Gifts galore

Thank you all for the outpouring of gifts and good wishes for Joe's birthday.

The birthday dance

I started the birthday tango with Joe, and Terri started with Carl.  After we switched partners, the Firehouse Tangueras went from one to the other.  After three tango's, the dance ended with Joe leading and Steve Turi following. 

The incredible desserts

I brought the strawberry/custard/whipped cream yellow cake topped with that fabulous picture of the handsome birthday boy.  Judy and Herb added a rum raisin ice cream cake from Uncle Louie G's, and Ingrid brought an incredible home-made cherry cake.  It was an unrivaled sweetness-fest.  

From Estelle Stanger

Hi Sue, I haven't been coming to the Firehouse lately because of the insufferable construction delays on the GWB.  I want to wish Joe a very happy birthday and a great year. So sorry I won't be there to celebrate with you. but I hope you have a great time.

Love you and miss you a lot. Estelle

From Mary Dinos

Happy Birthday Joe!!! I look forward to the Firehouse newsletters every week! I sure miss all of you! Hopefully soon I will be up visit! Love you guys! With fond memories, Mary 

Joe... Many more!!!

Mary

From Hector Scotti

From June Stahl

Sue -- please wish Joe a very happy birthday -- sorry but I will be in LA tomorrow so I won't be able to be there.  See you soon.

From Brenda Gaines

Hi Sue! I will try to make it if only for a little while. A fellow dancer has a show in Montclair that I promised to attend. Will do my best :)-

Hugs!!

From Ninah Beliavsky

Happy Birthday  Dear Joe!

 My mother and I would like to wish you much health and happiness and of course a million fabulous Tango Tandas!!!!

Dearest Sue and Joe,

I hope that you had an absolutely fantastic celebration tonight!!!!

I am so sorry we were not able to join you. My mother is in Wisconsin and I was helping my daughter pack for college. She will be going away in a few days. 

I hope to see you tomorrow at Hora Cero!

With all our love and Best Wishes,

Eleonora and Ninah

From Jan Tien

Hi, Sue. 
We are unable to come Maywood tomorrow but please help us wishing Joe a very, very, happy Birthday and many more to come. 

From Daniel Singer

Wishing Joe a wonderful Birthday celebration tonight!  Warmest regards, Daniel Singer

From Susan Berardini

Happy birthday to joe!! Sending you both a warm hug from buenos aires!!

 Someone left a pair of black pants in the ladies' room.

On Thursday, September 4 (That's three weeks from now,) Firehouse Tango will be at Victor's Maywood Inn, less than a mile from The Knights of Columbus.   The time and schedule is the same as always. The place will change, the price will be lower, and you CANNOT bring wine.

Please note that we will be going back to our old schedule just for this night.

Victor's Maywood Inn

122 W. Pleasant Avenue
Maywood, N.J. 07607-1235
(201) 843-8022

 http://www.maywoodinn.com/

Thursday, September 5

7:00 - 8:00 PM :                   Beginner lesson with Fran Chesleigh

8:00 - 9:00  PM                     Intermediate Lesson with Fran Chesleigh

9:00 - 11:00 PM                   Milonga

Admission is only $10 and includes lessons and milonga.  The Maywood Inn has an excellent menu and bar.  We encourage you to try both.  Please do not bring wine.

For additional information, call Sue at 201-825-1570

DIRECTIONS TO VICTOR'S MAYWOOD INN -

FROM KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS HALL - GOING TOWARDS MAYWOOD AVE

Start going northwest on Grove Avenue towards Elm St to Maywood Avenue.  Make a left on Maywood Avenue. Take the 3rd right onto W Passaic St.  Go .3 miles and turn right onto Lincoln Avenue.  Go .08 miles and turn right onto West Pleasant Avenue. Victor's Maywood Inn is on the right at 122 W Pleasant Avenue (two-way street with a middle divider).

 ROUTE 17, NORTH

Exit at the Passaic Street, Rochelle Park - Maywood Exit. Go right on Passaic Street towards Maywood. Continue on Passaic Street about 5 blocks to Spencer Joseph Way. Make left onto Spencer Joseph Way and proceed to our parking lot on left.

