Lessons with Monica Paz in New Jersey  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 18th through Tuesday, April 24th.  Sign up now while the opportunity still exists.   She will visit us at our Firehouse Milonga on Thursday, April 19 and perform with our very own Johnny Tablada.  Additionally, she will teach at Los Pitucos Milonga in Oakland on Saturday, April 21st.  

Please call me at 201-826-6602 or e mail firehousetango@gmail.com to reserve time for lessons in New Jersey.  Her schedule is filling up, so make your reservation soon.  I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have. 

She will also be giving private and group lessons in New York City. Here is the link for her schedule there: http://mptango.com/SocialTangoSchool/en/tour-usa-2018/#2

For New York 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 tango chest-to-chest connection) which she loves to dance with the best old milongueros in the best milongas of Buenos Aires.  

Six years ago, Monica realized her dream of  opening her own studio in Buenos Aires (at 30 Riobamba near the Congresso.)   If you are in Buenos Aires, I highly recommend checking it out.  

Monica has taught extensively all over the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and much of South America.  She is currently on a  tango tour of the United States. 

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. 

Hi everybody, Fran here with your Tango Tip of the Week. Learning how to dance Tango, as I’m sure you know by now, is anything but easy. The best way to start (I’ve mentioned this a few times before in these Tango Tips) is to be born in Argentina, and then spend all your time — I mean, all your time — in the milongas. Failing that, if you happen to have been born here in the U.S.A., for example, your only viable option is to take dance lessons.

As a way to learn, dance lessons in the form of classes, workshops, privates, and ancillary vehicles such as YouTube and other video sources can certainly be useful as a way to get into the game, but in my opinion, at least, it’s important for the student to make sure that lessons of any kind are one part of a larger learning strategy — or they will ultimately have very little value.

The first question people invariably ask in this country as they embark on the learning process is “What are the steps?” Most commercial dance schools are very quick to provide ready answers to this question by offering basic, intermediate, and advanced syllabuses of progressively designed figures, which they say will result in the shortest and most comprehensive route to dance expertise. In my opinion, this approach may be momentarily satisfying for the student who believes that fast answers and abstract structures are the right way to achieve competence. However, as a way to actually learn how to dance, I believe that this path has virtually no merit whatever.

The question students should be asking instead of “What are the steps” is “How do I learn to move effectively and comfortably with a partner?” This, I think, is the key to becoming a competent dancer. And the process of finding the answer to this question involves what I referred to earlier as the “larger learning strategy.”

Here is what I think you should do:

1.     Instead of looking for instant satisfaction through the lure of memorized figures, bite the bullet and recognize that you’ve really got to discover how to move before figures of any kind will do you any good. Embracing this fact is the crucial moment in your learning strategy.

2.     Find a teacher who also believes that learning how to dance is the right way to go. Allow that teacher to school you in the complex mechanics of lead/follow. Yes, you’ve heard me talk about this skill set many times in the past. To some students, lead/follow seems boring and unsatisfying. (These are students who will never, ever, ever learn how to dance.) Don’t be one of them. While all your friends may be spending their time memorizing fancy figures (and executing them badly, by the way), join your carefully chosen teacher in actually learning lead/follow, and becoming a good dancer.

3.     Make the dance floor your second home. To learn how to dance, you absolutely have to get out there and dance. Nothing, but nothing, can take the place of spending lots of time on the dance floor. In Argentina, that special breed of totally dedicated dancers — sometimes referred to as milongueros — spend virtually all their time perfecting the art of lead/follow. Yes, they can also execute a blizzard of very, very fancy figures, when challenged. But their primary skill set is to lead and to follow with consummate expertise.

These elements comprise what I hope you’ll agree should constitute your primary learning strategy. As you begin to gain some measure of expertise in this vital area of development, you’ll find yourself ready to benefit from structured figures, which can provide creativity and diversity to your emerging dance proficiency.

We’ll talk more about this next week. In the meantime, get a teacher, get out on the floor, and practice.

Every Monday at 8:30 p.m., Fran and Pat teach a one-hour class entirely devoted to the study of adornment for both leaders and followers. We focus on the precise way in which dancers should use their legs in order to move in the appropriate style of Tango. We also help you build a powerful vocabulary of exciting adornments, which you can incorporate into your dance.

People have been asking us to teach this class for years – and now, at last, we’re delighted to offer it. Be sure not to miss this opportunity to learn the art of adornos right from the ground up! And while you’re at it, why not enroll yourself in our 7:30 p.m. Intermediate Tango Class. This will give you a full Monday evening of Tango.

See you then.

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 every Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. for a fun-filled 2-hour social dance fix.

Class One

Concentrating on authentic American Foxtrot, Triple Swing and Salsa

Class Two

West Coast Swing, Waltz and Rumba

Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Studios 353, 2^nd floor

353 W. 48^th Street (between 8^th & 9^th Avenues)

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

Thanks to all who helped throughout the night.