14-09-11 - Next Week (Thursday, September 18) - Walter and Gay Monteblanco 5th Anniversary

Published: Fri, 09/12/14

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September 11, 2014 Newsletter

Celebrations


Next Thursday, September 18

Fifth anniversary of Walter and Gay Monteblanco


Can it be five years since we rejoiced at the marriage of our very good friends Walter and Gay?  We will remember their anniversary with great joy next Thursday. 

After the couple starts the celebratory dance,  I will make sure to be the first lady to cut in on Walter.  Terri will certainly be second, and a free-for-all will follow.  Gay is a beautiful dancer, so you guys can and should fight for the chance to tango with her.  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. 



Last Thursday, September 11

Birthday of Tsipoyra Sartan
                                                                               
 Tsipoyra has been with us since the beginning.  She is an indispensable part of Firehouse Tango, and we are thrilled to have been able to celebrate her birthday. Our lucky Firehouse Tangueros took turns cutting in for the birthday tango with this lovely lady.  

Tsipoyra's sister, as always, made a fabulous looking, and equally fabulous tasting, confection - white with raspberries and not to be believed.



Birthday of Herb Goodfried

 
Herb celebrated his birthday last Thursday,  sin baile (without a dance) but with a luscious rum raisin ice cream cake from Uncle Louie G's, his favorite - brought by Judy.   We are delighted to be able to take what we can get from this terrific guy.


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



Reader's Corner
We welcome readers' contributions about Argentine Tango in general and Firehouse Tango in particular. Send your thoughts to firehousetango@gmail.com  We welcome readers' contributions about Argentine Tango in general and Firehouse Tango in particular. Send your thoughts to firehousetango@gmail.com


From Horatio Piccioni

As usual I enjoyed the tango nights at the Firehouse. The group contains one of the most interesting galleria de personajes, where you can find almost everything in a short space of time. Together with a couple of milongas in BA. (also organized by women,)  it represents the most authentic expression of social tango. Felicitaciones a la organizadora. Chau

La Organizadora {Sue} is honored to receive this lovely note praising Firehouse Tango from my "maestro de español".


Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) at Firehouse Tango on Thursday, October 2  You don't have to be  Jewish to contribute a dish

  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, October 2nd..  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 a sample of what we have had in previous years at this ethnic feast:
 

Sue Dallon       brisket, carrots, potatoes,  Magic Cookie Bars

Joe Dallon        Apples and honey from Joe's bees

Judy Assisi and Herb Goodfried    Sephardic Dried Fruit Compote Dessert

Marion Levine      Salt noodle pudding

Jack Mandelberger   Lamb stew

Janice Garfinkle        Potato kugel

Faye and Lou Levine    Fresh pineapple

Tsipoyra Sartan        Chopped liver

Judy Saul                  Holiday rice

Jack Block                Tsimmes

Bonny Yankauer        Chopped liver and pickled herring

Jean Gastfriend and Steven Herbst        Salad

Georgina Blitzer            Apple cake and challah

Judy Saul                  Holiday rice
 
Nonna and Joseph    Tabouli and roasted potatoes

Norma Arias              Roasted carrots and fennel
 
Eva Roth                    Cheesecake



Tango Tip of the week

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. One of the things that makes Argentine Tango so difficult for people in this country to learn is the preconception we have that dance equals motion. Without questioning it, the overwhelming majority of us take for granted that whether we're talking about ballet, jazz, tap, modern, folk, or social partner dancing, when we dance, we move. The dance starts; we move through space. The dance is over; we stop.

Does this sound like what you think? That's what I always believed. I wouldn't say that I had a conscious idea in my head that dance equals motion -- but if someone were to ask me "What does dancing look like?" -- I would certainly have answered something like, "People moving through space."

Wouldn't you? It's a given.  It's just how we perceive dancing to be -- people in motion.

Okay, so what's wrong with that? Well, nothing at all, if you're dancing, let's say, American Foxtrot. But Tango -- I mean, Argentine Tango -- is a whole different story. Do you remember hearing me say "Tango is a dance of motion and stillness" during our dance lessons? I went on to say -- and I now repeat, " In Tango, learning to stop, or to remain in la pausa is every bit as important as learning to move." (I'm sure you vividly recall that little tidbit, right?)

All right, now we're getting somewhere. Learning how to dance Tango means incorporating this unique idea into our minds. Sometimes we travel through space; sometimes we remain in place. This leads me -- and, I hope, eventually you -- to the idea that developing skill as both a leader and follower in Tango involves the proper execution of a single step. That's right, just one individual step. To be good at dancing Tango, you have to be able to:

Start each step through the complex mechanism that we call "lead/follow."

Travel through space as a result of the lead/follow invitation.

Come to a perfectly balanced stop at the end of the movement.

Notice that I didn't say that you have to be able to make a smooth transition to the next movement. I would have said that, if I were teaching Foxtrot. And I would have spelled out in detail exactly how I think you should go about the process of making a smooth transition. But we're talking about Tango here. Making a smooth transition to the next step is (in my opinion, at least) secondary to learning how to come to a balanced stop at the end of each step.

So, what can you do with this information? If you're a leader, you can start learning to come to rest at the end of each step in your dance. I'm not saying that you have to dance Tango like this forever. I'm just trying to encourage you to learn this crucial skill as a primary part of your learning process. Once you've assimilated how to come to a stop in balance, phase two is to learn how to continue by leading and accompanying one or more additional steps, each of which contains the potential for a stop at its completion.

