VIDEO 2 - Toronto Tango Experience

Solo Compasion by D'Agostino/Vargas Carlitos Espinoza & Noelia Hurtado, Luciano Brigante & Alejandra Orozco and Ney Melo & Marika Landry 

http://youtu.be/LUVHeNVIfvc

VIDEO 1 - Toronto Tango Experience

El Bulin de La Calle Ayacucho by Anilbal Troilo Carlitos Espinoza & Noelia Hurtado, Luciano Brigante & Alejandra Orozco and Ney Melo & Marika Landry 

http://youtu.be/R503GPrAc0M

Kesaleiri Tango Camp in Petays, Finland 2015

7-9 August 2015 with Alper Ergokmen & Selen Surek, Pasi & Maria Lauren, and Ney Melo & Marika Landry. I must congratulate Saara and the rest of the AdT for organizing this wonderful event in a majestic setting. When we weren't teaching, we would go to the lake and either swim, eat at the lakeside restaurant, or simply just dip our feet in the water.  The best part of the whole weekend was reuniting with the beautiful people of Finland. 

Here is the video of our full performance:  http://youtu.be/EjNW-YD2yKc

During today's workshop (Petays, Finland)

"Ney, we are very slow in this part of Finland. We like to take it easy." Me: "But you guys invented the mobile phone!

"Yes....but we invented it slowly."

  

"Para Vos" by El Cachivache in Berlin

On Friday night, 30 minutes before Marika and I danced at Nou, Thomas (the owner of Nou) asked us if we would be open to the idea of dancing to live music since El Cachivache Quinteto (a wonderful tango orchestra that is touring Europe at the moment. If you get a chance, check them out.) was in the milonga that night. He said "no worries, if the audience doesn't like you and clap enough, we won't do it". (I love the German sense of humor.) Later, the pianist, Pablo, informed us "It's an original song of mine....and it has a big romantic Hollywood ending." That's it, that's the only "guidance" we got.......but, once again, we thought (almost hopefully) "hey, maybe the audience won't want it."

After dancing 4 songs, it appeared that the audience wanted one more! So it was time for us to dance to "the song we never heard before". Pablo took his place at the piano and we stepped onto the dancefloor. I heard the opening notes, walked over to Marika, and I embraced her. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with this feeling: "I miss her. I miss her terribly." Everything came rushing back to me at that moment: her voice, her smile, her laugh.........her eyes. Those big, beautiful eyes which I had looked into and realized, much too late, that I had hurt their owner's feelings. The realization that all these wondrous places I would travel to would now look a bit less beautiful because her eyes weren't looking at these places along with me. Regret and sadness took over and I realized that the "plan" I had going into the performance was not going to happen. Part of me said "not now. I don't want to feel this now." but another part said "just go with it" and I did. It was a strange feeling to let my sadness move me and to not know where it would take me. I can't remember any of the movements we did, it is only by watching the video later that I can see what happened. 

This morning, I was trying to find out the name of the song and I received this message:

"I don't know if you know the story behind this song but watching you both dance to this interpretation with only piano.....I have never heard it like this before and it is beautiful."

I learned that the song was written by Pablo while he was in Buenos Aires because he missed his love who was in France at the time. It amazed me how I knew nothing of the story of the song but yet I was able to feel exactly what it was about. 

So, without further ado, we present to you "Para Vos/ For You":

http://youtu.be/KTQ64SbaELY

Bedtime Stories from Budapest 2

A trilogy of quickly-written bedtime stories inspired by pics I took while in Budapest. Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom named Budapest, a young boy named Kiki looked up in the sky and saw a cloud shaped like a dragon:  

He noticed that the cloud was moving and he dropped what he was doing in order to follow the cloud.  He walked a long time and finally the cloud stopped above a rock with sword stuck inside it:

  Kilian pulled on the sword and it easily came out of the  stone! 

The sword started glowing and Kiki magically knew what he had to do: he had to release the golden birds. The golden birds were birds with feathers made of gold that used to fly over the castle. Many years before, giants attacked the castle and captured the birds. 

So Kiki started his quest. First, he walked through the forest of rain. 

