Improve your social competence by learning how to dance Argentine Tango

If you don´t know anything about Argentine Tango apart of the tons of clichés which many people have in their minds, you really might ask yourself “What the heck is that guy talking about?”

Just give me a minute and I will explain.

Maybe you know Tango only from movies where obscure figures on dim lighted dance floors do strange movements, chewing wagon loads of roses. Maybe you made up your judgement about Tango having seen ballroom dance competitions, frozen smiles, rigid moves, heads twisting unnaturally with every movement…

Could be you went to a Tango Show, spectacular, technically brillant sensual and maybe most impressive.

Yet, what has all this to do with social competence?

To answer this questions we have to go back to the origins of Tango.

Tango started in Buenos Aires and Montevideo at the end of the 19^th century. Immigrants from all over the world came to the Rio della Plata hoping for a better live. At the same time native Argentineans from the countryside came to Buenos Aires and Montevideo as well. They had lost their jobs on the big haciendas, the kingdom size cattle farms, and were trying to find work in the big city. As both groups competed for jobs, housing and often mere survival tensions were inevitable. On the other hand the clash of the cultures was the cradle of one of the most successful music styles and dances, the Tango.

Tango in its beginning was (and still is) a social dance, at that time danced mainly by the ordinary people, craftsmen, workers, small merchants…

Tango was danced a little differently in the different quarters but in order to dance together all the dancers had to agree upon one common code.

One crucial part of this code, which is still valid among real good Tango dancers, was the respect for each other.

Though of course there have been always more and less talented dancers, the most important thing among milongueros (the Argentine name for Tango dancers) was by no means showing off, demonstrating what a hell of a dancer somebody was.

More important by far was to dance in harmony in the “ronda” the round of all the dancers. No one would intentionally dare to disturb the dance of the others, let alone kicking or pushing them. If you wanted to be a great dancer you had to find strategies to dance better while remaining in the harmony of the “ronda”.

Tango dancers had to develop the mindset to move on with the flow of the music, in harmony with everybody else, instead of fighting each other for every little patch of the dance floor.  Given the fact that dancing Tango was not simply a pastime but a complete lifestyle this meant in consequence that they developed strong social competence. One aspect we certainly can learn from.

In this article I can not go more into detail. Yet I have to say that I myself experienced that the mindset I have developed dancing Tango helps me a lot, be it in business or everyday life. I strongly recommend everybody to give it a try.

Improve your ability to make right decisions quickly by learning how to dance Argentine Tango

If you think of Argentine Tango as a dance where latino guys with greased hair drag sexy woman in tight dresses over the dance floor, performing all kinds of weird rigid steps (things you never would consider to do in your life) you´re  probably asking yourself “How can this improve my ability to make decisions?”

You´ll see in a moment. First however I need to give you some background information about the real Argentine Tango.

Unlike what you might have seen in Tango Shows or on TV, where dancers do spectacular things on stage (And I have to admit I like it if it has got true emotion in addition to technical brillance), Argentine Tango is a social dance, where a lot of people are dancing together and the dancefloors often are fairly crowded.

For real Tango dancers this means they have to go along respecting each other. For them it is unthinkable to disturb the dance of the others, let alone kicking or pushing them.

If you want to be a great dancer you have to find strategies to dance better while remaining in the harmony of the “ronda”, the round of all dancers.

This is a permanent challenge as you will understand in a moment.

In contrast to the so called latin dances like Rumba, Cha Cha, Jive or Salsa (to mention just a few) where you dancing on the place claiming and defending your little patch of the dance floor, when dancing Tango you move around the room (counter clockwise to be exact).

This means you are changing your position every moment, and so do all the other dancers. Therefore you have to adapt permanently to new situations and you have to focus on solutions to go on dancing nicely with your partner and the other couples. You certainly can not successfully do this if you are relying on prefabricated sequences of steps. Yet you have to dance planning some steps ahead (that means if you have the leading or let´s better say the inviting part). You have to control over your moves and to know what you want to do next. You have to know where to invite your partner to go, how to move in the line of dance following the music. You have to know when to walk, when to pause, accellerate, slow down, and, and, and…

On the other hand you have to be prepared to drop every plan if it doesn´t fit into the everchanging reality on the dancefloor (Just like in real life, isn´t it?)

