Next Thursday, March 31
Next Thursday, March 31st, no birthdays, just great dancing, eating, socializing, and wonderful fun.
Last Thursday, March 24 Easter Celebration -
I made an Easter ham, lots of egg salad, sweet potato souffle, and pot roast. We decorated the hall for Easter. Sylvester provided the Easter cortinas. Liz C. brought empanadas, George brought salad, Debbie and Flo made cakes, Maro brought a home-made pizza.
Every morsel was eaten. It was an awesome celebration. 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 Lessons with Monica Paz in New Jersey coming soon - Sign up now
Monica Paz, our wonderful teacher and friend from Buenos Aires, will be available for limited private lessons in New Jersey from Wednesday, April 13th through Saturday, April 16th. Sign up now while the opportunity still exists.
Happily she will also join us for my birthday celebration on Thursday, April 14th. Additionally, she will be at Los Pitucos Milonga in Franklin Lakes on Saturday, April 16th.
She will also be giving private and group lessons in New York City. Her schedule is below. Registration, please contact Monica at: tangopaz@yahoo.com.ar
Sue Dallon Firehouse Tango
Since Easter cortinas were really hard to find, I was all set to play Frank Sinatra selections this week.
However, Sylvester came through with a full playlist worth of Easter songs. They were terrific, and Frank will have to wait till next week.
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. 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.comFrom me (Sue Dallon) Published last week - Update
Last week, I shared the story of my experience at the New Jersey Montor Vehicle Office. Later, I got a call from New Jersey congressman Steve Rothman, who wanted to be sure that it was all resolves. During our lengthy and
enjoyable conversation, I assured him that the Oakland office had taken care of it. I also received an e mail from the Motor Vehicle Agency saying that they would look into it. Who knows: maybe my action will do some good.
Since then, I have heard many more horror stories about experiences with this agency. Below my letter is one of
them.
A frustrating trip to the MVC My recent experience at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission was absolutely appalling. In order to renew my license, I was required to go in person to the agency. Lodi was the closest, and I arrived at 2 p.m. and stood on a long line outside in the rain. At 4 p.m., an officer came out and
announced that the office would close at 5:30 p.m. and that anyone who was not at the window at that time would have to go home.
I asked if we would make it, but he had no idea. At 5:30 p.m., I was five people from the front and was told that I would have to come another day and start all over. They even took back the envelope in which they had put my already checked documents.
First, it would be very simple to determine how long it takes to
process people and to cut off the line when it gets to the point that no more can be served. They could even put this online to keep more folks from coming.
Second, if people have waited for hours and not been served, there should be a way to let them go to the front of the line another day.
If the state makes people go in person every four years simply to renew a
license, it should hire enough staff to handle the crowds. It might even be prudent to outsource this simple renewal to say, UPS stores, which already take passport photos.
There are many ways the system could be improved. It is very disconcerting that no one cares enough to address it.
Susanne Dallon Paramus, March 14
PS from Sue - The following day, I went to the Oakland
DMV and was in and out in a half hour. So, dear friends, take my advice and never go to Lodi: Oakland is far better.
Sue
From Walter Milani
Yes, even
though I'm away I read your newsletter every week! This week in particular your letter about the Lodi MVC caught my eye. A similar situation happened to me and I've heard friends complain about the MVC here in NJ for years now! I too was forced to wait standing outside for a couple of hours when I had to get renewed last April. It's appalling that no one seems to be able to fix the problem in this day and age. Organization wise I sometimes feel like the MVC is
run as if this were a third-world country. Even though the Lodi offices are relatively new I saw signs there hastily/sloppily written and taped to walls haphazardly as if there is no pride taken in that work. (I see the same at the Port Authority in NYC-although it's been slowly improving over the years). I think the lazy cats in upper management figure they have a job for life and are content with the humdrum pace of the day and don't have any enthusiasm for the vision that
might improve the way things work around there (or at least give the appearance that someone cares!).
Some years ago when I first moved to Jersey I spent hours one morning at one MVC by that park in North Bergen and they dismissed us because it was their lunch hour and told us we'd have to re-cue afterwards. After some stressful arguing one agent took pity on us and saw that we got in that afternoon ahead of people that just showed up later, but I didn't understand why that was even
an issue or why we had to fight for that right. Needless to say I lost an entire day of work after telling my boss I'd probably be in by 11am.
But the situation that really bothered me was that some shy, polite, Spanish-speaking immigrant could not comprehend everything that was going on and tried to inquire of a particularly sloppily dressed and snippy 40-ish year old agent who berated him loudly so we all could hear. "What? What? Speak louder! You're in
America, learn to speak English!" What really got to me was that then this agent starting yelling at him in Spanish! So she was bilingual and yet she had to publicly embarrass this poor man. During this whole period, not one other agent or manager came out to either tell her to pipe down or to help the poor man who was visibly shaken. He too, was sent away because all the agents had lunch at the same time! I don't think they still do that to people, but there is no
doubt in my mind that that agency needs to be shaken up and those lazy fat cats running the operation need to be replaced.
