Tango Traditions

Tradition.

Such a common word in our tango world: traditional milongas, traditional dance, traditional music... The milongueros promote the traditions, the neos break-up with them up, the dancers from Villa Urquiza abide by them and others seem to hate them because they limit their freedom. Ok, I am polarising, but how often was I called a tango-nazi, because I suggest the use certain guidelines at tango events! This post is to demonstrate how fluid the concept of traditions in tango actually is and how careful one has to be with these expressions.

What's that?

Wikipedia says: "A tradition is a belief or behaviour passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past."

I find traditions quite neat, because they provide guidelines about how to behave and put things into a larger (historical) context. Conservatives have their traditions, as have communists or anarchists. My group of friends has its traditions, e.g. meeting every year for dinner on X-Mas eve. Whenever a couple of people stay connected for a longer period, some form of tradition will appear.

The "codigos" represent an important part of tradition for a large population in tango.

But here's the problem: Tango as a dance had basically disappeared after the 50s. Milongas and dance halls closed or turned to playing new styles of music like Rock’n Roll. Only few people continued dancing tango and this was either in the sheltered environment of their families or as stage dancers. So when tango-dancing had its revival in the late 70s one could not just take up where it had stopped. There was no "unbroken tradition" of the dance and its rules of behaviour.

To specify: Over 20 years, the dance had mostly been preserved by the stage dancers who promoted a glamour version, upgraded with elements of classical and ballroom dance. So what the world was presented as tango argentino was far removed from the original social dance. Only in the late 80s and 90s, the "old milongueros" finally felt encouraged to tell their story about “the real” tango. Hurrah! Yes, but... actually most dancers of the golden era had passed and tango-culture had been suppressed in the years of dictatorship. Many of those who now emerged as connoisseurs had still been very young in the golden era and experienced it second-hand via their elders. Yes, there were also older dancers with very specific memories, but we all know the process of retroactive glorification and how little valid information actually is preserved in our minds over a stretch of 20-40 years. Right? So everyone told a different story. A lot of knowledge about how tango was danced and celebrated had been lost. Some of that is being re-discovered by serious research until day.

So, let’s be honest: the reanimation of tango culture was also a very complex re-invention and a lot of what we think we know is pure myth.

I discovered tango in 1995 and started taking it more seriously in 2000. I was lucky because my most influential german teachers (Just + Christel Kuhl) back then visited Buenos Aires on a very regular basis. They were seriously trying to grasp the real thing and felt a strong need to distinct their milongas from the many places where tango escenario or the free forms of tango nuevo were cultivated. “Authentic” milongas were still rare and ours was one of the first in Germany. If one can call it that...

Because every time my teachers visited BA, they came back with new, sometimes wild stories that painted a diverse pictures of tango culture - all of them authentic. You think that invitations in BA were always and everywhere done by mirada + cabeceo? Nope. At some milongas it was totally fine for men to ask a women directly. At others you had to get permission from her mother or husband. In other places they used early variations of mirada and cabeceo. I remember that one story when Christel had rejected a mirada of an elder milonguero and he came to their table, started jerking it up and down until he had intimidated poor Christel into dancing with him. The same goes for musical set-ups. You believe that tango was always presented in tandas and with cortinas? Far from it! One of the most renowned Argentinean djs who toured Europe in the early 2000s was Felix Picherna. As far as I remember, he did not use any cortinas, he changed the amount of tangos, milongas and valses randomly and he sometimes even mixed all three styles in one tanda. So in these years, when the authentic social dance of the porteños was being spread all around the world, it was in no way clear, what authentic actually meant.

You notice that I am still not using the term “traditional”, because back then, I did not not hear it that often. It might not even have been used in BA, because it had always been obvious, that in milongas one danced tango de salón, social tango. This differentiation from stage tango seemed to be enough to define the "what and how". The rest of the "rules" varied depending on the milonga or was vague. There was not ONE tango tradition. There were as many as milongas or at least as barrios.

This means, that when our tango community organised their first “Milongas como en Buenos Aires” to promote the “authentic tango of the porteños”,we had to make a choice about what this implied.

