I'm back

... after eight months of abstinence. I vowed that I would keep my fingers from the keyboard as long as I‘ve got nothing new to say. And I did.

But I have not been idle. 

Those who follow my posts on Facebook know that I‘ve been teaching and dancing all over Europe as usual. So: same old? 

Not entirely. I‘ve tried to re-connect with normality and my pre-Tango self: I‘ve totally changed my diet, forced myself to do daily workouts, lost quite some kilos, taken up Yoga and - not to forget - bought a brand-new Vespa. I feel much better than all those years when our unhealthy lifestyle weighted very heavy on me - literally. Most people can see that and compliment me on my good mood or looks. That‘s not so bad for the ego either. ;-) 

And there is more change to come: next year, we are going to travel much less, leaving time to re-connect with our hometown and to launch into some long-postponed projects like a instructional DVD and teacher training. We will definitely have to find ways to make a living without having to travel so much. 

As teaching in our hometown is out of question (see The Tango-free zone), I might even end up going back to a civilian profession. But that‘s still in the future. First, we need some off-time and 2013 will hopefully provide for that. 

(Do not think, that we‘re not going to teach at all in 2013. We will do at least 30 weeks of travelling and the first half of the year is already fully booked. But we will cut back 10 weeks of work. That‘s a lot!) 

As for this blog: Some topics worth-while discussing have accumulated over the last months. So I‘ll write a little more. Let‘s see for how long...

Festivalitos & Encuentros for Milongueros 2012

Although I did not plan to post anymore, I would like to update my list of Tango events for Milongueros who cherish the "Abrazo" to traditional music. Although some of these events also offer classes and short, improvised demos, the focus is on social dancing. The etiquette of invitation by Mirada & Cabeceo plays an important role as does the respectful interaction of all dancers on the dancefloor. These are traditional Milongas and no place for people who want to show off their newest Sentadas, Montadas and Ganchos. Please stay away, if you don't like dancing in a close embrace! 
There might be some more Encuentros of that sort, but I only include events that I can recommend personally, because I have been there or because I know the organizers and participants well enough to guarantee for their "esprit milonguero".

So, these are the events that me and/or my friends visit in 2012:

Pasionara Milonguera, Côte D'Azur, France, January 27-29

Mirame, Montpellier, France, February 24-26

Rendez-vous Milonguero, Bologna, Italy, March 2-4

Montecatini Terme Tango Festivalito, Montecatini, Italy, March 30 - April 1 (read review)

Yo soy Milonguero, Crema, Italy, April 6-9  (read review)

Abrazos - Encuentro Milonguero UK, Devon, United Kingdom, May 4-6 (read review)

Les Cigales, Carpentras, France, May 17-20 (read review by Ms. Hedgehog)

Tango del Mar - Encuentro de Abrazos, Constanta, Rumania, June 8-10 (read review)

Raduno Rural, Slovenia, Juni 29 - July 1 (read review by Ms. Hedhehog)

Encuentro Milonguero, Kehl, Germany, September 13-16 

Festivalito Rural, Celje, Slovenia, September 7-9 (read review)
Ensueños, Valongo, Portugal, October 4-7 (Facebook event)

FCA (Tangokombinat, private party)

Raduno Milonguero, Impruneta, Italy, November 1-4

Abrazame, Barcelona, Spain, December, 6-9
Milongueando in Bari, Bari, Italy, December

Looking forward to meeting you there!

I‘m a blogger - not anymore!

Exactly one year ago, I started blogging. I was planning to write about Tango, my studies and whatever is important to me. This turned out to be one of my most intensive Tango-years ever and the blog contributed to it. Writing about Tango so much kept me from doing other stuff. I even decided to give up my studies. I do not regret this step, but I would have wished to present a more diverse blog.

These were my most popular posts (by number of visits):

Good news. Really. 

Let‘s talk about sex! 

The eternal question: Salon or Milonguero? 

We have to try harder! 

Making choices: women‘s active participation in Tango. 

My personal favourites are the posts in which I wrote about my European Milonguero friends and the great Encuentros for Milongueros. Not just, because it was fun to write them, but because I really want to promote the philosophy of Tango as an embrace. Tango is a social event, an intimate encounter with friends all over the world. And thus very, very dear to me!

