Some items featured on our previous holiday menus were:

Sue - brisket with potatoes and carrots, salad, pastries, dried fruits and nuts,  macaroons, desserts, matzah

Joe Dallon - Turkey

Judy Saul - holiday soup

Georgina Blitzer - Potato Kugel

Tsipoyra Sartan - egg salad

Judy Assisi- Sephardic fruit compote

Herb Goodfried- red cabbage

Jack B. - Tsimmes

Bonny Y - Chopped liver and pickled herring

Jack M. - Lamb stew

Janice G - Passover cake

Faye and Lou - pineapple

Norma Arias - roasted carrots and fennel and chocolate covered matzah

Mike and Debbie - Salad

George Ngo - Chopped liver

The dance

Thank you, thank you, thank you - for making my birthday celebration the best yet (I say that every year because it's true: It just gets better and better.)  Thanks especially to the long line of tangueros who wanted nothing more than to dance with little old me - so many that it took three valses to get through the line.  I've achieved my junior high school  dream, and you all made it happen.

The cake, the food, the introduction

Thanks to Terri  for the delicious chocolate and strawberry filled yellow cake topped with whipped cream and huge fresh strawberries and complete with edible photo.  Terri also made her awesome arroz con pollo (chicken and rice,) which the Firehouse folks finished with gusto.

More food

Eva brought the delicious spinach and calabasa (pumpkin) because she remembered how many times I ordered it at El Establo in Buenos Aires.  She also brought a leather passport holder and luggage tag in my favorite color, red.

The gifts

Thanks to all of you who showered me with flowers, cards, gifts and good wishes.  I am incredibly grateful for the love and caring of my Firehouse friends.

Thank you Rifky, Adrienne, George, Bernard, Flo, Bill,  Camille, Joseph & Nonna, Rafael & Hilda, Heidi, Eva, and Steve T  for the wonderful birthday presents.

The Incredible DJ - Richard Ariza

Richard has rapidly become one of the finest and best known DJ's in our area, and we are very fortunate to have him in our Firehouse Family.

Rich hosts the delightful Friday afternoon and Sunday evening milongas at Triangulo WWW.TANGONYC.COM.  He has guest-DJ'd at many New York and New Jersey milongas, and we've had the pleasure of his company - not to mention DJ expertise - quite often at the Firehouse.  If you haven't been to Triangulo, you don't know what you're missing.  You'll find information below in this newsletter about Rich's milongas at Triangulo.

Pat's response

I want to thank you for the opening of your Newsletter this week - your recognition of the considerable work involved with the Cat's Away is much appreciated. I think both weeks were pretty successful, and despite a somewhat slow Poster sign-up response initially, our Firehouse cooks came through quite handsomely in the end.

I'll be there next week - see you then!

Best,

Pat

Fran's response

Hi Sue,

Thank you very much for for lead article in the newsletter. It was beautifully done, and I think Pat will feel appreciated for her efforts.

Fran

Sue's note from last week

Thank you Pat, in absentia, for two wonderful Cat's Away Milongas 

 
Muchisimas gracias to Pat Altman for pulling off two spectacular Cat's Away milongas.  The cats (that's Joe and me) were actually here, but that was not a good enough reason for Pat and Fran to deprive their Firehouse friends of all the fun. 

An enormous amount of work goes into  organizing and executing a community dinner with enough appetizers, main dishes and desserts to feed the Firehouse crowd.  Pat pulled this off perfectly with her usual understatement and aplomb. She kept everyone informed by writing and submitting all of the newsletter entries preceding and following the event.

Pat  had a previous commitment this week and so deprived me of the opportunity to shower her with gratitude in person.  That doesn't make it any less sincerely felt. 

Here's looking forward to next year's Cat's Here Milonga!

Firehouse celebrations next week

 Next Thursday, April 17 - Pot luck Passover milonga

Monica Paz to visit New Jersey - May, 2013

Here is Monica's schedule during her upcoming visit to NYC.
After one more year of experience teaching, interviewing and making the Milonguero Calendar, I feel full of information that I want to share with you all.

I will teach and perform at some of the popular milongas and I will hold a weekend of workshops.

Here is the schedule of my visit:
- GUEST INSTRUCTOR at: All Night Milonga April 12th
Triangulo 21th
La Nacional 17th (to confirme)

-PERFORMANCE at Triangulo 15th

-WEEKEND WORSHOPS, Saturday and Sunday April 26/27 at Champion's Studios

Saturday 26
4:00 to 5:15 PM Tango: Giving and getting: What, how, when?
Part 1: Part 1: Tips to adjust my dance according with my occasional partner.