ROUTE 17, SOUTH

Exit onto Route 4, East, and follow directions for Route 4, East.

GARDEN STATE PARKWAY, NORTH

Exit after the Bergen Toll Plaza at Exit 160. Make a right onto Passaic Street (towards Maywood) about 1 1/4 miles, to Spencer Joseph Way. Make left onto Spencer Joseph Way and proceed to our parking lot on left.

GARDEN STATE PARKWAY, SOUTH

Take Exit 163 onto Route 17, South, in Paramus and exit onto Route 4, East, and follow directions for Route 4 East.

ROUTE 4, EAST

Exit in Paramus at Spring Valley Road, Oradell / Maywood Exit. Continue toward Maywood on Spring Valley Road to West Pleasant Avenue. Make a left onto West Pleasant Avenue (two-way street with a middle divider). Victor's Maywood Inn is on the right about 2 1/2 blocks.

ROUTE 4, WEST

Take the Paramus exit. Exit is after the underpass and marked "Bergen Mall Entrance". At the end of the exit make a right onto Forest Avenue. Forest Avenue will turn into Maywood Avenue, continue south on Maywood Avenue to West Pleasant Avenue (at light). Make right onto West Pleasant Avenue (two-way street with a middle divider). Victor's Maywood Inn is on the left about 3 blocks.

ROUTE 80, EAST

Exit 62 to the Garden State Parkway North and follow the directions for the Garden State Parkway, North

ROUTE 80, WEST

Exit 63A to Route 17 North and follow directions for Route 17, North.

Our friend OCTAVIO BRUNETTI has been in the hospital since August 3rd and is fighting a severe bacterial infection that is life-threatening. The doctors continue to search for the location of the infection and the cure, but so far they have not found it. Every hour counts for him, as every cent counts for his family, who will have to face huge medical bills. We decided to start this fundraising campaign so that we can all raise money and support Octavio's during this difficult time.

(Maestro Brunetti is a distinguished pianist, composer, arranger and educator from Argentina and based in New York. He's traveled the world playing Argentine tango and his most recent concert was the Octavio Brunetti Tango Orchestra at the Midsummer Night Swing festival at Lincoln Center in this July).

Nuestro amigo OCTAVIO BRUNETTI ingreso a un hospital de NY el 3 de agosto y está luchando cada minuto por sobrevivir a una infección bacteriana muy severa. Los médicos siguen tratando de descubrir donde reside la infección, y como combatirla, pero no encuentran como curarlo todavía. Cada hora cuenta para él, y cada centavo cuenta para su familia, que debe afrontar enormes gastos médicos. Decidimos ofrecer este medio para que todos podamos ayudar a juntar esos fondos y sostener a la familia de Octavio para afrontar este momento tan difícil.

(El Maestro Brunetti es un destacado pianista, compositor, arreglador y docente argentino residente en NY; ha recorrido extensa parte del mundo llevando el tango argentino. El último trabajo realizado en NY fue dirigiendo su orquesta, en el festival "Midsummer Night Swing" en el Lincoln Center de NY en julio de este año).


Thank you for your love and support. Gracias por su amor y apoyo.

-Friends of the Brunetti Family.

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Slow down, please. Slow down, pretty please. Slow down, pretty please with sugar on top. For cryin' out loud, slow down!

Please.

One of the things I'm constantly asking leaders to do is slow down. When they finally manage to accomplish this, their Tango begins to get better very quickly. But most leaders have a lot of trouble finding a way to put the brakes on. Let's talk about why this is, and what can be done about it.

There are several reasons why speed takes control of a leader, some conscious, some not. On a conscious level, moving quickly feels good. It feels like dancing. Continuous movement is certainly what people are used to in this country; i.e., for those who grew up dancing such progressive dances as Foxtrot, Waltz, American Tango, Quickstep, etc. Even if you've never actually learned one of these dances, you've seen them in the movies at one time or another. And what have you seen -- people moving continuously and often rather quickly.

