DiSarli, Pugliese, D'Arienzo

Salon-Style Tango- Our dance.. It takes practice to understand it, find it and keep it.
   Salon-style tango is typically danced to the most strongly accented beat of tango music played in 4x4 time, such as DiSarli. Those who dance salon-style tango to Juan D'Arienzo or Rodolfo Biagi typically ignore the strong "ric-tic-tic" rhythm that characterizes the music. Salon-style tango requires that dancers exercise respect for the line of dance.

Ric-Tic-Tic Rhythm

Ric-tic-tic is onomatopoeia for the staccato rhythms that are prominent in the music of Juan D'Arienzo, Rodolfo Biagi, and some other golden-era orchestras. With Biagi on the piano, D'Arienzo's orchestra debuted in the 1930s with the ric-tic-tic rhythm. Although some describe music with the ric-tic-tic rhythm as 2x4, the characteristic rhythm of this music is actually created through a variation in accented beats that yields an alternation of single-time and double-time rhythms. For example, the music might be played one and two and, one and two and, one and two and, one and two and (where boldface represents the accented beats), and the dancers might respond slow, slow; quick, quick, slow; slow, slow; quick, quick, slow. One might express the chararacteristic stacatto rhythm of this music as one, two; ric, tic, tic; one, two; ric, tic, tic.



Some tangos contain more complex rhythms and longer phrases of double-time staccato accents. Juan D'Arienzo's "El Flete" contains a rhythmic figure of one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and, one and two and one and two and. For the dancer adhering strictly to the accents, that rhythmic figure becomes the demanding and rapid fire slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause. For a dancer taking the music at half speed, the rhythmic figure becomes the familiar slow, pause, slow, pause; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause; slow, slow, slow, slow; quick, quick, quick, quick, slow, pause (where boldface represents the beats used for dancing).

WEIGHT! WAIT!

Mike maybe  thinks he is still in the Melrose Games at Madison Square Garden. I often wear his silver medal close to my heart and think about that time over 60 years ago when he won that stunning piece of silver. But this dance is not a race. When Alberto Paz said, "Go, Mike go!" I first thought he was being kind, but NO he's watching a dance that looks like a marathon. Now we are learning to slow it down and keep it in a small space.
Back to basics we go again.
1. S-l-o-w it down. Lento. Take 2 beats or more for each step.
2. Every step is a tango, Pause momentarily, breathe, settle into the standing leg. wait for me to collect and then mark the next step before you go forward or wherever. Know where I am and then when my feet are collected  I'm ready for the next step.
3. Keep the back straight. Remember the exercise on the wall.
4. Be more decisive with the lead.

The cunitas- step to my center and lead me back to your center. Turning them looks great, but not more than 3.
Gustavo wants Mike to practice a traspie after the side step- before the next forward step.

What is different about our tango?. Something inside keeps moving at all times. My focus is on my standing leg. Our embrace is more comfortable. Our weight is grounded. Mostly I'm lost in the music and pushing into the step.
Now I am not TRYING to tango. But I know I'd never win a silver medal or any medal for my so called Argentine Tango.

Augusto Whispers Again- but not to ME.

A tall, quite striking man showed up on Friday in our afternoon class at the Galerias. He is elegant and walks to the beat. He shows off his long lanky legs and quick pivots. His sense of musicality makes me stare. I stepped away from Mike for a moment to watch. He holds the step until the last moment- waiting, waiting and moves slowly or rapidly to the music. I am engrossed and watching from his waist down to the floor when I hear the whisper of Augusto, "But it's not the tango."   "What?", I think. Sr. Lanky Legs is missing the essence of the dance. He's missing the marca and subtle lead with his chest and back- the push into the step from his center isn't there. This is a lesson to me to watch the upper body and the torso. Augusto says the closer the embrace the more torsion is needed from the chest- interesting.  Now to try to make it all happen without a thought.

Augusto Whispers

We slip into as many lessons with Augusto Balizano as we can. He has such a variety of classes- levels of dancers,  sometimes mostly men, sometimes mostly women and tonight we were blessed with a lesson for only 3.
When I dance with Augusto I get a whisper 1/2 way through each dance.

The First Week: Think only of my supporting leg only and wait.
Last Week:         Think of my back as if I'm reclining in a chair- open my chest but also open my back  and settle into the chair. Mike is "holding the baby". While all this occurs keep the hip back and in. OH GOD!
Tonight:              Resist the step, allow the free leg to feel like it belongs to a rag doll - now, wait until the last moment of the lead and music to move.

His patience shows in his eyes. How lucky we were to have our friend from PA join in a lesson with us this week.

The TABLE

Our ankles are sore from all the pivoting with Eliana Sanchez- starting with 1/4 pivots, then 180's and finally 270's- usually mine is a 260. We do this over and over for balance, control and centering our bodies.
Back to the sore ankles. Still in search of a folding table there isn't one to be had in the local stores. Everyone says to head to Avenida Belgrano, where we bought our 2 chair and little tables last year. Mike is tired. I am tired. Our friend is coming form PA and we need to sit 3 at a table. My idea is to look at the local Ebay - Mercado Libre and have a table delivered. The search turns up a table that LOOKS just right. It's pine, it's a little big, but I think we can squeeze it in the living room. Many emails and phone calls later we have a delivery date set. This is all done by phone and email.
 Mike says, "I think you should SEE it before you buy it."
 Me, as always a little stubborn and thinking of our tired legs, says, " I think it will work out just fine." Long story short. The doorbell rings and in comes this HEAVY HEAVY table that's too big and very hard to open and close. Thank God it folds up and fits behind our couch. If someone reads it and wants a table. It's yours! bring a truck.

From Perri and his blog

Perri can be read at: kayakhombre.blogspot.com
Here's a part of his post from November 2011.

"After reading a few of her posts on foreigners acting like sluts at milongas in Buenos Aires, and all the promiscuity going on down there, I had a renewed sense of self-worth. To read how much of a tourist trap the tango scene in Argentina has become, I felt better about my situation and all the times I have forced myself to act in a manner my children would not be ashamed of.




I probably feel ‘lost’ because I’m single and I’m poor. I should be happy because I’ve got two healthy daughters in great colleges and I’m healthy as well, but it is difficult not to wish I was rich and in a relationship with a great woman. C’est la vie! Life is always greener on the other side.


Which brings me back to the writer of the tango-spam blog. I think she is not happy and sounds kind of lost. She’s healthy and living in her dream city, hoping to meet Mr. Right. One thing I got on her is, I know how good we’ve got it here. She is just now finding out that she lives in a society where she will always be just an object of sexual desire and the dance she loves so much has become so commercial it is hard for her to find it in its true form."

My comment- Perri, travel to the deep south.  The tango awaits you.

Diego- My barber

After a leisurely breakfast we strolled west on Alvear to see if my favorite barber could give me just a "little" trim. Also we were on a side trip to find a folding table for our living room. Anyway, Diego gathered me in for hugs and kisses. His round face smiles from ear ro ear.
Diego starts the trim and I make the BIG mistake. practicing my spanish I tell him he is an artista. Of course this makes his grin wider and his scissors faster and faster. The trim becomes a cut and the cut gets shorter and shorter. "oh no", I think. The complement was a backfire. Now I have hair sticking up and unmanageable, but...... well, everything here is a drama and an adventure. In 3 weeks I'll look like my "chemo" is over and maybe I'll be ready for another trim with hugs included. We saved the table search for another day.