    It is a huge green forest where it rains endlessly. He got terribly wet and cold but he kept going until he reached the end of the forest. At the end of the forest, he reached a land called Kiev. Kiev was filled with huge fields of sunflowers. Kiki picked one sunflower, just one. He wanted to pick all of them, but he picked just one. 

   Then he walked east (where the sun rises) and walked all the way to a land called Odessa, where the Black Sea is. He stood at the edge of the Black Sea and held out the sunflower. All of a sudden, a giant fish woman came out of the water. She said "For meeeeeee?" and Kiki said "Yes indeed!" and he gave her the sunflower.  The fish woman was overjoyed! She was so happy that she had a sunflower from Kiev that she asked Kiki "I will grant you any wish! What would you like?" Kiki said "I would like the golden birds to fly over the castle again." 

And the fish woman said "yes indeed!" and she released the birds from the giants cave.

And from then forward, the golden feathered birds flew over the castle every night. 

   But when the giants woke up and saw that the birds were missing, they became angry and started marching towards the castle to attack. 

What happens next is something that will test Starla's magic flowers, Kiki's magic sword, and the newest knight in the Kingdom: baby Luna. 

To be continued......in Part 3.

The Pedal Cars

Marika and I walked to the park and we saw the stands for the pedal cars. We didn't see anybody that was managing the bikes, and I got impatient so I said "let's just get on and start riding". As soon as we start pedaling, a big woman jumps in front of the bike. I swerve to avoid her and start heading in the direction of a light pole. I pull on the brake to stop the bike and it doesn't work so we crash into the pole!! The woman starts cursing at us in Hungarian. She also said "this car has no brake!!" to which I then reply "well, Madam, that is dangerous! We could have driven into the Danube!" There is a moment of tense silence.......and then she starts cackling at the thought of us falling into the Danube! So then we start laughing. We all laugh for about 5 minutes. There were tears coming down Marika's cheeks!

Bedtime Stories from Budapest 1

A trilogy of quickly-written bedtime stories inspired by pics I took while in Budapest: Dear Gaga,

I heard that you got a bit scared going to school today. It's ok, we all get scared. In fact, Papa was scared yesterday. The reason Papa was scared was because he traveled to a city called Budapest in search of a magical yellow house. Here is a picture:

  Why did Papa have to go into the magical yellow house? Because he wanted to meet the mysterious wizard named Budai. (It has been said that the Wizard Budai can grant wishes.)

Papa walked up to the front door and gave it a little push. It was unlocked and opened quite easily! Papa walked in and suddenly the door slammed shut behind him! Then a bunch of mosquitoes flew out from behind a door and started chasing him! So Papa ran up the stairs, ran into a room, and slammed the door shut behind him! Then he found himself in a big hall:

  

He walked down to the end of the room and tried to open the door but this time it was closed. Papa pushed and pushed but couldn't open it. Then a loud voice filled the room. It said "WHO ARE YOU??" 

Papa answered "I am here to see the Wizard Budai."

The loud voice answered "I am the Wizard Budai! What do you want? Why are you in my yellow house??" 

Papa answered "Well I heard that you can grant wishes." 

Mister Budai: Yes....maybe I can.

Papa: Well....I DARE YOU to grant me a wish!

Wizard Budai: A dare?? You DARE ME?? FINE!! I'll show you! What do you wish?!

Papa: I wish for an umbrella! 

Wizard Budai: An umbrella? An umbrella?? How about this?? Open the door!

So Papa pushed on the door that couldn't open and it opened quite easily and when he went into the room, he saw this:

  Many umbrellas! And people!  

Papa said "wow, that is amazing! But I want another wish. i wish for some flowers for my daughter Gaga!"

And all of a sudden, the wizard Budai made this appear:

   

So Papa now has some magic little flowers to give to Gaga. What makes the flowers "magic", you ask? TheY are magic because you use them to save the kingdom from giants. How did that happen? I will tell you.......but first I must tell you the story about a boy named Kiki.

Continued in Part 2........

