No question about it: the new schedule is on.  I am amazed at how many people stay until the very last minute.  I love it!

From now on, the beginner lesson will go from 7:00 to 7:30 and the intermediate lesson from 7:30 to 8:30, Dinner and dancing 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.

Last Thursday, July 3 - Special birthday of John Wynne

What fun dancing the birthday milonga and tango for John's seventieth!  Judy started, I insisted on being second, and than the tangueras, and finally  Steve Turi and Andrew Gauld showed off their following skills.  John was beaming through the entire night. 

Judy baked a German chocolate cake and brownies.  Hilda brought two flans.  The desserts were luscious.

Here's John's note:

Hi Sue,

I want to say thank you for a wonderful night. Judy and I had a great time. Hopefully all the ladies (and men) I danced with enjoyed the birthday dance as much as I did.  Now, I have to start acting my age...naw, that will never happen!

John

My resolutions for 2014

1.      Keep improving my español and study Spanish every day

2.     Keep visiting Buenos Aires

3.     Shorten this newsletter (or at least try)

4.    Exercise every day when I'm at home and try to continue when I'm on the road

How did I do?

 Buenos Aires

We spent five weeks in Buenos Aires last year.  Our group trip in November is on, so we'll go at least once in 2014.  Joe and I would have liked to try to squeeze in one more time before that, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. 

Spanish

I've been working very hard on my Spanish, which has improved greatly, but it's never enough for me.  I'm now taking one group class every week. 

Because of vacation and World Cup, I missed a few of my lunch "habla"  meetings with Hilda and Horatio.  However, I'm back and ready, willing, and more or less able to return to my path toward fluidez.   

To my Spanish speaking amigos: Please keep "hablando espanol conmigo", no matter how much I might resist.

Newsletter

In an effort to shorten this newsletter, I replaced most of my New York and New Jersey tango listing with a link to Richard Lipkin's web page.  It is comprehensive and up to date.  Check it out.  http://www.newyorktango.com/NJTango.htm

Exercise

I'm sorry to say that I blew it big time.  Once again, it was the vacation in San Francisco.  After missing the day of my flight, I developed a what-the-hell attitude.  I am not proud, but I am back on the right path.  I've returned to doing my 20 minutes every morning. 

 Tonight, to celebrate 100 years of Troilo (one of the most important figures of tango history), I played many of his selections.

Aníbal Carmelo Troilo (July 11, 1914 - May 18, 1975 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentine tango musician.

Troilo was a bandoneon player, composer, arranger and bandleader in Argentina. His orquesta típica was among the most popular with social dancers during the golden age of tango (1940-1955), but he changed to a concert sound by the late 1950s.

Troilo's orchestra is best known for its instrumentals and also recorded with many vocalists, such as Francisco Fiorentino, Alberto Marino, Floreal Ruiz, Roberto Goyeneche, Raul Beron, and Edmundo Rivero. The rhythmic instrumentals and the recordings with vocalist Francisco Fiorentino from 1940-41 are the favorite recordings for social dancing in contemporary tango salons (milongas). The renowned bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla played in and arranged for his orquesta típica during the period 1939-1944.

 * Wikipedia

One hundred years of Troilo at Monica Paz Studio in Buenos Aires

1914 - 2014, 100 years with Troilo by Osvaldo Natucci  Upon completing 100 years since the birth of Aníbal Troilo in MPTango,  we pay homage to the great musician and his sensitive being. We will discuss the memorable facts of his life. Who he was, how he came to the consecrated,  and what he bequeathed to us.  Chat and debate if you want to participate, register at http://mptango.com/troilo100.html

Celebrate Tango
Gayatri Martin , Director
220 East 26 Street.
New York, NY 10010

212.725.1078

info@celebratetango.com

http://celebratetango.wix.com/celebratetango#!schedule/con8

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. "How do I learn to dance Tango?" For the past three weeks, we've been exploring multiple responses to this question. On June 12, we suggested one possible answer -- to imitate our favorite dancers. On June 19, we examined the importance of becoming a good student. And last week, June 26, we looked at how getting the right information is crucial to the learning process. (If you'd like to read the full text of these Tips, you'll find them in our Tango Tip of the Week archives on the Firehouse Tango Web site.)

