Also, if there is enough interest, we can offer an optional add-on of a few days in Mendoza (Argentina wine country).

Please let me know asap if you might be interested so we can continue to firm up our plans.  Feel free to call or e mail us with any questions that you might have.  We will continue to keep you aware of developments.

Until recently, Firehouse Tango organized wildly successful yearly trips to Buenos Aires.  Many participants said that it was the best trip of their life.  Some continued to come every year.  Everyone loved it.  We will be happy to provide references.

If you think you might want to join us, just send me an e mail at firehousetango@gmail.com, call us at 201-825-1570, or grab Joe or me at the Thursday milonga.  This is just a preliminary survey, and there is absolutely no obligation, so don't hesitate. We just want to see if there is enough interest to pursue it further. 

 To give you an idea of what it would be like, here is what we included in our previous trips (May be different this time):

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 if traveling with group on American # 255 and #256)
• Private group lessons with excellent local teachers
• 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
  

We haven't worked up the numbers yet, but the cost would probably be about $3,000 per person, including airfare.

Hello Sue,

I hope all is well.
I just wanted to inform you that we have placed a shuffleboard table in the hall in the front bar room.  It is tucked against the wall opposite the bar.  It is heavy and it has been leveled, so there should be no attempts to move or shift it or sit on it.  We will eventually have a cover for it.  We ask that everyone refrain from placing any food, drinks or anything heavy that could throw it off balance.

Thank you,
Tom
 

Check out the new 2014 pictures on our web site gallery.  www.firehousetango.com 
 

 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 and Spanish 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 February 15 and a link to the Facebook page, where you can hear the music:

15 DE FEBRERO DE 1963

February 15, 1963: Death of EDGARDO DONATO, violinist, conductor and composer . Born in Buenos Aires but formed musically in Montevideo. He composed over 200 works. Two very famous ones: A MEDIA LUZ and EL HURACÁN. With his orchestra, from 1930, he recorded about 450 themes. His style has the sound of the Old Guard, with more rhythmic dynamism. Here's an example.

Muere EDGARDO DONATO. Violinista, director y compositor. Nace en Buenos Aires pero se forma musicalmente en Montevideo. Compone unas 200 obras. Dos muy famosas: A MEDIA LUZ y EL HURACÁN. Con su orquesta, desde 1930, graba unos 450 temas. Su estilo tiene el sonido de la Guardia Vieja con mayor dinamismo rítmico. Aquí va un ejemplo.

 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 Ofelia Rosito at PractiMilonguero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Yl--ceNcA&feature=youtu.be

Hi Sue,

So sorry to see the Firehouse had to cancel again, but totally understand.  Safety is a priority, we all want to come back to many more milongas!  This has really been an incredible winter.  Stay warm, stay safe!

Kathrin

I love to receive your newsletters and hear all the happenings with the Firehouse gang! I hear you and Joe are doing pretty well and it warms my heart to hear the good news!  I am loving my life down here in Florida but it is always bittersweet to read about my old friends. I miss them and both of you very much. No matter how "low" I felt....I always knew the gang at Firehouse would get me out of my 'slump"!

I know you have been slammed with bad weather...THAT...I don't miss! But hopefully this spring, when the weather gets a bit nicer I'm going to fly up to see my kids.  I will surely bring my dancing shoes and drop in for a few dances. I know my favorite Tangueros won't let me sit for long!!!!

Be well, and stay warm! Give my love to everyone there!

Besos and Abrazos!!

Mary

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Two weeks ago, I discussed (not for the first time) the importance of maintaining a more or less consistent flow around the dance floor as a primary responsibility of being a skilled social dancer. (This is usually referred to as maintaining the line of dance, and you can read more about it in last week's Tango Tip.) Today, I want to focus on another important skill, which is related to maintaining the line of dance. It involves how we occupy space on the dance floor.

While attending a milonga recently, Pat and I encountered what I like to call a "Tango clown;" i.e., a rude, obnoxious, self-absorbed wanna-be who not only dances badly, but seems to be convinced that he's the only person in the room. The Tango clown in question had his left arm thrust out to the side like a fullback who might at any time straight-arm anyone within reach, he and his partner were dancing in a constant leaning position called a puente or carpa -- which increased their footprint by a factor of ten -- and they were barreling around the floor as if no one else had any business being on the same planet, much less the same room.