The Dancing to Heavy Vocals Workshop

"Лет десять назад мы с Дженнифер Братт брали индивидуальный урок у одного из легендарных милонгеро стиля Villa Urquiza. Урок продолжался более двух часов, и, в основном, мы болтали и пили мате. Не припомню, чтобы мы выучили на том уроке хоть какие-то шаги. Единственное, что я помню - это как я спросил про Херардо Порталеа. Всем известно, что милонгеро любят покритиковать друг друга. И когда этот милонгеро ответил “Portalea?? Ufff, el no tiene pasos!” ("Порталеа? Да у него вообще шагов не было!"), я это воспринял как критику."Однако, у него была каденция!", - продолжил он. И это было то слово, которое положило начало моему личному танго-квесту в поисках совершенства - "каденция"! С тех пор я спрашивал каждого милонгеро, каждую милонгеру, каждого маэстро и каждого преподавателя, которого встречал - что такое каденция. Их ответы были яркими, прекрасными и вдохновляли меня танцевать и преподавать.

Наконец, в ноябре 2014 я решил разработать урок, полностью сфокусированный на этой концепции. Одной из причин этого стало то, что в тот период моей жизни, в связи с личными проблемами я вдруг обнаружил, что слушаю все чаще Пульезе/Морана, Тройло/Марино, Фульвио Саламанка. Когда я использовал эти танго на своих уроках, я заметил, что, мои ученики выполняли шаги, которые я им преподавал, идеально и ритмично, но они при этом упускали нечто важное: каденцию.

Вам нужно быть в состоянии воплотить тоску и печаль в движении, только тогда вы сможете интерпретировать такие глубокие вокальные танго, как "Y Mientes Todavia" Пульезе с Мораном. Поэтому я наконец решился ввести новый урок, основанный на моем изучении каденции за последние десять с лишним лет. С тех пор этот урок стал хитом и многие организаторы просят меня провести урок именно на эту тему.

Я хочу, чтобы вы поняли одну вещь: у танцора танго должно быть чувство ритма, техника и... эмоции. Чувству ритма и технике можно научить. Эмоции - это то, что задевает вас лично. Как говорят, "люди меняются в одном из двух случаев: когда их разум открыт новому или когда их сердце разбито." Мне кажется, танго способно сделать и то, и другое.

Надеюсь, вы присоединитесь ко мне на этом необычном уроке и позволите мне раскрыть ваш разум или разбить ваше сердце, чтобы найти удивительные возможности интерпретации этих потрясающих танго.

К вышесказанному прилагаю плейлист http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/31ESqNF4Mo1cWitRpd38VD

"

Оригинальный пост by Ney Melo тут 

https://www.facebook.com/events/768197729932729/permalink/853199561432545/

За перевод отдельная благодарность тебе, Mayya Tulchinskaya

The "Dancing to Heavy Vocals" Workshop

Ten years ago, Jennifer Bratt and I took a private lesson with the legendary Villa Urquiza milonguero _____________. The class was over 2 hours long and we mostly talked and sipped mate. I can’t remember any steps that were taught in the class. One of the only things I remember is when I asked about Gerardo Portalea. It is a well-known fact that milongueros always criticize each other and the milonguero responded as I thought he would….with criticism: “Portalea?? Ufff, el no tiene pasos!” (Portalea?? He has no steps!”) “Pero….el si tiene cadencia” (But…..he does sure have cadencia.”) And there it was: the word that began my quest for tango perfection: cadencia. 

Since that day I have asked every milonguero/a or master teacher I have met about cadencia. Their answers have been beautiful and colorful and have influenced my dance and my teachings.

Finally, in November 2014, I decided to develop a workshop that solely focused on this concept. Part of the reason was that that time of my life had some turmoil and I found myself listening more to the orchestras of Pugliese/Moran, Troilo/Marino, Fulvio Salamanca, and many others. When I would use these tangos for a class, I found that although my students were performing the rhythm and the steps that I taught perfectly, they were missing something: cadencia. It is only by being able to embody the "speed of sadness" that a tango dancer can interpret a "heavy vocal tango" such as Pugliese/Moran's "Y Mientes Todavia". So I finally felt confident enough to introduce a workshop based on my explorations of cadencia over the last 10 years. It has been a hit since then and many organizers have requested that workshop topic.  

