This newsletter comes to you from my second favorite place in the world.
Though I am having a ball, I am reminded every day of how lucky we are and what an incredible country we live in. At home, it would be
unthinkable to accept life without connectivity, electricity, and basic services. Here, it's a fact of life.
Since arriving last week, I have had neither Internet nor phone service in my apartment. The landlord cannot be reached, and I'm forced to make do with my expensive and limited outside iPhone capabilities. Yesterday, with Eva's help, I was able to connect my computer directly to the Internet (Yes, I have learned the difference between a modem
and a router and discovered that you can connect directly to the Internet without Wi-Fi through either of these amazing little boxes.) Last night, it still wouldn't work, but this morning, magically, I'm entering (S L O W L Y) and hopefully sending my message. I have discovered that it's prudent to hit save after every few words.
Three times this week, we have arrived at scheduled milongas to find no lights, no music, and no milonga. No air
conditioning goes without saying. I'm getting my world news in Spanish and managing to maintain a reasonable idea of what's going on.
Such is life, and we gladly accept it, especially as we dance with the awesome milongueros. In short, I love it here, and I shall return home begrudgingly, only because of you, my dear friends and family.
Below is the Firehouse Tango newsletter, written and sent to me by Fran
Chesleigh, with contributions by Steve Turi. Thank you, thank you my friends, especially Terri, Fran, Steve, Tibor, and Richard, for keeping the home fire(house) burning. I love you all.
Carl Remmes back at Firehouse Tango!
After suffering a debilitating stroke several weeks ago, our
dear friend Carl Remmes made a surprise appearance at Firehouse Tango last Thursday. And much to our delight, not only does he look great, but he was up and dancing for the entire night. What a guy!
Welcome back, Carl. Things just haven’t been the same without you.
While Sue Dallon is away, soaking up the joys of Buenos Aires. Terri Lopez and Steve Turi have been keeping things humming along nicely here at home. And on the music front, we were once again blessed
to have the fabulous Richard Ariza spinning the sounds we just love to dance to.
We look forward to seeing everyone again this coming Thursday. February 18, for another great Firehouse Tango experience. Put us on your calendar, and join the fun!
The Turi report Heartwarming is the only word to express how it feels to see the guys and gals of Firehouse cheerfully pitch in to put
the place back into order. Especially enthusiastic and appreciated tonight were: Terri Tsipoyra Lynn Gross Shan Mike P Elizabeth R Elena T Bob Brillo And Barbara
L Thank you as always for lifting, cleaning, schlepping and making Firehouse possible. -- Steve Tango Tip of the Week Hello everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Are you still with me from last week, when we
talked about responding to half notes in our dancing? As I mentioned at that time, there are lots of leaders both in Argentina and throughout the Tango community around the world who have essentially "solved" the challenge of musicality for themselves by simply dancing continuously to those half notes.
The dots below indicate how these leaders attempt to move to every
two-measure musical phrase:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - .... . . . .
If we were to place the half notes into our two-bar phrase from "La Cumparsita," the way these dancers feel comfortable moving
would plot out like this:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... . . . .
Moving in this way is not necessarily a conscious decision, but rather a way in which many leaders have become accustomed to responding to music over many years
of dancing in the milongas.
Nota bene: Continuous half-note dancing is, of course, actually far more complex than I'm making it seem here, since it ultimately involves lots of double-time movements, which enable leaders to bridge in and out of "parallel" and "crossed" systems during any given dance. Such dancing also includes various ways of confronting the challenges of ocho
and molinete along with other more complex elements. For purposes of this discussion, I am limiting our scope to simple half notes, to whole notes (the subject of today's discussion), to what I will identify next week as "long pauses," and finally to double-time movements or traspies.