From what I can tell from conversations with Argentinians the same process happened in Buenos Aires, where the big influx of tango tourists and young people created a need for civilisation and specification. Unsaid guidelines had to be transferred into “reglas” and “codigos”. A common denominator had to be defined. And to implement these codigos, it helped to base them (at least virtually) on tradition. This is where the term “traditional” became important: “This is how we always did it, these are our traditions”, helped to make people respect the guidelines. Back then, I was not so much aware of this creative process, but looking back I find it amazing, how everyone helped to actually shape a common set of traditions.

So these are the "traditional" codigos that I have witnessed being implemented over the last 25 years:

Dancing in an unbroken embrace: The actual form of the embrace (parallel close, v-form, a little open...) always depended on the pre-dominant style of the alpha-dancers in a community. At encuentros milongueros, we now often find a more or less parallel close embrace, but no one will be expelled for loosening the embrace a bit once in a while.

Use of “classical” music: Around the turn of the millennium, this would include non-argentine old tangos or contemporary orchestras. In the early years of encuentros (2008-14), contemporary orchestras were pretty much undesirable and musical choices were limited to extended golden era: the late 20s to the late 50s. In recent years, the custom of using newer and contemporary orchestras has made a revival. Some djs now play exclusively 40s-60s + contemporary. This is totally a matter of personal taste and the directions that the organisers of specific events give.

Presentation of music in tandas and with cortinas: Tandas seemed to used quite early, at least as far as I can think back. It also makes sense to imagine them in golden age milongas, where the orchestras played shorts sets of similar music, but this is pure speculation. The introduction of short cortinas took definitely longer. See below.

Constant movement in the ronda and certain guidelines on how to do so: It took many years to fine tune the system. When I started teaching in 2001, it was e.g, still ok to overtake other couples in the ronda and we practised it in classes. Nowadays you won't see anyone doing it. If it is a good ronda.

Invitation by mirada and cabeceo: The concept of mirada and cabeceo itself developed hugely from “guy getting up and instead of asking verbally, just nodding from a short distance” over “guy looking and nodding, but staying seated” to a bidirectional process in which partners choose actively. And to take advantage of this form of invitation you needed a specific set-up of the location. In our home milonga e.g. the dance floor was on one side of the room and everyone was seated at tables on the other facing in all directions. To allow for better m+c, we changed the seating so that a central dance floor with tables around it was created. Now everyone could potentially make eye-contact with everyone else without having to get up or break their necks. As you can see, I don't see this specific seating arrangement as a tradition, more a necessity to allow for one.

Leaving the pista after a tanda to be free to dance with another person and to allow for mirada and cabeceo: At some moment, it became more common to change partners frequently and not to stick too long with one partner. This was also when cortinas had to implemented, because the organisers had to make sure, that everyone cleared the floor at the same time. Amongst porteños, a cortina might not have been necessary, because everyone knew the orchestras and therefore knew when to sit down again. That is, when the dj even played tandas. 

Apart from the quite common codigos, other "traditions" where typical for certain sub-groups amongst the social dancers or certain milongas:

Separate seating: This set-up is used in some milongas in BA, only very few outside of BA and some more - but by far not all - encuentros milongueros. Please note that the first encuentros (Raduno Milonguero in Impruneta, YSM in Crema, Les Cigales, then the FCA) were very social gatherings where no-one would have thought of separating men and women. This developed later, when fans of milongas like the Cachirulo in BA started organising encuentros. It is in now way universal in the "traditional" tango world.

Elegant attire: I guess that was always very much depending on where and when you lived. A lot of milongueros in BA will be proud to dress very neatly as do most Italians dancers. But just go to an encuentro or so-called "traditional milonga" anywhere else and you'll find all kinds of clothing styles, including jeans and flat shoes for women. Sometimes there will be one "elegant milonga" during an encuentro, but even then the term will be interpreted very individually. We stopped announcing the gala milonga on Saturday evening of our FCA after several people complained about Detlef's too casual outfit. Yup...

