Noches de Hungria 2015. Listen to my favorite Tanda of SUNDAY DAY.....courtesy of DJ Hiba (London) : DeAngelis
1. Gloria
2. Fruta Dulce
3. Para Que Te Quiero Tanto
4. Carrillon de la Merced
http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/0OlOtz9Y1lDuifVDYjFHh5
Noches de Hungria 2015. Listen to my favorite Tanda of SATURDAY night. "Por Que Razon" is, in my opinion, the BEST D'Arienzo tango instrumental:http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/4pJTwhbHJSUGI0j8WWzKwm
Another beautiful night of dancing at Noches de Hungria and this was my most memorable tanda.....courtesy of DJ IRINA NEKRASOVA (RUSSIA). Enjoy! http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/6ZVI5cYd27ggirlMXdNXMM
I had a beautiful night of dancing in Budapest and this was my most memorable tanda.....courtesy of DJ Konrad Krynski. Enjoy! 1. Que falta que me haces
2. Bazar de los juguetes
3. Noche de Locura
4. Un infierno
http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/53ZbsS57frOOAIDPPpf5OD
"I am eternally, devastatingly romantic, and I thought people would see it because ‘romantic’ doesn’t mean ‘sugary.’ It’s dark and tormented — the furor of passion, the despair of an idealism that you can’t attain." - Catherine Breillat http://youtu.be/S983INsbeRE
"The first time I saw the slide I clapped my hands with glee - not unlike a child in a candy shop. Alas, I forgot that I was in public and earned a number of stares from my neighbors in the coffee shop." http://youtu.be/2RniqNMkUPw
While we were listening to songs to choose for the performance, I played Pugliese’s “Y Mientes Todavia” for Magdalena. It was a song that I had been listening to all summer, used for my “Heavy Vocals” workshops, and which I had not had the opportunity to perform to yet. From the opening notes, she immediately fell in love. When the song was over, Magdalena said: “What I love about Moran is that, unlike other singers who sound like they are singing about a past heartbreak, Moran sounds like the heartbreak or the betrayal just happened or is happening. His feelings have not been worked out and thus the emotion in his voice is so raw.”
So, without further ado, here is “Y Mientes Todavia”
https://youtu.be/dm-6IBqdnUY
Back in 2002, I met a friend who introduced me to works of the Surrealist writers. I remember late nights of sitting in her living room, drinking red wine and watching the weird films of Luis Buneul and Salvador Dali or reading George Bataille, Andre Breton, or the poems of Robert Desnos. I was recently reminded of one of Desnos' poems when I was watching a documentary. The more I think about it, I realize that is very "tango". Here it is:
J'ai tant rêvé de toi que tu perds ta réalité. Est-il encore temps d'atteindre ce corps vivant Et de baiser sur cette bouche la naissance De la voix qui m'est chère?
J'ai tant rêvé de toi que mes bras habitués En étreignant ton ombre A se croiser sur ma poitrine ne se plieraient pas Au contour de ton corps, peut-être.
Et que, devant l'apparence réelle de ce qui me hante Et me gouverne depuis des jours et des années, Je deviendrais une ombre sans doute. O balances sentimentales.
J'ai tant rêvé de toi qu'il n'est plus temps Sans doute que je m'éveille. Je dors debout, le corps exposé A toutes les apparences de la vie
Et de l'amour et toi, la seule qui compte aujourd'hui pour moi, Je pourrais moins toucher ton front Et tes lèvres que les premières lèvres et le premier front venu.
J'ai tant rêvé de toi, tant marché, parlé, Couché avec ton fantôme Qu'il ne me reste plus peut-être, Et pourtant, qu'a être fantôme
Parmi les fantômes et plus ombre Cent fois que l'ombre qui se promène Et se promènera allègrement Sur le cadran solaire de ta vie.
- Robert Desnos
Back in 2003 in Buenos Aires, I saw a way of dancing tango that touched my heart. It had (what I think) are the "4 elements of a good dance":
It was a style that drew you in instead of throwing moves and poses in your face. Here are two examples of it. My friends and I jokingly call it "Estilo Javier y Geraldine 2002 - 2005".....but what would you call it? Do you have other examples of couples that dance this style?
