Modern Tango World #4 (Romania)

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Modern Tango World: Number 1, Summer, 2015 — Neolonga Syndicate, Via Maestra Riva 124, Riva da Pinerola, Italy

M o d e r n Ta n g o W o r l d Romania Special Edition Editor

Alexandru Eugen Cristea Table of Contents

Romania Special Features

Romania’s Modern Tango Scene Dragos Samoil ............ 3

An Act of Beauty Laura Iaru .................................................. 6

Guitar Man Alexandru Eugen Cristea .............................. 12

G u i d e to Ta n g o i n R om a n i a ............................................. 16

The Ladies of Guardia Viejo Renato Mantioni.................. 20 Interview with Miguel di Genova Marco Buso ................. 24 Tango Addiction Kiran Bajaj Sawhney ................................ 28 New Tango Music Arndt Büssing ............................................. 32 The Obamas Tango in Buenos Aires ....................................... 38 DJ/VJ-ing - Victroleras, Tandas & Cortinas Igor Shpigelman... 40 Tango Moves - Abrazos Raymond Lauzzana ......................... 44 Letters to the Editor ..................................................................... 47

We are always looking for tango news and stories from around the international tango community. If you would like to join us, send us your stories and news from your tango group.

We welcome your participation in this exciting adventure.

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Publisher & Evangelist Raymond Lauzzana Designer-in-Chief Fré Ilgen Special Edition Editor Romania Alexandru Eugen Cristea

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Romania’s Modern Tango Scene Dragos Samoil The tango scene in Bucharest is quite new considering the overall tango history. It is only eleven years old. I have been a tango student and a tango dancer since the very beginning of the tango movement in Romania. I witnessed the complex dynamics of the Romanian tango community.

I’m not afraid or ashamed of the fact that I was first attracted to tango by tango nuevo music., specifically Gotan Project’s album La revancha del Tango. When I started to listen the music, I fell in love with the rhythm and furthermore with the feeling of tango. After listening Gotan Project for several times I wanted to find more about it and I was starting to look for some tango classes.

When I first arrived at the tango class, it was a love at first sight, even if the music was classical tango. I have the vivid memory of listening to Francisco Canaro’s Poema. I felt that this music it’s a part of me, I fully understood it, even though I had no knowledge of Spanish, timing or musicality. I felt the urge to dance, to move, to express myself.

I have danced almost every day for the last eleven years. My tango experience has spanned three continents, and thousands of tandas. I have danced to the music: from Gardel to Metallica, from Canaro to Pink Floyd and Chopin.

This is also the reason why from the very beginning of my teaching days I incorporated tango nuevo in the playlist of my classes and the practicas and milongas that I hosted., with about 20% tango nuevo or neotango. I have done this on a regular basis since 2013.

The year 2006 gave birth to the first major event that brought Argentine tango to contemporary dancing in Romania. The show Un Tango Mas, directed by Alexandru Dabija for the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest, presented the leading Romanian choreographers Razvan Mazilu and Monica Petrica, with the participation of Tangotangent Club. In addition, this event was responsible for bringing international artists, such as Horacio Godoy and Pablo Veron, to Romania.

I think that tango evolves not by abandoning itsroots and musicality, but instead by integration and a bigger resonance with contemporary society and reality. I love different kind of music besides tango like rock, jazz, classical music and feel a resonance in my body and soul related with these genres. Of course, I cannot stop myself from dancing to this kind of music.

In my opinion, tango nuevo is generous because it allows the tango dancers to experiment more, to feel more, to connect more and to share a bigger spectrum of music and emotions that you cannot find in the traditional tango. In this respect, tango nuevo enriches the overall tango heritage.

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After hundreds of performances in Romania and worldwide, from Madrid to Jerusalem, the show Un Tango Mas is still attracting the public with an amazing script blending organically with tango, ballet and contemporary dance. It breaks the limits between the classical movements of ballet and the geometry of Argentine tango. This show enacts a postmodern metaphor of dance that is a universal and sincere form of expression.

In 2009, Alexandru Eugen Cristea, author of three Argentine tango books, started to teach a modern approach to tango. He hosted the first regular tango nuevo milonga for almost a year, at Flow Club.

He also had the initiative to create a modern tango band, Sexteto Loco, that performs a mix of classical tango and tango nuevo,. The band is still active today and performs under the name of Sonido13.

Lucian Stan, a semi-finalist of the European Tango Championship, was one of the first people to give Tango Escenario workshops in Romania. In my opinion, he is the best dancer of this style in the country.

He initiated an integrated tango show called Traffic Strings Gala Tango, dedicated to Astor Piazzola. It had a live orquestra and four pairs of dancers. The show being performed at the Romanian Athenaeum, one of the most prestigious venues in Bucharest.

He also was the leading dancer in the Luna Tango, a show depicting the tango and the milonga as a place where personal stories, memories, nostalgias and fantasies are given birth on the dance floor., and how the dance becomes a partof our very lives.

The year 2011 marked the beginning of a collaboration in Romania of Tango Discovery. Alexandru Eugen Cristea received an international license to teach this modern structured tango method from the Argentine maestro Mauricio Castro,. With this, a new regular milonga is born that played 100% nuevo and alternative music, every Sunday afternoon at Latin Dance Club,. In addition, the first tango book was published in Romanian: Tango Awareness by Mauricio Castro.

The Casa de Tango school was established in Bucharest. Today, It is very well-known and focusesmore on classical tango, At it’s very beginnings, it had a strong focus on tango nuevo, hosting several workshops with leading tango nuevo teachers such as Mariano ‘Chicho’ Frumboliy and Juana Sepulveda, Damian Rosenthal and Celine Ruiz, etc. The school has a strong relationship with the Tango Meet online project, since its birth in 2013. The school sometimes hosts a practica with a tango nuevo playlist.

Csongor Kicsi, l’enfant prodigé of Argentine tango, at age 20, won the European Tango Championship with Laura Iaru. He is a multivalent tango dancer — a true modern tango maestro. With Cerasela Hekman from Oriental Delights, he has experimented in combining classical tango and belly-dance. He also created a choreography for a men’s solo dancing scene in a theatre play, The Pheasant by George Feydeau, in which he also performs Argentine tango.

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My own approach to tango, which I present through my school Tangopasion, is enriched by my experience with other form of dance and movement.I have had a consistent experience with a variety of contemporary dance, contact improvisation, 5 Rythms dance technique, yoga, and Feldenkrais technique.

For me, tango is a syncretism of all dance forms.This led me to organize, in 2014, several fusion workshops ofpn contemporary dance, contact-improvisation and tango by the name of ConTango. Recently, I have begun to explore the link between Watsu (water shiatsu) and tango.

Because I believe in the free expression of the Argentine tango, in 2015, I organized the biggest street tango festival in Romania, called Tango pe Lipscani, in the Old Town of Bucharest. It is a place where the live music and performances of Argentine tango were brought to the street, in the middle of all the people who could take part in our joy. included in the festival were presentations by Lucas Molina, an Argentinean born Flamenco dancer who performed a fusion of Argentine tango and Flamenco to the live music of Emy Dragoi, the leading accordionist artist in Romania.

Although the Tango Nuevo scene is new in Romania, just like the Argentine tango itself, one cannot fail to observe the many intricacies of its representatives.

As one of these people, I can only hope that the different types of music that exist under the Argentine tango umbrella will inspire and enrich the lives of all people, regardless of personal style, age and culture.

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An Art of Beauty Laura Iaru I believe tango existed always inside Csongor Kicsi and myself, ever since childhood. Each of us had separate journeys in the music and dance world. For myself, as a child, I was fascinated by music and dancing, I would dance in the house, trying to imitate some TV stars. in my own way. Csongor told me he was doing this at the age of 4. I always looked for something more intense, a free creative interpretation in dancing, rather than standard choreography.

I had tango music on vinyls and CDs from my parents and around the year 2000 I watched the Confiteria Ideal tango documentary. I fell in love with the intensity of tango music, its message about the Argentine people cultural heritage, its simplicity and richness, and the milonguero lifestyle at the same time.