There is one other "tradition" that for me actually is a non-tradition, but that I need to discuss here, because it has become relevant in recent discussions on social media:

Mandatory gender-typical dance roles:
Myth has it that tango in the olden days was danced among men and you can also find vintage pictures with women dancing together. But as far as I can tell, dancing the non-gender-typical role was never very common, so one could call the dance of men with women a tradition in most couple dances.
Yet in my tango-world, this vague tradition never resulted in the declaration of a codigo.
My first teacher in 1995 was a leading women as well as the second. It did not strike me in any way weird, because it was obvious that women would be more interested in dancing and become engaged in it. When I discovered “authentic” tango, I for the first time met a few people who opposed the idea of leading women, but even my conservative teachers would not forbid it at their milongas. As long as only a small number of women would lead and almost no men follow, it was never a big deal. I soon started leading a bit - it was the logical thing to do, in particular as I started teaching in 2001. Why would one only want to see one side of the medal? And I was not the only one, wherever I went in the next 19 years - at every festival, milonga (traditional or not) or encuentro milonguero - I met leading ladies and - much more seldom - following men.
The same goes for BA. Yes, dancing the unconventional roles seems still to be frowned upon in a majority of the conventional milongas, but it still exists and always did. I remember one special occasion: Detlef and I had given a demo in the conservative “A Puro Tango” milonga in Salon Canning. I think it was in 2007. In spite of the intimidating setting, I decided to lead a young lady. Coming from the dance floor we got stopped by an older women. Instead of criticising, she complimented us and next invited my friend for the a tanda - by the way verbally. I then went on dancing with male milongueros who did not shun me for having lead. I had expected problems - there were none.
But that has changed in recent years: A strong need to restrict dancers to the gender-typical roles has developed alongside and because of the fact, that more and more people started changing roles. The increased role-fluidity applies not only to "non-traditional" queer-tango or open-role-events. Many of the "traditional" events like encuentros milongueros invite dancers to register as followers, leaders and double-rolers to create a role- rather than a gender-balance. You can now even see men dancing together at the oldest existing encuentro in Italy. This would not have been imaginable when it started in 2008.
But this is starting to bug a part of the community. I think that what we are experiencing is a formerly marginal phenomenon that expands into mainstream and thereby causes a radicalisation of those who had before just mildly rejected it. They become hyper-traditional and react accordingly, e.g. by organising events in which the dance in a gender-a-typical role is not only frowned upon but actually forbidden. I find this regrettable but also understand it as a natural course of human behaviour as we can see in all other fields of society and politics. I hope it will - after a period of friction - dissolve in a new, freer handling of this specific question.

So... traditions... a difficult concept in tango!

As a dancer, organiser, teacher and even blogger I have not only seen them evolve, put into a logical context and specified, I have actually consciously participated in this process of "traditionalisation". This is why I am also critical towards the over-usage of the word. It could be understood in a broader sense, because there have always been guidelines to bring order into the chaos of our tango world. But they have not been carved in stone by some tango god in the epoca d'oro and were never universal. They always varied in different communities and are constantly being adapted to the needs of each new generation of dancers. Some codigos are very recent developments.

I am now using mirada and cabeceo for invitations. But who knows, what the future will bring? Most likely a special app for the phone. I will surely be amongst the first who try it out.

Because tango is no anachronistic role-playing game. It is real life. 


A more personal note:
People always assume that we are very old fashioned aka "traditional" because we dance a rather unspectacular social dance in a close embrace and promote the usage of the main codigos at our events. But already from what I've written above, you can see, that you have to be careful with labels. If you then take into consideration, that we use tango nuevo as a teaching method, that I dance both roles, that we teach beginners both roles consequently from the beginning, that we change roles as teachers constantly, that at our events, there is always a large number of double-rolers... well? And there is no separate seating at our events. Won't be before hell freezes over! So... yup traditional... One does not need to do high voleos and open the embrace or cut the ronda to live in the modern world!

Great Expectations

Today, I am celebrating my 20-years-tango anniversary. 

This seems like a good opportunity to check, if I am happy with what I achieved in my tango life. At least this is how my post will start, but I could not prevent it from ending up in my usual rant. So, if you are looking for an unconditional praise of tango, better don't hold your breath. ;-)

On October, 28th in the year of 1995 - last century - a much younger Melina and her partner started participating in a tango practica, that a dancer from Berlin had started in their home town. Unfortunately this first encounter with tango was quite unsatisfying. Showing someone a step and then letting the students fool around, did not meet my expectations of learning a dance. Also back then, there weren‘t any milongas, so the whole thing was kind of pointless. Which is why after a year of dabbling, we stopped going to that practica.

But we did not forget Tango, went on practising our steps once in a while, somehow knowing that there must be more to it. Dreaming of something better...