If you're a follower, you can begin to recognize that in social Tango you have no idea from one step to the next what your leader has in mind. The implication of this is that you need to overcome the inclination to keep moving -- a very powerful inclination, as you know by now -- and assume that every step you're led to take involves coming to a balanced stop at its completion.

I teach an exercise, which I call "single-step motion," which incorporates this skill. It involves having the leader invite each movement -- forward, backward, side, and in-place -- with definite stops after each step. You may have experienced this exercise during one of our lessons. If you're like most new leaders, you may have thought to yourself, "Why is Fran wasting time with this useless exercise, when we could be working on some nice, fancy sequence like they do on YouTube?" If you're like most new followers, you might have thought, "Why do I have to learn how to stop -- nobody ever leads me to do this on the dance floor; in fact, they never stop moving."

My response to these thoughts is this. The good dancers in Argentina take the notion of coming to stops at the ends of steps absolutely for granted. In fact, I once asked a well-known teacher from Argentina how he felt about this unique idea of (at least potentially) stopping between steps. He said, "We do that as a matter of course, don't you?" Remember that unconscious mindset we have about dance equaling traveling, which I described above?  The Argentine mindset seems to be exactly the opposite of ours.

The bottom line here is that if we want to learn to dance their way, we have to start by becoming aware that Argentine dancers think quite differently from the way we do, and don't realize it. Then, we have to adopt their idea of conceptualizing the way to move -- exactly what I've been talking about throughout this Tango Tip -- and learn for ourselves how to develop this skill.

Let's start now.

Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dance Manhattan

 

Every Saturday, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Dance Manhattan, Fran and Pat host a special beginner/intermediate practice, geared toward helping you bring 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 material you're working on. If you'd like a private lesson, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com. For the practice, all you have to do is arrive with $10 and your dance shoes in hand.

 

View Monica Paz' terrific tango Facebook posts - my pick from this week is below 

 

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

 

September 11th, 1955

 

FRANCISCO FIORENTINO dies. Bandoneonist, composer and singer. With Aníbal Troilo he was a brilliant example of vocalist in an orchestra for dancing. His artistic life with Pichuco lasted six years during which they recorded approximately sixty-one themes (twice MALENA). The vast majority of these recordings were excellent, something unparalleled in tango. The title of the first one was a premonition: here it is.

♫ YO SOY EL TANGO. Aníbal Troilo y Francisco Fiorentino (1941)

Note from Sue - This is one of my favorite tangoes.  Make sure to listen to it on Monica's calendar.  The link is below.


⊙ CD Nº6 Colección Natucci (40 CD)

 

Here is the Facebook link to see Monica's tango calendar:

 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 Eduardo "El Nene" Masci at PractiMilonguero

Click on cc underneath the screen for English subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBECqsZMnl0&feature=youtu.be 


 

Sunday Tango Package at Stardust Dance Weekend  - This Sunday, September 14

Sunday Tango Package

If you can't come for the weekend, try the wonderful tango package on Sunday, September 14.  It's a little more than an hour from us and well worth the drive. You must contact Ilene Marder in advance if you are planning to go.  Here is a link with all of the information. 

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1412147145



Los Pitucos Milonga -  Saturday, Sept. 20 

 

Special guest teachers and performers - Carolina Jaurena & Andres Bravo

 

Andres & Carolina are one of the best known Tango performing couples and Instructors in the New York City area.

Expect a great Tango performance...

More information about them at http://www.andresycarolina.com/

Class at 7:00pm, social dancing from 8:00pm
Couples, singles and beginners welcome!

Admission $15, including home cooked "delight"

         Location: VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars)

                                     725 Franklin Avenue (corner of Pulis Avenue)
           Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417

                                       For directions click here                            

For more information contact us at:
info@lospitucos.com

and visit our website at
http://lospitucos.com

 Facebook Members: Please join Los Pitucos Milonga group by clicking here

Domingo Tango Club - Returns October 5th 

We look forward to the reopening of Domingo Tango Club after a well-deserved summer break.   This is our favorite New York milonga with our favorite New York DJ, Rich Ariza.


Sunday Evening:

6:30 'till 10:30 PM

hosted by Richard & Eddie


TRIANGULO

135 West 20th Street, Suie 301
New York, NY 10011

(212) 633-6445
Our cancellation policy - We STILL rarely cancel
    
In spite of the fact that we have cancelled twice this year, we STILL 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  seven or eight times in all these years - including, unfortunately, the first scheduled milonga of 2014), 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.


 

A final thank you

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

 
    • Tsypoyra Sartan
    • Elena Titova
    • Elena Syrett
    • Hilda and Rafael
    • Debbie Glaser
    • Steve Maisch
    • steve turi (in absentia)




    And of course, without Terri Lopez, we would have to close up shop.



      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


      • Eva Roth - Chicken with Vegetables
      • Bonny - Guacamole & Chips
      • Herb & Judy - Rum raisin ice cream C
      • cake - Birthday cake
      • Tsipoyra - Birthday cake
      • Glenn K. - Huge box of danish
        And these people brought wine

        • George Ngo
        • Rifky Mackeen
        • Edna Negron
        • Bob Brillo
        • Mike Porro
        • Horatio PiccioniEduar Krukovskysddf
        Tango in New Jersey and New York