5:30 a 6:45 PM Tango: Giving and getting: What, how, when?
Part 2: Tips to adapt my dance according with the different orchestras.

Sunday 27
5:00 to 6:45 PM Milonga: Lisa and with traspié.

Workshops at Champion's studios. 257 West 39th Street, 14th floor.
Pre-registration required, first come, first served.

SATURDAY:
One workshop: $40
Two workshops $70

SUNDAY:
Milonga workshop: $50

For registration, please contact Monica at: tangopaz@yahoo.com.ar

-PRIVATE LESSONS at Champions Studio - 257W 39th Street, 14th floor
To book private classes, please contact Monica at tangopaz@yahoo.com.ar


Un abrazo milonguero,
Monica
www.mptango.com

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. I often hear students complain that Tango is "the hardest dance they've ever had to learn." Many people who have been trying for years to make headway in Tango seem ultimately to get stuck in a non-productive rut, which they can't get themselves past. Others decide suddenly to just give up after getting frustrated with feeling as if they've just been endlessly beating their heads against a wall without getting close to achieving the kind of results they've been hoping for.

Today, I'll like to take a look at why I think all this may be so -- and possibly what might be done to make learning Tango a bit more accessible.

The first thing we all need to do is to just get real.

The fact is that learning to dance at all is -- to say the very least -- a major undertaking. I remember reading an Arthur Murray booklet on learning to dance Foxtrot in about 1953. It was one of those manuals, which contained footwork diagrams. One black shoe and one white. Remember those books? The Arthur Murray idea was that dancing was easy. Anybody could do it. Just put your feet in this or that pattern and move with the arrows. That's all there is to it!

Except, of course, that this is all little more than wishful thinking. The Murray method, based on a fanciful idea called "magic steps" fostered the belief -- persistent even today -- that learning how to dance is directly equatable to memorizing footwork patterns. Sound familiar? That's because most classes in commercial dance schools are based almost exclusively on this notion right now! And let's face it -- it just doesn't work. Why then is this paradigm still the only game in town? Because it sells the illusion that learning to dance is easy. You can have it all, and you can have it right now.

As Arthur said, "anybody can do it!"

The second thing is to forget about learning steps.

Oh no, not that! Yes, that. Most leaders live to memorize steps. They sincerely believe that this is what will make them appear to know what they're doing. Unfortunately, it actually achieves precisely the opposite effect, making them look grotesque and inept.

The third thing is to focus on learning the right stuff.

Here is where you've really got to bite the bullet, and face the fact that learning to dance Tango is going to take a while. You just can't figure it all out in ten minutes. Yes, yes, I know you want to, but you can't. Instead, your first assignment is to concentrate on learning how to balance -- balance at rest and balance in motion -- by yourself. If that idea sounds absolutely thrilling to you, it's just possible that you can turn this thing around and learn how to dance Tango. On the other hand, if balance doesn't appeal, maybe Tango isn't your thing after all.

After you've got your balance, it's lead/follow all the way to the top.

The way in which two people interact in Tango is called the lead/follow relationship or maybe the lead/follow collaboration. Since I've spend lots of time talking about this very special relationship within these pages, I'll let you find more information in the Firehouse Tango Tip of the Week archives for yourself. What's important to know here is that this is where you're going to find the focus of your learning process for, let's say, the next year or more. And, to tell you the truth, once you make a commitment to working on lead/follow. you'll be doing it for the rest of your Tango life. Every single figure you'll ever want to learn, for example, comes directly out of a solid, ongoing foundation of good lead/follow practice.

There are a great many people who finally "discover" the benefits of lead/follow technique after beating their heads against the wall for years and years. And within a very short time after they do, their Tango begins to improve. Then they often become zealots, trying to convince everyone around them that lead/follow is the only way to go. This rarely has much affect on their peers, however, since each student really has to make the discovery for himself.

In the long run, I can only stand on the sidelines and cheer you on. In my experience, no amount of coaxing from me or from any teacher will really help until you're ready to make your own commitment. And when you do -- I can practically guarantee this -- you'll be asking me why I didn't just recommend this path to you in the first place.