In January 2000 we found that a small tango-community had developed without us noticing. Now there was a real school with milongas and workshops. So much better than before, although the classes still consisted of memorising steps. But now they were presented in a more professional way. Luckily we soon discovered another school in a neighbouring town. They danced in a close embrace, used Cabeceo and Cortinas, taught some tango technique (before showing the new step) and were friendly and welcoming. We had found our tango home.

You all know what happened soon: I got to know Detlef, we started danced together, we were asked to teach a pre-milonga class in another city, then more... We started giving regular classes in several towns, travelling a little, then more, gave up our normal professions, started working internationally... Our story is not unique, but I am quite proud with what we achieved. 

I had never fantasised about being a tango teacher. In the beginning, just wanted to dance nicely. After starting to teach, I just aimed to do a good job. Nothing more or less. And therefore all my expectations were exceeded in every possible way: Although we were neither argentine, nor young and attractive, although our dance is quite plainly, we not only managed to make a living from being tango professionals, but so much more. We have grown a solid reputation for our technical, musical and pedagogic approach and for organising or promoting quality events. We have even had a part in building an international community of close embrace dancers and friends. Without having to fake anything or to compromise our philosophy. Quality, reliability and authenticity have been my main guidelines in these last years. And I am really content with the outcome. When I go to a tango event nowadays, there is such an good chance, that I get nice dances in a pleasant environment. 

I am also happy about what I learned by teaching and organising. From my students, from the exchange with other dancers, in recent years through the research of music, our Tango-Teacher-Training (TTT) and the work on our book+DVD. I feel as if have been given a great gift: a profession in which I can help people to widen their horizons and offer them the opportunity to discover the joy of embracing to the music. It is wonderful to see the concentrated and happy faces in a class or a milonga. I don‘t need everyone to be a world champion or an image of myself, but if people after a class walk a little nicer or pay more attention to their partners and to the music, that‘s already a lot gained. I do my best, but I cannot produce miracles. 

The problem is: with my general approach of wanting to do everything as good as possible, I might have involuntarily contributed to a rise of expectations, that have gotten quite out of hand.

First of all, let me explain, that I am no perfectionist. By saying "I try to do everything as good as possible" you should pay attention to the second part of the sentence. "As good as possible" means: subject to one‘s capabilities, limitations and resources.
My job as a tango organiser/teacher/dj/manager/author requires that I complete a lot of different tasks in a limited time with very limited resources. When I write a promotional e-mail in 3-4 languages, my aim is to inform my customers about an upcoming even, not to gain a nobel price for literature. When doing a demo, I try to embody our pedagogical and philosophical principles, but I don‘t want to earn a championship. When organising an event, I want people to have a good time, but I don‘t promise a weekend in a luxury resort. When teaching a class, I do the same as any teacher at university or in another professional context should do, but I am neither a genius, not do I have a master degree in music, medicine or classical dance. I try to do as good as possible. 
In order to be perfect, I would need more time, help, intellect, talent, financial resources... and even then, I would fail, because nothing can ever be perfect. Mistakes or shortcomings will eventually happen. Usually they can be corrected or they are minor. But they will happen. 

The problem is: nowadays, many people expect everything to be perfect. And this is why great undertakings can fail completely in the eyes of the consumers. It is a well-known phenomenon. Which is why in politics, campaign managers aim to lower expectations for their candidates before a public discussion, so that they will be able to exceed them in reality. (Or at least that is what I learned from watching "Westwing".) In the world of finance, perfectly good winnings of a firm can result in a catastrophic fall of the stocks, because the market expected them to be even higher. 

And this is what happens in the tango world, at least when it comes to events, no matter if it is local Milongas or international Encuentros:
The consumer wants to dance every tanda and it has to be the snuggliest, most musical dance he or she has ever had. The floor has to be perfect, not too hard and not too soft, not too sticky and not too slippery. The lighting has do be perfect, neither too bright, nor too dark. The decoration, drinks and snacks have to be luscious. There has to be a hair dryer, deodorant and many other conveniences for your free use in the perfectly lit bathroom. The music has to come out of the most  expensive speakers arranged in the perfect manner to allow for a constant, unblemished sound experience. The DJ cannot afford to play one imperfect tanda and he will surely be a total loser, if he does not own a fancy external sound drive. Not to mention the catastrophe, if he or she - god forbid - uses MP3 instead of WAV or FLAC files. And of course: the event has to be exclusive and small, but YOU have to be admitted. If not, you are going to pout.