Today, we're going to talk about finding a good teacher. This might, at first, appear to be a fairly easy proposition -- because there are a lot of Tango teachers out there. In fact, these days, I sometimes think that there are more teachers in our Tango community than students. If you happen to be a follower, for example, you've no doubt observed that the overwhelming majority of leaders you've encountered actually believe that they're teachers. I don't know how or why they came to this conclusion; but it's true. (We could, of course, talk about how this behavior generally reflects deep-seated insecurity and low self esteem on their part. But we'll save that as a topic for another time.)

If you decide that you want to learn how to dance Tango, and you're looking for a teacher, you probably start out with the very plausible assumption that all teachers are basically the same. We all have the same information; we all know how to teach (I mean, after all, that's our job!); we can all get you expertly and efficiently from point "A" ( not knowing how to dance Tango at all) to point "B" (becoming the greatest Tango dancer who ever lived).

Right?

The problem here is that this assumption just isn't true. A great many people teaching Tango today aren't really teachers at all. They're either people who currently dance Tango, and have decided to appoint themselves as teachers. Or they're professional performers, who are trying to supplement their income through teaching. The problem with performers tends to be that notwithstanding their admirable talent, dedication and skill as performers, nowhere in that equation do we necessarily find an ability to teach. In fact, as we've seen for ourselves so often over the years, most performers reduce the teaching of Tango to a potpourri of elaborate memorized steps. (Yeah, yeah, I know: that's exactly what most students really want.) And as to the self-appointed teachers, it's not that they don't know how to dance. It's not that they aren't nice, well-meaning pillars of the community. It's just that they really don't have either the experience or skills necessary to teach.

So, given the fact that all Tango teachers are not the same, the burden of finding the right one for your needs unfortunately lands squarely on you. How do you go about this somewhat daunting process? In my opinion, the first thing to do is watch them teach. Not perform, teach. If they're offering regular classes somewhere, try one out for a month or so. This will give you a good idea as to whether you can stand being in the same room with them week after week as a class or private student. While you're there, ask their other students what they think? Furthermore, try to determine whether the students themselves seem to be actually learning how to dance? (This won't be easy, if you're a newbie, but try anyway.)

Finally, ask yourself about your own personal commitment to learning how to dance Tango. If you just want to dip your toe in the water a bit, and have a little fun, it really doesn't matter who the teacher is. But if you actually want to learn something, if you want to build a foundation for enjoying this unique dance for the rest of your life, do your homework and find the right teacher. It will save you hours -- maybe years -- of wasted time, energy and frustration.

 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:

July 3rd, 1947: Date when Alfredo de Angelis records the vals FLORES DEL ALMA sung by a wonderful duo. In 1941 the first De Angelis' singer was Héctor Morea who never got to record, however. In 1943 Floreal Ruiz and Julio Martel joined him. The following year Troilo contracted Ruiz and his place with De Angelis was taken by Carlos Dante. The duo Martel-Dante will continue singing together until 1951. (This is a great vals, and I played it at Firehouse tonight.)

 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

Last Friday I attended the afternoon milonga at Triangulo.  It was especially wonderful with live music (JP Jofre) and a seventh anniversary celebration for the afternoon milonga!  Midway through the milonga when Rich spoke, he mentioned that he and Maura were interviewed on Recuerdo Radio.  Would it be appropriate to include the link in your newsletter?  The interview is listed in the archives- April 22.

Sue's response

Pat,

I just finished listening to the interview, and it's wonderful.  Thank you so much for letting me know about it.  I identify with what Rich and Maura have to say.  Not only that, but I liked one of the tangos that they played (El Gato) so much that I ordered the CD.

(Lucille Krasne was interviewed on June 30th.)

Sue

http://www.recuerdoradio.com/

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
• Tony Mele
  
• Tsipoyra Sartan
• Steve Maisch
  
• Steve turi
• Lynn Gross
  
• Rafael and Hilda
• Sydney St. James
• Elena Titova
  
• Walter Milani
  

• Sydney St. James - Chips & Dip
• Bonny - Guacamole & Chips
• Jack Block - Cheese
• Judy Wynne - Cake & Brownies
• Hilda - Two flans
  

• Mary Pagano
• Walter Milani
• George Ngo
• Bob Brillo
• Horatio Piccioni
• Eduardo Campos
• Terri Lopez