Thursday, May 1 - Birthday of Marta Bautis

 
See Celebrations below for details
 

May 8 - Firehouse Tango's Eleventh Anniversary - Visit from Monica Paz

 

In 2003, our friends Carlos and Rosa announced their move to Paris and asked if we wanted to take over their milonga.   Though terrified, we agreed. Just one year later, Paramus Firehouse # 4 had become too small, and we found our current home at the Maywood Knights of Columbus.

 
Now it's eleven years, and we are celebrating with something special.   


We'll have lots of surprises.  Monica Paz, our dear maestra from Buenos Aires will be here for this terrific celebration.  We'll have extra time and door prizes.  I'll have details in this newsletter next week.
 

Marie and Francis always overwhelm us with tons of goodies, and we always appreciate their generosity.   This week was no exception.  They brought shrimp with cocktail sauce, chicken wings, ribs and a delicious chocolate cake.

Firehouse Tango started in 2003 and has been going strong ever since.  Amazingly, we are still here celebrating our eleventh anniversary. 

We are planning to add lots of extra-special delights including.

•       A visit by Monica Paz, our dear maestra and tango teacher from Buenos Aires
•       A special treat from Fran and Pat
•       A performance by Monica Paz and Johnny Tablada
•       Extra hour of fun and dancing
•       Door prizes
•      1 hour combined lesson to provide time for even more dancing

As always, admission of $15 includes dinner, lesson, dancing and socializing with some of the nicest folks around.  The event is at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 105 Grove Avenue, Maywood, NJ 07607.  For additional information call Sue at 201-825-1570 or 201-826-6602. 

Workshops in New York

-
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

Monica's web site with interviews of old milongueros 

Monica is passionate about preserving the traditions, codes, and history of tango.  To this end, she continues pursuing her project of interviewing the precious few remaining old milongueros of Buenos Aires.  Their stories and the videos accompanying them, as well as other wonderful videos of Monica can be found on her web site at www.mptango.com   Scroll down for English or Spanish selection.


Facebook page and Calendar

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. I enjoy these posts so much that I share them with my readers every week in my newsletter (See below.)
 

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Most of us derive our idea of Tango from right here in the United States where we live, and where we learn how to dance. We imitate what we see our fellow students doing; we memorize what our teachers tell us to memorize; we try to copy what we happen to find on YouTube.

What the majority of us don't do is to actively seek out how people really dance in, let's say, Buenos Aires, and then attempt to alter our own dance accordingly. There are many reasons for this, of course, but let's make the assumption that you think this sounds like a good idea. How do you go about the process of making your dance a more authentic version of the real thing?

When Pat and I first visited Argentina, I had been dancing -- and teaching -- Tango for more than twenty years. But when we went to our first milonga -- it was held at the currently closed "El Beso" -- I was convinced that I would be completely unmasked as someone who actually had no idea whatever how to dance Tango, and that we would both be laughed out of the place.

What I discovered, however, was that social dancing was actually very much like the dancing that I was used to in venues such as Roseland in New York City. Tango was -- and is -- a special way in which two people interact socially on the dance floor. Yes, it was certainly different from Foxtrot or American Slow Waltz, but there was none of the extreme high style or elaborate movement that we were learning from the visiting "maestros" -- virtually all of whom were, in fact, stage performers. I had heard rumors that we weren't being shown the "real" dance back home -- it was far more lucrative, apparently, to teach elaborate stage figures -- but right there in front of Pat and me was the proof. The only people who were choosing the sort of ornate, overblown stage figures people were learning in the USA were tourists!

During the mid-1990's, American teachers like Daniel Trenner and his then partner Rebecca Schulman -- along with a handful of others -- were doing their best to focus on authentic social Tango. But as I look around today at the practicas and milongas in New York, I see very little interest among younger students in social dance. With the current popularity of such mutations as "Nuevo Tango," for example, there seems to be far more enthusiasm for a very conscious obliteration of traditional style in favor of acrobatic extravagance. Now, it's not that I want to deny anyone the right to do whatever they please; but in New York, at least, the Tango of "the Golden Age" seems these days to be little more than a distant memory.

Okay, okay, enough ranting. Let me get back to my premise. What if you decided to try learning a more authentic way of dancing social Tango? Where would you go, and how would you learn?

Of course, you could head for Buenos Aires, find the traditional milongas, and spend about two months not taking lessons -- but just sitting and watching. This would be a good start. I think you'd find it a revelation. But, perish the thought, you might be one of those unfortunate people who needs to work for a living. Maybe you just can't afford to take that kind of time just now. What might you do instead to get the ball rolling?

One very good possibility is to visit a Website called "Tango and Chaos." It's actually www.tangoandchaos.org. This Website was started by Rick McGarrey from Arizona, and provides a very detailed and interesting account of his experiences in Buenos Aires. Of particular interest to us here is his wonderful collection of videos of people dancing at the milongas. This is the real thing, folks -- normal people dancing socially -- rather than either stage performances or students taking classes. As a tool for learning by imitation, I think you'll find this group of videos truly invaluable.

