Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about why the role imbalance in tango is bad for leaders and followers alike.
It’s pretty obvious why it can be miserable for followers, but I also highlighted three ways in which it’s not ideal for leaders …
Continue reading Three additional benefits of the growing trend of women leadersI’ve frequently observed that the never-ending process of learning to dance tango can often appear circular in nature, though the reality is a (mostly!) upward spiral. That is, we constantly revisit the same principles over and over again, with a deeper appreciation each time.
But there’s another issue at play when you’re an analytical person who insists on understanding exactly what’s going on: sometimes that can actually hold me back rather than propel me forward …
Continue reading The spiralling nature of my lessons and evolving dance – and a miraculous privateTango doesn’t like to be defined. Pick any topic you like, ask ten different dancers about it, and you’ll likely end up with eleven different views. Twelve if they are teachers.
This apparently includes naming conventions for tango festivals, making it hard for potential participants to know what they may be getting. But there’s one term that seems to be gaining favour that I think helps …
Continue reading Festathons are here to further diversify festival naming, and I’m on boardIt has been known for me to receive a comment or two about my stamina on the dance floor. It’s been observed that I’m at every milonga, always there from start to finish, and spend way more time dancing than sitting.
This contrasts with saner people, who do things like choose between afternoon and evening milongas; arrive late; leave early; or pace themselves during each milonga. You know, smart things. I do not do any smart things during a tango event …
Continue reading My approach to tango festivals is exhausting, but I wouldn’t change a thingA friend recently referenced sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s concept of ‘third places,’ supplementing our home and workplace. These are other places we visit and which play an important role in our lives.
I’d thought of milongas as a good example of a third place, but Bonny* reminded me of Oldenburg’s seven criteria, and it got me thinking about which tests Tango passes and fails …
*You’ll hear from her before too long, as she’s the second guest in my occasional video interview series.
Continue reading Tango: Passing and failing the ‘third place’ testsThere’s a phenomenon I’ve heard a number of leaders discuss, of growing bored with their own dance within a couple of years. The theory is that while a follower gets a different dance from every leader, a leader only gets to experience their own dance over and over again.
While that sounded logical, it didn’t turn out to be true for me for a long time, for a number of reasons. But let’s begin at the beginning (and if you don’t already have a cup of tea, you might want to make one now) …
Continue reading A six-year tale of adding, subtracting and re-adding pieces to my tango jigsaw puzzleI feel rather like I’m living in the Harry Chapin song All My Life’s a Circle as I repeat the first couple of episodes in my following journey.
From taking a few privates as a follower purely to inform my lead, to the exceedingly ambitious idea of becoming a dual-role dancer, to getting a reality check in this endeavour – and now revisiting my ambition with a different attitude …
Continue reading A whole new attitude toward my following journeyThere’s a tango forum I’m on which raised the question of what might be considered selfish versus altruistic dancing: to what extent do we dance with the partners who give us the best dance experience, versus others who might not?
In particular, how do we resolve the apparent contradiction between the idea that nobody owes anyone a dance, and tango as a social dance. Someone in the forum asked whether we should all be making an effort to dance with strangers, beginners, those not dancing, those we didn’t connect with in the past, and so on – or is it ok to simply dance with the partners whose dance we love … ?
Continue reading We’re never obliged to dance, but we can dance for many different reasonsI mentioned that I’d solved one problem with my following journey – how to get some practice – but a couple of tango festivals uncovered a more fundamental one: when am I actually going to get the chance to follow in milongas?
The role imbalance already makes it impractical at ordinary milongas: I’m not going to add to the problem by simultaneously removing two leaders from the pool available to followers. But role-balanced festivals had, for a time, felt like the solution …
Continue reading Coming full circle with following (for now)The fortnight leading up to the festival was among the most stressful and exhausting of my life. Short version: the place I thought was going to be my new home was withdrawn from the market on the day I made my formal offer for the pre-agreed amount; my plan B turned out to have hidden deal-breakers; and when I viewed my plan C, I discovered that the seller had decided to take the best offer by 5pm that day … and I got to view it at 4.43pm. And that’s skipping a whole lot of steps. What should have been a simple ‘Here’s my best and final offer, let me know’ deal on what became my preferred flat instead turned into some fast-and-furious negotiation, complete with an agent who went AWOL in the middle of it.