At the age of 4, Csongor’s parents saw the talent in him, and enrolled him in a standard ballroom latin dances school. Until the age of 15, he danced everything in the hobby category and performed in several shows organized by the school. But, he never participated in the regular competitions for any professional category. He enjoyed it. But, it would have required more financial support from his parents who could not afford it.

Csongor’s tango story begins at 15, when he attends the first tango classes in Brasov, his home town. He studied with the local teachers Claudiu Grosaru and Mirela Muntean to whom he is very grateful for being his first teachers! Soon after, he started attending workshops in Bucharest and in other Romanian towns with locals and Argentine maestros visiting Romania. He was very attracted to tango, including artistic, performance, teaching, and championships.

He decided to quit standard dances for dedicating his time and energy to tango, and the possibility of becoming a tango artist. He dreamed of winning a tango champion one day! Among the Romanian teachers that he studied with are Lucian Stan and Monica Surubariu, Marian Toderascu and Oana Olaru, and Lucia Mirzan. The Argentine maestros who played most significant role in his development are Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes, Flaco Dany, and Javier Rodriguez.

He first started teaching tango in 2011 at Nada Mas Studio in Brasov, Since 2013, he has been teaching at Libertango in Brasov.

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In 2014, he opened his own school in Brasov called Tango Misterio where he now teaches weekly with Veronica Ungureanu. As often as possible, they dedicate time and energy to teaching people in their hometown about Argentine tango and bring ing them into the tango mood and spirit. Besides Veronica and myself, Csongor has also taught classes with his previous partner, Raluca Teodor.

I find teaching to be a beautiful mission to transmit my love and respect for tango, my knowledge of tango, and my feelings for tango!

From April 2015 to December 2015, I’ve been teaching with Csongor every week at Tango Brujo in Bucharest, while we were also traveling to teach workshops in Romania and abroad at several festivals and tango weekends in Italy, Moldova, Russia and My own real tango story began 10 years ago, in June elsewhere. We really enjoyed teaching very much!

2006, Cismigiu Park in Bucharest. There, I attended my first class and milonga. I still remember how ex- As Csongor likes to say: An important tango teacher was my partner, cited and nervous I was! I was lucky to begin at El Laura. From every dance and conversation about Tango. The shool was founded by Alina La Morocha tango, I could learn so much. She transmitted to and Catalin Dumitrescu.These were the first peome from her own experience, knowledge from ple who were inspired to bring Argentine tango to maestros and her travels to Buenos Aires. It was Romania. After spending a few months in Buenos Aiawesome for myself, coming from a hostile dancres, they opened the first tango school in Romania, ing scene, the standard dancing.

El Tango. Together with their assistant teacher, Petruta Vlad, they introduced me to a new magicical Initially, I had refused to dance with Csongor repeatworld! I am always grateful to them, for these first edly, when he was a beginner. But over time, we lessons, and their patience with my first embraces, danced a lot in milongas and had a fantastic consteps and frustrations. nection for two years. The fiirst tanda we danced I wanted to discover and learn more tango secrets and essences. In the following years, I traveled around Europe and to Buenos Aires to attend workshops with the maestros. I had seen the old milongueros on Youtube. I wanted to meet them, dance with them in milongas and listen to their stories. During these travels, I became a student of Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse, the tango legends.

It is to these maestros that I owe the very essence of what I have learned and discovered about tango and tango culture! Thank you always from my heart!

together was at a festival with Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes, in Bucharest 2012, when I surprised him by accepting the cabeceo to tango by Juan d’Arienzo.

Our professional tango story as dance partners began in May 2014 when Csongor asked me, during a tango marathon, to dance with him at the European Championship in July 2014. I had never wanted to participate in a championship, but I took it as a nice new challenge and accepted. In the first championship, in 2014, we were in the finals at 10th place. We also received our first few invitations to teach and I had never thought I would teach tango or dance perform at events abroad. at exhibitions. But in June 2009, Alina La Morocha, the founder of the Tango Brujo school, chose A great coincidence happened in the next year. In to leave Romania and left me in charge of the 2015, maestros Sebastian and Mariana prepared us school with Razvan Nineaca, Catalin Valeanu and especially for the European Championship at Arce Diana Dobrescu, Augustin Paun and Oana Ispir. Tango Academy. We spent long hours with great deIt all came naturally. From 2009 to 2015, I’ve been votion in academy.They guided us, practiced with us, teaching with Razvan every week after our regu- and advised us. We will never forget the time spent lar jobs, running to classes and giving it my best with them for preparation. We are forever grateful! energy. We share what we have learned from our maestros as well, as as we are able. We have taken In preparation for the championship, we also took care of Tango Brujo for all these years, with our classes with maestros Neri Piliu and Yanina Quimost dedication and passion. I have adored sharing nones in Italy. We also practiced in private for with people what I had learned, and seeubg how championship with maestros Maximiliano Christhey star t embracing, make those the first steps tiani, Fabian Peralta & Josefina Bermudez. We are very grateful to all of them for preparing us, for guidand then grow. It is magical! ing us, taking care of us.

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Over the years, we have taken impor tant workshops with great maestros, such as Stella Misse, Geraldine Rojas, Ezequiel Paludi, Virginia Pandolfi, Sebastian Achaval, Roxana Suarez, Max Van de Voorde, Solange Acosta, Jorge Rodriguez, Liliana Rodriguez, Carlos Perez, Rosa Perez, Jose Almar, Juliana Aparicio, Sebastian Jimenez, Maria Ines Bogado, Ney Melo, Santiago Castro, Antonella Terrazas, Jose Fernandez and Martina Waldman. It has been a fantastic oppor tunity to work with all these amazing maestros to receive their tango ar t and knowledge! Do not hesitate to do the same!

Therefore, I proposed to Csongor, the youngest tango leader there, to disconnect of the other couples and the existence of a jury, to take the attitude of dancing me in ronda at a festival, connecting with me and the music with the tango.

We needed to feel naturally absorbed in our veins. And, we needed to think of the other couples our friends and co workers, not competitors.

I transmitted my calm to him, and the vibe to to keep all in balance. I consider it to be impor tant that the woman does this in a couple, for suppor t. maestro Arce agreed to my thoughts.

The 2015 European Championship brought us a very challenging, intense, incredible experience! I had always considered the tango championship actually a display of the tango quality, technical knowhow and spirituality. I had previously studied and absorbed a respect for tango essence and culture. All of this was naturally present in the dance and improvisation of each couple on the floor. The three tangos announced during the competition, just before the dance begins, in front of a jury of Argentine maestros. The jurors can give a recognition to the couple whom they consider most accomplished.

I never saw it as a competition, in the literal sense of competing. on the dance floor for a cup against other couples. I believe this diminishes from the genuineness of dancing tango, the jury notices it anyways and the result will not be the desired one anyway. I really believe that the jur y wants to see people relaxed, who dance for themselves, passionate about tango insights, not about the title!

World Tango Championships in Buenos Aires

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European Tango Championships in Rome It was really good to be there and we really enjoyed dancing on the championship floor every day.

The emotion and the feeling when they called the name Romania and our names for the first place was incredible and impossible to descibe. It was a unique, beautiful moment! We were so happy and grateful for receiving this honor and recognition for our tango, from such great maestros!

Returning to Romania, we had a beautiful welcome reception at the airport by some of the Romanian tangueros. It was impressive! They were very happy and proud of us. They came with champagne, presents, flowers. So touching!

Following the championship, we were congratulated by people from around the world, transmitting us their happiness and pride. We also received more invitations from abroad, where the classes were always full, and happy to receive us back! In Romania, besides our regular students that always appreciated our classes and supported us, after the championship we got a few more students.

As we remember it, Mundial Championship in BA was much stronger and intense! As European Championship winners, we were instant finalists and we got to dance at Luna Park stadium, in front of a public of 8, 000 people. Obviously, it was quite overwhelming! We were on the same stage with great, very experienced couples from Argentina and around the world. It is an unforgettable feeling to embrace and dance in such a huge space, with the jury on the stage, much closer to you. Regardless of this pressure, we enjoyed and gave it as much as we could in those moments. We came in 24th out of a total 680 participant couples!