Okay, with all that said, let's talk now about whole notes. First, I'm
going to plot whole notes out, using our two-measure phrase from "La Cumparsita" in the same way we've already plotted out quarter notes and half notes. Then we'll discuss it further:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 -
.... . . . . What's the difference between what we had before and what we're looking at now? Notice that I've underlined every other half note in the second line of the diagram. If one were plotting out a simple two-measure phrase using
whole notes only, it would look like this:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - .... . .
Responding to whole notes involves acknowledging every fourth
quarter note or every other half note in the music. Put on your version of "La Cumparsita," and try to clap to the whole notes. This is what it will be:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 -
.... . .
Once you've clapped your way through an entire piece of music -- and therefore become somewhat familiar with the feeling of acknowledging whole notes -- try moving in place to the music instead of clapping. Finally, try to dance to
the whole notes with a partner.
Most beginning students find that they feel much more comfortable with whole notes than they do with half notes, at least in their early stages of learning how to respond to music. Later, as they gain more confidence in their ability to move in a conscious, musical way, acknowledging
half notes becomes more and more possible. Ultimately, the ability to move to both these essential rhythmic elements -- as well as to others we'll be talking about as we continue this discussion of musicality -- are important to becoming a knowledgeable and skilled Tango dancer.
Next week, we're going to discuss what I call "the long pause" as a rhythmic element in Tango. In the meantime, try clapping quarter
notes, half notes, and whole notes -- first to "La Cumparsita," and then to as many pieces of music as you can. Finally, try to dance to the whole notes of several pieces of music with a partner. As always, if you have trouble with any of this, ask your teacher to help
you.
Be brave! See you again next week.
Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dardo Galletto Studios
Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), 11th 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 logistics - The A Team
Terri
Lopez (Wonder(ful) Woman) and Steve Turi (aka Superman) have generously offered to 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 so many fabulous friends willing to step in whenever needed.
But What about the Music?
Not to worry. While we are away, your tangos,
milongas and valses will be spun by fabulous guest DJ, Rich Ariza. I promise you will not be disappointed.
DJ Richard Ariza February 11 and 18
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.
Richard is always adding to his excellent tango collection, and we are very excited about hearing his selections at Firehouse.
How about the newsletter?
This Firehouse Tango newsletter has been published nearly every week
since March, 2002 and thanks to Fran and Pat, the next two weeks 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, with the help of modern technology, then send out their handiwork directly from our
hotel in Buenos Aires.
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.
Inclement weather
In case of inclement weather, I will send a message to let everyone know if we are cancelled. You may also call Terri at 845-270-1201 for additional information.
Below is the newsletter, written and sent by Fran Chesleigh, with contributions by Steve Turi. Thank
you, thank you my friends, especially Terri, Fran, Steve, Tibor, and Richard, for keeping the home fire(house) burning. I love you all.
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February at Firehouse Tango |
Thursday, February 4, No celebrations - just great dancing
Thursday, February 11, No celebrations - just great dancing. You can come with or without your honey. Wear red for Valentine's Day.
Thursday, February 18,
No celebrations - just great dancing
Thursday, February 25, Birthday of Nathan Amatai
Ladies, do not miss this chance to tango with this awesome tanguero. Nathan will start with Vicky,
Then he gets to dance with all of the ladies, but I intend to get to him right after Vicky. It will be awesome. We're so happy that he is a member of our Firehouse family. 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 Hello Everbody, this Sunday February 7th Domingo Tango Club will be CLOSED, so we can enjoy watching the Super Bowl. See you ALL next for a special Valentine's Day Performance by Guillermina Quiroga & Mariano Diego Logiudice . I'm waiting for more suggestions for cortinas. Let me know if you have some favorite non tango music, and I will
try to play it. This week's cortinas were from the Eagles. Your input is always welcome. My cortina library is expanding rapidly.
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 Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Are you reeling from last week's Tango Tip? If not, it means you probably didn't read it. Drop everything right now, and read that Tango Tip (January 28, 2016). When you're finished reading -- and reeling -- you'll be all set to continue with what we're going to work on
today.