Suffice it to say that by the time the festival rolled around, if I hadn’t already been booked into it, I would happily have stayed home and spent the entire weekend sleeping. But I had a wonderful time last year, and suspected this would be the same. It was indeed, and turned out to be the perfect antidote …
Continue reading Another (mostly) wonderful Sheffield Tango Festival, and feeling really at home in my own danceI’ve long felt that the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi applies perfectly to tango: an appreciation of the beauty in things which are imperfect and impermanent.
The impermanent part is obvious. A tanda is something you experience in the moment, and then it’s gone. While I’ve often wished I could bottle that feeling, it would remain impossible even if we could crack the chemistry – because the fleeting nature of dance is part of the very essence of the experience …
Continue reading Tango wabi-sabi, and finding our value as dancersYou know you’re having an odd tango weekend when 90% of the experience is like being in BsAs – and 10% of it is like being in London.
Perhaps we should get the London-like bit out of the way first: the post-10pm floorcraft in the evening milongas …
Continue reading A 90% delicious Cheltenham International Tango FestivalI haven’t yet had a chance to put my new London mindset to the test – viewing most London milongas as Tango-Inspired Contemporary Dance events – as this weekend’s dancing comprised Tango Secrets followed by Corrientes. So one outside-London milonga, and one London milonga which falls firmly into the Argentine tango category.
There was one other Argentine tango vs TICD issue I wanted to explore: the question of escorting a follower back to their seat at the end of a tanda – or at least to the edge of the dance floor in the vicinity of their seat …
Continue reading A lovely weekend of tango, with no TICD in sightI’ve had a number of follower friends comment on not having seen me for a while, and I’ve explained that I’m doing significantly less dancing in London milongas these days, and more time heading outside the capital.
The reason for that is less apparent to followers than it is to (likeminded) leaders, in large part because followers frequently dance with their eyes closed …
Continue reading Argentine tango, and tango-inspired contemporary dance: a new mindset for London dancingI’ve said before that I’ve never really understood how some tango DJs can (for my tastes) prove consistently amazing. While I’m sure they have a few tandas which they play frequently, for the most part their musical selection is different each time. And yet, somehow, I almost always love their choices.
I wrote this blog post a while back now, but had to delay publishing it to protect the guilty – which you’ll understand when reading the end of it … !
Continue reading A partial understanding of the dark art of tango DJingMost blog posts are a joy to write, because they are either, well, describing a joyous experience, or at least documenting learning points for me, and learning is also a joy.
There are others which are harder to write, and where I hesitate before doing so. This is going to be one of those …
Continue reading A Tale of Two Tuesdays: It was the best of tango, it was the worst of tango …I happened across a link to one of Yelizaveta’s podcasts on a tango forum, and was instantly hooked. Anyone who reads my blog clearly enjoys the ramblings of people who over-think all things tango, so I suspect you’ll like her too. (If you’re a leader, don’t feel under fire – she has one about followers too!).
Arguably the biggest problem in tango is the imbalance between leaders and followers. That’s clearly an issue for followers, but it’s also less than ideal for leaders.
A solution attempted by most festival/marathon/encuentro organisers is to have an event be role-balanced – but it appears that the theory and the reality may differ somewhat …
Continue reading Do role-balanced events need some rebalancing?Tango is an extraordinarily skilled hunter, capable of looking deep into each of us, and figuring out the most reliable way to draw us in.
Once she’s captured us, she has many ways to leave us incapable of ever escaping her all-enveloping embrace. But I think with each of us, there was a singular weakness she used to ensnare us in the first place. With me, it was my thirst for understanding …
Continue reading When a thirst for understanding turns into a deluge!It’s always a bit of a culture shock, returning to London tango after BsAs; all the more so when timings meant I couldn’t make my usual favourite milongas.
The two milongas I did get to really brought home to me how much of a role is played by sheer chance when it comes to our tango experiences – and how that’s particularly true in London …
Continue reading There’s a lot of chance in London tango – but not enough leaders taking a chanceWhen I returned from a month in BsAs last year, I said that I had learned four lessons. Reconnecting with the essence of tango (‘this person, this music, this moment’). Having milongas be a more rounded social experience, rather than dancing every tanda. Fewer plans, more spontaneity. Spending even more time listening to even more tango music.
