February at Firehouse Tango
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February 28 Sue out - A team takes over - Rich Ariza DJ's
Details below
February 21 Joint birthdays of Debbie Glaser, Judy Saul and Nathan Amitai.
Judy Saul had emergency surgery and couldn't participate in the joint birthday celebration. We missed her, and we wish her a speedy recovery. Debbie Glaser and Nathan Amitai celebrated with joy and gusto. Nathan selected valses, and the Firehouse Tangueros and tangueras did not miss this
chance to cut in. Nathan started with Vicky and Debbie with Steve Maisch. In keeping with our tradition, a swing followed, and everyone loved it.
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
Last week, I played Linda Ronstadt cortinas, and next week you'll be treated to music
by Richard Ariza. To start March off, I will use Queen cortinas. I'm waiting for more suggestions for cortinas. Let me know if you have some favorite non tango music, and I will try to play it.
A cortina (curtain) is a short piece (20–60 seconds) of non-dance music that is played between tandas at a milonga (tango dance event). The cortina lets the dancers know that the tanda has ended. The partners can then
without insult thank each other and return to their own tables, to find a new dance partner at the next tanda. Cortinas are used at many of the milongas in Argentina and Uruguay but are increasingly common elsewhere. - Wikipedia
Let us know if you are celebrating an occasion and would like to request special music for that night’s cortinas. We will try very hard to accommodate you.
Save These Dates - Monica Paz April 18-24 and Firehouse Tango on the Hudson August 25
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April 18 - 24, 2019
Lessons with Monica Paz in New Jersey Sign up now
Monica Paz, our amazing teacher and friend from Buenos Aires, will be available for limited private lessons in New Jersey from Thursday, April 18th through Wednesday, April 24th. Sign up now while the opportunity still exists. She will visit us at our Firehouse Milonga on Thursday, April
18 and perform her wonderful milonguero style tango. Additionally, she will teach at Los Pitucos Milonga in Oakland on Saturday, April 21st.
Please call me at 201-826-6602 or e mail firehousetango@gmail.com to reserve time for lessons in New Jersey. Her schedule is filling up, so make your reservation soon. I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
She will also be giving private and group lessons in New York City.
For New York registration, please contact Monica at: tangopaz@yahoo.com.ar
www.mptango.com
About Monica
Monica Paz was born and raised in Buenos Aires, and tango has been her full time profession for almost 20 years. She specializes in Tango Milonguero style (with its strong chest-to-chest connection) which she loves to dance with the best old milongueros in the best milongas of Buenos Aires.
Seven years ago, Monica realized her dream of opening her own studio in Buenos Aires (at 30 Riobamba near the Congresso.) If you are in Buenos Aires, I highly recommend checking it out.
Monica has taught extensively all over the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and much of South America. She is currently on a tango tour of the United States.
Monica's web site with interviews of old milongueros
Monica is passionate about preserving the traditions, codes, and history of tango. To this end, she continues pursuing her project of interviewing the precious few remaining old milongueros of Buenos Aires. Their stories and the videos accompanying them, as well as other wonderful
videos of Monica can be found on her web site at www.mptango.com Scroll down for English or Spanish selection.
August 25, 2019
Firehouse Tango and Los Pitucos present Tango on the Hudson - 2019.
From 2006 thru 2013, we hosted our annual Firehouse Tango on the Hudson picnic milonga at the Alpine Pavilion. So many folks have asked us to resume the event, that we're doing it again in 2019. Better yet, for the first time, Felix Pacheco will host with us.
Folks always loved dancing tango and sharing delicious picnic lunches with friends, If you've attended before, you know how great it is. If you haven't, we know you will love it. Don't miss it. Save the date - August 25, 2019.
Sue out February 28 - A Team takes over - Rich Ariza DJ's
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I'm off to visit my favorite city, Buenos Aires, Argentina
I will meet my dear friend Hilda in Buenos Aires and spend ten wonderful days there. Fortunately, I can leave my baby (That would be Firehouse Tango) worry free because I have incredible friends who are more than willing and able to keep the Firehouse fires burning brightly. Please support our wonderful back-up
team.
The logistics - The A Team
Terri Lopez (Wonder(ful) Woman) and Steve Turi (aka Superman) have generously offered to head up our milonga logistics team in addition to their normal invaluable weekly help. The tasks involved in running Firehouse are monumental, and we are incredibly fortunate to have so many fabulous friends willing to step in whenever
needed.
