Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashonah) ethnic feast at Firehouse Tango next Thursday, September 12 - Menu
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Jewish New Year feast - Yummy
As is our tradition during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, some of our tangueros judeos will bring traditional holiday food for our Firehouse friends Thursday, September 12. You don't have to be Jewish to contribute and it's not too late, so let me know if you'd like to make something. Just send an e mail to firehousetango@gmail.com
Here's the menu (so far) for our feast.
Sue Dallon brisket, carrots, potatoes
Joe Dallon Apples and honey from Joe's bees
Judy Assisi and Herb Goodfried Sephardic Dried Fruit Compote Dessert and birthday cake
Jack Mandelberger Potato kugel Janice Garfinkle Potato kugel
Faye and Lou Levine Fresh pineapple
Tsipoyra Sartan Birthday cake
Judy Saul Holiday rice
Jack Block Tsimmes
Bonny Yankauer Chopped liver, crackers, and pickled herring
Georgina Blitzer Kasha varnichkes
Judy Saul Holiday rice
Norma Arias Roasted carrots and fennel
Eva Roth Cheesecake Lillian Sonnenshein Sweet potato casserole Jan Folmsbee Cucumber salad
Back to Firehouse Tango next Thursday
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Thanks to Victor's Maywood Inn for filling in last week when the Knights Hall was unavailable. We're happy to be back home next week.
Tsipoyra and Herb's birthdays next Thursday, September 12
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Next Thursday, September 12
Birthday of Tsipoyra Sartan
Tsipoyra has been with us since the beginning. She is an indispensable part of FirehouseTango, and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate her birthday on September 12.
Jewish New Year feast
Every year, our tangueros judeos treat the Firehouse community to a traditional ethnic new year feast. Details are above in this newsletter.
Birthday of Herb Goodfried
Herb will celebrate his birthday Thursday, September 12, sin baile (without a dance) but with a luscious rum raisin cake, his favorite. We are delighted to be able to take what we can get from this terrific guy.
Thursday, September 18
Anniversary of Walter Monteblanco and Gay Fallows Monteblanco
Can it be four years since we rejoiced at the marriage of our very good friends Walter and Gay? We will celebrate their anniversary with great joy - the tangueros dancing with Gay and the tangueras with Walter. I can't wait.
Walter has been a close friend and supporter since the very beginning at Paramus Firehouse # 4, and Gay came soon after. When they aren't traveling, they come to Firehouse often. Walter also teaches private lessons by appointment.
Thursday, September 26
Birthday of Terri Lopez
Terri, who has become so indispensable that I call her Firehouse friend # 1, will celebrate her birthday on Thursday, September 26.
We invite the Firehouse Tangueros to show our most loyal Firehouse friend EVER just how much we all appreciate her. Terri Lopez has been a part of the Firehouse family since our first days at Paramus Firehouse # 4, and we look forward to many more birthday celebrations with her. Each lucky tanguero will get to cut in and enjoy a short tango until the next person cuts in.
Sue's Resolutions thru September
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Sue's resolutions for 2013 - Update
Here were my resolutions for 2013
1. Keep improving my español and study Spanish every day
2. Keep visiting Buenos Aires
3. Shorten this newsletter (HaHa)
4. Exercise every day when I'm at home and try to continue when I'm on the road
My Resolutions - How they are going?
August - I have an excuse
Every month I update my readers on the progress of my New Year's resolutions. I was great this year until my Buenos Aires vacation, where I blew it big time. After being back on schedule, I took a break for eye surgery. I'm now back on track, exercising every day.
Buenos Aires - yes! Joe and I will be off to Buenos Aires in October. Don't worry though. As hard as it is to leave Firehouse Tango, we know it will thrive without us for the two Thursdays that we are gone. Terri Lopez, Steve Turi, Rich Ariza, Fran Chesleigh, Pat Altman, and the Firehouse crew will keep the home fires burning brightly, and our dear Firehouse friends will be well taken care of.
Espanol - yes! I'm happy with my progress. I appreciate all who continue speaking to me in Spanish, in spite of the fact that I may resist (It's so much easier in English - but as they say, "No pain, no gain.") I have also signed up for a conversational Spanish course at William Paterson.
