Another week of every day TANGO

So what if Friday was a night of ballroom at the Scranton Cultural Center. Mike and I can't dance any of the 9 or 10 so we improvised tango to the music. This doesn't happen often. Tango waltz to waltz and milonga to a CHA-CHA? That was Friday. Joe and Mary Ethel offered to open the tent for us today so we could have lunch with Ann and Willy at their impressive home in Stroudsburg. Their home is a smorgasbord for the eyes. One room after the next in tasteful but quiet elegance. I love that house and I adore the people who own it who work so hard to keep the tango alive in the Poconos. A lesson and meeting with Dragan who will travel here on July 12 for a workshop and milonga. Busy day. Finally came up our driveway at 6:30 and were surprised at all the cars and people milling around in the usual Sunday drizzle. Tango tonight was quite a show. Matt and Tina doing the carpa. Dan teaching the hated 8 to the Walshes. Vito and Mary Ethel walking around and around. Matt S having Suz in the sidecar. Marcus and Josh watching it all. Mike and I trying out the new moves from Stroudsburg. Classy little turns and steps. Maybe tomorrow we'll rest.

SILVINA SAYS........

1. GO WITH YOUR BODY - last night at Cathie's excellent lesson at Jack's I moved so differently I didn't know it was me. This was tango. Even our milonga moved freely. My last milonga with Dan in close embrace surprised both of us. Better, much better. How nice to see 10 enthusiasts walking to the BEAT of tango.
2. GO WITH EASE- Silvina stood me up from the breakfast table and took me sideways, backwards, forward over and over in a relaxed embrace. If Silvina only knew how many times I've heard, relax, relax the free leg, breathe, just RELAX. It's #1 on my list of 17.
3.LOOK OUT AT EYE LEVEL AND IT WILL ORGANIZE YOUR SKELETON- picking things around the room at eye level was a distraction for many tandas. Now I understand the way it works. Makes me feel giddy, but my balance is a million times better.
4. DRILL INTO THE FLOOR BEFORE THE BACK OCHO- my axis was secure and I was able to "open my hips". Drilling is not bending the knees. The floor is my first romance.
5. WALK ON THE BEAT- Mike is slowly starting to grasp the beat and will allow me to softly count it out for a few measures. This is the biggest change in our dancing.
6. WATCH HOW YO PLACE YOUR FOOT- I am on my metatarsals with all toes flat. With all the ballet training I had years and years ago I am starting a love affair with the floor. CARESS the floor she tells me. Thank God ballroom has bypassed my limited dancing lessons.
Silvina is my hero and an extraordinary teacher and woman. I watch her over and over on YouTube and our videos to try to channel her energy and grace. She has changed my dance. Might I someday leave the beginner level ? This thought hadn't even crossed my mind. We'll see. MAYBE?

Tango Tent -OPENING

Jerry( deep blue suede) and Adele( green and gorgeous Comme Il Faut) made the long haul from Middletown NY for our first announced opening- a little tango has been going on here for a few Sundays to make sure this one would run smoothly and THAT it did. Everyone got a chance to work on balance and walking- thanks to these 2 kind instructors and the simple exercises we all practiced -though I hate the dreaded basic 8( step 1 and step 8???) A nice crowd graced the floor. They interspersed lessons with the dancing as the night went on. How do you thank people who give so much? Mike actually walked on the beat. Speaking of thanks, Frank said he'd have the bathroom finished today, but at about 4:00 I had my doubts. Frank plugged away and the first flush at 5:45 was music. Mike looks at me and I can tell he's thinking, "What next!" There is no answer to this.
Judy and Al are a surprise. Al looks like a milonguero. He gets it. I feel like a mother hen. Mike is happy that the "true believers" are here and his favorite music is filling the night air. Good food, a quiet group and the lighting makes the tango tent looks like a spaceship from the outside. What a way to start our third summer under the sky.

MIKE LUCEY

Mike is a milonguero. Oliver, who has danced all his life, said it took him 6 months to do the walk that Mike has mastered in 3 years of practice and thinking. Mike moves horizontally through the space like a tractor- steady, balanced and slow. To me it's amazing. Hopefully, we can get others to work hard to accomplish this after our 3 intense workshops with Oliver and Silvina. Silvina, who does not give compliments lightly, said that Mike has GOT IT and she can't believe he has improved that much in 1 year. Well, he has.
More about Mike. There is not a better husband. Mike watches out for me- always. How many men like to vacuum and load the dishwasher. Never does he gossip or say an unkind word about anyone -not even disguised as humor or sarcasm. As Cecilia would say he's more cool. I guess I can go on and on. Foot rubs, back rubs, a sous chef. This soon to be 75 gentleman, dealing with prostate cancer and a sometimes stressed out and hypersensitive wife just does it all. WOW! There is the special way he wraps me up and takes me along in his tango. When our tango tent opens for Sunday milongas this week, we'll renew our embrace over and over. Mike is my hero and I love him more than life, even more than my Comme Il Fauts.