This newsletter, which is usually sent out Thursday night as soon as I get home, is late because of computer problems. 

To those of you who couldn't sleep, I'm sorry.  I couldn't either.

Sue Dallon

So many people have asked for more dance time at Firehouse that we've decided to try an experiment. For the month of June, we will offer Fran's beginner lesson from 7 to 7:30 and his intermediate from 7:30 to 8:30.  

Dinner and dancing will begin at 8:30.  We'll also add fifteen minutes at the end of the evening, playing until 11:15. That gives us forty-five minutes more of tango, milonga, and vals.

Let us know what you think.

Sue and Joe Dallon

It's Official!  Carl Remmes, a long time attending friend at Firehouse and experienced tango dancer has decided to make himself available to the Ladies as a professional Gentleman Dance Companion! His new career offers Ladies an opportunity to dance and enjoy his genuine personality, precise leading technique and connection to the "tango experience" that has made him a favorite and a sought out dancer in the New Jersey and New York City area for many years. 

Carl is available for exclusive dancing with you, or you can arrange Timeshare dancing for two or more ladies for two or more hours.  Please check your calendar for upcoming dances that you want to attend and confirm your dates for a fun night out!

Congratulate Carl when you see him, or feel free to call, email or text him at  201 317-1531, email rparl@aol.com, the next time you want to have him as a dance companion for any milonga or social in NJ or NYC.  Good luck Carl!

Address: 532 N Farview Ave, Paramus, NJ 07652

Phone:(201) 265-5600

Dear Sue and Joe,

I had a wonderful time at New Jersey! Thank you for making me feel so good. 

It was very nice to see friends and students, old and new ones!! And it was a pleasure to be at Firehouse to celebrate the anniversary of the milonga.  

I also will miss you and am very much looking forward to seeing you in November at BA!!!

Abrazos,

Monica

May. 24 08:00 pm

At Puffin Cultural Forum

(http://www.puffinculturalforum.org/)

20 Puffin Way , Teaneck NJ

International, award winning artist Chris Vasquez celebrates the miraculous life and music of tango singing legend Carlos Gardel, following his early career to his tragic death in 1935. Narrative in English, songs sung in Argentinean Spanish, and a vibrant dance couple comprise the performance and presentation. Audience is ushered through an era of the 20's and 30's in Buenos Aires when Gardel was king.

$10 Suggested Donation
Reservations Recommended

Reserve Seats via email tix@puffinfoundation.org or call 201-836-3499

Beginner level
Summer classes: June, July, and August
Contact: Lisa at www.simplysocialdancing.com

Lisa Skates is a great teacher, and the class is in Hackensack, a few miles from Firehouse.
Simply Social Dancing
Phone:(201) 694-7087
CMDE Studio
84 Euclid Avenue
Hackensack, NJ

Students will also be taken to Firehouse for Fran Chesleigh lessons

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Hi, everybody, Fran here with your Tango tip of the Week. Over the past couple of weeks, we've been talking about some of the reasons why maintaining the line of dance can be a difficult challenge in Tango.

Two weeks ago, I suggested that because the movements in Tango tend to be "gestural"  rather than "functional," traveling around the dance floor in a counterclockwise direction becomes a secondary -- often neglected -- focus of the leader's creative process. (Read my Tango Tip in our May 8, 2014 Firehouse Tango Newsletter.)

Last week, I discussed the conflicting "hybrid" nature of Tango as a cross between what dance professionals in this country traditionally refer to as "progressive" dancing and its opposite, what we often call "spot" dancing. (Read my Tango Tip in our May 15, 2014 Firehouse Tango Newsletter.)

Today, I'd like to briefly touch on yet another unique characteristic of contemporary Tango, which can have a profound impact on one's ability to maintain the line of dance. It is the idea that Tango often incorporates stillness or stops.

Stillness.

This simply means that Tango dancers don't always move continuously, as is common in other ballroom styles. With other dances -- both progressive and spot -- the legs and body tend to keep moving either through space in progressive dancing, or in place in spot dancing. Neither of these general categories of social dance routinely utilize the highly specialized technique of stopping as a defining characteristic (although it is certainly true that Swing and Latin dancing do indeed occasionally utilize momentary "rhythm" stops -- usually at a more advanced skill level.)

But Tango dancers use stops all the time. Sometimes, we stop just for a brief moment. Sometimes, we stop for a few beats. Sometimes, we stop for a protracted -- i.e., multiple-beat -- period of musical space. In the evolved Tango of the "Golden Age" and beyond, stopping has become an inherent characteristic of the dance. (Parenthetically, for those of you leaders who never stop moving, you might want to consider adding the technique of stopping to your tool kit. Not only will this one addition make you a better dancer,  -- your partners will collectively breathe a deep sigh of relief.)

