I’ve never gone this long without tango since I started dancing.
In theory, I’m in a better position than most, in living with a tanguera. Steph doesn’t normally dance with me often – our levels are too far apart – but desperate times might have forced desperate measures! Except she’s been ill for three weeks with either flu or COVID-19 (the online GP was playing safe by presuming it to be the latter, but there’s no way to know without testing) …
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, right?
I had a private scheduled with Fede and Julia before the apocalypse, and we decided to try a video lesson as an experiment. This did lead to a bit of an argument between us …
Continue reading Another tango first: a remote private via video
One of the four questions I posed last time was this:
What measures can we take to ensure schools, teachers and milongas survive that long? […] I personally would be willing to continue to pay for cancelled classes and milongas, in order to ensure their survival. I’ve heard some others say the same thing. Are enough of us of the same view?
I’m delighted to say the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ …
Continue reading Supporting milonga organisers and schools during the coronavirus suspension
So far, to my knowledge, nineteen London milongas have closed for now: Mayfair Milonga, La Mariposa, Carablanca, I Love Mondays, Tango Garden, Tango 178, Tango Bridge, Etnia, Madame Yvonne, Tango Space, The Light, La Davina, London City Milonga, Tango E14, Tango Amistoso, Corrientes, Milonga la Tanguera, Negracha and The Mercer.
The remaining ones will doubtless follow suit in the next few days; at this point, London tango is essentially suspended.
The London tango community appears split on the issue, with four main views being expressed …
Continue reading The coronavirus conundrum: four questions for the London tango community
I must say that coronavirus was not a category tag I ever imagined creating for this blog!
Tango Terra is always quieter on a Sunday, and more so this week. I think some are now deciding to err on the side of caution where the coronavirus is concerned. I heard also that the Tango Space milonga the previous evening was very quiet too …
Continue reading Getting my fix in while I can, as more London milongas close
Thursday evenings normally begin with the Tango Space intermediate lesson, but I decided to skip that tonight.
Although the Tuesday and Thursday intermediate classes are theoretically geared to the same level, in practice there’s a significant difference in attendance and approach. The Tuesday version, taught by Pablo and Eva, assumes comfort with all of the improver level content – as is reasonable, given it’s intended as the next step. It tends to attract those who are further along the intermediate scale …
Continue reading It’s true what they say about Russian tangueras …
There’s been a lot of discussion recently about how the tango community should respond to the coronavirus outbreak. By virtue of spending 12 minutes at a time in close embrace with someone, and doing that with perhaps ten or twelve different people in an evening, we clearly run a significantly greater risk of transmission than the average person.
The virus is already circulating in the European tango community, including a British tanguera who caught it there and is currently in the Royal Free (fortunately she is well enough to be posting on Facebook about it) …
Continue reading Thoughts on tango and the coronavirus outbreak
I caught the end of the lesson as usual, and it was a pleasing-looking movement.
I’m not sure whether the intermediate sequences are getting more accessible, or whether I’m making more sense of them by connecting more dots. We’ll see how I get on with Luis’ version on Thursday …
Continue reading Calesitas, chaos, criminal cabeceos and coronavirus contingencies
There’s a tradition in tango that you don’t dance the first song of a live performance, as a courtesy to the band: giving them your full attention. At Los Angelitos tonight, however, Martin Alvarado specifically asked people to dance from the first song – but it seemed nobody was going to accept the invitation.
I looked at the empty floor, looked across to one of my favourite followers, looked around at the very large number of people sat around the dance floor – then decided the opportunity was too good to be defeated by feelings of self-consciousness …
Continue reading Another tango first: the only couple on the floor for the first half of a song
journey of a trainee tanguero 
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