Last week, we looked at the following printed-page representation of the signature rhythm of "La Cumparsita:"
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... Using this two-measure phrase, we clapped the eight underlines as they appear in the printed phrase, while at the same time saying the words:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... Our goal with this exercise was to identify and respond to the quarter notes of this phrase. If you were able to successfully complete the exercise -- if you were able to listen to the entire song on your player, and clap a consistent quarter-note beat all the way through to the end of the piece --
you're ready to move ahead to the next part of the process.
Before we continue, I want to tell you that whereas clapping to these quarter notes is a great mental exercise, dancing to those same notes is quite another story. The fact is that these notes are really just too fast to dance to for the whole song.
For example, if you as a leader were to try taking forward steps to those quarter-note beats from the beginning of the song until the end, you and your partner would most likely be completely worn out and ready to sit down after just a few repetitions of the phrase. Eventually, you're going to be able to actually dance the quarter notes in brief bursts, say three at a time, when you learn how
to incorporate what are sometimes called traspie -- or double-time -- movements within your repertoire. But dancing to these beats continuously is just too strenuous, and so nobody does it.
Let's take a look at our musical phrase from "La Cumparsita" again:
1
- 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... Remember that the words represent the musical phrase itself. As we've learned, the underlines represent the quarter notes within that phrase. To go somewhat deeper, the five dashes, the rest in between the
two parentheses along with the two "and" words represent what we referred to last week as eighth notes. There are actually eight eighth notes within the phrase. If you wanted to acknowledge these notes within a basic eight-count musical phrase, you might say it in the following way:
1
and 2 and 3 and 4 and / 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and ....
This would subdivide the two-bar phrase into 16 total counts. The numbers would represent what we've come to know as the quarter notes, and the "ands" in between each of the quarter notes would be the eighth notes. (In fact, if you were to
simply count all sixteen notes in sequence, they'd all be considered to be eighth notes.)
Interesting? Maybe, but right now, these eighth notes are a bit beyond the scope of our process. For the time being, let's recognize that these notes are there, but for purposes of basic social Tango our
smallest rhythmic subdivision will be our quarter notes:
1 2 3 4 / 5 6 7 8 ...
As discussed above, we
can clap these quarter notes, but generally, they're too fast for us to dance to.
Right now, we're about to discover "half notes!" Let's look once more at our detailed rhythmic representation of our musical phrase from "La Cumparsita:"
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... I'm going to further refine this rhythmic representation a bit. Starting now, it's going to look like this:
1 -
2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... . . . .
Notice that I've added dots underneath quarter note numbers 1, 3, 5 (our rest), and 7. If
we were to now say our phrase out loud as we've done before, but this time clap along with only the dotted notes, we'd quickly realize that now we're physically only acknowledging every other quarter note. This new rhythmic way of interacting with our musical phrase -- of acknowledging this further subdivision -- is what we're going to call half
notes.
Without the specific rhythm content of "La Cumparsita" these half notes would plot out in the following way:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
- .... . . . .
If we were to say each of the numbers, while clapping the dots, we would be acknowledging the half notes. The
first thing you may notice about these half notes is that because you now have to clap to every other beat only, it's quite a bit easier than clapping to the quarter notes. Try listening to "La Cumparsita" again on your player, and clap the half notes while listening. By the end of the song, you'll probably have a good idea
of what half notes feel like within the context of a piece of music. (Once again, if you have any trouble with this process, be sure to consult your teacher.)
The second thing you'll very soon come to realize is that you can actually dance these half notes with your partner without needing
resuscitation after just a few steps. In fact, lots of leaders -- both in Argentina and around the world today -- respond to music by exclusively incorporating only half notes in navigating the dance floor. To tell you the truth, this would not be my own choice -- as we're going to discuss down the road. But if you spend time in the milongas of Argentina, you'll see many people for whom the challenge of musicality has been
completely solved through the use of continuous half-note dancing.