Do you recognize the description? Have you met up with people like this on the dance floor? Do we suffer from all too many of these anti-social menaces in our Tango community? As Billy Crystal would say, don't get me started.

In any event, our subject today is how to appropriately occupy space on the social dance floor. In general, this means that the leader has to keep his left arm in a position where he's not in danger of inflicting bodily harm on other dancers, he has to keep his steps down to a size that don't hurtle the couple into other people's spaces, and he has to avoid flying randomly and dangerously all over the room.  At the same time, his follower -- if she likes to use adornment to punctuate her dance -- has to be acutely aware of how such movements may affect people around her. For example, elaborate planeos, amagues, and high back kicks during boleo need to be attempted only when there's plenty of space in which to incorporate them into the dance safely.

Dancing social Tango can be lots of fun. And for many of us, showing off once in a while certainly adds to the enjoyment of the overall experience. But please -- please -- no matter what happens, try to avoid becoming a Tango clown. We have too many of those people around already.

Cat's Away Milongas and Gourmet Feasts are approaching!

Hello everyone, Pat here. As you will have seen on Thursday, the Cat's Away poster is back! That can mean only one thing - it's time to play CHEF!! Please mark your calendars for March 20 and March 27 for the 2014 Cat's Away Milongas. What's different this year is that there are no Cats who are away...we are all here, including  Sue and Joe, and are ready to start cooking!  For those of you who are new to Firehouse during the last year, these two evenings are traditionally held when our cool cats, Joe and Sue (collectively referred to as one in our title) are taking their trip to Buenos Aires, and the rest of us mice create sumptuous dishes good enough for a 4-star restaurant.  This year, the trip is not happening till November, but that's no reason not to have our special feasts-they're just too much fun!

We will bring the poster each week from now on so there's plenty of time to consider what you will bring. We'll need appetizers, entrees, salads and desserts-- so start reviewing your best recipes and plan to join the banquet brigade! If you'd like to sign up via email, contact Fran at franchesleigh@mac.com, or me at paltman21@gmail.com.

Note from Sue:  Every once in a while, Fran's Tango Tip strikes me as so important that I repeat it the following week.  Such was last week's Tip about the line of dance.  In the coming weeks, I will also repeat information on this subject that was previously published in this newsletter.  As a follower, I implore my leaders to respect the line of dance.   

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. One of the primary disciplines that we all absolutely must incorporate into our dancing right from the beginning is that of maintaining the line of dance.  And yet, this crucially important practice seems to completely elude so many American dancers that we find ourselves talking about it again and again -- usually with very little positive result. Today, I'd like to talk about why I think this problem persists, and possibly how each of us can do our part in trying to fix it.

The concept of maintaining the line of dance is very direct in its simplest form:

Tango is traditionally defined by progressive movement; i.e., people moving counterclockwise around a dance floor more or less continuously. This well-established convention enables a group of dancers to interact predictably and comfortably while navigating a crowded room.

The problem with this concept is that in order to maintain line of dance with absolute certainty, all the leaders in the room would have to agree to do nothing more than continually walk forward, while all the followers would continually move backward, nobody would be able to stop or slow down, and giving in to any kind of individual creative impulse would be virtually impossible.

How would that way of dancing Tango work for you? It sure wouldn't work for me.

Let's say that I had been born and raised in Buenos Aires (rather than Brooklyn). Let's say that my initial introduction to Tango involved going to a social dance with family or friends. Okay, given those circumstances, it's possible that I might have been very pleased to learn the more gentle art of social dancing -- in order to do what my friends were doing. In order to be a part of the social swim. I mean, all my buddies would know that nobody in Argentina does stage stuff on the social dance floor, right? It's just unheard of. (Ahem ....)

Anyway, getting back to the ideal world, like most Americans, my first exposure to Tango was watching people dancing on stage. It just took my breath away. I fell hopelessly in love. I became instantly hooked. I thought, "I want to look like those guys. Get me a teacher now!"

So, what if my teacher had said, "Okay we're going to learn to walk around the room non-stop without ever doing any of the fancy stuff." I'm sure my response would have been, "I want another teacher." Or maybe, "Oh yeah? Well, I quit!"