Javier y Geraldine
http://youtu.be/droR4oVglrA
Pipe y Mamie
http://youtu.be/rrYznDthXcw
As I have written in the past, I am an avid Youtube tango video watcher and an insomniac. This leads to a lot of tango video watching. But I don't just watch tango performances......I also watch tango documentaries! Here are my favorite 4: 1. The 030Tango Roadtrip
Berlin-based filmmaker extraordinaire Jonas Zadow (the man who filmed me and Marika's "5 in Berlin" this past summer) has embarked on an ambitious film project where he travels to European cities and interviews people about their tango journeys. I love the stories as well as the footage of the cities and the milongas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-7i2w0HwI
2. Tango, Baile Nuestro. This documentary from 1987 features footage of famous milongueros such as "Finito" Ramon Rivera, Gerardo Portalea, and Miguel Balmaceda. I wish this movie was rereleased in a special edition DVD with extra footage because I want to see everything from those Buenos Aires milongas in the late 80s! You can watch it for free online: http://youtu.be/n5OL1wnhHjE
Part 2: http://youtu.be/4KIH6KiyME0
3. Si Sos Brujo. This documentary tells the story of a group of young Argentine musicians racing to learn and preserve the elegant and nuanced music played by the legendary Golden Age tango orchestras of Buenos Aires in the 40's and 50's. There are some great anecdotes about those orchestras, such as Juan D'Arienzo. http://youtu.be/vCl76jT8qB8
4. Confiteria Ideal. One of my favorite recent documentaries about tango in Buenos Aires. It was filmed around the time I first went to BA in 2003. For me, this was the "New Golden Age of Tango" because of the couples that were dancing at the time and because of the milongueros that were still alive in those days. Check out the great performances by Javier Rodriguez y Geraldine Rojas! http://youtu.be/wx-LNAVlxbk
I grew up in the South Bronx of New York City during the 1980s. It was a very tough neighborhood; crime, drugs, and violence. I spent a lot of time indoors; reading, studying, and watching movies and sitcoms. I loved how all of the movies and the books I read would transport me to different cities around the world. I wanted to be in Paris. I wanted to be in London. I wanted to be in Istanbul. I wanted to be in Asia.
The thing about living in a tough neighborhood is that there is a lot of negativity. I believe that the main reason why people do not move out of a tough neighborhood isn't that they aren't given the opportunities, it is that they're not given the support emotionally or psychologically that a community with a positive outlook can give them.
More often than not, you'll hear someone say "come on, you won't be able to do that!" and, when you think about it, you start to think that they are right. Here I am a poor kid living in the South Bronx and I want to go to Istanbul? How the hell is that ever going to happen? Where will I get the money? And when you think about the fact that none of your family has ever traveled outside of their home city, then you have no basis on which to go on. It's not like you can say well my grandfather lived here or my father traveled there. In fact.....no one went anywhere.
That mentality changed for me when I went to Europe for the first time at the age of 14. I had gotten into a prestigious private high school a couple of months before and, overnight, the people that I hung out with were different. They were positive, funny and intellectual people. People who saw only possibilities instead of obstacles when they looked at life. As part of my studies, I had to choose a foreign language to study.
I chose French because I saw Spanish as being too easy because I was surrounded by it at home. After the first semester of French class, the teacher announced that there was going to be a trip to France during the Easter vacation. That meant nine days on a bus driving throughout France looking at cathedrals. I ran home that day and I begged my parents to lend me the money in order to go on this trip. I told them that it was required for all French students to go but, in fact, only a few upperclassman actually went on the trip.
They agreed and a few months later I was on the plane leaving JFK to Reykjavík Iceland. I was in Reykjavík for just a few hours and then we flew to Paris. As soon as I landed in Reykjavík, I felt an amazing sensation in my body. I loved being in a foreign airport. I loved seeing different people, different cultures gathering in a spot and preparing to go somewhere else. Then, when I landed in Charles De Gaulle and I stepped out onto the streets of Paris, I knew that I had to position my life in a way that I could travel endlessly. I started to realize that, within a few months, I went from being someone who was stuck in my neighborhood in the South Bronx to someone who was attending a high school with people who were much smarter than me and traveling to a city wish I had only seen in movies. The possibilities were endless.