To make it short you have to make a lot of decisions, a new decision with every new step, and you get feedback for errors immediately.

Well, now you might say, what has the dance floor to do with my business?

The answer is simple. While you are dancing you are involved with your whole personality. Everything, your brain and your body are trained to make right decisions, interacting with other people and you are trained to make these decisions quickly.

What do you think, is this an ability that will help you doing business? You can bet it is.

And even better, you train this in a playful way, more relaxed, so learning is easier and faster.

I certainly became better at making decisions since I´ve been dancing Argentine Tango. I can focus better on solutions and do not get trapped mentally, being unable to make up my mind. It might be a possibility for you as well. And last not least, it´s real fun.

Tango Concert with the Esteban Morgado Cuarteto at Castello dell´Oscano in Perugia

Last night the Perugian Tango community experienced one of the highlights of the year.

The tango association El Bandoneon had succeeded in bringing the Esteban Morgado Cuarteto to Perugia (and I know how much work and passion they met to achieve this).

To an orchestra of this calibre, they have been nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for the best Tango CD, of course everybody came  who is interested in Tango in Perugia…

It ´s understood that there were all the Perugian dancers no matter from which of the numerous Tango schools but also a lot of new faces, music lovers sponsors and their guests and of course the local prominence.

And we were not disappointed. The four musicians  declared Tango Nuevo specialists (though of course they have all kinds of Tangos in their musical repertoire) played own compositions, some classical Tangos like for instance El Choclo but mainly Piazzola.

The special thing about this was that they didn´t only play Piazzola pieces, a challenge in its own right, but gave them their very own  stamp.

I think this is due to the fact that Esteban Morgado is a guitar player and therefore not tempted to simply imitate Piazzolas masterly bandoneon playing.

Sometimes  I rather felt like being in an Al di Meola Concert when Esteban stressed his guitar to its very limits.

Interesting but not really my taste were the Tango Adaptions of Sting and Queen songs (there I prefer the original versions and the voice of Freddy Mercury simply can´t be imitated) absolutely fantastic however all the Piazzolas.

Great that the cuarteto´s interpretation made it possible to dance to most of the pieces (some required to listen only) though for Tango purists dancing to Piazzola of course is way out of the limits:-)

We all enjoyed a great evening due also to the very special setting in the ballroom of the castle.

So, when the Esteban Morgado Cuarteto plays somewhere near your place don´t miss it.

P.S. Actually this very evening was presented the new cd of the group. Unfortunately they were all sold out before I could buy one. Yet somehow I will get it and report…

P.P.S.  Mille grazie to EL Bandoneon, Lorenzo, Lorenza and Marzia. You did a great job.

Workshop with Céline Ruiz and Damián Rosenthal in Paris

I am sure you remember my last post about Céline and Damián at La Rogaia.

Yesterday Céline and Damián wrote me that they will also give a Workshop in Paris during their show.  So if you happen to be in Paris make sure you don´t miss it.

Saturday 24 of October
2 Classes of different subjects

Class number 1:  From 13h until 14h30

Different dinamics in the embrace(close, open and off balance moves).

Class number 2:  From 14h30 until 16h

Complexe combinations in close and open embrace.
Level: ADVANCED

Where? Le Vent Se Leve
181 Avenue Jean Jaures
Metro Ourcq
75019 Paris

So beautiful it makes you cry

Céline and Damián, dancing so beautifully it makes you cry

Normally it doesn´t happen to me that I am touched so profoundly by something that I have to tell it to the whole world immediately.

But last night here we saw something that I really have to share with you…

Last week we had here at La Rogaia a master class with Céline Ruiz and Damián Rosenthal. A great, really demanding workshop.

As always we had a farewell party. Anything the way we have it always at  La Rogaia so far…

But then it happened!

It was already fairly late when Céline and Damián got to the dancefloor asked for our attention smiling slyly and started to dance.

Well, you have to know that they had already presented a magnificient show at our big gala evening at Perugia

But what we where allowed to see last night in the intimate atmosphere of our comparatively small dance studio left us speechless.

It really took some time before somebody was able to speak  again, but finally one of our participants brought it to the point.

“It´s so beautiful it makes you cry”

Yeah, it was exactly like this. Something very, very special. And the icing on the cake was that our small group was among the privileged who had seen for the first time in a kind of unofficial anteprima parts of the first tango theatre play of Céline and Damián.