I leave you with this thought:

A good tango dancer must have rhythm, technique……..and emotion. Rhythm and technique can be learned. Emotion, on the other hand, is a work that affects the personality. What’s that saying?: “People change for two main reasons: either their minds have been opened or their hearts have been broken.” I believe tango has the power to do both. 

I hope you can join me in this special workshop and allow me to open your mind or break your heart and discover a beautiful way to interpret these amazing tangos.

There is also an accompanying playlist I made on Spotify:

http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/31ESqNF4Mo1cWitRpd38VD

Scent of a Woman.

This clip is from the movie "Scent of a Woman" and it is one of those "scenes about tango that all tangueros seem to know". Enjoy:  http://youtu.be/F2zTd_YwTvo

The Iceberg Theory

I remembering reading, a while ago, that Ernest Hemingway believed that seven-eighths of a story should remain hidden beneath the surface. He referred to this as the Iceberg Theory: the emotional strength of any story should be felt and not necessarily seen. I feel that this is the same for when you dance tango; the emotional strength of your dance should be felt and not necessarily seen. 

The 4 responsibilities of a professional tango teacher

Professional tango teachers have "only" to do 4 things: - improve their dance

- improve their teaching

- improve their bodies/minds

- constantly promote themselves

How long they have to do it? Forever. 

The Facebook Question

I was recently emailed a question from a student and I decided to post it on facebook and see what "the masses" thought. The post ended up generating over 100 replies and 48 hours of discussion. (In fact, I think it is still being debated.) I read all the replies. Many of them were interesting, although a couple of people just used the post as a way to grandstand and talk about how their view is the only view. (It is interesting to me how passionate people get trying to describe something that cannot be seen and, when we think about it, that is the basis of all religions. The topic of the question (connection) is like the air; we can feel it, we know when it is there, but we can't ever accurately describe it.) Anyway, here is the question and my response: "This past weekend I was dancing and struggled through nearly every tanda to find my partner in our embrace. I would just try to find a way to hold them so we could connect. But I couldn't feel them, and it didn't feel that we were dancing in the music together. Would you have any thoughts on this sort of situation?  

RESPONSE:

It has been said that relationships are like mirrors; they give us a glimpse of ourselves in different situations and, as such, they should be regarded as learning experiences. In tango, we dance with many different people in one night so it is as though we have many different "relationships", many different glimpses of ourselves. This is exciting because with some dancers we are more playful, with others we are more somber, with others we are more technical, and so on and so forth. 

In your situation, you found that you couldn't even connect with your partner in order to have a playful, somber, technical, or any kind of "relationship". Let's look at it one way: perhaps it was your partner's fault? Perhaps he wasn't having a good night and his mind was elsewhere? Perhaps he had problems with his technique and he was focused on that so he couldn't focus on you. There are many reasons that you could say the problem came from his side but, just as in life, the only person we can truly focus on and change is ourselves. That means taking more classes and improving our technique. That means listening to more tango music and translating the lyrics in order to connect with the "speed of sadness" inherent in all tango songs. Most importantly, that means letting go of the ego and just accepting whatever the night at the milonga may bring. I remember, early on, in my first months, I used to be so focused on having a "perfect night of dancing". I was hard on myself and on my partners. My newfound passion for the dance as well as the energy and, frankly, arrogance of my youth gave me the feeling of wanting to learn this, get this, NOW. One of the many things we learn from the philosophy of tango is that tango requires good timing and good timing requires patience. There is a saying "El Tango te espera/the tango waits for you" but you also have to wait for it. If someone had told me when I first started that I would be just realizing certain concepts after 10 years of dancing, I am not sure if I would have continued. Yet that is what has happened. There were certain things I wasn't ready for and I needed to be patient....whether I wanted to or not! 

So that is my reply: work on yourself, listen and understand the music and, most importantly, just enjoy what the milonga may bring. (I know.....it is easier said than done.) 

