Eternal thanks to Terri, Steve, Richard, Fran and Pat for taking over Firehouse last week |
Sue Did anyone notice that I was out of town last week? From the looks of the videos posted by Tsipoyra, the evening was better than ever, and I should be away more often. Many, many thanks to the following folks, who took over in my absence.
The logistics - The A Team
Terri Lopez (Wonder(ful) Woman) and Steve Turi (aka Superman) headed 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 these fabulous friends willing to step in whenever needed. Without Terri and Steve, there would be no Firehousetango.
The Music
While I was away, your tangos, milongas and valses were spun by fabulous guest DJ, Rich Ariza. As promised, you were not disappointed.
DJ Richard Ariza
Richard hosts the delightful Friday afternoon milonga at Triangulo WWW.TANGONYC.COM. He has guest DJ'd at many New York and New Jersey milongas, and has done those honors at Firehouse
often. If you haven’t been to Triangulo, you don’t know what you’re missing. You'll find information below in this newsletter about Triangulo.
Richard is always adding to his excellent tango collection, and we are always happy to hear his selections at Firehouse.
The newsletter
This Firehouse Tango newsletter has been published nearly every week since March, 2002 and thanks to Fran and Pat, this week was 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 then send out their handiwork.
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.
Celebrations and
Lessons |
Next Thursday, May 21 - Birthdays of Dave Thomas and Susan Konight
For years, Dave was a mainstay of our cleanup crew. He hasn't been able to come for a while, but we are delighted to celebrate his birthday and his fiancee, Susan's, as
well.
Last Thursday May 14 - Lesson by Walter Monteblanco and birthday of Gay Fallows Monteblanco
Walter's lesson
Fran and Pat were on a well-deserved vacation in England, and they were out last
week.
Walter's lesson was great fun, and lots of his fans took advantage of this rare opportunity to find out why his students love and miss him so much. We are delighted to have such a talented friend who is always ready and willing to help us.
Gay's
Birthday
Gay returns to Firehouse in between extensive world travels with her husband and our dear friend, Walter. We are thrilled to have her whenever we can. Gay has been a Firehouse friend for years, and we are always happy to celebrate with her. Walter started the birthday dance, and then all of the Firehouse milongueros joined
in.
Walter, as usual, brought a fabulously delicious cake that all but disappeared and bottles of champagne that also disappeared.
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
Thanks to Shan for sponsoring next week's milonga |
Shan Nagendra blew me away tonight when he handed me a $300 check to pay for the food for next week's milonga. Thank you, Shan, you are the best.
My resolutions - How did I do?
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Here were my resolutions for 2015. This month was mixed - better in some, worse in others.
My Resolutions for 2015
- Improve my español and continue my Duolingo streak
- Take a group to Buenos Aires (I will try very hard to make it as wonderful as last year's, but that's a tall order.)
- Exercise six days a week - I'm afraid to let this one go.
It's like Weight Watchers. If I don't share it, I will stop doing it.
Wish me luck!
I'm back to Duolingo, and my daily streak is now up to an amazing 77 days in a row. It's usually the first thing I do every morning.
We're well under way with this year's trip to Buenos Aires at the beginning of
November. It should be great fun.
I'm back to exercizing in May, though April was a disaster. I'm planning to do better.
Wish me luck in May.
Monica Paz visits New Jersey - Private lessons available |
Great news! Monica in New Jersey
Monica Paz, our wonderful teacher and
friend from Buenos Aires, will be available for limited private lessons in New Jersey from Thursday, June 18th through Monday, June 22nd. Sign up now while the opportunity still exists. Happily she will also join us for Firehouse Tango's twelfth anniversary celebration on Thursday, June 18th. Additionally, she will be at Los Pitucos Milonga in Franklin Lakes on Saturday, June 20th.
Please call me at 201-826-6602 or e mail
firehousetango@gmail.com to reserve time for lessons. I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Thursday
June 18 until 6:00 Friday June 19 whole day, starting 11:00 AM Saturday June 20 11am - 4 pm until Los Pitucos. Sunday June 21 Lessons in the afternoon, after 4. Monday 22 whole day, starting 11:00 AM
She will also be giving private and group lessons in New York City. I will publish her schedule as soon as it is available.
For 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.