If the whole play is as fantastic as the small part of it we were allowed to see, and I do not have the least doubt that it will be, I strongly recommend to everybody to go and see it.

The small problem yet is that you have to go to Paris to see it (Not so bad actually…)

More information and reservations you can get here.

réservation@leventseleve.com or at www.leventseleve.com

Our best wishes to Céline and Damián and we hope that their play will have the success it deserves.

P.S. almost forgot,.  The name of their play is

„Tango Pulsacion n°1“ and it´s not the usual tango show but a  real theatre play  (with and about Tango of course).

Don´t Lead, Seduce

Celine Ruiz and Damian Rosenthal, pure seduction

In Argentine Tango as in many other dances people talk a lot about leading and following. The common approach is that there are “leaders” and “followers”.

However, I am not so lucky with these terms.

I prefer to speak of inviting the lady (or what ever dance partner you have) to do something, to take a step, to do a spin or simply to wait for some moments in my embrace listening to the music.

Thinking in terms of inviting someone, making a proposal (which may be accepted or not) makes dancing more open, less hierarchic and more playful.

Thinking this way also helps to be more attent to the signals and proposals the lady sends. Those signals are easily missed when the man concentrates to much on “leading”.

That´s why I strongly encourage gentlemen to forget about “leading” but rather to think of inviting their ladies, to make gentle but clearly understandable proposals which the ladies can´t  (and most probably do not want to) refuse, and why not, try to seduce them to go where you like them to go.

The Tango Talker

The Tango Talker, priceless advice for all YOU Tango addicts

How to become a tangodancer who really attracts attention:

Seven dead sure tips

1.

Ignore the music. You don´t really want to bother about such unimportant things as rhythm and melody, do you?

2.

Don´t care for your dance partner. Okay, you need her as nice accessory, but caring for harmony while dancing is completely unneccessary. Remember it´s YOU who shows her the ropes.

3.

Use every dance to explain to your dance partner what she still needs to improve. It´s YOU who knows exactly how to dance right and she should be happy and grateful to profit from your indefinite store of knowledge.

4.

Make use of your arms excessively to lead your partner. A little dragging and pushing does no harm. If she has got a really good balance she will cope with it without problems

5.

Dance ad libitum against the direction of the dance and across the dance floor. The other couples will make way happily once they have realized that it is healthier to get out of your way.

6.

Start your sequences of steps always with a large backstep. The other dancers shall understand as quickly as possible that a top dancer like YOU needs space all around himself.

7.

Learn sequences of steps and figure combinations strictly by heart and do not deviate from them, come hell or high water. Improvisation is for people who don´t know what they want.

Is this an UFO

In the middle of a romantic tango suddenly a glaring light cuts through the night

Is this a UFO?

A tango party birthday surprise

Finally we are getting some rest, sitting on our terrace overlooking the surrounding hills. Most of our guests have arrived and linger around enjoying a drink or some of the culinary delicacies that Annette, my wife, and our friend Christina have prepared for the buffet.

It is mid August and though the sun is hovering already deep down over distant Monte Amiata, the heat makes everybody feel very relaxed. Or should I say drowsy?

Nobody seems eager to move more than necessary.

Today is my fortieth birthday and we have invited all our friends. Germans and Swiss who run organic farms in the neighbourhood, some people from Castel Rigone, our neighbours who share with us the same gravel road and a lot of tango dancers from Perugia.

A lot of organizing, decorating and cooking, though I have to admit that most of it has been done by Annette, who wanted to spare me from work on my special day.

The scenery changes after the sun´s last golden glow has vanished behind the hills.

We light the torches in the garden. Music starts to fill the air, mainly Tango Argentino we like most but also Salsa, Swing and Italian evergreens.

Everybody comes to life again. The chatting gets louder. Wine glasses are ringing. Somebody is bringing out a humorous toast, making our whole company shake with laughter. The first couples start dancing…

In the midst of a romantic tango all at a sudden we are bathed in glaring light.

What the hell is that? Two enormous lights at the entrance to our property cut through the dark.

Is this an UFO? Do we end up in a Spielberg movie tonight?

Taking ourselves a heart we approach the lights and come upon a group of profoundly shaken, terrorized Italians, mainly women in their very late forties, unable to speak (which is a rare if not impossible thing among Italians), staggering downhill towards our terrace.