My friend Carlos Gavito would say to his students again and again that "Tango is a way to walk." Of course, Carlos wasn't talking just about forward steps for the leader and backward steps for the follower. He was referring to a comprehensive basic vocabulary of five "walking" (or what some teachers call "linear") elements. These include forward, backward and side steps, as well as weight changes in place (no travel) -- plus what are called pauses -- which means stops. Stops are built into the fundamental mechanics -- as well as the artistic creative soul -- of modern Tango.

If we now place this idea alongside our (previously examined) notions of "gesture vs. functionality" and the progressive/spot nature of Tango, we can in an abstract way marvel at the complex nature of Tango as a social dance. At the same time, from a purely practical standpoint, we must also become acutely aware that we're adding yet another potentially serious impediment to maintaining the line of dance.

Does this mean that we ought to simply give up trying to get ourselves around the dance floor without seriously interfering with other dancers? That we should relegate ourselves to sacrificing their comfort and safety for our own personal creativity?  Of course not. We simply have to accept the fact that Tango poses very specific and ongoing challenges, which need to be recognized -- and effectively addressed -- in order to one day achieve some degree of mastery over this unique, complex social dance.

As the song says,  "Asi se baila el Tango."

Your Video Is Ready and Waiting!

If you were part of Fran and Pat's latest special intensive workshop at Dance Manhattan,"10 More Must-Have Tango Moves You Should Know,"

the DVD of the entire event is available right now.

The entire workshop is all yours right now on a comprehensive DVD that runs almost two hours in length! If you participated in the workshop, you can pick up the DVD for the very low price of $25. If you weren't able to be there, but you'd like to have access to these unique figures now, you can buy the DVD for $50.

All you have to do is send a check for your purchase to Fran Chesleigh Dance Videos, 207 West 106th St., Apt. 11A, New York, NY 10025. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone and email address. We'll send out your DVD by return mail!

If you prefer, you can bring cash or check either to the Argentine Consulate (Wednesdays), or to our practica at Dance Manhattan (Saturdays). We'll have copies of the DVD with us, ready to add to your collection.

As a reminder of what you learned at our workshop, here's a listing of the ten individual figures we taught that day. If you have any questions, be sure to contact us at franchesleigh@mac.com. And please don't forget to practice, practice, practice!

1.   Nito Garcia's ochos with traspie

2.   Julio Balmaceda's "running" molinete

3.   Osvaldo Zotto's back cross with molinete plus adornments

4.   Osvaldo Zotto's back cross with side step to cruzada

5.   Nito Garcia's media vuelta with rulo

6.   Pat's  "Esther Pugliese"adornment sequence

7.   Gustavo Naveira's left-rotating cadena plus adornments

8.   Orlando Paiva's "El Gato" sequence/with adornments

9.   Carlos Gavito's right leg wrap

10. Osvaldo Zotto's "show-stopper" step sequence

 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 May 18th and a link to the Facebook page, where you can hear the music:

 May 18, 1975: Death of ANÍBAL TROILO, perhaps the most illustrious musician of the 40s. Put in another way, he achieved the highest tango expression simultaneously in three genres: tango for the feet, for the voice and the ear. Among duets, quartets and orchestras he left us 487 recordings. He composed some 60 works. An exemplary tango? Here it goes

Muere ANÍBAL TROILO. El músico más ilustre de la década del 40. Dicho de otro modo, logró la máxima expresión tanguera en sus tres géneros simultáneamente: tango para los pies, para la voz y para el oído. Entre dúos, cuartetos y orquestas nos legó 487 grabaciones editadas. Compuso unas 60 obras. ¿Un tango suyo para resumirlo? Aquí va.

.

 18 marzo 1975: Muore ANÍBAL TROILO. Il musicista più illustre della decade del '40. Si può affermare che ottenne la massima espressione tanghera in tutti e tre i suoi generi simultaneamente: il tango per i piedi, per la voce e per l'ascolto. Tra duetti, quartetti e orchestre ci ha lasciato 487 registrazioni pubblicate. Compose una sessantina di opere. Un suo tango che lo riassume? Eccolo qua.

 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

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.

• Terri Lopez
• Tsipoyra Sartan
• Steve Maisch
  
• Jesse Barton
• Debbie Glaser
  
• Bob Brillo
  
• steve turi

• Jan Folmsbee - Red lentil soup Indian style and box of candy
• Jorge S - Bubbly - Continuing the tradition of Pugliese and champagne for all.  I get to dance the Pugliese tanda with Jorge and we all get to share the champagne
• Bonny Yankauer - Chips and guacamole
• Sydney St. James - Brownies
• Adrienne Burton - fruit and wine
• Heidi Fedor - Pastries
• Eva Roth - Meat Loaf
  
• Dianne Langmuir - Broccoli Salad

• Rifky Mackeen
• Irene Andrews
• Diane Stenzler
• Bill Kauken
• George Ngo
• Enrique Zuniga
• John Anillo
• Bob Brillo
• Edna Negron
• Marta Bautis
• Horatio Piccioni
• Jesse and Cathy
• Francis & Marie
  
• Eduardo Campos
• Terri Lopez