The Lineup: Seattle Tango Magic 9th - 13th July 2015

Next weekend (July 9th - 13th, 2015), the Seattle Tango Magic Festival will take place. From looking at the lineup of the four tango maestro couples, the weekend promises to be exciting! Let's take a look at them: Virginia Pandolfi and Jonatan Aguero. Workshop topics: Milonga Lisa and Traspie, Proper Use of the Free Leg and Embellishments, 

https://vimeo.com/131310693

Pablo Inza and Sofia Saborido Workshop topics: Sacadas for the social floor, Elastic Moves, Changes of Direction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexvLb1BMXU

Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt Workshop topics: The Tango Walk, Alterations, Musicality for Big Vocals

http://youtu.be/J7zl9-hcdTA

Alex Krebs Workshop topics: Connection, Boleo Bootcamp, Intro to Milonga

http://youtu.be/KeY_iY-HmoE

"Tango Couples....where do I start?"

Recently, a friend told me that he never watches tango performance videos. This boggles my mind because, back in the Dark Ages (before the 2006 launch of Youtube), Murat, Michelle, Jennifer, and I would huddle in front of my huge TV in my apartment at 290 East 7th street and watch endlessly the VHS tapes of CITA or videos that I recorded in my journeys down to Buenos Aires. Sometimes, we would allow a visitor to our humble abode if they happened to have a video we didn't have (I am reminded of the incident where I furiously argued with Tioma Maloratsky over "the tango walk". I am sorry Tioma.). Anyway, the videos became like our "treasures": the VHS or DVDs of performances by couples that "no one ever saw". Then, after youtube, things became MUCH easier. I don't understand why a person who supposedly 'loves" tango doesn't watch tango videos on youtube. Anything you want to see, from practically any moment in the last 20 years of tango history is on youtube. There have been instances where newer professionals have come up to me and said "I love what you do. I am a fan!" and I'll reply "Hell no! I love what YOU do! I am a fan!" and then proceed to list 2 or 3 videos of theirs that I saw recently. (I am like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man when it comes to tango videos.) For me, I really am a fan of this art. I love creating it and I love watching what others created. Also, at the end of the day, all the artists influence each other in this "tango world" and part of being a professional is, in addition to working on your dance, keeping up-to-date on what is happening out there. Anyway, rather than continue to question my friend's committment to tango, I will give him a "starter list" of 20 couples (in no particular order) to watch. (Uffff, I am probably going to have to write a Part 2). To clarify: this is not a list of the "best" tango couples. Either I saw the performance live or I started liking the song after I saw the video or perhaps I was hanging out with a friend and they introduced me to this video, etc. Whatever the case may have been, these are just 20 videos that mean something to me, sort of like when you give someone the gift of a mixtape (gosh, remember those?? I love the gift of a mixtape.) Here goes:

1. Javier Rodriguez y Geraldine Rojas. I personally recorded this video back in 2003 at Porteno y Bailarin Milonga in Buenos Aires. I was standing on a chair near the entrance and there was a man sitting and smoking a cigarette below me. (You can actually see the puffs of smoke during the performance!) There are four performances (Yuyo Brujo, La Cicatriz, Para Dos, and the hard-to-find peformance of the vals "Esquinas Portenas"). These performances changed my life and I think they are worth a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=droR4oVglrA

2. Ezequiel Paludi y Sabrina Masso - Patetico. The way Paludi managed the changes in dynamic, his "cool" persona and way of moving, as well as the unique combinations and "changes of front" that he would use made him, in my opinion, one of the smartest dancers in the game. Once you put that together with Sabrina's technical brilliance.....and her huge Grim Reaper tattoo on her shoulder (!).....you ended up with this beautifully intense couple. For me, they were the "dark" to Javier & Geraldine's "light". I haven't seen a couple dance this way since them.....in fact, they don't even dance this way anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4wtU9-_u14

3. Carlitos y Noelia - De Antano. I can't watch this video and NOT want to dance. This is pure emotion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGY_qKBQRhM

4. Jorge Dispari y La Turca. This man has the smoothest enrosques I have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXloFaXcy8