Three years ago, Monica realized her dream of opening her own studio in Buenos Aires (at 30 Riobamba near the Congresso.) One of the best milongueros in the city, Osvaldo
Natucci, teaches group lessons on Tuesday and Thursday nights with Monica translating when necessary. Monica and Natucci also teach private lessons. If you are in Buenos Aires, I highly recommend checking out these lessons.
Monica has taught extensively all over the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and much of South America. She has also been invited to Los Angeles to teach and perform in
June.
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.
Facebook page and Calendar
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. I enjoy these posts so much that I share them with my readers every week in my newsletter (See below.)
Buenos Aires with Firehouse Tango November, 2015 - More information |
Latest information on Buenos Aires
Our trip to Buenos Aires from October 30 to November 9th, 2015 (with a possible optional extension to either Mendoza or Iguazu Falls) is on.
Last year, we took a group and exceeded all expectations (references are happily available.) If you think you want to come, please send me an e mail at firehousetango@gmail.com or call me at 201-826-6602.
Trip details and payment information are below. What's
included?
- 8 nights/ 9 days in Buenos Aires with the friendliest group around
- Stay at the excellent, centrally located Bauen Suites Hotel
- Full breakfast every day
- Welcome luncheon at the hotel
- Transfers to and from
hotel (included if traveling with group on American # 953 and #954)
- Private group lessons with excellent local teachers and local partners (male and female) for each person
- Milongas with local hosts (male and female) who are there just to dance with us
- City Tour
- Full day at gaucho ranch with barbeque and
show
- Popular Tango show with dinner
- Day at San Telmo Flea Market & enough free time for shopping, exploring the city, visiting museums, taking private lessons, visiting milongas on your own or resting (heaven forbid)
- You most certainly will want to visit a shoe store (shoes cost about 1/3 of price here) Prices in Buenos Aires are amazingly low &
additional costs are minimal
- Excellent & inexpensive local teachers highly recommended
How Much: The cost of the trip including everything listed below (excluding air) is $2100 (double
occupancy). Single supplement is available for an additional fee of $400. Airfare should be about $1,400. Payment Schedule: $400 at signup - Non refundable (Single Supplement $400) due about May 7th $400 June 4th- Refundable if canceled before September 3 $400 July 2 - Refundable if canceled before September 3 $400 August 6 -Refundable if canceled before September 3 $500 Balance September 3 - Non refundable
We advise you to purchase trip cancellation & medical insurance (for
example www.accessamerica.com ) You should make your air reservations as soon as possible, since the fare may go up. There is also an Argentina Reciprocity Fee of $160. This
is a one-time payment that is good for ten years.
How to Register: Give check made out to Firehouse Tango for $400 together with your name, address and phone numbers to Sue or send to Sue Dallon, 16 Fox Hollow Rd. Ramsey, NJ 07446. For more information or references ask Sue or call 201-825-1570 or 201-826-6602.
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.com
From Fred Rueck
From Hilda Genni
Hi Sue, I am writing to tell you about the beautiful milonga we had last week 5/7/15. It was your milonga!!! I
have to mention Terri. Although she was not feeling well, she made a great effort to make everything nice and exciting. Thanks very much, Terri, you were, as always, wonderful. Also the music was fantastic and the floor was full of couples enjoying the dance. Marta's birthday was very nice, and she had the opportunity to dance with both men and women. We also enjoyed her delicious
cake. I missed you because you are part of the milonga. Hilda Genni
Thank you so much, Hilda, for this beautiful note - Sue
Tango Tip of the week - From Fran in London |
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. During last week's Tango Tip, I remarked that (in my opinion, at least) social Tango depends on moment-to-moment lead/followskill, while stage Tango depends on a high degree of athleticism, intensive attention to specific techniques, and an excellent memory.
Another way to put this might be that as dancers we can think about Tango on the one hand as a general, improvised way in which two people respond and move to Tango music, or on the otherhand as a menu of figures, which a leader employs to create a dance between himself and his follower.
These two contrasting ideas may seem to be pretty much the same at first, but if we examine them a bit more deeply, we will find, I think, that they really aren't.In my experience, the very first question every student asks in approaching Tango is "What are the steps?" Or maybe "What do I do?" Our immediate inclination -- whether we're leaders or followers -- is to conceive of Tango as a series of individual memorized figures, which we learn one at a time, and then put
together in some kind of continuous sequence in order to create our dance.