On an unconscious level, there are lots of very compelling reasons why a leader prefers continuous movement. Right off the bat, there's inertia. A body in motion tends (wants to) remain in motion. Once you start moving, it feels better to keep going than to stop. Related to this is the idea of balance. Coming to a stop after every step -- or at least slowing down significantly -- means that you've got to find upright balance from one step to another -- rather than being able to just tilt into the next movement.

Not easy.

Finally, and crucially, there's your partner. If she's like you, she doesn't feel good about stopping at the end of every step either. Her tendency, like yours, is to keep on going. Yes, she may have been told by teacher after teacher that the follower's role in Tango is to take the step that's been led, then come to a stop, waiting for the next lead. But she's been dancing with so many leaders who just keep going and going non-stop that at this point she's probably into the habit of not stopping until the dance is over. So even if you try to stop or slow down at the end of your steps, she'll keep going and pull you right off balance.

In the abstract, we have to accept the fact that Tango is a dance which does not involve continuous motion. Of course, when we watch performers doing their thing, we see lots of extravagant, flowing, fast-moving choreography. That's what impresses audiences. But social dancing is completely different. If you've ever been to Buenos Aires for example, you know that the dance floors are absolutely packed with dancers. This means that any kind of elaborate, continuous movement would be impossible. Dancing Tango one step at a time, therefore, is a practical reality.

In the good old U.S.A., of course, we've got lots of room on the dance floors. Even on relatively crowded floors there always just enough space to do that new combination we just grabbed off YouTube. Okay, maybe we accidentally bump into a few people. But they're all busy doing the same thing; so it's all good, right? No, it's not all right. It's mayhem.

Okay, this is the problem. How do we fix it?

The short answer is that we slow down. We stop acting as if Tango were a series of fast, continuous movements. Instead, we recognize that each individual step has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning of each step contains the lead and the follow. The middle contains the actual movement or travel. And the end contains the balance, the return to stasis. In Tango -- even when we're moving sequentially; i.e., using a "continuous" series of steps strung together -- we acknowledge the end of each individual movement before embarking upon the next one. And in order to do this, we have no choice but to -- you guessed it -- slow down.

One other thing you can do is to shift your focus from moving accurately and quickly through any given memorized sequence (in the same way a performer might do), and instead concentrate on the comfort level of your partner at the end of each individual movement within that sequence.

Try slowing your Tango down, and see how your dancing improves almost immediately. You'll feel better, your partners will line up to dance with you, and I'll breathe a sigh of relief that there's one less speed demon racing out of control around the dance floor.

with Fran Chesleigh and Pat Altman

Sunday, August 17

12:30 -- 3:30 P.M.

One of the most satisfying -- and challenging -- moves you can make in Tango is molinete, when the follower glides around the leader in an effortless "grapevine" as he turns in place with perfect balance.

Molinete Magic! is a fast-paced, 3-hour, intensive Tango workshop that will help you build your molinete right from its basic foundations all the way to a host of advanced accompaniments and adornments.

Here are some hot spots:

·      Learn the basic followers' techniques for perfect execution of molinete.

·      Discover how a skilled leader initiates, controls, and concludes the flow of molinete.

·      Enhance your molinete with an exciting vocabulary of followers' adornment.

·      Make some advanced leaders' moves such as aguja, enrosque, rulo, and lapis.

Molinete Magic! offers you a unique opportunity to transform your Tango, Vals and Milonga into the polished, seriously authentic dances you've been working so hard to achieve.

Don't miss it!

Prepaid by Friday, August 15: $35 per person

Standard price: $40 per person

No refunds. No exchanges.

Dance Manhattan

Ballroom,Swing and Latin Dance Studio

39-47 West 19th Street, 5th Floor

New York, NY

1-212-807-0802

dancemanhattan.com

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.

 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:

August 9th, 1906. LUCIO DEMARE is born. Pianist, composer and conductor: excellent in all three professions. As a young man, he worked as a pianist in Paris and in other European capitals. In 1938 he formed his own orchestra, one of the most elegant of the decade of the '40's. His style belongs to the so-called romantic school, also known as tango romanza. He composed the music of the beauty we are listening to here.

 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 - New this week

MPTango Presents Eduardo "El Nene" Masci at PractiMilonguero

Click on cc underneath the screen for English subtitles.