Drawing nearer to the lights we don´t trust our eyes.

Outside our gateway, stuck up in the narrow gravel road, we see the bulky shade of a seventy seater overland travel coach.

This very moment I remember. Some days ago one of our tango friends, a nice italian lady, owner of a travel agency, had called and asked whether we´d still organize tango balls at Passignano.

She had a group of single travellers to care for and wanted to offer them something really special. She had been to our house for dance parties several times and obviously thought it was something special…

Of course I had invited her too, according to the typical italian saying “Se siamo in tanti, è piu bello.” – More people we are, the nicer it is.

I had never imagined though, that anybody would have the crazy idea to come to our place with an extra long overland bus, since our road though fairly well maintained, is narrow and very curvy. I really wonder, how they were able to get that far.

What to do now? Our company at once drops back to their traditional roles. Our ladies, each of them a Florence Nightingale, care for the stranded travelers, giving them wine, food and encouraging words.

Most of the men are up at the bus not sparing with good hints. Finally, with united forces we manage to make the bus turn on the bordering meadow. Fortunately during this time of the year the earth is dry and baked hard by the sun.

In the meantime our new guests have recovered a little and some of them are even trying to do their first tango steps. Their travel guide, all excited, is assuring me several times that the driver had told her he knew the zone and would have no problems, begging thousand times pardon for causing us trouble and damaging our road. Then she is off again, comforting her clients. I try to stay serious, but really can´t hide a laugh.

Half an hour later most of our single travellers are anxious to leave again. They like our place but they are frightened to death at the thought of riding back two kilometers of nightly gravelroad in their bus.

In the end the bus sets off without passengers. Some of our friends bring the members of the travel group to the security of the asphalt road in their cars. Some last thanks and greetings and our surprise guests are gone.

We all pity them, as there is still a whole night of fun and dancing ahead.

Tango in the midst of olive groves

Tango in the midst of olive groves

Sheep bells from the opposite hill. A cloud of white dots sets in motion, disperses between the olive groves’ silver splotches. Silence. Only the singing of the cicada fills up the flickering air. The monotonous chirping is broken by single new sounds. Yoom, bah, yoom, bah. Pugliese sounds over the terrace, the rose beds, becomes entangled in the treetops, vanishes over the hills into distant spaces. Couples finding each other, steps, turns, pausing and starting again.

Tango-Workshop in Umbria. Although not situated as remote as an Argentine hacienda, it is still far away from any hectic pace and noise. Completely forget your everyday life You will find yourself in a little paradise, once you have driven the bumpy road to La Rogaia to its very end. Two old stone houses embedded in a large garden, surrounded by blooming lavender and rose fields, olive groves and meadows. The guests are welcomed to lovely renovated apartments and rooms. Each apartment has its own characteristic style: simple and modern with marble and glass or playfully nostalgic with arch stucco and old pieces of furniture. You will discover a lot of nice details like paintings, sculptures, fresh flowers from the garden, the bottle of wine on the kitchen table. The well-considered arrangement of apartments within the compound of La Rogaia will make you enjoy lots of privacy. The garden offers numerous hidden terraces and corners. And those of you who want to refresh your feet tired by the tango can do so at the pool, whilst glancing over the rolling hills of Umbria, listening into the silence.

Read more http://www.rogaia.de/en/story_tango.html

Where to dance Tango in Umbria

When we arrived in Italy we found a lot of beautiful towns but no Tango

Where to dance Tango in Umbria

Eleven years ago when we arrived in Umbria we found a lot of most beautiful medieval hill towns and great food but alas! no Argentine Tango. We had to realise that we had come to a real Tango diaspora. So we decided to change that and organized the first steady milonga Umbria ever had seen in a music pub at the little village of Magione, a quarter of an hour drive from the town center of Perugia. The first few Tango aficionados came there from whole Umbria.

In the meantime things have changed drastically. There are several Tango schools at Perugia and you can go out dancing Tango almost everyday.

Here we will inform you as best we can about the tango nightlife in Perugia and its surroundings. If you need a quick information because by whatever accident you stranded in Umbria and suffer from Tango deprivation you can give us a call 0039 075 845457. We don´t guarantee that we´ll be able to help but we´ll try.