August - Newsletter by Sue
As anyone who knows me realizes, brevity is not my strong suit. I do try, but there's always so much to say.
If heaven is anything like celebrating one's birthday at Firehouse Tango, it has a lot to recommend it. Frankly, I'd rather be at Firehouse. Thank you lovely tangueras, for a birthday memory I shall cherish. Con mucho amore,
Steve Turi
I keep saying I do not want to celebrate any more birthdays, but how many men will line up to dance with me, if not for the traditional tributes on birthdays.....oh well, you know that is not really true because our tanqueros dance with all of the ladies...
Terri Lopez
We welcome readers' contributions about Argentine Tango in general and Firehouse Tango in particular. Send your thoughts to firehousetango@gmail.comWe welcome readers' contributions about Argentine Tango in general and Firehouse Tango in particular. Send your thoughts to firehousetango@gmail.com
Octavio Brunetti's Urban Tango Trio - Free tango concert at Ramapo College in Mahwah- September 18, 7:30 - Sharp Theater
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Machiko Ozawa, violin; Pedro Giraudo, double bass;`Octavio Brunetti, piano
Contact Marta N. Bautis mbautis@ramapo.edu or Neel Scott rscott@ramapo.edu
We will be invited to dance on the stage. Don't miss it.
Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Rd. Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. One of the concepts which truly revolutionized my Tango was passed along to me by my friend, the late Carlos Gavito. Pat, Carlos and I were having dinner together one evening. In conversation, Carlos offered the suggestion that in Tango “the leader invites his follower to move, and then he follows her.”
It took me a while to digest and understand what Carlos meant by this, because at the time it didn’t fit in with my “ballroom” view of dancing. But as I learned more and more about the unique technique of lead/follow as it applies to Tango, I realized what he was talking about, and now I want to pass it along to you.
As you may recall hearing me say in my classes on lead/follow, every individual movement in Tango is generated by the leader. He offers his follower a specific piece of body language (the lead) for each of the six fundamental elements (forward, backward, in-place, to the side, pivot, and pause); she responds by executing the movement asked for, and then she waits for the next lead.
Before I understood what Maestro Gavito explained to Pat and me that night at dinner, I assumed that in leading a given movement, the leader automatically moved in tandem with his follower – and that this single element was almost always the beginning of a continuous sequence of several steps (just like American Foxtrot or Waltz, for example).
Not true.
“The leader invites his follower to move, and then he follows her.”
What Carlos said has two crucial implications, both of which separate Tango movement from anything we might do in the “ballroom” discipline. First, when the leader provides the body language for a specific movement – and his follower responds by making that movement – both partners are at that moment independent of one another, not interdependent
as they would be in ballroom dancing. What this means is that as she moves, the leader chooses to accompany her – or not. If he accompanies her, he moves independently of her. He doesn’t assist her through the movement itself. This may seem to be a subtle difference between Tango and ballroom, but it is quite profound. In fact, it changes the entire dynamic of the dance.
The second implication of what Carlos said is that, in following his follower
, the leader allows her to complete each movement – to bring herself comfortably and completely into balance – before inviting any subsequent movement. A leader who has an agenda in mind (a sequence of steps, for example, which he has learned from a teacher, from a DVD, or from – heaven help us!—YouTube), must resist the impulse to dance his agenda without regard for his follower’s ability to complete each element of that sequence comfortably before continuing with the next element. Furthermore, a leader cannot – must not! – rigidly tie any given sequence to a specific timing in the music, if his follower isn’t comfortably able to keep the pace.
Ultimately, the leader’s entire dance depends upon his follower’s dance. He gives her something to do; she does it; then he gives her something else to do. He never gives her the next thing to do before she’s ready. This is very bad dance practice.
And yet this is what we see constantly on the dance floor.
Leaders, please read this Tango Tip again and again. Listen to my friend, Carlos Gavito, and start paying careful attention to your follower. Her movement – and particularly her balance at the end of each movement – will tell you exactly when she’s ready to continue. This will revolutionize your dancing, as it did mine.
Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dance Manhattan |
Special Note: My two Saturday classes have been cancelled for the next four weeks to accommodate the fact that most Dance Manhattan students are away on their summer vacations. This means that my 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. slots are open for private lessons. If you'd like to take this unique opportunity to schedule a lesson or two during either of these times, see Pat or me, or contact us at the numbers below.
For Firehouse dancers who might enjoy a day in the Big Apple on Saturdays, Fran teaches from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. every week. He offers a beginner class in Milonga & Argentine Waltz at 11:00 a.m. as well as an intermediate class in Tango at noon. From 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Fran and Pat host a special beginner/intermediate practice for bringing your skills up to speed. The cost for the practice is $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) Fran and Pat are always on hand to answer any questions you may have about your dancing, and to help you with figures you're working on. If you want to take Fran's classes, call Dance Manhattan at 212-807-0802 to register. For the practice, all you have to do is arrive with $10 and your dance shoes in hand.
See you every Saturday for a full day of Tango!
Stardust Dance Weekend - September 20-22
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Catskills in the Fall....
Ballroom and Tango Dance Weekend Getaway
Honor's Haven
SEPTEMBER 20-22, 2013 stardustdance.com
Head To The Country & Into Your Dancing Shoes!
Stardust Dance Productions is putting on another great dance event in the Catskills, and you're invited to share in all the fun! Come join us for Stardust's 95TH Ballroom Dance Weekend Getaway at the beautiful Honor's Haven Resort & Spa, Friday-Sunday, September 20-22, 2013
The heat of the summer may be over, but Stardust Dance Productions has another sizzling menu of dancing for you to keep the temperature up! Whether you're hungry for Salsa, Hustle, Foxtrot, Swing, or Tango, we'll feed you with the best music, the best company, and one incredibly entertaining-and hopefully not too exhausting-dance experience!
You'll enjoy Honor's Haven Resort & Spa, a full service resort in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. Along with the beautiful fall colors, your mini-vacation includes:
Full-Service Dining - Seven Multi-Course Meals
Champagne & Wine Reception
Open Bar Cocktail Party & Smorgasbord
Over 50 Dance Workshops
Day & Night Dancing to Four Great DJs
Theme: Saturday Night Fever (Costume Party with free weekend giveaway)
Nightly Dance Performances in the Honor's Haven Resort Nightclub
Head over to StardustDance.com for more information and to RESERVE YOUR PLACE for this great Weekend Getaway! We'll provide experienced instructors, workshops, cocktail parties, fabulous entertainment, fine dining, and the hottest DJs!
So come along for an unforgettable experience... all you need to bring is your feet!
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Stardust's Ballroom Dance Cruise IX
January 26-February 5th, 2014
Departs: Miami, Florida
Ports: Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cayman islands, Roatan Bay Islands, Honduras, Cozumel, Mexico
Firehouse Tango hot line - We rarely cancel |
We want to remind everyone that if the weather looks really bad, we will leave messages on our web site www.firehousetango.com and phone 201-825-1570. You can also reach us on our cell phone 201-826-6602 (Sue) and 201-913-8504 (Joe). Feel free to leave a message on any of these lines. We cancel only when absolutely necessary (only about six seven times in all these years), but please check whenever you're not sure. If there isn't any message, we're on.
During Hurricane Sandy, when we had only cell phone service, I was able to leave a message on my cell, so I guess that the best number to call is 201-826-6602. If you lost something, we probably have it. We have a few ladies' scarves and some shoes. There are also various items of clothing and jewelry in the closet. Ask Tibor at the front desk. At the Maywood Inn, there wasn't much need for setting up and breaking down. Just a few of us had to do it. The following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehouse Tango.
Since this newsletter is going out early, I'll have to add some of these folks next week. Here is my advance list:
A reminder that Firehouse Tango does not supply wine - Your fellow tangueros bring it. Therefore, if you drink it, please make sure to bring a bottle every so often.The folks below brought food and wine this week -
- My apologies to Bonny Yankauer for leaving out last week's contribution of chips and guacamole. The home-made chips she brings from the Maywood Market are always delicious, as is the fresh guacamole.
- Thanks to Christine for bringing an apple pie. We will use it next week.
And these people brought wine
No wine this week because we were at the Maywood Inn. Contributions gratefully accepted again starting next week.
Tango in New Jersey - Milongas |
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