All in all, I liked blogging a lot. Mostly I wrote down, what I‘ve been discussing with other dancers and phrasing my ideas helped me to substantiate them. And I just love analyzing situations and writing "manuals" (kleine Leitfäden") like this one. 


I‘m also glad, that I stayed honest and spoke out about what really bothered or moved me. Even when it may have cost me some contracts. Many posts resulted in lively discussions and I got in contact with interesting new thoughts and people. I‘m proud to say, that my blog reached many dancers all over the world. In total, it was viewed over 44.000 times. Thank you all, my faithful readers!

But: the blog also attracted the usual crazies and trolls. I will never get over the fact, that someone who does not even know me personally, can hate me so much, that he (or she) will start attacking or insulting me publicly. Very often I was tempted to reply in a likewise rude manner but restrained myself. This nevertheless cost me a lot of energy and time, so they got what they wanted! Such people really can take the fun out of things. Maybe I‘m going to examine this peculiar online-behaviour one day... in case I ever return to Psychology. 

But for now, I‘m done with blogging about Tango. I‘ve written about everything, that is relevant to me and that is not already covered by other bloggers. I don‘t want to start reviewing music or writing poetry... Others can do that much better.. Also, I will not visit any new interesting Milonguero events coming year - I‘ll just go to the same ones again. Never change a winning team! 

So, there‘s nothing left to say at the moment. The blog is going to stay online, so that you can still ready my posts or link to them. And maybe I‘ll get new inspiration in the future. Or I‘m going to write about something completely different... I‘m already shifting my focus...

Just stay tuned. I might be back!

Goodbye.

What makes a traditional Milonga?

Inspired by a comment on my last post, I decided to write down my definition of a traditional Milonga: 

- The music is 100% traditional argentine Tango, Milonga and Vals, preferably of the late 20‘s to the late 50‘s. No non-Tango, no Electro-Tango, no non-argentine Tangos, no Tangos that were recorded for Tango shows or for listening. There may be a „Tanda“ of Rock, Chacarera or Salsa, although I would not put it as a DJ.

- The dancers actually know the music and connect to it. (There is no need in knowing EVERY Tango of an orchestra and being able to name it, but everyone should strive to know the important orchestras and listen to what they are doing.)
- The music is presented in Tandas & Cortinas with a logical order (e.g. TTVTTM).

- The dancers leave the dancefloor when the Cortina is played to sit down and choose another partner. Waiting alongside the wall or at the bar is acceptable, as long as you do not stand in front of seated dancers and disturb their Cabeceo.

- There is proper seating around the dancefloor.

- People invite by Cabeceo & Mirada and there is light enough to allow for it.

- The dancers do never break the embrace. Some might open a little for turns, as in Villa Urquiza style. 

- People know how to navigate on the dancefloor. (Including all rules like keeping in one‘s line, not standing too long in one spot, not crowding the next couple...)

- People dance exclusively movements, that are appropriate for a social dancefloor: no ganchos, (high) voleos, or any other movement that breaks the embrace or could disturb/hurt the other dancers. 

Did I forget anything? Do not hesitate to remind me! I'm sure, that there are other postings on the Net, who refer to that question. Links are welcome.


Later addition to the text:
Please note, that I do not define GOOD or BAD Milongas. A traditional Milonga can still be an unpleasant surprise. To make a traditional Milonga "good", it also needs good dancers (whatever your personal definition of a good dancer may be), danceable and interesting traditional music, friendly hosts, a good floor, a nice ambiance and much, much more... But that would be a totally different post!

European Milongueros and their Encuentros - a conclusion

In the last few months, I‘ve presented some of my friends. All of them share a vision of Tango as a social encounter, to be danced in a close embrace in deep connection with partner, music and the other dancers in the Ronda. They may not be living in Buenos Aires and most of them are fairly young - but they are real Milongueros. 

They are nevertheless not as lucky as a Milonguero in BA, who can find a traditional Milonga every evening in his barrio. All his friends will be close and he will never lack opportunities to dance with great partners. Plus: dancers from all over the world will come and visit. Buenos Aires is one big Encuentro Milonguero!

