Last Thursday, February 26 - Debbie Glaser, Judy Saul and Nathan Amatai celebrated their joint birthdays
For six years in a row, Debbie
Glaser and Judy Saul had celebrated together at Firehouse for their joint birthday. Two years ago, Nathan Amatai added his birthday to the celebration. It worked beautifully. Tangueros took advantage of and loved this chance to tango with all three of these fabulous dancers and awesome Firehouse friends. For the birthday dance, Nathan started with Vicky, Debbie with Shan and Judy with Jorge. As intended, I got to dance with Nathan right after Vicky. It
was awesome. We're so happy that these three are members of our Firehouse family.
They all brought cakes, and we all had a fabulous sweet-fest.
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
We extend our sympathy to Debbie Glaser on the loss of her father. We are honored that she considers Firehouse Tango her family and has chosen to spend her birthday with us at this difficult time. For those who would like to send messages of sympathy, her address is 31 Hartland Avenue, Emerson, NJ
07630.
Arrangements will be at the Becker Funeral HomeAddress: 219 Kinderkamack Road, Westwood, NJ 07675
Visiting hours will be on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 1-5 p.m. at the Becker Funeral
Home, 219 Kinderkamack Rd., Westwood. A Funeral Service will be held at 3 p.m. during the visiting hours. A private cremation will follow. \
Memorial donations may be made to Villa Marie Claire Hospice and Palliative Service, 12 W. Saddle River Rd., Saddle River, NJ
07458.
Visiting hours will be on Saturday, Feb. 28 from 1-5 p.m. at the Becker Funeral Home, 219 Kinderkamack Rd., Westwood. A Funeral Service will be held at 3 p.m. during the visiting hours. A private cremation will follow. Memorial donations may be made to Villa Marie Claire Hospice and Palliative Service, 12 W. Saddle River Rd., Saddle River, NJ 07458. - See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?n=theodore-kaczala&pid=174251549&fhid=10693#sthash.IDKqV8fb.dpuf
Preuve D'Amour - This Friday, February 27
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Terri and I and a bunch of other Firehouse folks have our tickets in hand, and we're looking forward to seeing lots of our friends there.
We'll see you at this performance at Ramapo College. Information is
below. February 27 @ 7:30 pm - 10:00 pmFriday, February 27, Sharp Theater, 7:30 P.M. Preuve d’Amour/Prueba de Amor/Proof of Love-Paris meets Buenos Aires in this culturally immersive evening of theater, dance and music featuring Argentine theatre artist and Fulbright scholar-in-residence Rafael Bianciotto, Zefiro Theatre from Paris, tango artist Sandra Antognazzi, and
acclaimed musician, Oscar Feldman and his band. The evening begins with Zefiro’s American premiere performance of “Preuve D’Amour” adapted from Roberto Arlt’s, “Prueba de Amor,” a philosophical exploration of love set in Buenos Aires of the 1930s. Following intermission, audience members may join the artists on stage or enjoy the authentic “milonga” from their seats. The evening includes a short tango lesson, exhibition dances, Argentine food and wine. Come be transported! Tickets:
$30 Preuve D’Amour and milonga on stage with the artists and refreshments $25 Preuve D’Amour and watching the milonga from your seat $8 Students with valid I.D. Buy Tickets:
Box Office: (201) 684 – 7844
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.comFrom Nash Dancenter
I just wanted to follow up on the e-mail that I sent prior about Milonga here at Nash
Dancenter, and the extra date we added for March. We would greatly appreciate you adding us to the Tango in NJ section. Thank you, Kristen
Due to Easter Sunday falling on the first Sunday of April> this year, we will hold 3 Milongas in the month of March.> The first and third Sunday as usual, while adding Sunday the> 29th. So come out for our workshop, Milonga, or both on the> three following dates: Sunday, March 1st, 15th, and 29th.> Any questions please call 973-328-7979.
March 5 -
No celebrations, just great dancing, learning, eating, and greeting old and new friends.
March 12 – Carl Remmes birthday
Carl is a terrific dancer and a great guy, and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate
his birthday at Firehouse. We invite all of the Firehouse tangueras to join the birthday dance.
March 19 - Maribel Soto birthday
Maribel started coming to Firehouse recently, but nobody loves it as much as she does. Even though she's a terrific dancer, naturally, she's a little nervous about doing it, so all of you Firehouse tangueros need to make her feel
really comfortable.
March 26
No celebrations, just great dancing, learning, eating, and greeting old and new friends.
