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.)
Last Thursday, May 21 - Birthdays of Dave Thomas and Susan Konight Postponed
For years, Dave was a mainstay of our cleanup crew, and we were looking forward to his return to Firehouse for his and fiancee, Susan's, birthdays. Alas, he wasn't up to it, so we will have to postpone the
celebration.
Next Thursday May 28th - No celebrations - only great socializing, dancing, eating, and sharing good times with good friends. 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
The Alcohol & Beverage Commission has requested: - Absolutely no drinking alcohol while seated at the bar.
- No
one is allowed behind the bar for any reason.
- Wine is kept on the table in dancing room. You can fill your glasses and drink it at the tables in either room.
Thanks to Shan for sponsoring this 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.
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.
Cortinas for B. B. King, September 16, 1925 - May 14, 2015 |
Blues legend B.B. King, the singer, songwriter and guitarist who helped to define the genre, died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 89. King revealed this month that he had entered hospice after suffering poor health for some time. The iconic musician has sold millions of records worldwide and
was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. He also was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy.
B. B. King was one of Joe's favorites. All tonight's cortinas were by King and retrieved from Joe Dallon's library.
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.
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
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. I'd like to devote this week's Tip to amplifying a theme I introduced last week. As some of you know, Pat and I just spent ten days in England, visiting relatives. No sight-seeing to speak of, lots of socializing, never-ending gluttonous intake of food .... After this week, I'm never going to eat
again! Yeah, right. And yes, we had a wonderful time -- even without Tango. Well, that's not quite true. During our visit, we met some people we didn't know (let's call them Freddy and Millicent), and eventually found ourselves involved in a conversion with them about Argentine Tango. It went something like this: Millicent: "So, you two teach Tango?" Pat: "Yes, we do." Freddy: "Do you compete?" Fran (testily): "No, no, no.
We're social dancers." Millicent: "Right. We're very keen on Tango on this side of the pond. We see it on the telly every week." Fran: "Oh, really. They have programs about Argentine Tango?" Freddy: "Yes, of course. We've got a programme here called 'Dancing (that's Dahhhhncing) with the Stars.'" Pat: "Oh, I see. Actually, we have the same program in the USA." Fran (starting to dig a hole): "Technically, I wouldn't call what they do on that show
Argentine Tango. That's more a series of memorized performance routines rather than social dancing." The heat begins to rise. Freddy: "What? I don't know what you mean. We dance socially!" Pat: "What I think Fran means is ... " Millicent: "Right now, we're taking Salsa lessons, and our teacher gives us a new figure every week -- sometimes two! It's only been four weeks, and we already know ten steps." Fran (accusingly):
"You think learning steps means learning how to dance? Millicent: "We're about to graduate from Bronze to Silver." Fran (sarcastically): "After only four weeks?" Freddy: "Yes mate, four bloody weeks! That's the way we learn social dancing (dahhhhncing) over here, yank. Are you saying our teacher is giving us wrong information?" Pat tries to save the situation: "What I think Fran is trying to say is that we just take a slightly different approach,
that's all." Fran's big mouth is wide open, ready to get him in deeper. Pat pulls on his sleeve, kicks him under the table, and smiles affably. Pat: "We love fish and chips. It's very hard to find in America." Fran finally gets the idea, and decides to save his proselytizing (which, of course, has been falling on very deaf ears) for another day. Pat breathes a welcome sigh of relief. We discuss fish and chips. Oh, well. Now that we're back,
however, and I have you Firehouse Tango connoisseurs for an audience again, I'm reignited, and ready to pick up right where we left off two weeks ago. I'll bet you can't wait. Anyway, here we go! Since as far back as the 1950's -- probably even before that with the popularity of folks like Vernon and Irene Castle -- dance teachers have been enticing students into the world of social dancing by showing them steps. This is without doubt the most common and efficient way to get people up
on the dance floor. Show them something they can do now, and they'll feel they're getting somewhere right away. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep them coming back for more. If instead you try to teach them how to actually dance right from the get-go (meaning the very complex skill of lead/follow), your chances of success are next to nil. The down side of this almost universal teaching methodology is that leaders end up thinking of dancing as a process of regurgitating
memorized figures, and followers don't know what to think. If leaders forget the material from one lesson to the next (and they almost always do), they simply become paralyzed to do anything at all. What is the teacher's response? "Let's review what we did last week." Somewhere along the line the idea of teaching lead/follow gets completely lost ("Weren't we supposed to learn that stuff as beginners?"). And the eternal cycle of not learning anything goes on. As teachers, we have to
stop thinking about dance as choreography, and start recognizing that everything is based on lead/follow development. If we do that, our students will have no choice but to stop chasing dance steps, and start really learning how to dance. As students, we have to stop trying to learn Tango from YouTube and company, and find teachers who will give us what we really need -- which is to learn how to move together comfortably, and, eventually, in time with the music. Once we've got that
down, steps are easy.
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
Death of ANÍBAL TROILO. The most illustrious musician of the decade of the 40s as he had achieved the highest tango
expression simultaneously in three genres: tango for the feet, for the voice and for the ear. Among duets, quartets and orchestras he left us 485 recordings. He composed some 60 works. An exemplary tango? Here it goes. ♫ PA’QUE BAILEN LOS MUCHACHOS. Aníbal Troilo and Francisco Fiorentino (1942)
⊙ 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
-New 110 Moonachie Ave, Moonachie NJ Tuesday, June 23rd 7:00 to 10:00 pm
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
- Steve Maisch
- Rafael and Hilda
- 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 - Strawberries
- Sydney St. James - Chips
And these people brought wine- Edna Negron
- George Ngo
- S.M (Bill) Krukovsky
- Irene Andrews
- Horatio
Piccioni
-
Bob
Brillo
-
Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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