Sue Dallon was away this week on a cruise to southern climes accompanied by several Firehouse tangueras including Terri Lopez. The group will be away for two weeks, during which time our very own Steve Turi will handle hosting duties with his usual expertise.

In the meantime, it must be said that the right music makes all the difference, when dancing Tango. And the music we experienced last Thursday absolutely sent Firehouse dancers to Tango heaven! Thank you, Richard Ariza, DJ extraordinaire, for being so very excellent at what you do, and for sharing your great gift with us. We had a ball, and were absolutely delighted to have you back with us.

Folks, if you missed out last week, be sure to join us this coming Thursday, when we’ll be treated to the music of our good friend and associate, Felix Pacheco. We look forward to seeing you then!

Despite being short a few key tangueras, Firehouse carried on with the help of four fearless fabulous princess warriors, namely,

Barbara L

Pearl

Nina

and, of course, their leader,

Tsipoyra.

They prepped, served and saw to the thousand details of keeping the Firehousians dancing and eating, laughing and smiling. They performed graciously and with aplomb.

Thank you ladies!

--Steve T   

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. If you’re like most students, it’s very likely that your goal is not only to learn Tango, but to learn it as quickly as possible — so that you can get out there and dance, rather than be constantly chasing what probably feels like a very elusive and often frustrating learning process.

The question then becomes: Where are the shortcuts? How can I get up and running with this dance right away? Over the last several weeks, we’ve talked about some of the ways people learn Tango — including classes of various kinds, milongas, practicas, and private lessons. All these learning situations take time, lots of time. With that in mind, I’d like to focus on what may seem to be a very special timesaving alternative: the Tango Workshop.

If you’ve ever attended a workshop, you probably arrived with several expectations:

You’d finally find yourself in the company of a real expert — either from Argentina or at least from out of town (they’re the people who somehow know what you really need).

The workshop would be focused like a laser on material you really wanted.

In the space of two to three hours you’d pick up techniques that might otherwise take months — maybe years — for you to learn from your regular teacher.

Does this sound familiar? When I was a student, I spent many hours attending workshops offered by “the masters.” With each one, I went in with great expectations. When I finished such events, I almost always felt at first that I had really learned a lot — but then more often than not slowly came to the annoying awareness that something was missing, that although I might have been exposed to a great number of figures, sequences, and techniques, I still didn’t really know how to dance Tango.

When I was myself teaching Tango at a now-defunct New York City dance studio, we offered a special kind of workshop we called “a crash course.” In theory, such a workshop offered the beginning student the opportunity to learn the basics of Tango in just a few short hours — rather than a couple of grueling years (or a lifetime). A lot of students flocked to these workshops, sometimes repeating them several times, in an effort to learn by shortcut — read that as magic — rather than by continuous application and repetition over the course of months or years.

What I eventually concluded for myself about workshops is that most — maybe all — are really designed for people who already know how to dance, and who now want to build additional repertoire and/or special technique. When I teach a workshop, this is what I have in mind. Do I accept students who don’t yet have the fundamental skills they need to know how to dance? Sure, I do. But I try to let them know very clearly right from the outset that no amount of exposure to “advanced” material can possibly take the place of first building — and then consistently maintaining — a solid foundation of basic skill sets.

Do my students listen to me? Well, that, of course, is another story. One student recently confided in me: “I have the crash course for the basics, the big workshops for the fancy stuff, and YouTube for anything I’m missing. Who needs lessons?”

Who, indeed?

If you like the idea of keeping American social dance alive -- not competitive or performance dancing, but real social dance the way it was traditionally done -- we invite you to join us this us every Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. for a fun-filled social dance fix.

Class One

Concentrating on authentic American Foxtrot, Triple Swing and Salsa

Mondays, 8:30 p.m.

Studios 353

New York City

The longest-running and friendliest practica in NYC! Come join our happy group of social tango dancers, whose sole purpose is to enjoy dancing and to practice what they’re learning. Everyone dances! Essential Tango Therapy! Pat and I will be on hand to answer any questions you may have, and help you with material you’re working on. Plus you get a new “must-have” move each week! No partner required, all levels. Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46^th Street, 11^th floor, (bet. 6^th & 7^th Aves) www.franchesleigh.com

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 following folks helped set up, break down and clean up before and after the milonga. Without them, there would be no Firehouse Tango.

• The Knights Hall's wonderful neighbor, Angelito, will now be doing most of  the heavy lifting (liiterally and figuratively) both before and after our milonga.  Three cheers for Angelito!