I could go on, but you certainly get the point. 

But it is even worse: this premium service has to come for a price not exceeding 5€ for a Milonga or 75€ for a whole Encuentro. And beware if an event is known to generate a profit at all. Shame on the organisers! They are supposed to do it for free. Out of the goodness of their hearts.

Get outta here!

What do you pay, when you go to the movies? What do you spend on a single pair of shoes? What do you pay for a weekend on the golf course? Do you begrudge your hairdresser his income? Or the pilot who flies the plane that you take to go to the Encuentro? Or the hotel owner?

Now I personally cannot complain, but most (not all) tango consumers have a much larger income than their tango teachers or organisers. I have rarely seen a tango professional with an own house, a fancy car or even with a pension plan. Those are rare animals. Most barely make a living. A tango professional can himself lucky, if he is doing ok, but he will never become rich or even well-off. At least not by european standards. So why do customers expect the luxury treatment?

Let us have a look back: When we started organising Tangokombinat Milongas, we used my old private Technics speakers that were barely powerful enough, but everyone was happy. We even used them during our first FCA during the Despedida. Later we started renting speakers for an increasing amount of money and spend hours of trying out or discussing how to set them up. Finally, Detlef bought a set of Tannoy speakers for thousands of €, because everything less fancy is regarded as stingy. And it is still not good enough for everyone. 

Another example: Because everyone hates plastic cups and what they are doing to the environment, we now use hand-painted personalised glasses. Better? Obviously not, because now but people complain about the fact, that glasses might break.

By trying to do better every year, constantly reacting to suggestions and the slightest critique of clients, we have created expectations, that we cannot fulfil any more. Because last year was top, this year has to be even better. If it is not, it is a flop.

It is not just our events. The first time that I noticed this effect, was a couple of years ago at another Festivalito. This was the second edition. The first edition was such a great success, that everyone complimented the organisers on their good work. The second time, some minor bugs had been sorted out, but the general format remained exactly the same. But now a big number of participants started complaining about the silliest things. The organiser was in tears when talking to me.

I am not an easy customer either: when I go some place, I want to get what I have payed for and what I have been promised. So, if something is called an Encuentro, I expect an equal number of followers and leaders, music in Tandas & Cortinas, a room that allows for Mirada & Cabeceo, enough seats for the majority of participants, dancers that have a general knowledge on how to move on a social dancefloor and a friendly organiser who gives the impression, that he/she likes what he/she is doing. Ok, so the floor has to be ok and one has to actually hear the music from the speakers. But that‘s it and I try to keep my expectations realistic. When I go to certain sort of French event, I usually don‘t expect a super pretty venue, because I know that they often use the free "salle polyvalente" of a village. When I go to an Italian encuentro, I don‘t expect every DJs to match my taste perfectly, because I know that many of them prefer a very energetic style. But then, I don‘t have to dance every tanda. I don‘t expect flowers on the tables, a choice of excellent wines or a crowd of tango professionals only. And when I attend a local Milonga, I don‘t expect the same conditions than at an international Encuentro. 

When I book at room at a local motel, I don‘t expect the Ritz. When I go to Mac Donald‘s I don‘t expect haute cuisine.

If I don‘t like an event because it does not meet my basic expectations and if I think that the shortcomings can be changed without too much of an effort or going against the organisers general philosophy, I might offer to give a feedback. In the USA, it will sometimes occur that an organiser asks for feedback. (We - Detlef and I - are used to asking for Feedback from day one of our tango "career".) I will in any case give an honest, but productive feedback, whilst focussing on the important things, the stuff, that really matters. If I am very unhappy with an event and I don't think that there is a chance that the setup is changed, I'd rather not go there anymore. But then I will certainly not rave about it on Facebook at the same time. (Exaggerated flattery being another annoying topic, that I won‘t go into now.) 

I behave in that way, because I know what it takes to organise an event and that not everything can be to my taste. And because I don‘t need it to be perfect. I can compromise without being unhappy all the time. And I have to say: mostly, things are good out there. Or at least much better, than they used to be. I know, because If have seen, how it started. 