Have I spelled out the dilemma I, you, we, face? Strict, one-note, robot-like, rat-in-the-maze social dancing versus the unbridled ecstasy of the stage?

Of course, this way of thinking is ridiculous. Yet many, if not most, students in America seem to find themselves caught up in this unrealistic fantasy. They approach learning Tango as an exercise in accumulating -- and dancing -- as many elaborate stage sequences as possible, while completely neglecting the less dramatic -- but crucially important -- elements of basic movement within the social dance. Because their focus is exclusively on displaying their own prowess, they tend to disrupt -- if not completely destroy -- the line of dance. Quite often, they actually place themselves and their peers in danger.

Does this describe you? I myself have certainly been guilty of such breaches of the delicate social dance contract from time to time.

Ultimately, I think that what we need on the social dance floor is compromise. Yes, of course, it's fine to get all excited about learning all that material we see on stage, on YouTube, and in lessons with the "stars." As skilled social dancers, however, we have to find a way to integrate such material into a well-practiced habit of taking care of everyone around us.

We know that the norm is to maintain a consistent line of dance. So that idea has to sit front and center in our consciousness as a primary goal, whenever we find ourselves on the dance floor. Our ongoing challenge will be to pick just the right moment, when we feel that it's safe to introduce a complex element into the mix. Sometimes, it will work. At other times, we'll have to abort a particular sequence in order to maintain our first responsibility - the comfort and safety of other people in the room.

Does this sound like a plan? Let's all try it, and see whether maintaining the line of dance as a primary goal makes things better for everyone on the dance floor.

If you attended Fran and Pat's recent

special intensive workshop at Dance Manhattan,

"10 Must-Have Tango Moves You Should Know,"

the DVD of the entire event is ready and waiting for you right now.

We've noticed that some of you haven't picked up your DVD of our workshop at Dance Manhattan. If you weren't able to be there, but you'd now like to have access to these unique figures from some of the world's premier Tango dancers, you can buy the DVD for $49.95. If you participated in the workshop, you can pick up the DVD for the very low, discounted price of $25.

We've had lots of positive feedback from people who have already purchased the DVD, many of whom have been happy to see themselves right there on screen. Want a copy for yourself? All you have to do is fill out the attached order form, and send it to us along with a check for your purchase. Please also include $6 for priority shipping. If you prefer, you can bring cash or check either to the Argentine Consulate (Wednesdays), to our practica at Dance Manhattan (Saturdays), or to Firehouse Tango (Thursdays). We'll have copies of the DVD with us, ready to go.

As a reminder of what you experienced at our workshop. here's a listing of the ten individual figures Pat and I taught that day. By the way, we're so pleased with your response to this event that we're already planning an exciting follow-up -- "10 MORE Must-Have Tango Moves You Should Know!" We'll let you know the details as to when and where very soon! In the meantime, if you have any questions, be sure to contact us at franchesleigh@mac.com. And please don't forget to practice, practice, practice!

1.   Osvaldo Zotto's traspie with back ocho

2.   Virulazo's (Jorge Martin Orcaizaguirre) hook

3.   Julio Balmaceda's molinete with enrosque

4.   Pat's favorite adorno sequences

5.   Virulazo's (Jorge Martin Orcaizaguirre) arrastre

6.   Fran Chesleigh's forced cross

7.   Gustavo Naveira's back sacada

8.   Orlando Paiva's double sacada

9.   El Pulpo's (Norberto Esbrez) cross release

10. Osvaldo Zotto's molinete with lapiz and double cross

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 Lopez
• Steve Maisch
• steve turi
• Bob Brillo
• Jesse Barton
  
• Debbie Glaser
  
• Elena Titova
  
• Tsipoyra
  

• Barbara Lombardi - Pretzels & Dip
  
• Mary Pagano - Candy
• Bonny Yankauer - Guacamole & Chips
• Jack Block - Cider

• Rifky Mackeen
• Annette Palermo
• Bill Krukovsky
• Jean Shedlock
• Enrique Zuniga
• Bonny Yankauer
• George Ngo
  
• Jack Messing
• Horatio Piccioni
• Marta Bautis
• Bob Brillo
• Marie and Francis Gregoire
• Terri Lopez