Last Thursday, August 16, Name day of Maria Zampetoulas
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Firehouse friend Maria had so much fun last year celebrating her name day at Firehouse that she
decided to do it again. You all made her very happy by dancing with her for this special occasion.
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
August at Firehouse Tango
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Thursday, August 23rd
No special celebrations. Just great dancing and socializing with the friendliest crowd around.
Thursday, August 30th - Anniversary of Walter and Gay Monteblanco
We will celebrate Walter and Gay Monteblanco's ninth anniversary with great joy on August 30th. Last year, Gay had hurt her back, and I filled in for her at the anniversary dance. No such luck this year (not about Gay's back,
about my dance). The lovely couple will start the dance and I will follow with Walter before the long line of Firehouse tangueras. The tangueros can dance with Gay.
Walter has been a close friend and supporter
since the very beginning at Paramus Firehouse # 4, and Gay came soon after. When they aren't traveling, they come to Firehouse often.
The cake with Walter and Gay's photo will, as always, be huge, beautiful and delicious.
Jewish New Year Celebration Milonga
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Hi
All,
It's time to plan our annual Firehouse Tango Jewish New Year’s feast for our fellow Firehouse
tangueros. This year,
Rosh Hashanah starts on Sunday night, September 9 and Yom Kippur is on Tuesday the 18th. That makes Thursday, September 13th the perfect day to schedule our dinner.
As I do every year, I will make my mother's brisket (the best in the Bronx) with potatoes and carrots and maybe a turkey. Please let me know if you'd like to contribute something. You don't have to be Jewish to contribute. Sue Here are some items from previous years:
- Sue - brisket with
potatoes, carrots, and string beans, gefilte fish, dried fruits and nuts, desserts and honey from Joe's bees.
- Mike and Debbie -
Salad
- Marion Levine -
Kugel
- Tsipoyra -
cake
Parking Warning - Don't park too close to stop signs
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In accordance with New Jersey law, there is no parking within 50 feet of a stop sign. Some of our friends have received tickets when they parked too close to the stop signs at the corner of Elm and Grove. Please don't become one of them.
Tibor out last four weeks in August - Elena Titova at the door
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Tibor will be away for the next two weeks, but our very capable friend, Elena Titova, will man (woman?)
the door August 9, 16, 23, and 30/ Bringing exact change will make life easier for her. Last week's cortinas celebrated the life of Aretha Franklin, The Queen of
Soul, who died on Thursday morning. Next week, thanks to Mike Porro, I will use Putayamo Presents Latin cortinas.
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. Last week, we took up our discussion of pivots, or what I refer to as the “sixth” fundamental element of social Tango. As I mentioned at that time, the pivot is the basis for much of the more complex repertoire in Tango — including the crossed system along with ocho, molinete, calicita, and boleo — not to mention movements, which are found in the Tango Nuevo repertoire such
as colgada and volcada. Today, we’re going to define the role, which the pivot plays in one of the two basic circular elements of Tango; i.e., ocho.
In general, an ocho is a movement in which the leader invites his follower to move back and forth in front of him, using what we might call a “figure-eight” pattern with her feet (hence the term ocho or “eight”). Depending on the lead, she will move forward or backward as she travels
through space.
From the follower’s standpoint, her movement for one half of the complete ocho pattern involves three distinct elements:
1. Pivot 2. Walk 3. Alignment
Let’s look at a forward ocho as an example of these three individual elements at work. One of the more typical places in the dance where a forward ocho might occur is
at la cruzada in the context of la salida. The leader walks his follower to the cross, and decides to invite one or two forward ochos before proceeding to other elements:
The pivot After an appropriate pause at la cruzada to insure that both he and his partner are comfortably in balance, the leader invites the follower to rotate counterclockwise, uncrossing her feet and bringing
them together as she unwinds. The leader accomplishes this by rotating his own upper body counterclockwise, taking care to help keep his follower’s balance on her pivoting foot. As the follower executes her pivot, she rotates the lower half of her body so that it faces a direction in which she will be able to walk forward on a travel line around the leader. At the same time, her upper body remains more or less facing the leader. (In other words, she now finds herself in a twist.) The follower
makes absolutely certain that at the end of her pivot she does NOT automatically walk forward. Rather, she completes her movement, and waits for the next invitation from her leader
The walk Now, the leader invites the follower to walk forward to his right. He does this by rotating his upper body to the right, gently directing her by this action to move on a travel line, which might be described as an invisible circumference around his position as
the center of a circle. As she moves forward, the follower’s body remains in the twisted position, which she adopted as she unwound from la cruzada. (Her head faces her partner, her lower half faces the direction of travel.) In terms of the length of her step, the follower targets her leader’s right shoulder as she goes. This will ensure that at the conclusion of her walk, she will end up directly in front of him.
The
alignment In finishing her walking action, the follower now pivots again in order to bring herself out of the twist and to face her partner with her shoulders and hips squared off. This action is something the follower initiates by herself — rather than needing to be led. Her motivation for this is that as a good dancer she doesn’t want to complete any movement without finishing in a front-to-front relationship with her partner. (A beginning follower may have to be
led to pivot in order to achieve this facing position — until she is eventually trained to do it by herself. Furthermore, a follower who has been told that every single action she takes absolutely must be led may balk at the idea of initiating this small aligning pivot on her own. However, a teacher who understands good dance practice and who recognizes that, in fact, even in Tango there are conventions of movement, which do not involve lead/follow will be able to help his/her student to
overcome this rigid misconception.)