Ok, now that may sound a little like: "eat your soup children, in wartime, we would have been happy to have such a feast". But we all know, that always wanting to get more for a cheaper price is one of the defining problems of modern society. As in Tango.

What I want to say is: You are entitled to quality, if you invest time and money for something. Every organiser or teacher should aim for it as well and keep on questioning  if what he or she is doing is still up to his standards. One should do so, because there are still a lot of things worth improvement in our tango world. But please keep your expectations realistic and don‘t ask for unachievable perfection. Because then, you'll never be happy with what you do or get.

One last thing: Why don‘t tangueros in general have the same expectations, apply the same crieria when it comes to instruction? I don't want to say, that only we know how to teach, but sometimes I get a little upset, when after years of meticulous class preparations, musical research, well-structured workshops, professional behaviour, projections and written class handouts... why have I not managed to raise expectations in this field? How can students still rave about teachers that show a fancy step and then spend the rest of their time doing moves with their partners. 20 years ago, I expected more. Why don‘t others as well? I guess I have to be even more patient and realistic. And continue offering my Tango-Teacher-Training. ;-)

So... I should stop now.

But my tango journey has not yet come to an end. I hope I live to see the next 20 years of development and won‘t be disappointed by it. I will certainly do my best to keep it on track.


The venue of our first regular Milonga in 2003:

The venue of our latest event in 2015:

Photo by Thorsten Janes

I give up - for the moment!

For the last 1,5 years, I've been trying to study for a master in "European Modern History & Literatur". Although I was well aware, that it would take me years to complete it, I was still confident that I could make it. I have to admid, that I was wrong.
My work as a Tango teacher & DJ, my blogging activities and several other interests do not allow me to spend enough time to seriously progress in this degree programm. I can only concentrate on so much at a time. I'm sad about this decision, but I have to let it be for the moment. 
Once I'm done with Tango, I'm going to pursue the task of becoming a Master of History anew. But for the moment, I will confine myself in studying history just for the fun of it. And that's actually not so bad, as it leaves me the time, to read what I want to read and not what I'm supposed to read! ;-)

Post inbetween posts 5 - Sin Tango

So... I'm a couple of weeks into studying and as some of you may know, I took a month off from my Tango work. No teaching or dancing since mid February, so that I can concentrate on the studies. Kind of an intensive kick-off phase. That worked out nicely for me, although there is still a lot of Tango-organising and planning to do. That's why I'm never really Tango-free. ;-)

Do I miss dancing or teaching? No. There's too much other things to do, to read and to think. And as I know that I'll be travelling for the rest of the year without pause, I rather cherish the time at home. It's nice. And I'll be refreshed and newly motivated for work.

But, there's a problem: I've got nothing new to write about. Not about Tango anyway. My thoughts are evolving about the definition of modernity in history and literature, about the difference of historicism and historic social sciences, about the long 19th century, the industrial revolution and about Mr. Marx. My head is spinning and I cannot imagine how I can my thoughts in order to pass the exam. I am kinda scared.

Sometimes, I really ask myself: Why am I doing this? I do not need another qualification, I do not need another academic title... I am doing it for the sheer pleasure of learning and yet I am condemming myself to years of studying in my rare free time. That's no fun anymore. I must be crazy. Ok. I can live with that. 

But do not dispair: I'll be back in the Tango world from next weekend on and there'll be much more to write about...

No rest for the wicked!

A love story: Melina and the Vampires (Re-edited 2017)

It began at the dawn of time. I was seven years old and we had recently moved to Germany. It was night-time and I was cuddled up on the sofa next to my mother. This is when I met him for the first time: Dracula!

He appeared in the form of Christopher Lee in an old Hammer movie. One of the countless films about the infamous count from Transsilvania: "Dracula", "Dracula - Prince of darkness", "Dracula has risen from the grave", "Taste the blood of Dracula"... I‘ve seen and loved them all. These movies did not tell us much about the count himself, where he came from, his motives or feelings. He also did not talk a lot, but would just look at his victim, commanding it to come nearer, open his arms beneath the black cape and encompass them in his deadly embrace. He was a monster in the body of a man. Was I scared? Maybe a little. But I knew, that nothing bad would happen, when I pulled-up my blanket to cover my neck. And if he came... well... maybe this would not be so bad after all. He was good-looking, wasn‘t he?