Although we are not partners anymore, we remain friends, and continue to love and discover tango!

Tango gives us an act of beauty every day!

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Pablo Inza:

Guitar Man Alexandru Eugen Cristea

Twenty years ago there was no Argentine tango in Romania. There were no schools and no milongas.

But tango was because there because Bucharest (Little Paris as it was once called) imported the music back in the merry days of peace between the two world wars. Cristian Vasile(1908-1974) was an iconic Romanian singer that recorded an impressive number of tango songs for Columbia Records and was in the hearts of everybody. Some of the famous Argentine tangos, like Zaraza and Gitana Rusa were translaied to Romanian and are very well known by Romanians of all ages.

For Tudor Anghelescu, it all started as a joke – finding an old guitar in the closet of his father’s best friend and trying to impress the girls under the moonlight by the seaside. The girls were not that impressed. Still, the passion for playing the guitar marked a fortunate change in Tudor’s destiny. In the following years, no matter the sacrifice, he learn how to play and become the accomplished musician that he is today.

From him, he started to learn a special technique for playing the guitar which allowed a much more coherent and clearer method for playing the base line, the harmony and the melody all at the same time. With this, he became self sufficient and could play as a soliost. A similar type of technique, though not exactly the same, is practiced by a handful of people in the world, like Juanjo Dominguez and Cacho Tirao, among others. For the next five years, After the guitar passion touched his soul, nothing Tudor played second guitar with his teacher, while would be the same for the young Tudor. As a stu- continuing to learn this special technique. dent in foreign languages at a theoretical high-school, he would sustain his musical interests by skipping his Since 1999, he gave concerts in Germany and Switregular classes to go to a special guitar school. taking zerland, England, Italy and Dubai. In 2002, at the private guitar classes, studying music day and night 100th year’s anniversary of diplomatic relationships and ignoring everything else. between Romania and Japan, he is invited to play in Tokyo and Kanazawa. Tudor performed the music After finishing secondary school, he strived, for about for short films and documentaries in the same year. three years, to gain admission to the Bucharest Conservatoire to start a serious study of classical guitar. He was During this time, he came in contact with the first admitted, but to his own disappointment, he discovered Argentine tango school in Bucharest, Romania, the that the theoretical framework was too narrow for his El Tango School. His particular manner of playing vision of the guitar. From the time he was at the Con- was well suited to tango. He became popul;ar with servatoire, T udor began to teach classical guitar at the both listeners of passionate guitar music and ArgenDinu Lipatti School of Music. Later he was to become tine tango dancers. and his fame began to grow as a a choir director. However, it was during this period that tango guitarist. What followed was a series of tango he met his teacher Constantin Stanciu. concerts in Romania and abroad.

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At first, tango dancers were reluctant to dance.

They regarded him as a good guitar player, but it too difficult to dance to, almost impossible. Tudor used to play a European tango with a Spanish influence. But because he was always in search of new things, he picked up new songs and adapted his way of playing.

The pleasure of playing for someone yo be able to dance is quite a feat for a musician. Because of his innovative guitar playing method, he quickly gained the trust of dancers and he began to play extensively for tango schools. He remembers the first milonga in Bucharest where he played live tango music. It was a happy and fun event, with people who were always touching the floor while stepping and thus producing Tudor received several original Argentine tango that unique sound which at first seemed quite odd. songs and their scores, from the tango school. This permitted him to take a fascinating musical trip from In time and a lot of patience and some explanations the Spanish influenced European tangos to the from the dance teachers. they got into his music. AforiginalcArgentine tango music. His adaptation of ter the first milonga, came the second, and the third, Malena dates from these first encounters with the and then his name got in the hearts of every Argendance world. Since then, all of the tango songs that tine tango dancer in Bucharest. And so it happened he plays are adaptations from the original music. that other musicians become interested in Argentine tango music. He joined with double bass player The manner in which kr adapts the original tango Ciprian Parghel and his late mother, Anca Parghel, music to play it on a single guitar is quite unique. a fascinating singer. After a few concerts with them, Not all the songs can be adapted in this way. It de- he co-founded the first tango orchestra in Romapends on the range of the melody, the tempo, the nia with Constantin Stanciu, Mihai Melinescu and general feeling of the music. When he has listened Ciprian Parghel in 2004. to the song long enough to learn it by heart, he is able to hum it from beginning to end. After deter- Between 2009 and 2010 he was based in Strasbourg mining the key in which to play, the fun begins, pre- where his wife is pursuing a PhD. He came in conserving rhythm and melody so that people are able tact some of the tango schools there, and proposed to recognize the song, and also comfortably dance. thay he play in their milongas. One of the teachers invited him for an audition. She was very impressed The original form and structure of the song is clear- by the special manner in which Tudor was playing. ly helps people to predict the outcome of the song, He later played with success at the local milongas. and dance on the musical phrases, using elements For this first milonga, he needed to add some new such as doble tiempo, sincopa, corte, etc. This pro- songs to his repertoire, in order to be able to play cess may be quite laborious, but the result is amaz- for a three to four hours milonga. He played a variing. An illusion is created that there is more than ety other types of music, like Latin American music, one person playing a perfect tango — a song for jazz standards, etc..All were highly appreciated by listening, dancing and improvisation. the Tango Nuevo enthusiasts.

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Pablo Inza: I immediately invited him to play at his regular Sunday milonga in the historic Ghika Palace. When over 100 people attending, the event was a success. This was nearly twuce as many attendees as the usual milongas in Bucharest. With this start, he begins to play tango for dancers in the milongas. Soon after that, other schools, like Tangotangent and Fabrica de Tango, began to organize events where he played live tango music.

It was during this time that he, with pianist Diana Zavalas, became advisors for the musicality aspects of the first Argentine tango book in Romanian, Manual de Tango by myself. This book was then presented at the Embajada de Argentina by His Excellency, Mr. Perez Paladino, Ambassador of Argentina in Romania. Tango Lessons in the name for the English edition of the book.

In 2009 Tudor recorded with Mihai Melinescu his first album of Latin American songs. In 2011, he recorded his first solo Argentinian Tango album, Flores de Alma.

In the past few years, he has performed concerts in Tel Aviv, Milano, Ankara, Istanbul, Vienna playing various styles music, including Argentine tango. He is a regular artist at Hanu’ Berarilor, the well known Bucharest restaurant, and Hanul Manuc, the oldest operating hotel in Bucharest.

Soon, a second milonga was planned, which was also a success and after that he was invited to other milongas to play live tango music. Because good news travel fast, people from nearby countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, discovered him from the tango forums on the Internet and invited him to play at their milongas, which allowed him to have numerous concerts in Toulouse, Caen, Dinoze, Basel, Kehl, Heidelberg , and other cities.

Today, you can still listen to Tudor Anghelescu playing authentic Argentine tango music, every other day. in Bucharest. If you are ever here, do not miss the chance to hear him!

After returning to Romania, he contacted all the tango schools and proposed playing at the local milongas. At first, there was little positive response.

But, destiny often takes a hand. While he was playing on the terrace of a restaurant in Bucharest, he was approached by an independent milonga organizer at that time, namely me.