Happily, I felt like each of those lessons stayed with me. When reflecting on what I’d learned this time, two big things of course stood out …
Update: My first return to a favourite London milonga turned out to give me a better perspective on this.
Continue reading How did Buenos Aires change me this year?My first visit, I almost immediately understood how people come here for a fortnight and end up staying for ten years. My second visit, I actually got as far as semi-serious discussions about moving here. This time, I’ve felt that pull more strongly than ever. I really didn’t want to leave.
There are a zillion reasons not to do it, ranging from practical issues around property to being so far away from London friends …
Continue reading Returning home before I was ready, and really feeling the temptation to emigrateUpdated 6th April 2023
This was originally part of another blog post, but as there have been a number of developments, and it’s turning into something of a major source of contention between milonga organisers, I’ve now separated it into its own post.
I’ll begin with the background; then the various developments; offer my own thoughts (and sums); and share an opposing view from a friend …
Continue reading Two-tier pricing controversy: One milonga entry fee for residents, a higher one for foreign visitorsThe two-tier pricing controversy escalated, so now has a standalone post here.
It’s Alessandra’s first visit to BsAs, and in the first couple of days she wanted to spend every waking moment in the daytime out sightseeing, and then every waking moment at night in milongas. By day five, she finally understood that you can only do that for so long! She visited museums and galleries in the day, and had no energy to dance in the evening; I had a quiet day at home, and was out dancing until 3.30am.
All the same, the night was a first: I left before the end of the milonga! Only 30 minutes before, mind, but still …
Continue reading A rhythmical revelation at Porteño y BailarínAnyone who knows me in tango will know that I’m a huge fan of cabeceo, using it even with good friends I know like to dance with me. But I’d like to talk here about an aspect which sometimes seems to be overlooked in UK tango: cabeceo by followers.
In my previous post, I mentioned a follower friend who was feeling too shy to cabeceo a leader she felt was too far above her tango pay-grade. I tried to persuade her, based on my own experience of having many more acceptances than declines from far more advanced followers, but ended up having to take executive action …
Continue reading In praise of active cabeceo by followersThe closure of Salon Canning sounds so terribly wrong even as a written phrase, let alone a reality. Yet it’s true: the most famous milonga venue in the world has closed its doors to tango.
I first heard the news as a rumour, without any linked source, so Googled ‘Salon Canning closing.’ In a bittersweet moment, the first hit was to one of my own blog posts …
Continue reading A eulogy to Salon CanningI know, I’ve only been to four events across two festivals so far, so it may be rather early to draw any firm conclusions. But certainly my limited experience to date suggests that festivals (and BsAs, of course!) may be where I do most of my dancing in future.
If this does prove to be the case, it’ll be the next stage in a gradual process for me …
Continue reading Feeling that festivals are my tango futureI had my third private as a follower, and while I missed plenty of things, I for the first time had an experience of Just Dancing from the follower side.
I also decided to follow my tango heart when it comes to when, where and how I dance …
Continue reading Following … a leader, and my tango heartFive months ago, returning from BsAs, I wrote about my determination to keep the Argentine spirit alive in my own tango – and so far, I feel like I’m succeeding.
I’ve reluctantly conceded that one key ingredient here is dancing a lot more outside of the sub-culture that is London tango. Reluctantly, because I’d love to dance a lot in my own city, and I do see London milongas doing their best to bring the Argentine spirit to London …
Continue reading A three-hour round-trip journey to dance in Cambridge, and worth every minuteThere’s a magic to the cabeceo. To make eye contact across a room, with a woman I’ve never met before, whose name I do not know, whose language I may not speak, and be able to invite her to dance – and have my invitation accepted – without a single word being exchanged.
Cabeceo is, for me, one of the most beautiful things about tango. I love it for its practicality, but also for its poetry. For me, it’s the first step in the dance …
Continue reading The practicality and poetry of the cabeceo: Where the dance beginsFelipe Martinez recently talked about the difference between danceable music and music which moves you, literally and figuratively. I think that’s a good way of describing what is, to me, the difference between rhythmic and lyrical tango.
