Normally I try to space out my tango DJ gigs, so I don't get bored of my music, but more importantly so the dancers don't get bored of my music. Try as had as I might, this was not to be that case. Between gigs being rescheduled and last minute phone calls from organizors I ended up DJing 5 of 7 nights January 4 -10.
Dubbed "DJ Eli Fest" here was the schedule:
- Tue: Triangulo
- Wed: Tango Cafe, Traditional Room
- Fri: DanceTango Milonga @ The Ukrainian Restaurant
- Sat: Practilonga-939
- Mon: Luna @ Dance Manhatten
I had a lot of fun. I had challenged myself to not play the same song more than once with the exception of vals and milongas. I pretty much stuck to it and it really got me going, creating tandas on the fly, playing things I might not normally. Also, in honor of Carlos Di Sarli's birthday (Jan 7) I played 11 tandas of his music at Practilonga-939.
Overall it went well. I'm looking forward to the Houston Tango Marathon (Jan 21-23) where I've been invited as a "sponsored instructor" and teaching in Lawrence and Kansas City (Jan 24 - 30).
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
2011 Resolutions
Yes, Yes. It's been about a year since my last post and I can say that both a lot has been going on and nothing has been going on. I opted to begin reposting with my resolutions for the new year.
This year, the same as last, my resolution about teaching was inspired by one of my mentors Brigitta Winkler. The idea is simple, the application, not so much. "Ask more questions when teaching". This has may benefits. Obviously you gain instant feedback if the student(s) is/are with you, but also the students are more actively involved in their learning process when they need to conjure of answers. It is the Socratic method all over again. Rather than dictating, this is happening because of this, I am to ask "what do you suppose where to happen we did this". Or even ask questions which asks the student to examine their body position thus developing their awareness.
In my social dancing my resolve is to be more social, my attendance at milongas to be less like going to a dance club. I will attempt to escort my dance partner back to her seat after our dances are done.
As a dancer, I resolve to see more dancing in all forms, but specifically ballet.
Happy New Year!
This year, the same as last, my resolution about teaching was inspired by one of my mentors Brigitta Winkler. The idea is simple, the application, not so much. "Ask more questions when teaching". This has may benefits. Obviously you gain instant feedback if the student(s) is/are with you, but also the students are more actively involved in their learning process when they need to conjure of answers. It is the Socratic method all over again. Rather than dictating, this is happening because of this, I am to ask "what do you suppose where to happen we did this". Or even ask questions which asks the student to examine their body position thus developing their awareness.
In my social dancing my resolve is to be more social, my attendance at milongas to be less like going to a dance club. I will attempt to escort my dance partner back to her seat after our dances are done.
As a dancer, I resolve to see more dancing in all forms, but specifically ballet.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Long Road Home
It's official. I will finally return to Brooklyn, New York City.
I have a few loose ends (weekly classes, private lessons and Workshops in Minneapolis) to tie up before I start the journey, but as it stands here is the current plan:
Jan 28: Last day in Minneapolis
Jan 29: Fly to Kansas City
Jan 30: Workshops in Lawrence, KS
Feb 3: Amtrak from Kansas City to Chicago
Feb 9: Amtrak from Chicago to Portland, OR
Feb 11: Arrive in Portland
Feb 11-16: Portland Valentango!
Feb 17: Fly from Portland to New York LGA
--
Details of Weekly Classes in MSP:
Wednesday Classes at Social Dance Studio
* 7:00: Foundations 2/3, Topic: "Rock the Boat"
* 8:15: Intermediate: Topic: Musicality & Connection
Thursday Classes at Manzanita Escuela de Tango
* 7:00: "Essential vocabulary"
* 8:00: "Technique for Everyone"
Friday, January 1, 2010
2010 and Beyond - A resolution
I had long ago discarded the idea of making new years resolutions, though this year it seems that the resolution made itself for me. Yes, that sounds strange, allow me to explain.
In early December I was in saint Louis for the Hot Winter Tango Festival. One of my mentors, Brigitta Winkler, had honored me with the opportunity to assist her in a class that she was teaching. During the class she whispered to me that in her teaching philosophy, always demonstrate or explain things in the positive. Meaning say things like "try to do this" instead of "don't do that". This was something that she had told me about a few years ago and had forgotten about.
This idea was in the back of my head for the rest of December, I would randomly find myself pondering it even when not teaching. It felt sort of persistent in my mind and I accepted that this was going to be my resolution starting this year.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Announcing: Minneapolis Pre-Holiday Argentine Tango Marathon 2009
I am glad to be able to finally annouce this event. A number of us in the Minneapolis Tango have gotten together to create what will sort of be like a holiday party for tango dancers, ie, lots of dancing.