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Romania Tango Guide WeeKlY Milongas Sunday 17:00 - 22:00 5 O’Clock Milonga 18:00 - 22:00 Tandem Milonga 19:00 - 23:00 Milonguita de Iasi 20:00 - 22:30 Milonga Magica Monday 19:30 - 00:30 Practica Brava Red 20:30 - 00:00 Milonga Destino Tuesday 19:00 - 00:00 Milonga Sixtina 20:00 - 00:00 Milonga Antique 21:00 - 01:00 Milonga de Vara 21:00 - 01:00 MIlonga Napoca Wednesday 19:00 - 01:00 Milonga la MusIca 20:30 - 00:00 Milonga Destino 22:00 - 01:00 Seara Tangoului Argentinian Thursday 19:00-23:00 Tango La Veranda 20:30-01:00 Milonga Destino Friday 21:00 - 00:30 Subway Practica 21:00 - 00:30 Atelierul Milonga 21:30 - 01:30 Milonga Pasion in the Sky 22:00 - 02:30 Milonguita de La Scena Saturday 18:00 - 22:00 Milonga in Foisor 20:00 - 00:00 Milonga Feliz 23:00 - 04:00 Saturday Night Milonga

Casa de Tango Latin Dance Club Tango Desde Pasion Studio Forte Life

Str. Iuliu Valori. 7 Str. Baratiei, 33 Str. Dumbrava Rosie 42 Bvd. Tomis, 235

Bucharest Bucharest Iasi Constanta

Angus Steakhouse Str. Franceza, 56 Restaurant il Destino Str. Silvestru 67

Bucharest Bucharest

la Absintherie Cafe Antique Cafeneau Actorilor Restaurant Napoca

Bucharest Bacau Bucharest Cluj-Napoca

Str. Covaci, 6 Str. Marases I, 10 Parcul Tineretului Str. Napoca, 15

Old Sibiu Restaurant Str. Otelesteanu, 3A Restaurant il Destino Str. Silvestru 67 Club d-Arte Str. Marasesti, 14

BucharestStr. Bucharest Timisoara

La Veranda Bistro Gheorghe Sincai, 10 Restaurant il Destino Str. Silvestru 67

Cluj-Napoca Bucharest

Subway Atelierul de tango SkyTower Building La Scena Caffee

Str. Caragiale, 52 Str. Primaverii, 2 Calea Floreasca 246 Calea Calarasi, 55

Bacau Iasi Bucharest Bucharest

Parcul Botanic Tango Feliz Studio Studio D.A.N.S.

Str. Gheorghe Dima Bvd. Prof. D. Mangeron, 73 Str. Popa Nan 82

Timisoara Iasi Bucharest

WebSites Milonga In Romania......................... http://milongas-in.com/milongas-in-europe.php?c=Romania Tango in Romania ............................ http://lasastresa.blogspot.com/ Tango Community Romania ....... http://ctango.ro/ These are some of the Internet resources that were used to build this guide.It is a consolidation of information Please. check these resources in the future, as we all know - things change.

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Schools

Arad

Sesto Senso

https://www.facebook.com/CursuriDansArad/

Bacau Tango Social Club

Str. Lucretiu Patrascanu, 2 http://tango-social-club.blogspot.ro +40 726 555 811

Barrio de Tango

Str. Alunului nr. 5C,

Bacau

Bragadiru Brasov

Tango Nada Mas Libertango

Bucharest

+40 754 795 159

http://www.barriodetango.ro

+40 721.279.685

http://www.tangobrasov.ro/ http://www.libertango.ro/

+40 723.593 693 +40 745 165 256 +40 729 005 794 +40 722 159 535 +40 722 959 292 +40 722 221 872 +40 721 210 475 +40 749 164 043 +40 729 805 901

Casa de Tango Fabrica de Tango Happy Feet Studio Latin Dance Club Tango Act Tango Alegria Tango Brujo Tango Caffee Tango Pasion Tango Tangent

Str. Iuliu Valaori 7 Str. Vulturilor Sos. Mihai Bravu, 223 Str. Baratiei, 33 Str. Precupetii Vechi, 30 Bvd Iuliu Maniu, Nr. 220 Calea Calarasi Fundatura Erou Stanica Str. Cristofor Columb 3 Bvd P. Protopopescu 43a

http://www.casadetango.ro

Attitude Dance Studio Profumo di Tango

Str Baba Novac 32

http://www.dans-cluj.ro http://profumoditango.ro

+40 745 322 388

Tango Magico Total Dance Center

Str. Ilarie Voronca 6B Str. Calugareni, 22

http://www.tangomagico.ro http://www.total-dance-center.ro

+40 723 224 484 +40 735 518 551

Studio Tango Feliz Atelierul de Tango

Bvd D. Mangeron 73 Bvd Primaverii 2

http://www.tangoiasi.com http://www.atelieruldetango.ro

+40 721 049 565 +40 745 212 573

Tango con Sentimiento

https://www.facebook.com/groups/198757563595587

Cluj-Napoca Constanta Iasi

Oradea

Piatra Neamt Studio Tango Feliz

Suceava

http://www.happyfeet-studio.ro http://www.latindance.ro http://tangoact.ro http://tangoalegria.ro http://www.tangobrujoromania.ro http://www.tangocaffee.ro http://tangopasion.ro http://www.tangotangent.ro

+40 724 377 273 +40 721 284 428

http://tangopiatraneamt.com

+40 748 224 669

Tango Bucovina

Str. Marasesti 27A

http://bucovinadance.ro

+40 745 212 573

Tango Embrace Tango Vivo Tango Timisoara

Str I.M. Pestalozzi, 20 Spl. Nicolae Titulescu, 5

http://www.tangoembrace.ro http://tangovivo.blogspot.ro http://tangotimisoara.com/

+40 723 511 114 +40 744 430 480 +40 736 351 538

TengoTango

https://www.facebook.com/tengo.tango.mures

Timisoara

Tirgu.Mures

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Bucharest Brasov Bucharest Brasov Bucharest Bucharest Timisoara Cluj-Napoca Constanta Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest Cluj-Napoca Bucharest Bragadiru

eugen.a.cristea@gmail.com +40 745 165 256 office@tangotangent.ro +40 732 1536 50 office@tangotangent.ro dragos.samoil@gmail.com florian@tangoembrace.ro +40 744 165 077 contact@tangomagico.ro acasa@casadetango.ro laura@tangobrujoromania.ro info@fabricadetango.ro acasa@casadetango.ro profumoditango@hotmail.it traian@tangoact.ro +40 721.279.685

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Tango Ladies of the Guardia Viejo Renato Mantione

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Miguel di Genova — Otros Aires

interview by

Marco Buso

Miguel Di Genova, architect and musician, is the founder of the famous audiovisual electrotango band Otros Aires, which includes Miguel Di Genova himself (vocals, guitars, sequencer), Diego Ramos (piano), Ernesto Chino Molina (bandoneón), Martin Bruhn and Martin Paladino (both on drums). The band has been on the tango scene for twelve years now and has made four studio album and one live compilation. The good fortune of their production among tanguero and non-tanguero people alike brought them to successfully tour Europe and both Americas every year since 2006. I had the great pleasure to be able to speak with Miguel live via a Skype call between Venice and Buenos Aires.

MTW: Miguel, first of all thank you for being here and for talking with Modern Tango World about your experience with the project Otros Aires.

Miguel Di Genova: Thanks to you Marco, it’s a pleasure for me!

MTW: I would like to begin by asking you to tell me a bit about your personal musical background.

Miguel Di Genova: Well, I started studying music as a teenager, taking private lessons, while I was studying architecture. I studied guitar, singing and sound engineering. Over the next years, I played in many pop-rock bands, in which I already added a bit of tango, mainly inspired by Astor Piazzolla. As a matter of fact, I have been involved in tango and its fusion with other musical styles since the very beginning of my musical journey.

MTW: How was Otros Aires born?

Miguel Di Genova: I began Otros Aires as a solo project in 2003, while I was living in Barcelona. At that time, the musical scene was very much interested in ethno-electronica, the fusion between popular music and electronica. I began playing solo in some local bars. I didn’t really care about the anglo audience, maybe because at that time tango wasn’t so popular in Spain. My largest audience was when I got the chance to play at a disco-club.

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Shortly after that, I went back to Buenos Aires, where I formalized the project into its actual form together with some Argentinean musicians. We began playing at milongas. In 2004, our first album was produced.

In 2006, when the album was already pretty famous, we did our first European tour in Germany, Holland, Turkey, Greece and Poland. I can say that everything started from there.

MTW: In your opinion, what are the aspects that differentiate Otros Aires from the many other electrotango bands?