The European Milonguero‘s situation is totally different. He/she will find little opportunity to dance in his home town or region, because there are just not enough traditional Milongas - if at all. This is why most of them spend many hours in cars, trains and planes to travel to the next Milonga, Encuentro or Festivalito and meet friends who share their philosophy. This costs a lot of money, energy and time. At home, they try to build up Tango communities by teaching and organising Milongas or bigger events. But this is a work in progress - it takes years! Only few of them make a small income by teaching or DJing - most of them spend far more on Tango, than they could ever earn. And solely by their enthusiasm, traditional Tango has come that far outside of Argentina.

I only mentioned some of my closest friends, the ones that I know best and that I can tell authentic stories about. There are many more - some of them thousands of kilometres apart. But this lack of Milongas and friends nearby has been turned into an advantage: distances are crossed, international friendships are formed and great events for Milongueros have developed. Social Tango has become an European phenomenon of a very unique variety. And I‘m honoured to be a part of it!

European Milongueros - Alja Ferme & Saso Zivanovic

And here I am again: Impruneta! This small town in the tuscan hills is the site of one of Italy‘s most respected events for Milongueros: The Raduno Milonguero organised by Tango Firenze. And it is the place where I am meeting two young dancers, who‘ve been crossing my path repeatedly in the last three years. 

The first time I met Saso and Alja at a Milonga in Paris, it was Céline, who pointed them out to me. It was September 2008. Céline had danced with Saso and liked it very much. And indeed: my first Tanda with the young Slovenian was very, very nice. He would not do anything fancy, basically just walk - but he had a great musicality and a cuddly embrace. Since then, we‘ve been dancing often as we share a highly compatible musicality, especially when it comes to rhythmic music like Biagi or Canaro. When we dance, it is, as if the music was leading us. You can really not tell, who‘s giving the impulses. Sometimes, we start laughing in mid-Tango, because we just had another magical moment. People must think that we‘re totally nuts!

As for Alja: she developed in no time to one of the favourite dancers of my male friends and I can very well understand them. Her soft embrace and calm attention make it a pleasure to dance with her. (I know by own experience.) Also, what I like a lot: Alja is a very understated and serious young lady. She wears almost no make-up or fancy dresses, neither does she use an overdose of decorations. She does not need that to attract dancers!

What more can I tell you about my friends?

Saso studied mathematics and is now a professor for linguistics at the university of Ljubljana. Alja is a linguist and teaches at Nova Gorica University. Both are highly analytic and you can tell by the questions they ask during class! 

They have discovered Tango in early 2004 and been taking classes with several teachers: Enrique & Judith, Maria Plazaola, Pascale Coquigny, Thierry Le Cocq, Pablo & Noelia, Jennifer Bratt & Ney Melo. But, like us, they developed most of their technique and ideas by starting to teach and trying to figure out what they do. When they first came to one of our workshops in Ferrara, Italy, they were very relieved to find that we had developed some similar principles concerning circular movements for the communication. This is why I love Tango: You can live in a totally different part of the world and still come to the same conclusions, if you try to analyse body-movements and interaction. Saso‘s and Alja‘s teaching principles are very comparable to ours: basic work on technique and musicality. They have been teaching in Slovenia, Hungary, Italy and Germany so far and I hope, they‘ll be invited to more places in the next years!

Apart from „normal“ work and teaching Tango, Saso and Alja travel all over Europe to meet their friends at the Encuentros Milongueros. A Festivalito without the "Slovenian gang" is just not complete! And they even organise one: The lovely and very international Festivalito Rural in Celje, Slovenia. The "embassadors of embrace" and their friends create an intimate event for Milongueros, that I have discussed in an earlier blog. 


By the way, Saso and Alja come with a group of friends: Blaz Demsar, another young Milonguero, who organizes the "Raduno Rural" in Slovenia. Francesco Bruno, an Italian, who just finished his Banoneon studies in Rotterdam and who co-operates with his friends in musicality classes. And several others, who share their and our view of social Tango. It's always great to meet them!

I am very proud to say, that we‘ve influenced the recent development of these two as dancers and teachers. In 2010 and 2011, Alja and Saso have taken several workshops with us, just recently during a week of intensive studies in the south of France. That‘s always a nice opportunity to dig deeper into Tango and friendship. But no matter how much we work with Saso and Alja, they will never simply imitate our ideas without questioning them. Whatever they see and feel, they will surely convert it into something of their own. And this is why we learn from them as well!

