadn't invited us to dance. "That's not our fault! It's the woman's fault! You didn't look at us at all!" True: I hadn't seen them at all. He handed my shoes to Gayle and dragged me out on the dance floor for a tanda. Strange, but fun.

Wednesday

Wednesday at "Mi Refugio" (La Nacional, Alsina 1465), there were a quarter of the people who went last year. Last year, this was our favorite night at La Nacional. This time, we had danced with all the men who were not in partners by midnight and were on to repeating ourselves, but we waited for the exhibition. Most of the men left before the exhibition, too, leaving only the young kids (mostly beginners) at one table, some tourists, couples, and maybe six available men.

The woman next to me danced one dance the whole night, and I never saw her friend get up from the table. Gayle and I danced most of the time, but that included accepting a cabeceo from the not-very-good Argentine boy after he stalked me for part of a tanda; it's hard to say no when all the women around you are poking you, saying, "He's looking at YOU."

Our amusement for the evening was a young German girl who was seated with us. While I was dancing, she announced to Gayle that it was hard to find a teacher because she was "a very good dancer!" She preferred the awful dancer to good dancers, but sat most of the night because she was not a very good dancer. Young, yes. Skinny, yes. Beautiful, yes. Good dancer? Not yet.

Day Five and Six: Shopping!

Monday was an orgy of shopping. First, we went to Tango 8 (Lavalle 3101 near the Abasto). I think we tried on 10% of the store!

Tango 8 does not organize by size at all. Much of the tango clothing available here is "one size fits all" and the assumption is that stretchy fabric will accommodate to your body. Most of the clothes were divided into skirts, dresses, tops--but that was it. There was one section of plus sizes that was not there in 2010. I found that many of the clothes "fit" for here in Buenos Aires, but would be considered revealing in the United States. Also, I've learned to look at how great silver snakeskin lycra looks on me--and not to buy it.

The service is almost non-existent, despite the fact that we went early and had the shop to ourselves most of the time. in fact, the salesgirls stood at the counter and watched from a distance while we waded through all the clothes.

We made an appointment at Asignatura Pendiente (Corrientes y Junin). They no longer have a shop, but instead have a showroom where they can concentrate on clients one at a time. I don't think that made it more efficient for us, since we ending up trying on a LOT more clothes that way. We both found some nice clothes, and they are well-made and pretty. At the end, we spent an hour trying to see if my credit card had gone through because their machine acted up, and they couldn't get any technical support to address the problem. In the end, we left with the understanding that, if it had not gone through, they would call me and I would pay them in cash. A very frustrating experience, but I can't think of any business at home that would have trusted a complete stranger to give them email and check back later on $150 of clothing. Nice folks.

Neotango (Sarmiento 1938), visit #2 (or is it #3?). I went to buy shoes for my sweetie and amused the salesman by trying them on because we wear almost the same size. In the end, I bought two sizes and I'll sell the other pair. Same as the their shoes for women, I think these are well-made. The cost is the same, and I'm sure these take a lot more leather; perhaps the difference is in time to make the fancy strappy shoes?

Shoe repair (Sarmiento 1882): How convenient that the shoe repair place is a block from Neotango! We can buy shoes, drop them at the shoe repair to put suede on the bottoms, and go out for coffee, all in one block!

Euro Records (Lavalle 2039, piso 1) is also the home of the Buenos Aires Tango Club, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and diffusion of traditional tango music. I got a tip from a British dancer who had been there when I told him that I couldn't locate Donato and Lomuto CDs in the stores. WOW! The music historian who runs it knows so much about the music, the orchestras, the history of each disc. His helper runs the computer side of things and also speaks English. I hadn't meant to buy any discs, but I bought five or six: Lomuto, Donato, Rodio, Buzon . . . I had to stop. If you are going to buy music, check this place out. They are open 12-6 Monday-Friday. It has a poorly marked door with a buzzer, and all you can see is a security door and stairs, but you are in the right place.