Just my two cents. You've inspired me.
Miss dancing! I'm home for 5 days this week, maybe I'll get a chance to come Thursday. If not, I'll see you in June when I'm off tour.
Ciao,
Walter
Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Today, I'd like to begin discussing what I consider to be the anatomy of a single Tango step. My hope is that this will prove useful to you in developing your skill as a dancer.
In approaching
this subject, I'm going to start by giving you some preliminary information. One of the things I regularly tell my students is that Tango is a dance of movement and of stillness. What I mean by this is that unlike most progressive social dances we may have been exposed to in our country (Foxtrot, Waltz, etc.), Tango does not necessarily consist of continuous movement from one step to another. A very important element -- in fact, I would say, a defining characteristic -- of
contemporary Tango is that after any given single movement, the leader can choose to bring himself and his partner to an absolute stop. Such a stop might be for one beat of music, or it might last for several beats before the leader elects to continue.
In contrast to this idea, a very common problem today, which we see throughout our Tango community, is the leader who simply barrels along non-stop from the
beginning of every dance until the end. His partners never get the opportunity to experience even a single moment of balance during a given dance; in some cases followers have reported that they actually feel in danger while one of these whirlwind dances is in progress.
Learning to stop at the end of a given step is, in my opinion, one of the crucial skills in the development of a proficient Tango dancer.
I like to teach stopping right from the beginning of a student's involvement in the learning process. My reasoning for this is that if leaders develop the habit of moving continuously as a fundamental skill, introducing the idea of stopping becomes much more difficult later in the process.
In my own teaching approach, the very first subject I focus on is what I call the lead/follow mechanism. If you've
taken any of my classes -- or perhaps studied with me in the context of a private lesson -- you know that I propose a very specific and precise method of communication between a leader and a follower in order to produce movement (and non-movement) during a dance. I'm not going to define the dynamics of this mechanism right now, but if you need help with lead/follow, I suggest finding a teacher who can bring you up to speed regarding this essential aspect of dancing Tango -- before you do
anything else!
Once a leader and follower understand -- and have the ability to utilize -- the lead/follow mechanism, the partnership becomes ready to address the dynamics of a single dance step.
In my teaching methodology, I categorize individual "dance steps" in the following way:
1. Weight changes in place (movement from one balance axis to another without traveling through space) 2. Pauses (no movement) 3. Steps to the side (traveling through space to one side) 4. Forward steps
(traveling through space with the leader moving forward as the follower moves backward) 5. Backward steps (traveling through space with the leader moving backward as the follower moves forward) 6. Pivots (rotating on the ball of one foot in order to produce a change of direction)
Next week, I'll define what I think any of these steps consists of. Then, I'll talk about what each of the partners needs to be aware of -- and to actually do -- in order to make a single step work.
Fran and Pat’s upcoming Tango Workshop
SHARPEN YOUR TANGO IMAGE
by mastering PARADA,
PARADITA and BARRIDA
SUNDAY, APRIL 24th 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm Pearl Studios, New York City
This is a workshop you won’t want to
miss!
Stay tuned – more info coming soon 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
March 10th, 1913
Calendario Milonguero
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, of ENRIQUE CAMPOS (Enrique Inocencio Troncone). He made his debut in his home country as Eduardo Ruíz. When he was thirty, he was hired by
Ricardo Tanturi, who convinced the singer to a name change. For that, the conductor randomly opened a phone book and selected a stage name that became historic in tango. Here a great theme.
♫ MALVÓN. Ricardo Tanturi and Enrique Campos (1943) ⊙ CD Nº08 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 - March - |
*******************************
Latin Night at La Havana 59 110 Moonachie Ave, Moonachie NJ
Tuesday, March 29th 7:00 to 10:00 pm
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
For reservations and directions:
Our cancelation policy - We STILL rarely cancel
|
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.
- Steve Maisch - So glad to have him back - We missed him something awful.
- Mike Porro
- 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 - - Adrienne Burton - Guacamole & Chips
- George Ngo - Spring Salad with Goat
Cheese
- Jack Block - Fruit Platter
- Liz Contreras - Empanadas
- Debbie Glaser - Choc Chip pb.
Cheesecake
- Flo Salierno - Cheesecake
- Maro - Maro's Famous Pizza
And these people brought wine - Barbara
- George Ngo
- Bill Auer
- Al & Lilian
- Marta
Bautis
- Mike Casale
- John & Fieke Barous
- Maro
- June Stahl
- Bob Brillo
- Eduardo Campos
Tango in New Jersey and New York |
|
|
