I learned an important lesson last night at the milonga when I was DJing.

I’ve been very proud of myself lately, in terms of making sure the dance floor is full and the energy is up.  If you’ve been to Cachirulo in Buenos Aires, then you know what kind of music I like to play – I’m a total Carlos Rey groupie and wish I could go back there right now to continue to observe.   And that kind of music works really well here.  I love this music so much and I like to think that it’s reflected on the dance floor.

When I play music or dance or teach or anything to do with Tango, it’s not just an empty action.  I do these things with all my heart, with everything inside of me that remains from my life in Buenos Aires.  My love for that city is tremendous (and my love for tango is tremendous) and I seek to share that.  I’ve had some great comments from students about my passion, and I’m glad it comes through.

But there’s always a partypooper in the mix.  I received some comments this past week on my musical choices that really had me down. Now, I am open to requests for particular orchestras, suggestions from respected, experienced DJs, requests for different eras of music, requests to turn the volume up or down.  But in this case, I’m talking about  criticism over my personal style and my music selections.  Or maybe I just perceive it that way.  I take everything to heart, you see.  And I lost sleep over this.  That’s how vulnerable I am.

On a defensive note, I couldn’t really understand – if my music is so bad, then why is the dance floor so full and vibrant when I DJ?  Hey, the last time I DJ’d we went almost an hour past closing time because it was so much fun.

But that horrible Voice of Doom (described here by Sally) took over and all I could do, before setting up the equipment last night, was imagine people rolling their eyes and saying “Oh, not this again” with each tanda.

So I started the milonga keeping in mind what those partypoopers had suggested, veering away from what I usually do, to see what would happen.  And you know what?  For the first 40 minutes, hardly anyone danced.  It was sad and I was embarrassed.  I knew I had to get back to my own stuff, and the organizer of the milonga came up to me and said, “Put on the music they know – they need cheering up.”   So did I.  And he was right – I had to play the music they know, and especially the music they know to come from me.  Surprises aren’t always a good idea.  So I threw the other comments out the window, told the Voice of Doom to take a hike and I threw on a great rhythmic Troilo tanda.

With that, the floor filled up and the energy in the room stayed high and positive all night – these people know how to have a good time.

Luckily, the majority of people whose opinions really matter (as well as some people from outside of Lecce) came after that long 40 minutes.  I received a very nice compliment from a visitor who said she had recently been to Buenos Aires and she missed it, and my music completely took her back.  THAT, my friends, trumps anything that some cranky sourpuss who can’t appreciate my tango might ever say to me.  Do I want to listen to my instinct and see that the dancefloor is full and moving beautifully? Or do I want to listen to the complaints of about 5 people who really don’t know me or tango very well?

And so, the lesson has been learned: I can, and must, only be myself.  When I want input on my music, I will ask my trusted DJ friends that I look up to, as always.  Never make compromises.  Never do anything that doesn’t come totally from the heart as a reflection of ME.  I know what works and I will continue to do what works.

So there.

If you’re in Seattle this weekend, you’ll have a chance to learn from one of the most graceful milongueras I’ve ever seen, Alicia Pons.

Click here for information.

Also, tomorrow night, one of my favorite dancers/DJs, Mourad, is hosting his new monthly milonga, “Despues“.

I’m looking forward to supporting him!  I hope we see Alicia there, and also at the Sunday milonga, La Garua.  If you can’t wait until then to dance, there’s also a milonga tonight at the Century Ballroom.

Goodness me, Seattle is certainly active this weekend! You can find all of this and more at allseattletango.com.

I landed in Seattle a week ago today and hit the ground running.

I’ve most enjoyed the mix of flavors as I eat my way around the city.  Spicy Thai food, extra virgin olive oil from Italy with that peppery spice that hits the back of your throat at the last moment, awesome French food, wine from Washington, California, Italy, France… the variety of cheeses.  Real mozzarella di bufala.  I feel like I’d forgotten what food tasted like!  Well, that’s not totally true.  In Buenos Aires I got creative, and spending so much time with Joli (very good cook) was definitely inspiring.  It’s just that there were some key things I’d forgotten all about!  Tomorrow night I will eat sushi and am looking forward to it.

I was really unsure about coming up here, but I find that I’m really glad I came.  I can’t really explain to people here the things I’ve seen my past year or so in BA.  But I’m glad to be up in the northwest for a while, with clean air, lots of greenery, and amazing salmon.  I really appreciate where I’m from.

I miss Buenos Aires a little bit each day, and find that I can’t watch any youtube videos of tango performances by people I know that take place in salons I know in Buenos Aires or I cry my eyes out.  But I’m happy the rest of the time.

I’ve danced tango a few times here and quite enjoyed it.  It’s nice to embrace old friends.

I taught my first Seattle group tango class yesterday, sort of a workshop.  It went well!  It’s hard to pin the milonguero style down into a workshop and I was nervous, but I had a good time and met some very nice, enthusiastic people.

Next week I’ll be in San Francisco so I can get my Italian passport.  Definitely looking forward to that moment.

I feel relaxed and more happy.  I think things are looking up.

I think it’s time to reveal my first “project” in Seattle.