As the follower initiates the pivoting action described above, which brings her into alignment with the leader, he may choose to simply allow her to come to a stop — or her may decide to initiate a continuing pivot by rotating his body clockwise in order to invite his follower to complete the second half of her forward ocho.
Of course, there are many other possibilities here as well. Next week, we’ll talk about what
occurs between the two partners as they work their way through a typical molinete.
Put Fran and Pat on your Monday Calendar with our streamlined Summer Class Schedule
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Recognizing that people have lots of things they want to do during the summer, we’ve responded to your needs with our special Summer Schedule! We’ve now combined our two Tango classes into one for Mondays, and the same for our American Social Dance classes, which will now move to Monday as well.
Bottom
line: Monday is now your night to enjoy a fun-filled evening of dance with us at our New York teaching location, Studios 353, 353 West 48th Street (between 8th and Ninth Avenues), 2nd floor, in Manhattan. Tango starts at 7:30 p.m., followed immediately by American Social Dance at 8:30 pm. There’s always plenty of room for parking during these early evening hours, so come join us, and get ready to have a ball!
Would you like a private lesson?
Visit our website at www.franchesleigh.com, call us directly at 212-662-7692, or email us at franchesleigh@mac.com Join us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/franchesleighllc
I can't believe that I left out this wonderful news from last week's newsletter. What a joy to see them walk in the door! They even danced a bit. Not only
did they return this week, but I actually got to dance a tango with John. It made my evening. We are hoping to see much more of them as John improves rapidly.
Los Pitucos Milonga this Saturday, August 18
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A little bit of Buenos Aires in Oakland, NJ Please join us for another great Milonga on Saturday, August 18th, 2018 This month special guest instructor
is Carolina Jaurena Workshop starts At 7:00pm Milonga at 8:00pm Plus performance, raffle, Chacarera and more Milonga Los Pitucos is the first and only Milonga to offer gourmet refreshments, prepared fresh, by our chef "El Tordo". Chef Tordo takes pride in creating a home made dish for every event. Couples, singles and beginners welcome! No partner necessary. Bring a friend and enjoy great music, floor, "delight"(dish) and of course friends! Admission $15, including the workshop and home cooked "delight" Location: THE AMERICAN LEGION 65 Oak Street Oakland, NJ 07436 For directions click here
Los Pitucos Milonga brings the best of Argentine Tango to Northern New Jersey. Experience the finest of Buenos Aires at our Saturday night Milonga at the American
Legion. Los Pitucos is a Monthly event which is held on the Third Saturday of the month... Find yourself engulfed in the spirit of Buenos Aires, circa 1940. Mingle with other delightful Tango
dancers. Allow the romance of the period music to move you. Your evening's hosts "El Tordo" and "El Zurdo" are dedicated to an authentic and enjoyable Tango experience. Our DJ (and instructor) El Tordo, incorporates composers from the "Golden Age of Tango" to replicate the best of the Milongas of Buenos Aires. Milonga Los Pitucos is the first and only Milonga to offer gourmet refreshments, prepared fresh, by our chef "El Tordo". Chef Tordo takes pride in creating a home made dish for every event.
We have been bringing the finest Tango events and music to New Jersey since 2009.
Beginners
Welcome... no partner necessary. BYOB Munchies & Finger food (Feel free to bring a dish to share...) The evenings "delight" is made fresh before the Milonga by chef "El Tordo" Facebook Members: Please join Los Pitucos Milonga group by
clicking here
For information about Tango in the New York metro area visit http://newyorktango.com Also, please sign up for the Yahoo group NewYorkTango by sending email to newyorktango-subscribe@yahoogroups.com This Yahoo group is a place for Tangueros in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area to communicate with each other and get announcements about virtually all the local Tango events
Simply Social Dancing lessons and events
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Simply Social Dancing August 2018 Schedule |
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EVENTS _____________ Latin Night at La Havana 59
110 Moonachie Ave, Moonachie NJ
Tuesday, August 28th 7:00 to 10:00 pm
Mostly Salsa and Argentine Tango... some Bachata, Merengue, Rumba,
& Cha Cha. A Latin evening for those who enjoy Latin music, food, and dancing! An Argentine Tango lesson to start (for all level dancers).
$20.00 cover includes 2 house drinks or 1 drink & 1 Latin Night appetizer
For reservations and directions: http://www.lahavana59.com 201 964 9515
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Our cancelation policy - We STILL rarely cancel
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Even though we had to cancel twice this year because of blizzards, 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 my cell phone 201-826-6602.
Feel free to leave a message.
We cancel only when absolutely necessary (still only about ten times in all these years, 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.
Thanks to everyone who helped and who brought food and goodies. This is 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.
Special Thanks to Mike Porro for helping me wash the dishes.
The folks below brought food and wine
this week - - Barbara Lombardi - Popcorn
- Ingrid Jacob - Blueberry cake
And these people brought wine - Mary Pagano
- Barbara Lombardi
- Mary Pagano
- Meryl
Shapiro
- Marie Z
- Nancy Gerardi
- John Sullivan
- Rudy
Tango in New Jersey and New York
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