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Yesterday, I was about to start teaching my Wednesday class at the Argentine Consulate as usual, when a visiting, middle-aged couple from Argentina came into the room, and asked whether it might be all right, if they took the lesson. Of course, I said we'd be delighted to have them join us. I asked whether
they danced Tango, and they both shrugged as if to say "a little bit." The first hour of my Wednesday class invariably focuses on the fundamentals of leading and following, and that day was no exception. The Argentine couple respectfully joined everyone else in the class, following my directions in replicating my regular repertoire of basic movements, and, when asked, trying to piece together limited improvisations with more or less the same degree of difficulty as the rest of the
students. Then, as I always do, I invited everyone to try these elements in the context of music. I put on Carlos diSarli's Bahia Blanca, and suddenly, the Argentine couple came alive, dancing up a storm, looking great, responding beautifully to the music -- nothing fancy, mind you, but exactly the kind of dancing I'd like to see my students learn. After the dance, I commented on how well I thought the couple had danced. Carina, the follower, said that Bahia
Blanca was one of her favorite songs, and Ruben, the leader, said in a very humble way that they really didn't know what they were doing; they were just doing what they always do, which is to move to the music. He told me that all the things I had been saying in the class so far were new to them -- since they had never taken any lessons in Tango before. When I asked Ruben how long he'd been dancing Tango; Ruben said, "Since I was twelve." Bam! I've said it
before, and I'll say it again, folks: The best way to learn Argentine Tango is to get yourself born in Buenos Aires, and start dancing, when you're fifteen -- okay, I'll amend that -- twelve! After the class, Ruben, who continued to be completely self-effacing, told me that he and his wife had never had any formal lessons, and that -- although they really wanted to learn more about the dance they'd been doing in Buenos Aires for so many years -- he was finding the
process quite difficult. I told Ruben that the very same thing had happened to me many years ago, when I was trying to increase my own knowledge of American and Latin dancing. Initially, I had learned by dancing in the clubs -- what we used to call "street-dancing" -- for many years. When I tried to build my vocabulary and technique by studying with a teacher, I had found it almost impossible for months -- until I was finally able to make a kind of mental transition to the formalized
learning process. The experience my class had yesterday with Ruben and Carina can serve as a very important lesson to all of us, who are trying so hard to learn Tango. If only there were a robust dance culture surrounding us everyday, if only we had started dancing, when we were very young, we can get an inkling of how well we'd be able to dance -- without ever taking a lesson -- just by watching our friends, Ruben and Carina. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which we
really have to fight for our dancing. There are very few other dancers around us whom we can emulate; we usually start, when our relatively advanced age (i.e. older than 12) makes it so much harder to assimilate complex physical movement and technique; and we're forced into an analytic process (formalized lessons) that can easily reduce the art of dancing to cookie-cutter, memorized nonsense. What can we do about this? We can take what we've got (because there ain't
nothin else these days, folks), and make the most of it by getting out on the dance floor as often as we can, by practicing like crazy, and by making a commitment to ourselves that we are going to learn how to dance Tango, if it's the last thing we do!!! Are you ready for that challenge? Good. Let's get going.
Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Pearl Studios
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Please join Fran and Pat for our Saturday Practica at Pearl Studios, 500 8th Avenue (between 35th and 36th Streets; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) Fran and Pat will be 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: News from Monica Paz Happy and thankful:Last night started the projection of #CalendarioMilonguero in parakultural, the milonga in room canning.Thanks to Osvaldo Natucci for his invalorable homework and a Omar Viola and the staff of the milonga received with much enthusiasm.To the milonga!!!
Calendario Milonguero 22 February
Calendario Milonguero
Birth of EMILIO BALCARCE (Emilio Juan Felice) a great tango musician. He arranged and orchestrated music for distinguished directors. He also was the violinist of Donato. He conducted the orchestra of Alberto Marino and Alberto Castillo as well, when they were soloists.
His most famous work: 20 years in the line of Pugliese’s violin players. He composed very little but how good it was! We listen!
♫ BIEN COMPADRE. Osvaldo Pugliese (1949).
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) : New MP Tango Interview MPTango Presents Carlos Horacio Funes at PractiMilonguero Click on cc underneath the screen for English subtitles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6X8BC1MX1s&feature=youtu.be
Our cancellation policy - We STILL rarely cancel |
We 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 my cell phone 201-826-6602. 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.
The following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehouse Tango.
- Elena Titova
- Jesse Barton
- Tsipoyra Sartan
- Barbara L.
- Sydney St. James
- Ferd Ritz
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 - See above - Bonny Yankauer - Guacamole & Chips
- Barbara Lombardi - Popcorn
And these people brought wine- Fred
Meyer
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George
Ngo
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Jay
Parmar
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Marta
Bautis
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Elsa
Ventecinque
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Francis &
Marie
-
Diane
Langmuir
-
Eduardo
Campus
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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