Miguel Di Genova: I believe that Otros Aires explores tango music from its origins to present day more than every other electrotango band. Other artists tend to move from Piazzolla’s tango nuevo heritage, trying to bring it forth in many ways. I have always liked traditional tango, instead. Since the beginning, I have been interested in exploring all of tango’s musical history, from Angel Villoldo to Astor Piazzolla, as an extended basis for Otros Aires music.

MTW: In many occasions Otros Aires calls itself an electronic-archaeological project at the service of tango.

Can you explain this definition?

Miguel Di Genova: This definition comes from the history of the project and from its development process. At the beginning I was very interested in discovering and analyzing old recordings. Many of them weren’t much used in milongas. I like to research the tango music that was unknown to the general public, and to select my favorite tunes among the tracks I got to listen. In other words, I enjoyed listening to music that could bring me to the Golden Age, as if I was doing some sort of musical archaeology.

Using samples comes from this research, because their function is to let the 21st-century listener feel what it is like to connect him or herself with another era, via the mere insertion of a sound, a word, a sentence directly coming from that era. On the other hand, I don’t usually write songs as if I am living in the 1930’s.

I could play a song from the Golden Age of tango, but writing a song like if it came from the 30’s would look very odd to me.There are musicians who do that, but I prefer to explore contemporary topics while connecting them directly to tradition using samples. This is clear when you listen or read my lyrics, in which I tend to talk about today’s social matters.

MTW: Speaking of composition, how do you approach songwriting for Otros Aires?

Miguel Di Genova: Some themes come from pure improvisation. This happens when the band gets together and looks for new musical inspiration by simply playing around with chords and melodies.

We then proceed to develop themes from the most interesting ideas. At other times, songs are developed from an initial idea, like a fragment of music or lyric, which pops up practically out of nowhere.

In both cases, it is clear that nobody knows how the first idea will look like until the song takes its final form. This is because in composing a song the will of the song itself is as important as the will of the composer. Music wants to become something, and it is necessary for the composer to be able to listen to its needs. The same applies to setting up an album: you can have a general idea of how the flow of songs will look like. But, the final product could be very different from that first idea.

MTW: Otros Aires is very interested in dancing. It is clear not only in the music, but also in the lyrics, in the graphic art of the albums, and in your live performances at milongas. How do you feel about dancing to your music? What do think about the contemporary neo-tango fusion dancing?

Miguel Di Genova: I am generally interested in creation in all its possible forms. All art is alive and moving. As it happens, people move and mix together to create new dance with new and peculiar traits, so it happens in art. I believe that music should learn from any other kind of music. The same applies for dancing.

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I don’t mean that everything is good. But, artistic fusion can end up to be nice. When it does, it develops as a whole new style. Mixing a bandoneón sample with an house beat is not enough to make something tango nuevo- it is necessary to create a much deeper connection between genres. The same is true for dancing. Our music is very into dancing because I dance tango. That experience has allowed me understand music from a physical point of view at the very beginning of Otros Aires.

MTW: You also perform solo at milongas. How are these performances different from Otros Aires’? Do you set up tandas, or do you follow other structures?

Miguel Di Genova: I don’t set up tandas. I could do so, but in these performances I like to suggest the same audiovisual flow as an Otros Aires concert.

Making tandas would pretty much break such flow of energy. Instead, I use to view each song as a little tanda. My solo shows are live performances themselves, including live audiovisual effects,. They are produced most of all for the dancers. As a matter of fact, in such shows I tend to slow down my songs, as to get a more suitable rhythm for tango dancing.

On the other hand, people at a milonga are not always dancing. It is therefore probable that more or less everyone look up at the audiovisual flow on the stage while taking a break from dancing.

Some Otros Aires concerts take place in theatres,.

My live solo performances or DJ sets would not make much sense for a non-dancing audience. This is the main difference between the two situations.

MTW: What are the plans for Otros Aires’ future?

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Miguel Di Genova:We are currently working on a new album, which will be released almost certainly in May. In that same month we will be touring Europe. If the album will not be ready for that time, we will present some new songs from it. Then we will surely release the new album between June and July. From October to November we will be touring USA. MTW: As you said, tango is a constantly moving art form. What do you think will happen in the future? To which direction do you think it will continue its evolution?

Miguel Di Genova: Looking at the past of tango, we can see a boom of tango nuevo at a certain time. That period surely produced much good music, but also poor quality music. I believe that the latter caused the recent downtrend of nuevo and the return of traditional tango. But the nature of tango is a moving one, and it always took many years to incorporate new musical forms into tradition. Regarding electrotango, I believe in the need of a change in terms, as to free it from the need to include electronica, and I predict that in five to ten years electrotango will take a different name.

This could simply be tango, if electrotango will step into tradition, or neo-tango, or tango nuevo, or even twenty-first century tango, as I call it.

The evolution of this twenty-first century tango will take time. It is an open musical style which requires great musical knowledge and some willingness to experiment. This evolution will be slow but steady. At some point, maybe in five years, maybe ten, maybe twenty, we will come to the point in which twentyfirst century tango will become the main music at milongas, while twentieth century tango, or traditional tango as we call it today, will turn into an important contour. Today, most milongas are traditional-styled, while just a few are nuevas. For the future I can predict an inversion of this trend. One of the main reasons for that will be a need for repopulation of tango. At the beginning of the new century, groups such as Gotan Project, Bajofondo, Narcotango had the power to attract a large number of people to tango, mainly young people. This is because such bands found proper ways to fuse tango with different musical expressions closer to todays’ general public than classical tango. We know that, generally, people like to dance to music that they like to listen to.

When the nuevo impulse of these formations declined, the tango community turned back to traditional music, and a lot of neophytes lost their newfound interest. I believe that the trend will turn again to nuevo music and that the tango fever will come back, with the only difference that for that time what we now call electrotango and tango nuevo will be integrated into tango. As a result, we will not need so many terms any more. I am sure about that, but only future can tell!

MTW: We can’t wait to listen to your new album, and see you back on stage and to discover what the future holds for us! Miguel, thanks for talking with us about Otros Aires’ experience and for sharing your musical and tango philosophy!

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Addiction Kiran Bajaj Sawhney

Tango is very addictive. Although the consequences of this addiction are primarily positive, many dancers have reported experiencing withdrawal symptoms when they don’t dance. The symptoms include being sad and feeling uncomfortable.

Tango comes as a package. It is highly volatile and full of emotions that are not fake. One feels and experiences love, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, everything and one keeps going back to it with vengeance. Relationships are made and broken in tango. Break ups happen but tango continues. There are self-confessed tango addicts, whose addiction is not limited to tango. Tango takes over their life, lifestyle, choices, sleep, everything.

What makes Tango very addictive? The amount of investment you put in an art form is directly proportional to the level of addiction and to your enhanced skills. This investment can be in terms of time spent in taking lessons, attending workshops and festivals, going to milongas, etc. You reap plethora of rewards Tangueros tango shop keeping with milongas in mind. that range from learning to pleasure, freedom, feeling The whole wardrobe undergoes a change. Shoes exhilarated and stress free always. The sea is so vast and dresses get piled up. We have tango friends and that every time you go to a milonga, your happiness nontango friends clearly demarcated and slowly level goes up just thinking of what you will explore non-tango friends are pushed away somewhere far today. The steps are countless. in horizon and tango friends rule. Normal regular music ceases to please tangueros and only tango Few people ever got bored of tango, even those who music heard around them. Having bad nights are learned it easily, because they know all the steps At part of tango. Be prepared to accept this because the age of 60, after having danced for decades, Pablo we all have them. Sometimes the music sucks, or Veron, said that he had still more to learn about tango. none of your favourite partners came. Sometimes everyone comes with a partner, or perhaps it’s just the full moon. There is always tomorrow night. Re- Thw tango experience is often referred as bliss. It is member this and it will be easier to pick yourself up no coincidence that tango connection makes a person reach sublime pinnacle. Amongst all other dance again and put on your tango shoes. forms, tango seems to unique in its experience. It is Whenever you invest in anything, you become often called addictive and alluring. more addicted to that. Today, people are very addicted to facebook because they have invested a What is it about tango that two individuals with differlot of their time, shared pictures, moments and ent mindsets, two strong personalities, come together their life on it. Freebies might sound very catchy and merge as one? They seem to have same mindsets, but at the end of the day, they cause more harm they communicate silently, they share the axis, their than benefit. To reap greater benefits from any- heartbeats become one, intention of one partner is clearly understood and responded by the other. thing, you need to invest in it.