With this very strong predisposition firmly in mind, a common lament students have as they go from one lesson to another is "I forgot everything" -- which, of course, means "I don't remember the steps."One of the most difficult tasks I have as a teacher is to convince my students that, in fact, this is not the
appropriate way to think about social Tango. Quite to the contrary, social Tango is a way of moving together to music, which, when mastered, enables us to improvise our own individual steps and sequences as we go along -- rather than trying to reproduce figures, which we've memorized and are now attempting to replicate on the spot.
The crucial skill, which we need to assimilate in order
to improvise our Tango, therefore, is the lead/follow mechanism. Memory has nothing to do with the process. Thus, when we "get up and dance," the notion of not remembering a fixed repertoire of figures is irrelevant. As myArgentine teachers kept saying to me from Day One is: "There are no steps in Tango."It's certainly true, of course, that as we advance in proficiency we begin to accumulate lots of figures and sequences from various sources; but the lead/follow mechanism is what holds
everything together.
Do you know what lead/follow is? If you've been in my 7:00 p.m. class at the Firehouse, you do.If you've been in my12:00 p.m. class at the Argentine Consulate, you do. If you've ever taken aprivate lesson with me, you do. The lead/follow mechanism is, in my estimation, the key to social Tango. This skill set opens the door to everything you could possibly want to do in
Tango.With it, you're ready for anything.Without it, your Tango is just a wrestling match.
Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dardo Galletto Studios
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Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) We think it’s just like being in Buenos Aires! We’ll both be on hand to answer
any questions you may have about your dancing, and to help you with material you're working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” tango move each week! If you’d like a private lesson, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com. Don’t forget to visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com and join is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/franchesleighllc
View Monica Paz' terrific tango Facebook posts - my pick from
this week is below
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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: Below is a link to Monica's interview with Juan Carlos Pontorielo from February 8, 2011. He passed away recently. How wonderful to have this video history.
Un bello recuerdo
Juan Carlos Pontorielo Q.E. P.D.
https://youtu.be/CiEib0rZ92Q
Calendario Milonguero
Birth of ROBERTO FIRPO, pianist, composer and director. He was a substantial figure of the Old Guard. He introduced the piano in the tango orchestra. Together with Francisco Canaro they were the only directors that exceeded 3000 recordings. His style was not very danceable, but he was a precursor of Romanticism in his prolific compositions. Here
an example: ♫ MAREJADA. Carlos Di Sarli (1941)
⊙ CD Nº18 Colección Natucci (40 CDs) +info
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 Ricardo Rezk at PractiMilonguero Click on cc underneath the screen for English subtitles.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/14d21c02e335a6a8
Simply Social Dancing - Salsa and Argentine Tango |
Dancing with Simply Social Dancing
Why not end your Memorial Dany Weekend with lots of dancing!
Sunday, May 24th 6:00 to 9:00 pm
Biagio's Restaurant 299 Paramus Rd, Paramus NJ
07652
Dinner &
dance at Biagio's Restaurant. The evening will includes a beginner dance lesson, followed by dinner and dancing in the Banquet Room upstairs.. A variety of music will be played: ballroom, latin,
swing. Singles and couples are invited. All levels are welcome.
$35.00 per person Buffet dinner / cash bar
_____________________ Havana 59
Restaurant 110 Moonachie Ave, Moonachie NJ
The evening will start off with a 1/2 hour beginner lesson, followed by dancing. Mostly Salsa and Argentine Tango... some Rumba, Bachata, Merengue, and Cha Cha thrown
in.
$20.00 cover per person (pay when arrive) Includes 2 house drinks or 1 house drink and 1 appetizer from Latin night menu.
201-694-7087 http://www.simplysocialdancing.com/
Our cancellation policy - We STILL rarely cancel |
Even though we had to cancel once this year, 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 phone 201-825-1570. You can also reach
us on my cell phone 201-826-6602. Feel free to leave a message on either of these lines.
We cancel only when absolutely necessary (only about eight or nine times in all these years - including, unfortunately, the first scheduled milonga of March, 2015), 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
- Tsipoyra Sartan
- Elena Syrett
- Shan Nagendra
- Jesse Barton
- Steve Maisch
- steve turi
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 - - Barbara Lombardi - Grapes
- Mary Pagano - Candy
And these people brought wine- George Ngo
- Camille
- Joe Weintraub
- Francis &
Marie
-
Horatio
Piccioni
-
Bob
Brillo
-
June
Stahl
-
Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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