5. Chicho y Juana -Milonguea del Ayer. There are so many great Chicho y Juana videos that it is almost impossible to choose just one. I tried my best in choosing this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHyN-Y0ySCc

6. Gavito y Geraldine. Jennifer once asked Gavito "Where do you live?" Without hesitating, he replied "I live......in the tango."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N01TpzQb2Oo

7. Pablo Inza y Sofia Saborido - No Quiero Perderte. I have watched Pablo Inza's videos for a long time. There is footage of him in the old CITA videos where he is the definition of tango salon; really technically proficient and smooth. Then he went into his "tango nuevo" period and that is when, I must admit, I got disinterested. Ironically, that is when I actually met him; when Jennifer and I taught together with him in the Capri Tango Festival on the island of Capri.  But then, in the last year or so, he has made me a fan again. The stuff he is coming out with now is coming from a very emotionally energetic place and this video captures what I have mentioned in earlier blog posts as "The Speed of Sadness".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexvLb1BMXU&feature=youtu.be

8. Gustavo y Giselle - "La Cumparsita". This was one of those videos we would watch back "in the day" in the East Village. Classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nxKzmcqjAo

9. Mariela Sametband & Guillermo Barrionuevo - La Bruja. This couple makes me smile every time I watch their videos. They are so much fun to watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8xzfU2zcVI

10. Andrea Misse y Javier Rodriguez - I posted this video....but I can't watch this video without feeling sad. The last time I spoke with Andrea Misse was during the 2011 Firenze Tango Festival, during the breaks in between the workshops or during the teacher dinners before the milongas. I was about to be a dad later that year and we spoke about that a bit. I remember her looking at me with those beautiful eyes of hers and she told me (in Spanish) "It's all going to work out." and whereas I might have heard that same sentence from other people many times in my life, when she said it, it was as though time stood still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eFcg4dVyDg

11. Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes - "Remembranzas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiQZB4lRU5Q

12. Lucas Fernandes. No...the video is NOT sped up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG7RCbfpi7k

13. Pedro Rusconi. - I remember one night at the milonga in Canning back in 2003. I was in the middle of dancing a beautiful tanda of Pugliese instrumentals ("Emancipacion" specifically). I had no concept of rhythm, musicality, embrace.......I was a mess. I was dancing near Tete's table and just as Emancipacion's variacion starts, he yells "AHORA!" similar to "ATTACK!".........and I had no clue which ahora he was talking about or what to actually do when I found that "ahora" he was talking about! It was a #tangofail for me. But, in time, I discovered what he was talking about and you better believe that I never missed that "ahora" again!

http://youtu.be/ymiGWFN7iGM

14. Javier Rodriguez and Noelia Hurtado. I must say: I really like when dancers from different partnerships come together and do a one-time performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4mhKaI_K9o&feature=youtu.be

15. Fausto Carpino y Stephanie Fesneau - Many years ago, Jennifer and I taught in Warsaw and we met a young Stephanie Fesneau. I remember thinking then "Damn, this girl is good!". Around that time, we also met Fausto through his sister, Barbara Carpino (of the couple Claudio Forte y Barbara Carpino) and I would admire his smooth dancing on the social floor. Now I hope to meet up with them somewhere in Europe and take one of THEIR workshops!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqmLOBQIoA0&feature=youtu.be

16.  Marko y Maja - Last year I taught in Australia for a month and I stayed with my Turkish brother Onur in Melbourne. After returning from the milongas, we would eat ice cream, talk about economics (seriously), and watch tango videos. One night, he introduced me to this couple and right away I blurted out the "highest compliment in tango": She's crazy!..........I love it.

http://youtu.be/PrOCKIMUi6Y

17. Carla Rossi y Santiago Castro - There are some dancers who you just watch for a few seconds and instantly they give off the vibe of "buena onda". That is the case with Carla y Santiago. They are great dancers and, from the  communications I have had with them, as well as reading what they post on FB, it is obvious that they love tango, they love teaching it, and that they are the kind of teachers I would want visiting my community.