 Every day, our dear friend and teacher in Buenos Aires posts a historical tango fact of the day. These interesting and informative tidbits always include English, Spanish and Italian  information and a relevant recording. You can see all of them and listen to the recording by simply joining Monica Paz PractiMilonguero Facebook page. Below is the post for April 9th and a link to the Facebook page, where you can hear the music:

April 9, 1942: On this date Carlos Di Sarli and Alberto Podestá recorded the waltz ÁLZAME EN TUS BRAZOS. It is believed, that this genre as currently heard, was born in Germany during the nineteenth century. The vals criollo created in Buenos Aires, kept the pace of 3 times and its rotating dance movements as well as the touring on the dance floor, although its steps became more complex, mimicking tango.

 En esta fecha Carlos Di Sarli y Alberto Podestá graban el vals ÁLZAME EN TUS BRAZOS. Se acepta que este género musical tal como actualmente es oído nació en Alemania durante el siglo XIX. El vals criollo creado en Buenos Aires mantuvo el ritmo de 3 tiempos y los movimientos de su danza giratoria y de traslación;  aunque sus pasos se tornaron más complejos imitando a los de tango.

9 aprile 1942: In questa data Carlos Di Sarli e Alberto Podestá registrano il valzer ÁLZAME EN TUS BRAZOS. É consenso che questo genere musicale come adesso si ascolta nacque in Germania nel secolo XIX. Il vals creolo creato a Buenos Aires mantenne il ritmo di 3 battute e i movimenti circolari della danza con giri e movimenti di spostamento; tuttavia i suoi passi si fecero più complessi a imitazione di quelli del tango.

 https://www.facebook.com/MPTango

And the following one for her latest interview (She regularly posts interviews that she does with surviving old milongueros) : 

MP Tango Interview

MPTango Presents Jorge Garcia at PractiMilonguero

http://youtu.be/iBvxXlJp3FU

Judy & Jon

http://www.tangowithjudy.com 

From Cris G

Dearest Sue,

I wish you the best of Birthday celebrations and
the best of joy, love, music and tango with every day that follows! 

Sorry to miss it but, will see you soon.
Hugs and kisses.

Cris.

Our group leaves New York on Friday, October 31, 2014 at 10:15 PM and returns Monday, November 10 at 6:15 AM. As I write, the round trip fare for non-stop American flights #953/956 is $1285. Let me know now if you are interested in joining us. You can contact me (Sue) at 201-825-1570 or  firehousetango@gmail.com.

How Much:

Cost of the trip including everything listed below (excluding air) is $2000 (double occupancy). Single supplement is available for an additional fee of $300. Airfare should be about 1,285.

Give check made out to Firehouse Tango for $400 together with your name, address and phone numbers to Sue or send to Sue Dallon, 16 Fox Hollow Rd. Ramsey, NJ 07446. For more information or references ask Sue or call 201-825-1570 or 201-826-6602.

What's included?

·         8 nights / 9 days in Buenos Aires with the friendliest group around

·         Stay at the excellent, centrally located Bauen Suites Hotel

·         Full breakfast every day

·         Transfers to and from hotel (included only if traveling with group on American # 953 Fri Oct 31 and # 956 Sunday November 9 (arriving Mon  10))

·         Welcome luncheon where you will meet the instructors

·         Private group lessons with excellent local teachers and local hosts as partners

·         Milongas with local hosts (male and female) who are there just to dance with us

·         City Tour

·         Full day at gaucho ranch with barbeque and show

·         Popular Tango show with dinner

·         Day at San Telmo Flea Market & enough free time for shopping, exploring the city, visiting museums, taking private lessons, visiting milongas on your own or resting (heaven forbid).

·         You most certainly will want to visit a shoe store (shoes cost about 1/3 of price here).  Prices in Buenos Aires are amazingly low & additional costs are minimal.

·         Excellent & inexpensive local teachers highly recommended by us for privately scheduled lessons.

Optional add-on - Four days in Mendoza - Argentine wine country

The following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehouse Tango.

• Tony Mele (Terri's son)
  
• Terri Lopez
• Tsipoyra Sartan
  
• Bob Brillo
  
• steve turi
• Debbie Glaser
• Steve Maisch - Welcome back, we missed you terribly
• Joseph and Nonna
• Lynn Gross
• 
  

• Adrienne Burton - Irish Soda Bread
• Bonny Yankauer - Chips & Guacamole
• Jack Block - Cheese
• Jan Folmsbee - Basket of Fresh Strawberries
• Terri Lopez - Arroz con pollo
• Eva Roth - Spinach and pumpkin
  

• Rifky Mackeen
• Mary Pagano
• George Ngo
• Bill Krukovsky
• Dan & Georgina
• Bob Brillo
• Horatio Piccioni
• Marta Bautis
• Bernard Glaser
• Edna Negron
• Eduardo Campos
• Terri Lopez