Three years later, I find myself in the guidance counselor's office answering that famous question "what do you want to be when you grow up?"
In those days I was very shy, especially around adults. I said in a low voice "I think I'd like to travel the world."
COUNSELOR: What?
ME: I think I'd like to travel the world so that means I want to do.........
In my head, I quickly thought:
International........because that means travel......Business.......because that means money!
I then responded out loud: "Yes! That is what I want to do. I want to do....International Business!"
COUNSELOR: Well, what kind of business do you want to do?
ME: "The kind of business that will take me around the world."
COUNSELOR: Listen, son, I think you should go into Accounting.
ME: Accounting?
COUNSELOR: Yes. There are always jobs in accounting.
ME: And I will get to travel?
COUNSELOR: Yeah....sure....of course...
I hated every accounting course that I took.
To be continued......
A 2011 sketch by Charlotte-based artist William Hudson Temples
Tango Topics
1. Abrazo, caminata, y dinamica
2. Milonga Traspie
3. Vals
4. The Heavy Vocals Tango Workshop
Outtake from an interview conducted in January 2015 in Sunnyside, Queens NYC:
http://www.arrvls.com/en-route-podcast/2015/9/17/in-another-life-that-was-me
As I have written in the past, I am an avid Youtube/Vimeo tango video watcher and an insomniac. This leads to a lot of tango video watching. I usually like to see what my friends are doing, as well as be on the lookout for 3 things: 1. "the exciting new couples"
2. "the exciting new partnerships" between established dancers
3. couples that work mostly in Europe but who I think should be invited to North America.
Here is a list of a few couples that are currently keeping me up at night because I can't sleep until I finish watching the video! Enjoy!
Brenno and Eva
I heard of Brenno and Eva from Alexandra Kotelnitskaya (organizer extraordinaire of the Remolino marathon in the Ukraine) when she happened to show me a youtube video. Since then, I have watched a couple more videos and I love their smoothness. Their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/brennoyevatango
http://youtu.be/SdbnIIwGN9o
Marko and Maja
Possibly the most fashionable couple in tango at the moment (Marko is outfitted by the Astor Querido label.) Looks aside, they "kill it" in this milonga. I love it!
http://youtu.be/PrOCKIMUi6Y
Fausto y Stephanie
They are usually known for their vals and tango performances but this milonga performance is great!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf6RJOTtD_s
Maria Filali y Gianpiero Galdi
I met Maria Filali three years ago in the Berlin marathon and I did not get a chance to dance with her and I have been kicking myself ever since. In this video (as in all her videos), she is such a strong dancer and a strong presence but yet she doesn't sacrifice the connection with her partner to achieve that. Info on their upcoming workshop is here https://www.facebook.com/events/815093258589810/
http://youtu.be/BNXvfuGKKqs
Javier Rodriguez and Carla Rossi
Carla Rossi.....I'm a fan. She has great footwork and foot speed combined with elegance. Javier Rodriguez, the legend, the teacher of teachers is great as always: combining a strong milonguero repertoire with just the right amount of flashy steps. Info on Carla's upcoming workshop is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/800880716696104/
http://youtu.be/bj7ktgxlPq8
A summer of reinvention and new experiences has inspired 4 new workshop topics for the Fall: 1. Abrazo, caminata, y dinamica
2. Milonga "Estilo Figure it out"
3. "Vals and the Piano"
4. Troilo/Marino musicality intensive
http://www.arrvls.com/arrvls-podcast/2015/9/11/manhattan-milonguero
During the practice earlier that day, Marika and I danced one tango and then another, each time filming them and then later watching and critiquing the improvisations. Then we tried "En Esta Tarde Gris", Marika felt my mood during this song and as soon as it ended, she said "This one. This is the one." http://youtu.be/j1kd4ZPXDdM
September 9-14: Edmonton workshops September 19-20: Charlotte, NC workshops
September 25 - 28: BOSTHON
Oct 2-5: Workshops in NYC and Hartford
Oct 9: Warsaw, Poland
It looks crazy when I write it all out:
Color Cielo by D'Arienzo Laborde Carlitos Espinoza & Noelia Hurtado, Luciano Brigante & Alejandra Orozco and Ney Melo & Marika Landry
http://youtu.be/lQmzEt__rrI