One travels for tango, to attend festivals or workshops with their favourite maestros or let me put it more clearly, in search of that one magical and blissful tanda, that one magical embrace that transports you to heaven.

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The dancers move together like one animal with four legs in a close embrace, improvising, embellishing, imagining, smiling and becoming lost in exalted encounter. They become two bodies with one mind, one heart and one soul. There seems to be this paranormal, mystic and occult fusion of two bodies, the dynamics of which is beyond human comprehension.

Most of the tango dancers are addicted to this feeling of unexplainable bliss, the connection, the musicality, and the meditative mode that they experience during each dance. This is the moment when time and space dissolve. Tango is seductive, flirtatious, graceful, artistic and exquisite. Lot of scientific research has been done on tango experience that remains a puzzle for many.

Human mind has an unlimited prospective to learn.

There is scientific evidence that proves that to develop skills for social dancing, the kinesthetic awareness is heightened. It is the sensory skill that body uses to know where it is in space. The nerve receptors, which send specific information to the brain, are definitely functioning better in a tango dancer, as compared to a normal individual, which makes tango dancers more aware of their space. The brain of a tango dancer has inadvertently learned to move backward without knocking down things, to identify the edges.

There is heightened awareness about impetus and extra senses in action. Human minds and bodies adapt and respond pretty quickly. Whenever you work with a particular object continuously, it becomes an augmentation of your own self. For a pianist, a piano feels like second skin, a violinist knows his violin like a back of his hand. Similarly, there is scientific evidence that shows that for tango dancers, another body is like an augmentation of their own self. Here two bodies, four feet move simultaneously on the same beat. Tango is not just a dance form. It transcends beyond. It is meditation in motion; it is connection and relationship between two individuals and embodies time and space.

It is romantic, spiritual and profound.

Tango is expensive, exclusive, elite and sophisticated passion to pursue. Like golf, it is an activity, which requires that you have lot of money in your pocket.

The Tango lessons, world over are expensive. Tango privates are even more so. Practicas, milongas, etc. do cost money and also your time. There are no free lunches. The more qualified and experienced, the teacher is, the more expensive, he/she is. You have to invest in classes, practicas, milongas, Tango clothes, Tango shoes, etc. Tango is very social. There is a lot of entertaining, going out, expensive wines; constant travels to attend Tango festivals for Tango addicts.

Every Tango addict, dreams of traveling and spending big chunk of time in Buenos Aires. No one earns in Buenos Aires. There, everyone pays from their pockets constantly for every Tango lessons. Yet, people of all ages, gender, nationalities join Tango and get addicted. Because it is fun, it is social; it is good for the mind, body and soul. Here are signs of a tango addict 1. You have a tango blog or spend a lot of time in reading tango blogs, watching tango videos,.

2. ou keep a pair of tango shoes in the boot of your car and even at work. Who knows when you might want to practice?

3.You are practicing your boleos and lapis even at a bus stop or while buying groceries.

4. You would choose to go to a milonga over any oyher social engagement.

5.You have created space in your house and rearranged your furniture so that you can practice.

6. You social activities (i.e if you still have any) revolve around your tango calendar.

7. You always have deodorants and breath mints in your bag.

8. You consciously collect your feet when you walk. Your weight is always on one foot when you pose for pictures.

9.Your travels must include tango, classes, festivals, milongas, etc.

10. Your phone has a list of friends and names, which have tango in front of them.

11. Your facebook friend list has many tango friends from all over the world that you met during your tango journeys.

12. When you shop for dress or shoes, you think if you can wear it to a milonga or a class.

13. No other dance form appeals you as much as tango.

14. Tango conversations surely light up your face.

15. You have hosted a milonga.

16. You enrolled in Spanish class.

17. Red and black are your colours.

18. You know that sandwich is not just something you eat.

Did you agree to most of the above? Then you know you are a tango addict or a tango junkie but the good news is that it is a good addiction to have that has more benefits.Tango is therapeutic, meditative and mood enhancer. It uplifts you and certainly keeps you stress free. Are you hooked on Tango? I know just how you feel. In fact, many others have felt the same way! After extensive research I have found that, although Tango is not incurable, most Tango dancers just don’t want to be cured!

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And most of us are likewise not willing to toss out all those gorgeous shoes! Tango dancers get strung out on the endorphins produced by dancing. But I’m not talking about just any kind of dancing. Jumping up and down by yourself in a crowded room full of people jumping up and down may be a great cardio workout but it’s not going to make your body produce endorphins. No, for that you need the close physical touch and embrace of Tango.

The Chinese figured this out a long time ago. The I Ching describes this delicate balance of opposites.

I’m beginning to think that it may also explain the addictive power of Tango, despite (or because of?) its stunning, mindwrenching contradictions! Without our very own Tanguero duality there would be no Pugliese, no Piazzolla, no bandoneón, no tango shoes! What a sad dark silent universe it would be!

Geez, do I sound like a Right-brainer? No kidding!

Glad you finally figured it out! Alright, end of discussion.You’re addicted and you know it.You’re secretly quite pleased with yourself. In fact, you wouldn’t trade places with anyone. Tango is the illness and the cure. This quote you can print out and pin on the fridge, dangle it recklessly on top of your work computer, wear it in a locket close to your heart

Dance, surrender, reciprocate to the leader’s moves, send him silent messages, take advantage of this tango to say the impossible, to speak words that no man will ever understand, a message that no woman can say with words. Pass secrets to him, … allow him to feel the mysteries of your body wrapped in diligent giros, in tiny steps… Do what comes naturally, don’t think about what others will say. Play tranquilly, surrender to each other, that’s what tango’s all about, this — You keep doing it celebration that puts your heart in your legs and your — Every time you do it you feel happy head in heaven. It occurs to me that Right/Left brain — It turns your life upside down but you don’t care. concept just might embody the very essential nature of our universe. I don’t think I want to mess with that!

That would be like cracking the cosmic yin/yang. Seas would part, we might all be walking on water with no water wings. Maybe these contradictions are what Dark Matter is made of, you know, the invisible ruling force of our universe.

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New Tango Music Arndt Büssing Astillero: Tango de Ruptura With their album Tango de Ruptura, the septet Astillero attracts our attention with modern, avant garde, tango with all its different and appealing facets: accentuated-dynamic arrangements, some clustered or other strange harmonies here and there, intermixed with elegiac melodies of violin and bandoneon. All songs were written by the Astillero musicians.

Six songs were written by Julian Peralta, four by Patricio Bonfiglio, and one by Mariano González Calo.

There are all of the different sides of this genre which makes it so attractive. There is the slow and cautious Marfil, the dynamic Alas por la Mitad and Villagrán, and the fiery and energetic Motobronco. Moreover, you will find the perturbing Capataz with its shouting background choir in the chorus with Peyo Campoliete as a highly emotional singer. The ar tists on the album are Osiris Rodriguez (violin), Pablo Milrud (cello), Patricio Bonfiglio (bandoneón), Mariano Gonzalez Calo (bandoneón), Felix Arcangeli (contrabass), Julian Peralta (piano) and Peyo Campoliete (vocals).

They have all of the trump cardss needed to impress an audience.

This ensemble surely will find its place somewhere between the tango nuevo scene and the typical tango orchestras. They are unique enough to be an essential part of the modern tango scene, and take the steps beyond to expand the limits. I definitely would like to hear more from this fascinating ensemble.

Overall Scoring ***** Dancer´s pleasure > Listener´s pleasure Duration : 35 min.