Take another look at our graphic representation:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - / (_) and 6 and 7 - 8 - .... . . . .
If you've been following along, you now know that you can:
· See and say the complete
musical phrase · See and clap to the quarter notes · See, clap to -- and actually dance to -- the half notes
As complex as this process has
been so far, I hope you agree that we're really getting somewhere! Next week, we're going to identify and learn how to respond to what are called "whole notes." In the meantime, listen to as much Tango music as you can, find and clap to the quarter notes as well as to the half notes; then get yourself out onto the dance floor to dance to those half
notes.
See you next week.
Saturdays with Fran and Pat at Dardo Galletto Studios
Please join us for our Saturday Practica at Dardo Galletto Studios,
151 West 46th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), 11th 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
View Monica Paz' terrific tango Facebook posts - my pick
from this week is below - Link to New Interview for February, 2016 |
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:
Calendario Milonguero
RICARDO TANTURI is born. Pianist, conductor and composer. He was a musician who did not compose very much. He formed his orchestra in 1937. At the beginning he only recorded instrumental tangos. Later on, once Alberto Castillo
and afterwards Enrique Campos joined, he reached success. In eight years with those two exquisite singers he recorded eighty-eight themes. Here is an instrumental tango. ♫ ARGAÑARAZ. Ricardo Tanturi (1940)
⊙ CD Nº05 Colección Natucci (40 CDs) +info
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 and othes like it that Monica has preserved! Un bello recuerdo
Juan Carlos Pontorielo Q.E. P.D.
https://youtu.be/CiEib0rZ92Q
Simply Social Dancing - February |
Latin Night at La Havana 59 110 Moonachie Ave, Moonachie NJ
Tuesday, February
23rd 7:00 to 10:00 pm A mix of Latin dancing: Salsa,Argentine Tango, Bachata, Merengue, Rumba, Samba, & Cha Cha. A Latin evening for those who enjoy Latin music, food, and dancing! A Tango lesson to start. $20.00 cover includes 2 house drinks or i drink & 1
Latin Night appetizer
Hi sue how are you? hope all is well please
can you sned it to your list thank you. you are VIP, best Jon, GALA MILONGA NY LIVEMUSIC BY LOS CHANTAS SAT FEB 6th. PERFORMANCE TBA.
MILONGA DEL BARRIO NYC
Join us this Saturday Feb 6th.
Classes 8:30 dance 9:30pm to 3am. Two dance floors & Two DJs traditional & Nuevo tango salons LIVE MUSIC BY LOS CHANTAS .http://www.loschantas.com/soundswill play 3 sets, first set start at 10:30pm David Hodges on Bandoneon Emilio Teubal on
Piano Sergio Reyes on Violin Performance TBA 8:30pm Int/Adv tango lesson with Jon Tariq
&
8:30 Beginners tango class
DJ Jon in Traditional tango salon& DJ Nuevo tango salon will open at 10pm. Classes are included in the Admission $15 - Students W/ID $10.
Raffles
1- One bottle of wine
Complimentary: Snacks always all night!
BYOB OK!
THE BALL NY
131 W 35th St 5th Fl Btw B'way & 7th Ave NYC
Plentiful free parking on the St
Our cancelation policy - We STILL rarely cancel
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Inclement weather while Sue is in Buenos Aires
In case of inclement
weather, I will send a message to let everyone know if we are cancelled. You may also call Terri at 845-270-1201 for additional information. Even though we had to cancel once last 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 on my cell phone 201-826-6602. Feel free to leave a message if I don't answer.
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.
- Nancy C.
- Elena S.
- Bob Brillo
- Mike Porro
- Tsipoyra Sartan
- Steve Maisch
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 -
- Jack Block - Fruit Platter
And these people brought wine - Barbara
- Mary Pagano
- Camille
- Adrienne Burton
- George Ngo
- Eduard Simpson
- Bob Brillo
- Edna Negron
- Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York |
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