Great music, and pea soup, too!

What a wonderful night we had at the Firehouse last Thursday! The fabulous Richard Ariza pulled out some of the most danceable music we’ve heard yet from his great collection – and our Firehouse milongueros were burning up the floor. To make the evening even more memorable, our dear friend Maro put in a rare appearance, and brought with her a huge pot of the most delicious pea soup I’ve ever tasted. We welcomed several newcomers to our party, and greeted lots of old friends as well.

If you have a Thursday free, drop by and join us for the friendliest milonga in town!

The Turi report

Here’s a big shout out and thank you, thank you, to the Clean as a Whistle Firehouse clean-up team! Anyone can whistle but no one can clean like the Firehouse Team!

The hall was sparkling in no time thanks to our devoted friends who pitched in and made fast work of many tasks.

Accolades to:

Elena T.

Edna N.

Marta B.

Mike P.

Diane

Hilda

Steve T.

Steve M.

... and a cordial welcome and thanks to new team member: Sean

… and a special mention for Tsipoyra, who was busy before, during and after our milonga.

Perhaps these folks were inspired by the electric sparks emanating from Terri all evening!

Thanks, too, to all of you for clearing your dishes and glasses. It really makes a big difference in the time and effort it takes to clear the rooms.

Tango tip of the week

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Did you know that my students have to force me to teach them the basics of Tango? When I take on a new dancer, the first thing I tell them is, "You don't need to go through all that boring beginner stuff. We're going to cut to the really advanced material right now, so that you can be dancing like the stars almost immediately." But they always tell me, "No, Fran, I may want the fancy stuff some day; however, right now, please do whatever it takes to teach me how to dance -- because I know that if I try things I'm not ready for, I'll just look like an idiot."

Then, of course, I wake up.

Students almost always put up a fight, when it comes to learning the basics. I know I did, when I was a student. "Just show me the good stuff now," was my idea. "I'll learn all that technique garbage later."

The problem, of course, is that this strategy just doesn't work. It never did, and it never will. As an example of the wrong way to go about the learning process, I know a couple who have been dancing Tango for many years. Since they're very well off financially, they decided early on to throw lots of money at a teacher who was happy to provide them with choreography rather than technique. (Yes, it's true: some of us will do anything to pay the rent.) Within a relatively short time, this couple had amassed enough bought-and-paid-for material that they actually began performing at local dance venues. (The chutzpah some of us have, my friends, is staggering.)

Their dancing was -- to put it mildly -- horrible. But they kept on shelling out the loot, and building their repertoire of stage-dance material, and all their friends kept telling them how great they were -- at least, to their faces.

Eventually, something or someone got to this couple, and they finally began to turn their Tango around. They abruptly dropped the stage dancing, threw out the memorized routines -- yes, they even eliminated the lifts -- and started actually learning how to move with fairly decent technique. Now, after spending enough money to buy their own island, they seem to be back to square one and on the right track. Good for them!

Most of us take a similar -- if not quite as costly -- road to learning Tango. We're impressed by something we see on stage or on YouTube, and we try to find a way to learn that particular thing, because we want to be able to look like those people. If our path is blocked by a teacher who tells us we need to learn how to dance first, we set out to find another teacher. If we're really unfortunate -- as was the couple I described above -- we find someone who's willing to take our money, and keep feeding us junk food dancing until we choke on it. If we're lucky and can only find teachers who have integrity, we either get dragged kicking and screaming into learning the basics (before we embark upon our performance career) -- or we take up something easier like brain surgery instead.

Tango is a difficult dance to learn. In fact, any kind of social dance is tough -- if you really want to learn how to dance rather than simply memorize a bunch of prefabricated dance steps. Alex Trepp, a fine dance teacher whom I had the good fortune to know many years ago, told me about the way his dance school, the John Philips Studio, used to approach the process. "We had 10-week courses for everything," Alex said. "At the end of every course, the student had to dance with the teacher in order to demonstrate that they had really learned the material with good technique. If they passed, they were able to move on to the next level. If not, they had to take that particular 10-week course again. Some students ended up taking any given course three or four times. But they learned."

All I can say about that is, "Wow!" And thank you, Alex Trepp, for being a role model to all of us teachers who are trying our best to do the right thing!

What are your feelings about all this? Would you be willing to make that kind of commitment to your Tango? If so, I know at least one teacher who can't wait to have you as a student.

Just give me a call.

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.