Sue Dallon and our intrepid Tango Travelers are off to Buenos Aires to have a ball for two enviable weeks, while we hold the fort here at Firehouse Tango in New Jersey. And that’s just what we all did last Thursday night. Our weekly milonga was alive and jumpin’ with great, great music by the sensational RICHARD ARIZA, who never fails to amaze with his unique choices of oh-so-danceable Tango, Vals and Milonga selections.

If you’re in town next Thursday, be sure to drop by and join us for some of the very best music and dance you could possibly ask for. All that, plus the friendliest group of fun-loving folks on the planet. We’ll all be here, and we’d be really glad to see you.

Tango Tip of the Week

Hi everyone, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Let's talk about "musicality." When we dance social Tango, our goal is to respond in some appropriate way to Tango music. Some leaders seem able to keep reasonably good time, when they dance. (Others don't appear to connect to the rhythm of the music at all.) Of the leaders who are able to respond to the beats of the music, a very talented few seem able to almost magically generate their own personal rhythmic statements and improvisations. When leaders exhibit this highly sophisticated ability, we sometimes say that they possess "musicality."

In general, the conditions for developing this unique ability might be found in the following profile:  If you were born in Argentina, if you were musically gifted (this could mean lots of different things), if you grew up dancing Tango, if the people around you who influenced your dancing were accomplished, creative dancers, and if you learned your lessons well over an extended period of time (fifteen to thirty years might qualify as a nice, workable time span), you might eventually join the ranks of those elite dancers who were considered to have "musicality."

On the other hand, if some or all of these factors were not part of your personal evolution -- let's say you were born and raised in Brooklyn (ahem), and no one you grew up with ever danced at all other than the mandatory Bunny Hop at family weddings -- your road to "musicality" might be a bit long and bumpy.

I think it would be fair to say that social Tango is, at one end of the spectrum, a series of mechanical, relatively learnable skills -- and at the other end a singular art form, which (in my opinion. at least) is not possible to teach. To attain "musicality" in your dance is to move closer to achieving mastery of the art form.

When I say that "musicality" can't be taught, I mean this in the same way I might suggest that mastery of any art form really cannot be taught. However, just as we can as teachers supply a student of painting with the tools necessary to create -- the brushes, the paint, the skills involved in mixing, the elements of brush technique -- we can offer the student of Tango a series of essential skills and techniques with which he may eventually be able to develop his Tango into considerably more than simple mechanical proficiency.

Over the next several Tango Tips, Pat and I will try to define and describe the skills we believe both leaders and followers need in order to elevate their Tango beyond mere mechanics, and at least edge it a bit closer to becoming a personally fashioned art form. In the meantime, your homework is to listen carefully to every piece of Tango music you can lay your hands on, and try to find the underlying rhythmic basis beneath its melody.

Starting next week, we'll elaborate on how to do this, and much more.

Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dardo Galletto Studios

Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street (between 6^th and 7^th Avenues), 11^th floor; 2-4pm, $10 per person. (Bringing a partner isn't necessary.) Pat and I will 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, you can visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call Fran directly at 212-662-7692, or email him at franchesleigh@mac.com   Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/franchesleighllc

The Turi Report

Once again, the "Knights" will return to find their hallowed hall better than they left it thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of the Volunteer Firehouse team.

Outstanding team members this week are:

Barbara L

Bob B

Sean

Elena T

Hilda G

Marta B

Mike P

and of course the dynamic duo, Terri and Tsipoyra

--Steve Turi