After all this time working very closely with Pedro Sanchez, who has been bringing out the teacher in me, I find myself in a place where I can stand on my own and articulate my theories on tango.  He has been great, and looking back on the time I’ve spent “apprenticing” him, I can see that I’ve grown a lot and I am inspired.

Apart from occasional stints here and there, I’ve been hesitant to permanently break into the teaching side of things in the past because I was still trying to find my place in the dance (which I have found), but the encouragement I continue to receive down here in Buenos Aires from various people (locals) has relaxed me a bit.

I hope Seattle will receive me, even with the raw, intimate style I’ve taken on down here in Buenos Aires.  I’m not looking to be regarded as this amazing dancer/teacher and I don’t have an ego to transmit.  I just want to share what I’ve soaked up during my time here because I love it and I love my people in Seattle.  And I need the money.

I’m excited to have something positive to focus on for my short time up there and I hope this can connect me with some interesting Seattle folks who I wouldn’t have otherwise known.  I also hope I’ll be inspired to write a little more about tango on this blog.

I’m still trying to find space and am still ironing out some details, but for the time being I have an instructor page on allseattletango.com!  Thanks John Lee.

Click here to see my instructor page.

The Good:

I had a lesson with Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse. They are darling people and Javier is hilarious! I’m glad I didn’t need Andrea to translate, this way I was able to catch his jokes, etc… I’m also glad I got to embrace him for an hour.

Javier wants me to…

…channel my inner Sophia Loren.

The Bad:

It’s raining! Still! But at least it’s not cold. And it’s not grey either.

The Ugly:

I’m grateful that it’s taken me almost 5 years to get to where I am. I am grateful that I didn’t rush my learning process. I am grateful that I made mistakes along the way and savored them. I am grateful that I still have stuff to work on and plenty of time in which to do it. I am grateful that I was patient (well, as patient as I could be – I can certainly recall some frustrating lessons), and took my time – knowing very well in my heart that Tango found me for a reason and that I would “get it” when I was meant to – after all, if it’s meant to be, why rush?

When I cook, I maintain that the less ingredients there are to complicate things, the better. The longer it takes me to make it (read “slow food”), the better. The more time I take to eat it, slowly savoring each taste, one bite at a time, putting my fork down as I chew, focusing on the different layers of flavor in the food, the better.

The same applies to Tango. I don’t want to add any ingredients that I feel are unnecessary (though I do at least sample in case of a pleasant surprise), and I don’t feel the need to take shortcuts.

Just a personal preference.

Well this sure woke me up.  A friend posted it on his myspace profile and I had to “steal” it for this blog.  This couple is Luna and Oliver.  I took a workshop with them a few years ago which I really liked – they didn’t teach “figures”, they took more of an approach of “less is more” and “quality in small things”. 

The focus of the class was elegance – they had us just walking and going into the cross – while focusing on elegance – on making just those two things as musical and heartfelt and lovely as possible.  Someone said “this is boring.”  To which Luna said (not word for word, sorry), “You wanna know what I think is boring?  I think it’s boring when the man doesn’t connect with me, and focuses on leading as much figures as possible in just one song.  When he dances only for himself.  To me that is boring.”  Then Oliver said something about how once the man embraces the woman and she connects with him, he hears the music for the first time.  Or something like that. 

They were fun and funny, and very nice and charming people.  I enjoyed them.  I like seeing them having fun in this video.

So what do you guys think of his shoes?

[youtube=[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl0VsCKszo4]

I was asked if I’d give a detailed report of the workshops and private lesson I had with Ney and Jennifer. I thought about it, but the thing is, it’s just not quite “me” to write from that perspective. If you read this blog enough, you know that I don’t get technical and describe classes or dances literally, step by step, word for word. I tend to take a more emotional approach. (And quite frankly, I don’t really want to broadcast to the world which habits I’m trying to adjust in my dancing. That’s completely personal.) I’m sure there is a blog somewhere out there that will satisfy your curiosity. But better than reading about what they do in their classes, why not find out when they’ll be in your area and take a lesson with them to see for yourself? It’s worth it.

What I will say is that they are a truly beautiful, shining pair of dancers who love what they do, and share what they know with such joy. They go out of their way to make things make sense, and they are very patient. In my private lesson, they took all kinds of different approaches until we could figure out what it was I needed to do for a certain step. They are good teachers because they really, truly want their students to understand and grow. I haven’t met dancers this special in a long time.

I highly recommend that you take a look at their schedule and try to see them if you can. They are kind people and their spirit is infectious. I feel very lucky.

Hooray, tomorrow I have my lesson with Ney & Jennifer. Woo woo!

What do I hope to learn? I dunno… I’ll take some of their elegance though. I admire their connection, I admire Ney’s movements and the way he seems to communicate to Jennifer, and I admire Jennifer’s graceful foot placement. And her shoes. Girl’s got some nice shoes.

I was going to confess that I went to a blog that bothers me as of late, and commented… (but at least I was sort of nice?)… but instead I will not talk about that.

I will do as I said before, and direct my energy towards fabulousness.

I will focus on something that makes me smile: the fact that I have mere days before some very nice people arrive in Seattle.

[youtube=[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=FOYJVyAlkJY]