The concept of the event is simple. Every year around the holiday season, tango dancers either travel to visit family or they have family visiting them, and of course these family people do not dance tango. So it is no surprise that they wont let the dancer out. Hearing "I/you didn't come here so you can go dance tango with your friends" is commonplace. The obvious solution is: do whole lot of dancing while you can.
The Marathon will be the third weekend of December (12/17 - 12/20) 2009. It is composed of mostly regularly scheduled milongas and practicas.
I will be teaching two mini-workshops on Saturday afternoon the topics are: "Phrasing for Vals" and "Changes of Directions".
Click Here for the full Schedule, Locations and Pricing
The concept of the event is simple. Every year around the holiday season, tango dancers either travel to visit family or they have family visiting them, and of course these family people do not dance tango. So it is no surprise that they wont let the dancer out. Hearing "I/you didn't come here so you can go dance tango with your friends" is commonplace. The obvious solution is: do whole lot of dancing while you can.
The Marathon will be the third weekend of December (12/17 - 12/20) 2009. It is composed of mostly regularly scheduled milongas and practicas.
I will be teaching two mini-workshops on Saturday afternoon the topics are: "Phrasing for Vals" and "Changes of Directions".
Click Here for the full Schedule, Locations and Pricing
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Pizza and Mobsters
Today I had some pizza in Minneapolis, the name of the place was "New York Pizza by the Slice". "by the slice" was something I had to get accustomed to. It seems that most pizza places outside NYC (with the exception of chains /franchises /etc) only sell pizza by the pie, so places that sell by the slice usually have "by the slice" in their name or somewhere in their signage. In New York there are very few places that only sell by the pie and such places will usually have a sign on the door "no slices". (I can only think of one place, Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, that doesn't sell slices.)
So what made this place "New York Pizza"? In one corner of the place there were photos of yankee stadium and other yankess memorabelia. One wall had various pictures of NYC tourist spots like the Statue of Liberty, the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park. On the same wall were two pictures of Italy, one of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the other of a bridge over one of the canals in Venice. Yes, pizza as we know is derived from an Italian food by the same name, but I am not sure it originates from either Pisa or Venice.
One entire wall was devoted to pictures of characters from various mob movies such as "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", "The Sopranos" etc.... Yes, I get that these movies were set in New York, and that the characters are of Italian descent, but I've never seen anyone in a mob movie eat pizza (I have not watched the sopranos), so "what gives?".
New York is not all about pizza either. New York is about every kind of food whenever and wherever you want it. When I was down in Kansas City, Janey said to me "You New Yorkers, every time you leave New York, it seems as though you are afraid you're gonna starve to death!". It's true. In The City, you never have to walk more than 3 blocks at any time of day or night and you can get a fresh bite to eat. We're not talking about chips and pretzels. We're talking hot sandwiches, salads, tacos, gyros, and so on. Everywhere else I've been, eating takes planning, especially if you are at the mercy of public transportation. In some cities it is impossible to eat after 10pm, or if you can you must drive for 25 minutes to some bad chain sort of place.
While New York is not "only about pizza", some places are known for certain things. Kansas City - barbecue. Minnesota - the walleye fish. Wisconsin - beer, cheese and sausage. Wisconsin is a funny place. Drive down any street or highway in the USA and you will see signs at gas stations that say "GAS - BEER - CIGARETTES", in Wisconsin they say "GAS - BEER - CHEESE - CIGARETTES". "Say Cheese :-) "
At the end of the year I will be in Seattle, known for good coffee and its smoked salmon. I'm looking forward to it.
So what made this place "New York Pizza"? In one corner of the place there were photos of yankee stadium and other yankess memorabelia. One wall had various pictures of NYC tourist spots like the Statue of Liberty, the Twin Towers, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Central Park. On the same wall were two pictures of Italy, one of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the other of a bridge over one of the canals in Venice. Yes, pizza as we know is derived from an Italian food by the same name, but I am not sure it originates from either Pisa or Venice.
One entire wall was devoted to pictures of characters from various mob movies such as "The Godfather", "Goodfellas", "The Sopranos" etc.... Yes, I get that these movies were set in New York, and that the characters are of Italian descent, but I've never seen anyone in a mob movie eat pizza (I have not watched the sopranos), so "what gives?".
New York is not all about pizza either. New York is about every kind of food whenever and wherever you want it. When I was down in Kansas City, Janey said to me "You New Yorkers, every time you leave New York, it seems as though you are afraid you're gonna starve to death!". It's true. In The City, you never have to walk more than 3 blocks at any time of day or night and you can get a fresh bite to eat. We're not talking about chips and pretzels. We're talking hot sandwiches, salads, tacos, gyros, and so on. Everywhere else I've been, eating takes planning, especially if you are at the mercy of public transportation. In some cities it is impossible to eat after 10pm, or if you can you must drive for 25 minutes to some bad chain sort of place.