But What about the Music? Rich Ariza
Not to worry. While we are away, your tangos, milongas and valses will be spun by fabulous guest DJ, Rich Ariza. Rich is well known to our Firehouse friends. He has DJ'd for us many times. For years, until they closed, he hosted Triangulo's Friday afternoon milonga. He has also played and continues to do so for many
metripolitan area milongas.
How about the newsletter?
This Firehouse Tango newsletter has been published nearly every week since March, 2002 and thanks to Fran and Pat, the next two weeks will be no exception.
Among his countless talents, our remarkable instructor, Fran Chesleigh, is a professional writer. As always when I am out, he and his equally extraordinary assistant, Pat Altman, flawlessly and with a style of their own, take over the task of writing the Firehouse Tango newsletter. I will send his handiwork out when I
return.
This awesome duo is usually found at “Fran’s Table” in the alcove closest to the DJ table. They are always happy to answer your Tango questions or show you how to do something you might have missed, so make sure to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn from the best.
We welcome readers' contributions about Argentine Tango in general and Firehouse Tango in particular. Send your thoughts to firehousetango@gmail.com
Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. “Why is Tango so hard to learn?” This is a question students ask me all the time. There are, of course, many answers, both technical and artistic; but in my opinion the most crucial challenge for people who want to learn Tango can be stated in a single word: balance.
Here’s a good series of graduated exercises that use the six basic elements of Tango movement as starting points. These exercises are guaranteed to test your individual ability to balance on your own:
La pausa y el cambio de peso en su lugar
I’m talking here about the pause or stop, and the change of weight in place. Stand still with your weight on both feet; then gradually shift your weight to one side, and raise one foot slightly off the ground. Hold that position for fifteen seconds.
Not so bad, right? You can handle that.
El paso al lado
Here comes the side step. Start the same way, both feet on the ground. Shift to one foot, and take a step to one side. At the end of the movement, try maintaining your balance on the foot that just landed — without in any way using the other foot to help you. Don’t forget to hold the position for fifteen seconds.
Slightly more difficult, but doable.
El paso adelante
This is the forward step. And yes, this is where things start to get serious. Try the same exercise, but instead of a step to one side, take a step forward. At the end of the step, don’t fall forward, don’t fall backward, and don’t fall to one side. That’s right, and hang on to that position for fifteen seconds — no use of the other foot to help maintain your balance.
You may need a little practice to get this one right, but I’m sure you’ll succeed — eventually.
El paso atras
All right, here we go with a big one — the back step. Try the same exercise, but this time take a nice, energetic step backward first, then hit that balance sweet spot. This, by the way, is a challenge we ask of followers in Tango all the time. Personally, I find this to be about ten times more difficult than stepping forward first.
Full disclosure: Every time I demonstrate this move in a teaching situation, I take a deep breath and hope for the best — sometimes finding myself teetering a bit. Give it a try, and see what you think.
El pivoteo
Now, it’s time for the monster, otherwise known as the pivot. This time, you're going to place your weight on one foot, then use the ball of that (weight-bearing) foot as a base or fulcrum with which to rotate your body first in one direction, then in the other. Tango dancers use this element routinely in order to execute ochos, molinetes, calicitas, boleos, and other more complex Tango movement sequences. Of course, you’ll once again be maintaining your
balance at the end of the movement for our mandatory fifteen seconds.
Executing the pivot in balance is a real challenge for almost all of us. If you find that you’re able to handle this exercise on your own — extensive ballet or other professional dance training is helpful here — try increasing the degree of difficulty by taking a step forward first, then pivoting ninety degrees, and holding the position. (This will simulate bringing yourself into alignment at the end of a movement such as an ocho.) Hint: If you flex
your knees a bit, it will help.
Once you’re consistently able to find balance at the end of these movements — which for most of us takes a lot of practice — you're ready to begin applying them to the dance partnership. That’s what we’ll be talking about next week.
In the meantime, if you want to put yourself firmly on the road to becoming a good Tango dancer, you know what to do.
Our cancelation policy - We STILL rarely cancel
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Even though we canceled when the thermometer read 3 degrees, 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 my cell phone 201-826-6602. Feel free to leave a message.
We cancel only when absolutely necessary (only about ten times in all these years, 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.
And of course, without Terri Lopez and Steve Turi 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 -
- Henry Kim - Rolled Cookies
- Mary Pagano - Candy
- Barbara Lombardi - Popcorn
- Ingrid Jacob - Pumpkin Bread
And these people brought wine
- Mary Pagano
- Barbara Lombardi
- John Sullivan
- Camille
- Marion & Justin
- Bob Brillo
- John & Fieke Barous
- Francis & Marie
- Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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