Artist´s website: http://www.astillerotango.com.ar/

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Orquesta Tipica Mistériosa: Tu lado acustico The Orquesta Tipica Mistériosa Buenos Aires with their pianist-arranger-director Javier Arias intended to bring the strain of classical tango played by the 1940s orchestras c;oser to today´s tango enthusiastics and dancers. The nine-person tango orchestra contains a piano, a bass, three bandoneons, three violins, and one singer., Guest musicians have enriched the full sound to nine violins and five bandoneons for this recording. They follow the traditional tango style, but with fresh and encouraging arrangements. Their obviousl aim has been to please the dancers, as well as listeners. For me their sound is somewhere between Carlos di Sarli and Aníbal Troilo, and that is pretty good.

With Eliana Sosa added, they have another good argument on their side, an enthusiastic and passionate singer who definitely attracts the audience also during their shows.

This is their third album within eight years as Orquesta Tipica Misteriosa Buenos Aires, apart from Javier Arias´s 2006 album with the Orquesta Tipica Fervor de Buenos Aires. On this album, we hear seven beautiful tangos, four dynamic milongas of which two are candombe milongas, and one vals. Most were written by old composers such as Juan d’Arienzo, Ricardo Luis Brignolo, Antonio Buglione, Félix Lipesker, Fernando Montoni, Luis Rubistein, and Rodolfo Sciammarella. Four songs were written by contemporary composers, one by the Argentine rock musician, Luis Alberto Spinetta. Another was written by their friend Pablo Sensoterra, the guitarist-composer of the Cuarteto La Púa. Two of the songs are by the director Javier Arias. The idea was to arrange some songs of this generation to be like in the Golden Age when Troilo played an arrangement of Piazzolla, or Pugliese made an arrangement of a Gobbi tune, as the violinist Damián González Gantes argued.

For me, the album´s “acoustic side” is both, melodically romantic and rhythmically dynamic, definitely wor th the listen. Dancers will surely have their fun with the music of this ensemble, rich on elegant melodies and a fine pacing paso. If you like the energetic sound of an acoustic orquesta tipica, you are definitely at the right place. I see this ensemble and its current album as one of the essentials.

Overall Scoring (1-5 stars): ***** Dancer´s pleasure = Listener´s pleasure Duration: 32 min.

Website: http://www.misteriosabuenosaires.com/

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Tango Fusion: A Los Amigos This chamber music quartet composed of Lothar Hensel (bandoneon), Dragan Radosavievich (violin), Ulf Borgwardt (violoncello) and Oliver Potratz (double bass) play with their friends a selection of old, modern and new tangos. Apart from the songs by Astor Piazzolla, Horacio Salgan, José Luis Padula, Armando Pontier and Nestor Marconi, this project’s mastermind Lothar Hensel asked contemporary tango composers to contribute characteristic songs. Miguel Varvello (bandoneon), Jorge Retamoza (baritone sax), Ramiro Gallo (violin), Luis Borda (guitar), Saúl Cosentino (piano), and Andrés Gavaida (vocals and guitar) agreed to provide sheet music which formed the basis for recording by the quartet. They then invited these guest musicians to perform these songs with them.

On Lothar Hensel´s song Freunde y Amigos,, we hear the quartet together with Ramiro Gallo, Luis Borda, Miguel Varvello and Jorge Retamoza. The musicians recorded their seperate audio tracks independently and send them to Berlin where they were mixed. Modern life has changed collaboration processes.

The listener should be prepared for some surprises from this chamber music fusion quartet. with its fascinating facets of contemporary tango music. Even the older songs are revived with new and colored clothes by arranger Lothar Hensel.

Several of the tracks are worth recommend:ing, such as Un amigo en Berlin by Jorge Retamoza with its dynamic melodic and rhythmic complexity, baritone saxophone accents and cool groove right in the middle, Lautatro by Ramiro Gallo with its sugar-sweet violin lines and a relaxed pulse of the double bass, Hoja Otoñal by Andrés Gavaida with its picked violin and guitar arrangement, and a wonderful chorus sung by the composer with his warm and pleasant voice, Controversia by Miguel Varvello with atmospheric melodies brought forward by the disputing bandoneon, violin and cello, Tango de los Muertos by Luis Borda with jazzy guitar voicings and a fascinating melody progression, and Carismático by Saúl Cosentino with piano and bandoneon solos and wonderful melodies by violin and cello which invite to dance.

For me, Tango Fúsion´s album is among the outstanding productions of this year: Dynamic virtuosity and bitter-sweet passion.

Overall Scoring (1-5 stars): ***** Dancer´s pleasure < Listener´s pleasure Duration: 53 min.

Artist´s website: http://www.tangofusion.net/

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Otros Aires: Perfect Tango Waiting for a new Otros Aires album is always a difficult task. I think of all those well-known tracks, some associated with specific memories. I remember Miguel di Genova´s contagious cheerfulness during a live performance. Then, I became aware that ten new songs are going to be released, and that I would have the chance to hear them very early. Wow! It is clear that I began with a positive bias.

At the first, we hear the typical groove oriented Otros Aires songs with Miguel di Genova´s distinctive voice, Diego Ramos´s elegant piano, Martin Paladin´s drums, and two alternating bandoneon players, namely Matias Rubino and Ernesto Chino Molina. Musical director Miguel di Genova adds guitar flavor, and of course, electronica effects.

Solo esta Noche charms the listener with the voice of Afghan-Irish singer-songwriter Meghan Kabir. This duet track was written by Megha Kabir, Fin Dow-Smith and Miguel di Genova. It definitely has something special. Also the Grace Jones cover I´ve seen that face before, the pop version of Astor Piazzolla´s Libertango, is convincing in its own way. While the amazon´s version is subtley aggressive and more direct, this new version is very relaxed.

All the other songs are written by Otros Aires´s mastermind, Miguel.

They follow a proven and tested formulation — great grooves enriched with discreet electronica effects, a solid piano fundament, characteristic bandoneon lines, and basic melodies to lure the electro tango fans on the dance floor. Amor o nada is one of these tracks with a compelling hiphop beat. Bailando sin Paraiso and Perro Viejo are also tempting dancefloor seducers with addictive potential.

The American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is cited on the backcover.

Everything in the universe has rhythm, everything dances She knew why the caged bird sings. Otros Aires has opened the cage door.

Overall Scoring (1-5 stars): ***** Dancer´s pleasure > Listener´s pleasure Duration : 45 min.

Artist´s website: http://www.otrosaires.com

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Diana Zavalas: Tango Sentimental This is not a conventional tango album. Instead, it is a classical pianist from Romania playing classical tangos from Argentina. Most of these twelve songs have been recorded many times, such as El Choclo written by Ángel Villoldo, Desde el Alma by Rosita Melo, Mano a Mano by Carlos Gardel and José Razzano; and Milonga de Mis Amores by Pedro Laurenz. One may critically ask why we more interpretations of these standards. Maybe, we don´t need it. But, Diana Zavalas definitely has something to offer!

She is a pianist classically trained at the Bucharest Conservatory and Birmingham Conservatoire. Not surprisingly, she has won numerous awards, such as Ludlow Philharmonic Concerto Prize and Beethoven Piano Prize in Great Britain, Ginette Gaubert in France, and others.

Diana Zavalas has a deep feeling for sound and dynamics, and the selected Argentine tangos, milongas and valses benefit from her talent. You hear them differently, against your expectations and maybe against your personal preferences. Pure piano pieces, sometimes less than two minutes long, mostly around three minutes.

Tangos reduced to their essentials.

Be open to enjoy a relaxing and pleasant time with old friends coming as they are. Invite them to take a seat and let them surprise you.

Overall Scoring (1-5 stars): *** Dancer´s pleasure < Listener´s pleasure Duration: 31 min.