http://youtu.be/p9RgUxffKks

18. El Pibe Avellaneda y Geraldine Rojas - In my opinion, this was the precursor to the "Carlitos y Noelia style". In those days (2005), El Pibe would spend alot of time in NYC and I would watch him in the milongas and think to myself "Man, he dances every step and every song so "hard"........I love it!"

http://youtu.be/AxmVbnSzy1g

19.  Pablo Rodriguez y Noelia Hurtado - After years of sharing dance and life together, this young couple decided to separate. Their final performance to the song "Invierno"/"Winter" is incredibly beautiful. You can even see them crying at the end. 

http://youtu.be/tRNJUtAhsQU

20. Esteban Moreno y Claudia Codega - This couple has many videos that are more on the showy/nuevo side but this one....this is the one that I tend to go back to. Esteban was one of my early "tango heroes" because of his elegance and I have watched him dance socially and it is even better in person. In this video, you have a beautiful song (DiSarli/Podesta's "Volver a Vernos"), a beautiful embrace, and a hypnotic cadencia. This is the kind of dance that you imagine you would have after finally being reunited after many years with the one who broke your heart. Another performance where the dancers capture "the speed of sadness".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDX7qkh62ic

Embracing the "now"........an unfinished entry/a quick thought written down

One of the most difficult things to teach in tango is the concept of the embrace. Through the embrace, we communicate our rhythm, our steps, and even our feelings. As a teacher, I feel that we need to help students achieve a mastery of rhythm and steps.....but what about feelings? Early on, I used to advocate bringing the past into your dance. Any happiness, sadness, or anger that was felt previously felt could be used to add character and shape to your dance. This worked for a while and it has worked for many of my students because these feelings are usually suppressed and tango gives a stage for them to appear on. So, to an extent, I will talk about this in a workshop because it does help some students rediscover and get in touch with these emotions. But the problem lies in the situation where the student is finally in touch with these feelings and relies on them to shape his dance....but then cuts himself off from what is happening in the embrace at the moment. I was guilty of that for many years: I went in to the dance with a plan; a rhythmic, choreographic, and even emotional plan. It wasn't until I let go of things, and went in to the dance "blank', that I then felt that my best tango started coming out.

Listen to my newest Tango playlist on SPOTIFY

"5am en el Salon Canning"

http://open.spotify.com/user/neymelo/playlist/31ESqNF4Mo1cWitRpd38VD

The Speed of Sadness Part 1

I realize that during my brief tango life, I have been on a quest: a quest for "something". The first time I heard about this "something" was when Jen and I took a private lesson with the legendary Villa Urquiza milonguero _____________. The class was over 2 hours long and we mostly talked and sipped mate. I can't remember the neighborhood of where we took the class. I can't remember the day of the week. I can't even remember any steps that were taught in the class. One of the only things I remember is when I asked about Gerardo Portalea. Now it is a well-known fact that milongueros always criticize each other and the milonguero responded as I thought he would....with criticism: "Portalea?? Ufff, el no tiene pasos!" (Portalea?? He has no steps!")  "Pero....el si tiene cadencia" (But.....he does sure have cadencia.") 

And there it was: the word that began my quest: cadencia. 

Since that day, I have asked every milonguero/a or master teacher I have met about cadencia. Their answers have been beautiful and colorful and have led me to my conclusion: Cadencia is achieved when you combine your mastery of the technical and rhythmic aspects of your dance along with the emotion you feel from understanding the lyrics and mood of the music. It is then that you capture (what I call) the "speed of sadness". 

I have realized that a good tango dancer must have rhythm, technique........and emotion. Rhythm and technique can be learned. Emotion, on the other hand, is a work that affects the personality. What's that saying?: "People change for two main reasons: either their minds have been opened or their hearts have been broken." I believe tango has the power to do both. 

Of course, sometimes it's not that the person has to change their personality. Sometimes they just have to accept their personality.

2011 Interview

Old interviews are interesting because they capture our thoughts, views, and our "perfectly laid-out plans" at a certain moment in time. What I said here is 99% accurate even today.....but that 1%.....there is always that 1%. (If I only knew then what I know now.) Here it is:

http://lasastresa.blogspot.com/2011/05/interview-with-ney-melo-2011.html?m=1