This is when it began, my life-long love-story with Vampires. 

I emerged myself in it, watching the Hammer-movies on TV, discovering some of the cheesy South American interpretations of Dracula, the silent-movies with Bela Lugosi and of course the source of it all, the novel by Bram Stoker. 

Written in 1897, "Dracula" was a worldwide success. Earlier Vampire stories (Le Fanu‘s "Camilla“, Polidori‘s "The Vampyre“) had mostly appealed to the intellectual and romantic elite. They had created an interest in the drinkers of blood, but their Vampires remained ghostlike, diffuse creatures. Stoker made a man out of the spectre! The book contains everything that you expect from a good novel: sex, action and mystery. Dracula is the predator, the monster with hairy hands and a hawk-like nose, who is feared and killed in the end. Very much what the Hammer-movies tried to convey with their rather simple means. It was an adventure book and I adored it. I must have read it dozens of times.

This I why I was perfectly equipped to write my own book about Vampires. Not a novel of course. My analytic mind asked for a scientific challenge. So, in 1978 (being ten-and-two years old) I spend weeks researching the evil creatures with the aid of Bram Stoker‘s work, other stories, films, magazine articles, history books and much more. The result was a manual, listing all the important facts: how Vampires are created, how to repel them, how to kill them, the story of Dracula, the historic figure and much more. The section that I treasured most was called „The abuse of Vampires“, dealing with Vampires as subjects of jokes in magazines. You can imagine, that I had to speak out against such an atrocious discrimination. Yes, I was really serious about it.

And serious it remained, because in the following years, my attention shifted to the more ambitious manifestations of Vampire movies: Murnau‘s "Nosferatu“, Herzog‘s film with the glorious Klaus Kinski, Andy Warhol‘s Dracula... The monster had become a symbol for all kinds of repressed feelings, for fear of the unknown, the beast inside and passion. Art had discovered the Vampire and my teenage-self was feeling very intellectual. 

This came to a sudden end, when Francis Ford Coppola presented his new movie in 1992: Bram Stoker‘s Dracula. Ah! Here he was again, but he had evolved. Coppola‘s interpretation transformed the speechless monster and intellectual symbol into a romantic hero. A loving creature that turns to the dark side as a result of a great loss, of being forsaken by god. Yes, he kills, yes, he is a ghastly monster, but could I not understand why? How I suffered with him every minute up until his salvation and Christ-like ascension.

Anne Rice‘s Vampire novels had been written earlier, but I discovered them around the same time as the Coppola movie in the early 90‘s. They were expressing a similar picture of Vampires: tortured creatures with feelings and emotions, killing and hunting, but suffering because of it. Asking the eternal questions: Why am I that way? What is my destiny?

Well, the destiny of this new Vampire was obviously to be integrated into my most important pastime: A few years earlier I had started to do role-playing games, at first concentrating on fantasy and medieval settings. In 1991 the storyteller-based game "Vampire - The Masquerade" was published by White Wolf. 

My friends and I started playing the game in the original White Wolf setting: Chicago. Vampires were living in our modern world, connected to it, but forming a secret society. These Vampires were very much influenced by the Rice novels: They were suffering souls - their torment resulting from an ancient curse that god had called upon the first Vampire Cain. It was supposed to be a mythological game. But, let‘s face it, it was also about playing a super-hero. Vampires had all these exciting skills: they could change into wolves and bats, had night-vision, where super strong, could read minds or mind-control ordinary people. So it was no surprise, that it many cases the play regressed into an action-based game, the Vampires being just another way to live out juvenile power-fantasies. 

I found this rather boring - not being juvenile any more - so in January 1994 I started my own Vampire game: set in the early 19th century, the story was based in Venice. "La Serenissima" had survived the napoleonic conquest, but found herself reduced to an Austrian province. A sinking and degrading city, living in the memories of a great past. This is where my Vampires dwelled in an equally decomposing society, clinging to former fame and archaic ideals. Our game was about mythology and history. It was about Europe on the brink of modern times and about man- and vampire-kind adapting to this new era. The fact that the main characters were immortal, allowed us to encompass a longer period in history. They experienced adventures and torments, mental and physical challenges. They struggled with millennia-old intrigues in the Vampire-society and tried to influence the politics of men. They met figures of the past like Anches-En-Amun or Tiziano as well as personae of "the present" time like Daniele Manin or Karl Marx. Marie-Anne, Rodolfo, Victor and Marius made enemies and allies, had love affairs and formed families with their vampiric and human offspring. They lived! 