The next step might be to show these videos to your teacher. Tell him or her that you want to learn to dance the way they do in Buenos Aires, and that these videos represent exactly what you're talking about. This should give the teacher plenty to work with in helping you get where you want to go. Not too far in the distant future you should expect to join the ranks of those who dance "just like they do in the milongas of Buenos Aires."

You say you don't have a teacher? I have a good idea for you: Get one now.

Addition to Tango Tip - Letter from Debbie Glaser

Hi Pat and Fran, Those points were so true to me especially when I first started ballroom dancing 10 years ago. I learned that I had to leave my ego "at the door." I would beat myself up and almost burst into tears at my private lessons. My teacher was brutal and would criticize me and wasn't too encouraging. But I learned. I think the joy and humor comes once you see a little progress and finally get it.  I am so blessed to have a body that works as well as it does. Thank you both so much for playing a major part in my tango journey. Debbie

Hi Debbie,

Thanks very much for your response to my Tango Tip. I sometimes think that nobody even notices that I've written this weekly column in the Newsletter. I'm sorry that you had to endure a dance teacher who was so inappropriate in his or her methodology. Unfortunately, there has always been a lot of that, especially in the ballroom world. Most of us (me included) have had our share of that kind of treatment. And there are all too many who decide to give up rather than persevere in spite of that behavior. 

Thanks again for you kind words.

Argentine Tango Ladies Styling

Workshop with Silvana Brizuela

Tuesday, April 29

7 - 8:30 pm

Enjoy this 1 ½ hour ladies-workshop with Hora Cero's Host & Teacher Silvana Brizuela.

In this workshop you will learn technique, balance, embellishments to make you shine on the dance floor.

$ 20 per person Ladies only!

Call to register at 973.235.9835

Must register before Monday, April 28 at 8 pm

 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 21st and a link to the Facebook page, where you can hear the music:

21 DE ABRIL DE 2003

 April 21, 1941: Death of AGUSTÍN BARDI, self-taught musician with an extraordinary musical imagination. Along with Eduardo Arolas, both were the 2 composers who established a bridge between the Guardia Vieja and the Nueva one. He has published around 70 works, most of them excellent. The title we hear refers to the first snow in Buenos Aires historically remembered: 06/22/1918.

 2  Muere AGUSTÍN BARDI. Músico autodidacta de extraordinaria imaginación sonora. Junto a Eduardo Arolas son los 2 compositores que establecen el puente entre la Guardia Vieja y la Nueva. Tiene unas 70 obras publicadas, la mayoría excelentes. El título de lo que oímos alude al primer registro histórico de nieve sobre la ciudad de Buenos Aires: 22/06/1918.

1 aprile 1941: Muore AUGUSTÍN BARDI. Musicista autodidatta di straordinaria immaginazione sonora. Bardi e Eduardo Arolas furono i due compositori che determinarono il passaggio dalla Guardia Vieja alla Nueva. Ha circa 70 composizioni al suo attivo, la maggiore parte eccellente. Il titolo di quella che ascoltiamo allude alla prima nevicata mai rilevata a Buenos Aires: il 22 giugno 1918.

 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

Part of the history of NY milongas is 

A History of Lost Great Spaces!

¡ESMERALDA'S TANGO OESTE! (Monday nights) at MAMAJUANA CAFE has been cancelled unexpectedly--big surprise! 

It is now a part of that history.

CONDOLENCES GO OUT TO ALL MY WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL GUESTS SO SADDENED BY THIS NEWS!! 

I hope you join ESMERALDA'S East Village Milonga & Supper Club at the Ukrainian on Wednesdays--it is fun, it is friendly, it is Argentine.

Mamajuana joins that august list including 

 Session 73,

La Belle Epoque,

 Il Campanello,

 Nell's, 

S.O.B's,

Novecento,

 Lafayette Grill, 

Lafayette 101,

Prof. Thom's--short short life but a fantastically loved Esmeralda's

Dance Times Square,

Dance New York (not even a building left), 

and

the club connected to the Blue Angel (forget the name) which also had a short distinguished life,

Etc etc.

The restaurant wanted the space back, why we don't know since their customers on Monday night were few.

¡ESMERALDA'S TANGO OESTE! fans report they are scouring the upper West side searching for a replacement. 

So if you see something, say something. 

Write or call me.

Lucille

212 777 6053

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
• Jesse Barton
• Bob Brillo
  
• steve turi

• Last week, I forgot to credit Rifky Mackeen for bringing those wonderful signs and holders.  In answer, he brought more.   Now we can all know what we are eating. 

• Mary Pagano - Candy
• Heidi Fedor - Cake
• Eva Roth - Mocha Cake
• Bonny Yankauer - Chips & Guacamole
  
• Jan Folmsbee - Horseradish + Mustard Cream Sauce Rye + Pumpernickel Corned Beef Sandwiches
  
• Jorge Sturam - Bubbly
• Francis & Marie - Grapes, Chicken & Shrimp, ribs, cake
  

• Rifky Mackeen
• Bill Krukovsky
• George Ngo
• Carl Schaefer
• Horatio Piccioni
• Francis & Marie
• Jesse Barton
• Eduardo Campos
  
• Terri Lopez