I’d expected the work I was doing on double-time to increase my enjoyment of rhythmic music. It has, but to my surprise, that wasn’t the biggest benefit …
Continue reading The only leader is the music: A joyful FeastThis is a question I first asked myself so long ago that I can’t even find the blog post to link to: How far do I want to go in my tango journey?
Dancing a lot less than I was, I was finding that my weekly privates (alternating between Emma and Diego) were too much: I simply wasn’t doing enough dancing to put the work into practice in milongas …
Continue reading A pause in my privates, and thinking about where I go from hereI debated whether to write this post. Floorcraft is a perennial topic, and the view from friends who’ve been in London tango far longer than I have is that nothing is going to change, so there’s not a lot of point in yet another discussion about it.
But at the same time, it is without question one of the biggest differences between tango in Buenos Aires, and that of London – and during my recent month-long stay in Argentina, I came to see the topic in a whole new light …
Continue reading Not just another grumble about the F wordLast time when I returned home from BsAs, I found myself wishing that London tango were more like, well, Argentine tango. I mean, I looked forward to dancing with friends and favourite partners, of course. But I felt the contrast keenly in a number of ways.
This time too. The difference was deciding that, while there are factors I can’t control, there are others that I can – whether directly or indirectly …
Continue reading Bringing a little Buenos Aires back to London with meI said at the beginning of the trip that I’d be adopting a more relaxed approach this time around, after last time visiting 25 milongas in 12 days.
One reason for staying here a month is to take things easy – an absolute maximum of one milonga per day. Yes, really. Honestly. You’ll see.
This claim was met with a certain amount of scepticism (‘100%’ is a certain amount, right?) …
Continue reading Saying farewell to Buenos Aires with one last milonga – and one last protestI remember returning from Buenos Aires in 2019 with a whole new understanding of what tango is about – at least, to me. Back here now, I realised that I’d lost some of that understanding along the way.
Well, perhaps not lost, nor really forgotten, but allowed it to become somewhat buried by other things – by the other world which is London tango. Here, now, I’ve reconnected with it …
Continue reading This person, this music, this moment: Reconnecting with the essence of tangoIn part one of this series of thoughts on how we make London milongas a friendlier and more welcoming place, I invited leaders to make a habit of dancing one tanda with a stranger.
The reason I made this suggestion to leaders specifically is, of course, due to the imbalance between leaders and followers. So part three comprises my thoughts on how we might change this …
Continue reading Transforming London milongas, part 3: Creating more leadersSome London milongas are perceived to be ‘cliquey.’ That may be one of those irregular verbs, depending on one’s relationship to the milonga in question, from first-time visitor to fixture: I have good friends; you’re a bit snobby about dance partners; they are a clique.
What I’m going to do here is look at what might lead people to feel that way, and some steps we can take to address it. There are a couple of things I think we can all do, and three steps I think milonga organisers can take …
Continue reading Transforming London milongas, part 2: Dealing with perceptions of cliquenessThere’s a blog post I’ve been struggling to write for some weeks now, communicating some thoughts about issues on the London tango scene, and how we might address them.
The reason for the struggle is two-fold. First, and more trivially, it might be felt presumptuous for a three-year dancer to think he understands the problems, let alone has any idea how to solve them …
Continue reading Transforming London milongas, part 1: The magic of the unknown dance partner
There’s never been a time like this before in anyone’s living memory, and we’re all feeling our way through the darkness here.
The challenges we each face also depend on our circumstances and our personalities. In general, I’m incredibly fortunate when it comes to the circumstances part …
Continue reading Lessons without dance are too painful right now
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
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 wrote a lengthy piece about lessons from Buenos Aires, but I realised there’s another, slightly more amorphous, one.
It’s about role models …
An experienced tango friend tagged me in a Facebook thread by a tango teacher, on what can be done to encourage beginner leaders to stick with it long enough to graduate from Tango Hell.
I wrote a lengthy reply, and then realised I’d just written my next blog post. Here’s what I wrote …,
Continue reading Eight ways to prevent leaders giving up in their first year
I’m doing lots of reading about tango, and one thing I came across was someone quoting an Argentine tango teacher when he was asked should you do x or y? His answer was often: yes. There is value in both. Try them both. Use whichever feels right at the time.
That’s how I feel about private and group lessons …
ben lovejoy 