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.
Here is her
schedule for private lessons in New Jersey:
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
and New York City. Workshops: June 26 and 27 Private Lessons from June 12 to 17 and 23 to 28 Guest Instructor at La Tangueria, Esmeralda and La Nacional Navigation and Etiquette lesson and Practilonga Saturday 27 Register online at www.mptango.com
She will be at Esmeralda's June 17th and 24th. The lesson is at 7:30. Mini privates will be offered from 5:30 - 7:30.
Also in New York City, she will give a lesson and practilonga on Navigation and Etiquette on Friday June 26, 7:30 - 8:50 pm.
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 was 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.)
Next Thursday, June 4 - Birthday of Marie Gregoire We are always lucky to be able to host any Gregoire celebration This time, we are doubly lucky, since Marie and Francis are going to treat us to a special showcase. After this, I will play a tango, Francis will start the dance, and then everyone can cut in. As always, we will celebrate Marie's birthday with many delicious goodies brought by Francis and Marie. Don't miss
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
June 4 - Birthday of Marie Gregoire - see Celebrations above
June
11 - Sue out - Firehouse Ace Backup Team - See below
June 18 - Monica Paz visits Firehouse Tango and Firehouse Tango celebrates twelfth anniversary
June 24 - Birthday of Adrienne Burton Adrienne, who has been coming to Firehouse for a few years, celebrates her birthday on June 24th. She is very excited about dancing with the Firehouse Tangueros. Please don't disappoint her.
Sue out June 11th Ace backup team takes over Firehouse |
Sue out on Thursday, June 11th
Regretfully, unless I can find a way to transport myself
5000 miles for the evening, I will have to miss the June 11th Firehouse Milonga.
The logistics - The A Team
Terri Lopez (Wonder(ful) Woman) and Steve Turi (aka Superman) will 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 these fabulous friends willing to step in whenever needed. Without Terri and Steve, there would be no Firehousetango.
The music - Felix Pacheco "El Tordo"
While I am out, our dear friend Felix Pacheco will play the music.
El Tordo, incorporates composers from the "Golden Age of Tango" to replicate the best of the Milongas of Buenos Aires. Felix hosts the wonderful monthly Milonga Los Pitucos every third Saturday of the month, where he takes pride in creating a new dish for every event. He has been bringing the finest Tango events and music to New Jersey since 2009.
The newsletter
This Firehouse Tango newsletter has been published nearly every week since March, 2002 and thanks to Fran and Pat, this week 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 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.
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 Sydney for sponsoring this week's milonga |
Please thank Sydney St. James for paying for the food for this week's milonga. It's obvious that Firehouse Tango is not a profit making enterprise. I really appreciate the help. Thank you, Sydney.
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 requested by Steve Turi |
Steve requested some different genres for cortinas, and who am I to refuse Superman? The cortinas this week are from Dave Brubeck and were selected specially for Steve. For next week, I intend to find something equally pleasing to my dear friend.
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
No cabaceo or batteries necessary
https://www.facebook.com/nathalie.morgenthaler.9/videos/10204309318598552/?fref=nfFYI / Señor Oucho
Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. In the early 1980's, Cyndi Lauper had a major pop hit called "Girls just want to have fun." The overall sentiment behind this song was something like, let's cut through all the baloney that gets in the way of having a good time, and just go for the fun part right now. Nice idea. And then we
decide we want to learn Tango. Wouldn't it be great (I'm sure Cyndi would agree), if we could just slip and slide our way past the boring stuff -- you know, spending all that endless time learning how to move our body like a Tango dancer, devoting hours and hours trying to figure out how to hold our body in just the right way, or about meticulously detailed foot placement, or dynamic walking, or being able to stop on a dime without losing our balance. And then there's all that nonsense about
lead/follow -- it feels like it'll take years to just learn how to move comfortably with a partner ... come on! This junk takes much too much time to get. Couldn't we just cut to the chase? I mean, we just want to have fun, right? "Well, of course you can, " said the wolf. "Just keep feeding that cash into my pocket, and I'll be more than happy to show you everything your heart desires. You'll be a star in three weeks." Students are constantly asking me,
"Why does it take so long to learn how to dance Tango?" If I'm being (brutally) honest, I tell them: "Because what I think you really want is to know how to dance Tango, not to learn how to dance Tango. In other words, the majority of "students" simply refuse to put in the hard work it takes right in the beginning and throughout the first couple of difficult years in order to build a foundation of actually being able to move effectively with a partner. And then you
say (for the billionth time): "Just show me the steps. I'll figure out that other stuff later." Of course, later never comes, and as time sneaks by you keep sinking deeper into the hole. Does this sound maybe a little bit like you? Whenever I ask the great Tango dancers how they started, the reply is always something like "I did nothing but walk for the first three years." "Really? And then what?" "I walked some more." Oh boy. I'm going
to go out on a limb here, and offer you a thought. (It's possible that what I'm about to say has already begun to occur to you after years of attempting to pick up Tango without building a solid foundation of fundamentals.) Here's what I think: It ain't gonna work, bubba (Are there any women named "Bubba?"). No way, no how, no babka 'til after you eat your spinach. Sorry about that, Cyndi. With all that said, there may come a time in your life -- maybe far in the distant
future, maybe sooner than that -- when you decide you're finally ready to take that unpleasant plunge and do what it takes to actually learn how to dance Tango -- when you're reluctantly willing to bite the bullet and open yourself up to all that tedious drudgery you've been avoiding until now. If and when that time ever comes, I humbly suggest that you start the ball rolling by doing two things: 1. Get a good teacher (one who will not under any
circumstances be tempted by your constant begging and pleading to focus on steps). 2. Start walking.
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
|
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 MIGUEL CALÓ. The theme chosen to honor him, SANS SOUCI, is by Enrique Delfino, creator of the “tango romanza”, who had as its best representative the conductor that we are celebrating here. This tango is a
faithful reflection of Caló’s style. The term in French means without worries. It is also the name of some luxurious palaces and gardens around the world. In both its meanings, it contains a reference to romanticism. ♫ SANS SOUCI. Miguel Caló (1944)
⊙ CD Nº09 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 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
- Elena Syrett
- Jesse Barton
- 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 - Popcorn
And these people brought wine- Stephen Maisch
- George Ngo
- Jack Messing
- Flo Salierno
- Hilda & Rafael
Genni
- Bob Brillo
- Horatio
Piccioni
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Jesse &
Cathy
-
Francis &
Marie
-
Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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