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

Ballroom Dance Resort Weekend: September 12-14, 2014

 Joe and I are planning to attend this weekend.  Let me know if you would like to sit with us (firehousetango@gmail.com .) 

This is our 99th dance weekend!  We are pleased to introduce you to the new HONOR'S HAVEN RESORT & SPA (formally known as the Fallsview Resort).  Located only 90 miles from New York City and Albany on a 250 acre private estate with spectacular surroundings and glorious views of the Shawangunk Mountains.  The new ownership has renovated all the public spaces and the hotel grounds.  Best of all, they have thousands of square feet of wooden dance floor. Honor's Haven Resort also has the finest chef in the Hudson Valley, making it the perfect dance venue!

• Overnight Accommodations at Full Service Resort
• 7 Meals
• Champagne & Wine Reception
• Open Bar Cocktail Party & Smorgasbord
• Over 50 Dance Workshops
• Night & Day Dancing to 4 Great DJ's 
• Swing Shift Orchestra
• Great Gatsby Theme Saturday Night
• Dancing During Lunch & Dinner
• Top Nite Club Entertainment Each Evening
• Friday Lunch is on us! (Served from 1 - 2 PM)
• Your choice - Separate Dance Facilities for Latin, Ballroom, Argentine Tango, & Hustle/West Coast Swing
• Special Thursday Night Package (Join us for our Stardust Mixer Thursday Night to meet old and new friends)
• Call for more information 800-537-2797 (Monday-Friday 9am - 5pm) Outside USA & Canada 845-794-4707
• DAY PACKAGES AVAILABLE (based on availability, limited space) - Click here for info!

 *For more information click here --> Dance Weekend FAQ Section

OVER 50 DANCE WORKSHOPS
Please note: Each class is designed for different levels of proficiency.
Most classes are repeated offering everyone a chance to learn these stylish new steps.
(A) Beginner     (B) Intermediate     (C) Advanced

*SPECIAL WORKSHOPS*
2 Hour Salsa Workshop
2 Hour West Coast Swing Workshop
2 Hour Argentine Tango Workshop
*2 Hour Hustle Workshop

Click Here to Meet The Stardust Dance Faculty

A little bit of Buenos Aires in Franklin Lakes, NJ 

Next Milonga - Saturday, August 16th, 2014

Special guest instructor - Silvana Brizuela-Weigel

Silvana studied Tango with the best instructors in Buenos Aires.

She has performed and taught Tango at numerous and noteworthy venues and shows in

Buenos Aires, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and Pennsylvania.

More information at http://www.bostontango.org/silvana-brizuela.html

Silvana's 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

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

• Tsipoyra Sartan
• Steve Turi
  
• Elena Titova
  
• Debbie Glaser
• Walter Milani
• Judy Saul
• Sheela M
• Sydney St. James
• Mike Porro

Terri Lopez

I want to offer a very special thank you to Terri Lopez.  Terri does too many things to list, but I'll name a few. 

By the time Joe and I arrive every Thursday, the doors and cabinets are opened, the tables are set up and covered, the coffee is made, the dishes, trays, and utensils are out, and we are almost ready to relax and have a drink.  During the night, she is our official greeter who makes sure that everyone is comfortable.  At the end of the night, she cleans up and makes sure that everything is put away in its proper place. 

Tonight, without even telling her, I announced that Terri would start the birthday dance with Carl while I started with Joe.  Of course, she  complied happily.  Oh, did I mention the huge tray of arroz con pollo she cooked for the celebration?

Without Terri, available for all this, we would have to close up shop.

• George Ngo - Banana chips and grapes
• Camille - Pretzels
• George Ngo - Grapes
  
• Debbie Glasser - Blueberry bars
• Bonny - Guacamole and chips 
  
• Herb and Judy - Ice Cream cake
  
• Eva Roth - Chicken with tomato
  
• Ingrid Jacob - Cherry Pie

• Bill Krukovsky
• Walter Milami
• Camille
  
• George Ngo
• Edna Negron
• 
  
• Horatio Piccioni Horatio Piccioni
• Ingrid and Karl Jacob