A couple of weeks ago I performed with (up and coming DJ) Anton at a beautiful restaurant called Mixturas. I didn’t mention it on here before for various reasons, but I’m ready to post about it. I do have to say we had a lot of fun and my goodness the food was fabulous. I’m a big foodie and wish to talk about what I ate that night before talking about anything else. One thing I ordered was called quinotto, which is quinoa prepared like risotto. h-e-a-v-e-n. I found a recipe which you can try (here for Spanish, here for English).

It was nice to finally have a chance to perform and share my love of tango with others in the community. I’ll never be a Forever Tango star (nor do I want to be), but I do like to exhibit when I have a chance - I’ve been a belly dancer, I’ve acted in numerous plays, sang back-up in a band… I love the arts and I love sharing with people. When I see a performance of something nice, it lifts my spirits. I enjoy being the one on the other side, hoping I can lift other people’s spirits too. I’ve shied away from talking about performance on this blog in the past, but after some internal work to reassure myself that I have nothing to be ashamed of, I’ve decided that I do really want to share some experiences here. It’s part of me, right? Right.
Anyway - I’ve been at this for a few years now and have watched people perform here and there, wishing I had a partner of my own with whom I could perform. I did have the chance to dance several times with my friend Gregory at the Buenos Aires Grill a couple of years ago (truly cherishable, unforgettable experiences), (and by the way he still dances there so go see him), and I enjoyed the concept of dancing in a restaurant.

Mixturas is special - the first and third Wednesday of each month, a fabulous, elegant woman named Patty hosts a milonga with performances at the beginning. It’s not directly in Seattle, rather it’s in Kirkland, so it seems like Seattle people don’t go a lot due to not wanting to travel - but really once you get across the bridge it’s pretty close and well worth it. Terrific restaurant with a wonderful wine list, and a gracious hostess. Is there much more you can ask for?

When we arrived at Mixturas that night, it was a real treat to see some of my family there to watch me. My stepmother, aunt and grandmother, with some family friends. I was pleasantly surprised, and their presence added something special to the evening. And finally my grandmother could see what I’ve been up to with this Tango.

The biggest treat however, was seeing some people from Seattle’s milongas who I never see at Mixturas. They said they wanted to support me - and really, it felt so good to have them there. These are people who have watched me grow the past (almost) 5 years, and seeing them that night made me feel like I had real friends in these people. It took away any nerves immediately. What a great community.

Anton and I started with D’Agostino’s Cafe Dominguez, powerful and poetic, each measure telling part of a story. It makes me feel sassy at some points and soft and emotional at others. Later we danced to Soñar y Nada Mas (De Angelis), and Patty and Greg danced a couple of numbers as well, alternating with us which was really nice, and we all ended together with guess what - La Cumparsita.

I can’t really tell you exactly what Anton and I did, as the moment we embraced I disappeared into “that world” and danced my heart out. It was just a nice experience, particularly that I was able to relax and not let the fact that people were watching distract me from being myself in the dance. If anything, our connection intensified. I hope it was the same for him.

So there you have it. I like performing. I like it because I like sharing what’s in my soul with other people. As I’ve said before, I enjoy watching a nice exhibition of something - it’s uplifting and inspiring to see dancers (or painters or singers or athletes or whatever) do something they love to do. It means a lot that they open their hearts and let us peer into their worlds. I want to do the same for the people around me. Tango makes me feel so - y’know, and I want to share that. I want others to have a moment of feeling “that way” too. It’s nice.

I was asked to do a presentation on Tango (in Italian) and a dance demonstration for the Dante Alighieri Society, at their Seattle chapter meeting, which was last night. The topic was Argentina and its connections to Italy. They wanted Tango as well so they asked me if I’d do it. Sure!

I put together a nice print out of more or less this article that I wrote for my Italian friends while I was in Buenos Aires, and included a picture of the obelisco on 9 de Julio. Picked out some nice Tanturi, decided on my staple black dress that has been in my life faithfully for the past 6 years, purchased up in Canada at Le Chateau - the only place I buy my dresses because it’s the only place on this side of the pond that has dresses that fit me the way I like. Princess shoes for confidence and added effect (the shiny silver heel makes embellishments look pretty).

It went well! I was a little nervous about my Italian - I’m not good at speaking in front of a crowd (even though I studied theatre). I was also nervous about talking about Tango - it’s so hard to explain what Tango is. I did my best and in the end just told them to go to Buenos Aires.
My Italian was just fine, it came pouring out, perhaps a little fast, but that’s okay. I hope I made sense. I was nervous. We danced beautifully, I felt - it was very easy to relax. Dancing in front of a group is so much easier than talking. I can focus on the music and my partner and it soothes me.

We meant to dance to 2 songs, but wound up being asked to do 2 more after that, which was a huge compliment. And what nice people to dance for They were open, curious, and had very good questions for us - it was a lot of fun to be around a group like that. I’m pretty proud of myself. And I was happy that I could share my heart with people who were open to seeing it. I wouldn’t call this a performance so much as I’d call it sharing something I love with people who hopefully walked away from it feeling good.

I did get someone to take a video of us with my digital camera, and got it on to my computer right away so I could watch it and see how we did. I was pleasantly surprised - I look like I dance tango. Whew! We’re not Julio & Corina (I wish) but I’d say we’re at least nice to look at.  I won’t be posting it here, but if you’re curious and I know who you are, you can ask me for the link.