While New York is not "only about pizza", some places are known for certain things. Kansas City - barbecue. Minnesota - the walleye fish. Wisconsin - beer, cheese and sausage. Wisconsin is a funny place. Drive down any street or highway in the USA and you will see signs at gas stations that say "GAS - BEER - CIGARETTES", in Wisconsin they say "GAS - BEER - CHEESE - CIGARETTES". "Say Cheese :-) "
At the end of the year I will be in Seattle, known for good coffee and its smoked salmon. I'm looking forward to it.
Monday, November 2, 2009
My Adventures getting to/from Denver
There is nothing quite like waking up from your 30 minute nap in a panic that you will miss your flight, coupled with the memory that you haven't yet packed nor do you have any clean clothes. Nothing except for the blast of cold air that hits my face as I run outside after having stuffed an arbitrary amount of dirty clothes in my bag, seeking to catch a bus that departs in 3 minutes. Yup, I've done it again. Stayed up all night, the night before an early morning (10:30am) flight. My destination - Denver for Nick Jones' "Natural Tango Festival".
I arrive in Denver, Nick picks me up at the airport and we go to the house. I throw my clothes in the washing machine. As tired as I was I decided to not take a nap in favor of watching the tango music rehearsal in progress - three bandoneóns and piano!
In general, I had a nice time at the festival, every night at the milongas there was good live music. I met new people, I took some of the classes, hung out with friends and had the opportunity to study a few hours with Nick.
Wednesday. My flight back to Minneapolis was scheduled to depart at 3:10pm. I arrived at the airport at 11am because my ride was dropping of someone who had a 12noon flight. I don't mind - I had plenty of typing to do.
At some point the gate agent announces that they are doing maintenance on the plane so our departure will be delayed. We board an hour late, de-ice, then sit on the runway for a while, and finally take off. I had counted on delays so this was all fine "As long as I get to Minneapolis before the Manzanita class on Thursday".
After flying for about an hour - of and hour and twenty minute flight - the captain announces that there was some kind of mechanical issue "but it is not an emergency" and we will be returning to Denver to get it straightened out. At 7pm we land in in Denver, the captain apologizes for the inconvenience and announces that "we should be glad we made it safely".
Well, this was an adventure! Here are my winnings: A 6:40am flight the Thursday morning, a $9 meal voucher, $100 travel voucher and free one night stay at a local hotel. I spent the meal voucher on a burger with fries and a drink (I had to pay 7 cents out of pocket). When I arrived in the hotel I realized that I have been on the road since July 21 and this was the first time I had privacy, ie, was not living in someones house.
Guess what - I did it again. Rather than going to sleep at a decent hour, knowing that I would have to catch the 4am hotel shuttle to the airport, I stay awake till midnight.
Thursday, 10:30am, I arrive in Minneapolis. A bit tired, but glad to have not gotten snowed in at Denver and be able to teach my class that evening.
I arrive in Denver, Nick picks me up at the airport and we go to the house. I throw my clothes in the washing machine. As tired as I was I decided to not take a nap in favor of watching the tango music rehearsal in progress - three bandoneóns and piano!
In general, I had a nice time at the festival, every night at the milongas there was good live music. I met new people, I took some of the classes, hung out with friends and had the opportunity to study a few hours with Nick.
Wednesday. My flight back to Minneapolis was scheduled to depart at 3:10pm. I arrived at the airport at 11am because my ride was dropping of someone who had a 12noon flight. I don't mind - I had plenty of typing to do.
At some point the gate agent announces that they are doing maintenance on the plane so our departure will be delayed. We board an hour late, de-ice, then sit on the runway for a while, and finally take off. I had counted on delays so this was all fine "As long as I get to Minneapolis before the Manzanita class on Thursday".
After flying for about an hour - of and hour and twenty minute flight - the captain announces that there was some kind of mechanical issue "but it is not an emergency" and we will be returning to Denver to get it straightened out. At 7pm we land in in Denver, the captain apologizes for the inconvenience and announces that "we should be glad we made it safely".
Well, this was an adventure! Here are my winnings: A 6:40am flight the Thursday morning, a $9 meal voucher, $100 travel voucher and free one night stay at a local hotel. I spent the meal voucher on a burger with fries and a drink (I had to pay 7 cents out of pocket). When I arrived in the hotel I realized that I have been on the road since July 21 and this was the first time I had privacy, ie, was not living in someones house.
Guess what - I did it again. Rather than going to sleep at a decent hour, knowing that I would have to catch the 4am hotel shuttle to the airport, I stay awake till midnight.
Thursday, 10:30am, I arrive in Minneapolis. A bit tired, but glad to have not gotten snowed in at Denver and be able to teach my class that evening.
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