The characters of this game got to be played for almost 20 years and became real for us. I know how crazy this sounds, but I guess this is how Tolkiens figures must have meant to him. 

We nevertheless had to stop playing in 2013, because one of the main players of our small group had moved to the UK and making further appointments became quite impossible. But still, one day, we are going to take it up again - maybe via Skype or when we are living in a tango- and roleplaying-retirement home. Until then, the heroes and villains of our story will wait in an eternal 1914, the year in which the great war began, the year in which we abandoned them. I hope they can forgive us.

In 2006, Vampires invaded another part of my life: TV series. When I first heard about "Buffy, the Vampire slayer“ and its spin-off "Angel“, I was sceptical: what good could come from a series named after a 15-year-old girl called Buffy? But I was surprised by the wit, style and depth of the series and I became a real fan, watching it over and over again. It depicted every aspect of Vampires: the monster, the symbol, the suffering lover, the super-hero. The series is also about growing up and although I am not young anymore, I can still relate to it. Aren't we nerds eternal children anyway? Buffy also prepared me for my latest passion: "True Blood“ after the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Much darker, much more sex, much more grown-up than Buffy. Great music too!

And this is how finally Vampires crept into Tango as well: the True-Bood-theme "I wanna do bad things to you“ became one of my most-used Cortinas in the past years.

Years have passed.

In 2011, when I originally wrote this post, I was in my mid-forties and did neither look nor feel it. Now it is 2017 and I have turned 50, but I have not forgotten the Vampires. Just recently I lay in bed and pondered: what if a Vampire showed up and offered to turn me into one? Now that I am old and grey, would I still want eternal life? Was not the point of it all to stay young and beautiful forever? Well, I don't know. 

I guess, when Dracula finally knocks on my window, he's in for quite a scolding.

Don't mention the war!

But Ken Follett does. Repeatedly.

The british novelist is renowned for his spy-stories, often set in the time of World War II, like „The Needle“ or „The key to Rebecca“. But I read none of those, as recent history (20th century) has never interested me a lot.

My focus has always been on medieval, renaissance and 19th century history and thus of course I read and loved „The pillars of the earth“. I was thrilled, when Follett published a follow-up in 2007  and started to read it, as soon it was available on the german market. (By then, I still bought real paper books...) But I was to be disappointed: the novel did not live up to my expectations, being somewhat lengthy and boring. I did not even finish it. And I can tell you, that happens only rarely!

So it was kind of risky to buy Folletts newest novel „Fall of Giants“ for my Kindle, but it turns out to be a captivating read. I have not finished it yet, but I have nevertheless decided to present it to my dear readers.

The story of is set in London and St. Petersburg in the year 1914, right after the heir to the Austrian throne, Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. Very typically for Follett, he describes the world on the brink of war out of different perspectives: an English earl, his housekeeper, a young coal miner, a German diplomat, a Russian worker... all these fates being intertwined by personal relationships, that are about to change dramatically due to the upcoming apocalypse. There is lots of politics and diplomacy, there is oppression and rebellion and of course there is also love. All the ingredients for a good story.

Follett uses the fictional plot artfully to depict history in a easily digestible way, without making it too obvious. The reader witnesses the chain of events that lead to the British entering the war and the change in mood, that makes warmongers out of pacifists after Germany decides to invade Belgium. Not surprisingly, the author - being an active supporter of the Labour Party - does not fail to mention that this group was amongst the few, who tried to prevent a British participation in the conflict until the end. But we can forgive him that bias.

Surprisingly though, that the good guy in this story is the German diplomat, whereas the English lord... But I won‘t tell too much.

Some critics complain about the language being to simplistic and dialogues that read like "children's writing". Of course, Follett is no poet, but to me, the language is good enough to make it an agreeable read. But then of course, I'm not an English native speaker...

However, if a book succeeds in making me interested in World War I, it cannot be so bad. So, if you like historic novels, it's worth checking it out!