And now, please have a look at two videos:

- Video 1 shows them dancing at a Festivalito in Freiburg.

- Video 2 shows impressions of their Festivalito Rural 2011. (As we've been invited to teach  at this event, there are some short impressions of our demo as well. I cannot avoid that, sorry.)

Too old to be cool?

My first article on this blog was about men‘s criteria for choosing a dance partner. I pointed out, that there seems to be a general tendency to select young, good looking women. But I also found, that there was a group young Milongueros, who go rather for dance experience and dance with women of all ages. The article caused strong negative reactions by some men and very affirmative reactions by women. 

Now I made some more observations on the topic „Tango & Age“.

One of the great advantages of Tango is, that it does not depend on being athletic or young. Tango is a social dance and people of all age groups can dance it. That‘s great and in my first Tango years, I used to praise the unifying effect of Tango events: young and old people, dancers of different social backgrounds would dance to the same music, visit the same Milongas, be friends, learn from each other... at least in the more „traditional“ Tango communities or Milongas. 

And even better: In Tango „old age“ seems to be connected to wisdom and dance skills. Maybe this is only a relic of an archaic model of society with all generations living together, but I like the idea.

It is nevertheless common knowledge, that young(er) dancers cluster in the big cities with universities and at Milongas that tend to be nuevo-ish. Also Tango Marathons do have a relatively young clientele. It is very understandable, that the „young and beautiful“ band together, sharing the same ideas about music, movement and interaction off the dancefloor. But so far, I only connected this phenomenon to the Nuevo environment.

Now I am surprised to find, that a similar process of differentiation seems to be happening in the „traditional“ setting as well.

A couple of months ago, a young Milonguera told me about her experiences at a Tango festival. She obviously did not like it a lot, because most of the dancers were using open embrace and focussing rather on big movements than on social dancing. Also Cabeceo and Mirada were difficult. She had heard about an off-festival Milonga organised by some visiting dancers and decided to check it out. But when she got there, she was disappointed: These people were obviously not very good dancers and they were so OLD! She said that last word with a tone of utter disgust that really shocked me.

I cannot blame her - she wants to be amongst people of her age. But what became of the unifying effect of Tango and respect of old age in Tango? Does that apply only to old Argentine Maestros and „old Milongueros“ in BA?

Since then, I‘ve been consciously watching the Milonguero/Salón scene and noticed, that „young and cool“ events develop all over Europe. Our „Festivalito con Amigos“ is no exception: the average age of this years event was definitely lower than in the last years. And most of the dancers came by personal invitation. Does that mean, that I also start choosing my Tango friends by age? Nah... I don‘t think so. There were still lots of dancers of all generations, embracing each other on the dancefloor. It's just that there were more people overall and the additional ones where younger. :-)

But there is a general tendency amongst the young people in the „traditional“ environment to cluster. You can clearly watch this phenomenon in Buenos Aires, where „young“ Milongas budded in the last years. There are so many dancers in their early 20‘s... They still meet the other generations at the „Sunderland“ or „Cachirulo“, but do many older dancers visit the new Milongas? And are they welcome? I haven‘t been to BA so often in the last years, that I could judge. 

Maybe there‘s no reason to worry: A „rejuvenation“ of the Milongas does not have to be a result of the „not-so-young-ones“ being rejected. It might just be due to the fact, that more young people like to dance in close embrace and that‘s good. And if they form their own clubs, that‘s totally normal as well!

But then again, I think of that young woman and wonder: When will I be „too old“ for the young people? Currently, Detlef and I can be described as middle-aged. We are accepted by people of all generations and are invited to dance or teach at the „cool“ Milonguero events. But what about 15 years from now - provided that we still dance and teach Tango? Will we then be respected as „old Maestros“ or merely be „uncool“? Will I be still able to choose my partners amongst men of all ages or will I dance in a senior residence with people of my age group?

Do not misunderstand me: I‘m not fishing for compliments or self-affirmation. A more radical age discrimination may still work out for me: When all my Tango friends are too old to move, we‘ll simply stand and embrace to the music! 

But it would be sad for Tango. Would it not?