Artist´s website: none

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Our Advertisers Ann Leon .......................................................... p.09 Astor Piazzolla ................................................. p.05 Electrocutango ................................................. p.13 Brokeback Mountain ...................................... p.19 El Tango de Guadia Vieja ................................ p.15 El Motivo ........................................................... p.19 Ennea Tango ...................................................... p.30 Festival de Tango in Lisbon ............................ p.04 Gotan Project ..................................... p.05, 13, 30 Gotan Swing...................................................... p.31 Gypsy Tango ..................................................... p.19 Hugo Diaz ......................................................... p.15 In-Grid Oui ....................................................... p.15 Jaime Roos......................................................... p.31 Lorena Astudillo .............................................. p.19 London Tango Boutique ................................. p.07 Mercedes Sosa ................................................. p.31

Otros Aires ......................................................

Passion in Tango................................................

Pickpocket’s History of Tango.......................

Richard Galliano ..............................................

Surrender Tango ..............................................

Tango...................................................................

Tanghetto...........................................................

Tango Argentino Finlandia..............................

Tango Festival in Puglia....................................

Tango for Teachers...........................................

Tango Lessons...................................................

Tango Nuevo.....................................................

The 10 Big Mistakes.........................................

The Tango Lesson.............................................

Trio Garufa........................................................

White Nights Tango Festival..........................

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p.31 p.15 p.15 p.43 p.30 p.15 p.19 p.37 p.05 p.31 p.15 p.31 p.31 p.31 p.19 p.11

The Obamas Tango in Buenos Aires

The Nestor Kirchner Cultural Center held a gala dinner hosted by Argentine President Mauricio Macri for US President Barack Obama. At the dinner, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were coaxed to the dance floor by professional tango dancers, Mora Godoy and José Lugones.

Prior to the presidential dance, Godoy and her partner danced to legendary tangos La Cumparsita and Código de Barras as performed by Bajofondo. Godoy a had just finished a performing when the stunning brunette, clad in a glittering gold dress with matching gold stilettos, got an idea to ask President Obama to dance. Godoy left little to the imagination. As she politely said hello to Michelle, complimenting her on her the marvelous speech that she had given before dancing with her husband.

But there were no worries. The first lady got into the act, too. Michelle acceptied an invite to tango with the handsome José Lugones.

The first couple danced to another classic tango, Por Una Cabeza, as hundreds of guests were entertained by this impromptu performance.

After initially resisting, the president reluctantly sauntered across the dance floor, giving in to Mora Godoy’s invitation to dance the tango Despite his attempts to wave off the invitation, President Obama surprised the world by showing he had a few moves.

Godoy was certainly in charge of of the dance. Moments later, the first lady joined in the tango.

The state dinner came at the end of the first of the Obama’s trip to Argentina. The next day, the first family traveled to Patagonia before flying back to Washington.

Tango maestro Ney Melo commented — It was wonderful to see President Obama dance the tango in the spirit of how it was born: impromptu, improvised, and with elegance.

Mora Godoy told the Argentine newspaper La Nacion — The president told me that he didn’t know how to tango, and I told him to follow me. He said ‘OK,’ and he started to dance.

Then, I began to follow him because he is a really good dancer Mora also said that she had toned down the sensual nature of the tango, out of respect for the two presidents.

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Argentine tango is often confused with American ballroom tango which is much more rigid and structured. Argentine tango is a social dance of improvisation. The roots of Argentine tango go as far back as the first African settlers in the Latin American colony. Typically, what people mistake with Argentine tango is the choreographed dance that is seen on such shows as Dancing with the Stars.

Once considered a folk dance, Argentine tango has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. There are now thousands of nightly and weekly dance events., and hundreds of new musical groups around the world.

The president’s visit did coincide with the 40th anniversary of a 1976 military coup which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Argentinians. There are talks of declassifying documents on America’s role in this conflict.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, President Obama has taken a lot of heat over for dancing the tango at a state dinner in Argentina. Some criticized of the president for travelling after the terrorist attacks.

In response, President Obama said — That is how we are going to defeat these terrorist groups. A lot of it is also going to be to say, ‘you do not have power over us. We are strong. Our values are right. You offer nothing except death.

President Macri is the first Argentine president to make a speech in English. He said that he was fascinated by Obama; and he mentioned that Obama promised to return next year and that they will come back for longer and they will stay for several days in Bariloche, a Swiss village in the Argentine Andes.

Macri highlighted — The opportunity for our continent, which forces us to leave behind grudges and resentments of the past with the US to look to the future. .... We have a privileged position that can improve opportunities for its people today, more security and tranquility in everyday life, but for that we must all work together.

President Obama stated — This is a new beginning, new era for our hemisphere. I arrive here from Cuba, where the United States has reestablished diplomatic contact Argentine and American, have a lot in common — the values ​​of freedom, commitment to justice, human rights and the rule of law.Thousands of Argentines studied in the US and many Argentines working in American companies. We want to expand these ties in trade, scholarships Afterwards, they dined with 400 guests at the Kirchner Cultural Center

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VJing & DJing IGOR SHPIGELMAN (El Esperjero) I am a tanguera. ATandas tango dancer, djane, Victroleras, andteacher, Cortinas

journalist and story writer. A passionate tango lover, an addict, an admirer. At my first milonga back in 2003, I got A friend of mine, milonguera from San Francisco, likes to repeat if you have a tango-related question, you hooked instantly. would not have continued if my notrelated played will undoubtedly find anBut, answerI in the universe of tango lyrics. While this teachers statement ishad mostly Gotan Project’s firstabout CD relations in one of lessons.

Since then, my of focus is on to ìprofound questionsî, in their and out of milongas, interpretations codigos, etc.modern there tango as a dancer DJ.DJ forums — When the first tango DJs emerged? and When are two both trivia questions oftenand askedasinathe the custom to play tandas separated by cortinas appear? There are unambiguous answers contained in the tangos, themselves.

Who was this mysterious Victrolera? Victrola was the trademark for the Victor Talking Machines gramoIn January 1931 Mercedes Simone, and, later in the phones that soon became a generic name for any same year, Orquesta tÌpica Victor with Vicente Crisera gramophone of that era. Victrolera was the name recorded a delightful tango La Victrolera, with lyrics of for the girl in charge of changing the disks on the Melecio Peres to the music written by Pascual Clausi. Victrola,, the first DJs, as we now call them. We can conclude that by 1930, victrolera was already an esVictrolera, noviecita de mi vida, tablished job with a name, worth of a dedicated to por quÈ te fuiste un dÌa her job special tango, pretty much like pulpera from y huiste con otro amor. the famous vals La Pulpera de Santa Lucia, and that si yo tanto te querÌa this job was given predominantly to girls. que eras alma y vida mÌa, volvé, volé victrolera If we move back in time a bit more, we might find que me mata el dolor out when the first victrolera emerged. Actually, we can do this by reconstructing some of the events in Victrolera, girlfriend of my life, the recording industry and tango history. The initial, Why did you leave one day acoustic recordings appeared as far back as in 19th And run away with another love? century, and it was indeed promoted for the dance I loved you so much parties, as we can see from the 1905 advertisement.

That you were my life and soul, However, the sound lacked both the quality and the Come back, come back victrolera loudness needed for any reasonable milonga.

And put an end to my pain When the First Tango DJs Emerged?

Things changed dramatically with the introduction of electric recording and of the new players ñ so called Orthophonic Victrolas. One of these big cabinet is shown in the 1949 movie, Alma de Bohemioî, where victrolera Eva saves the night of Alberto Castillo.

Victrola logo with the famous His Master Voice

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Alfredo De Angelis playing, 15 minutes sets at 11:00 on Radio El Mundo. (Scan by M. Krugman).

Electric recording was introduced to Buenos Aires in 1926, and so, pushed to new artistic standards

by Julio De Caro, accepted into the higher society and propelled by the technology, new tango sextetos started appearing almost daily. But their life was quite short. Less than three years later, the crisis of 1929, together with the introduction of sound motion pictures put an end to their blissful existence With the swing of a pendulum from a lot in 1926 to a few in 1929, the increased demand for tango music could easily become higher than the supply, and the job of victroleras, which had been technically feasible since 1926, became a demanded occupation in 1929. The tango La Victrolera was recorded only a year later.We can firmly place the emergence and the proliferation of victroleras in Argentina into a single year period between 1929 and 1930, not only in Buenos Aires, but in other cities as well, as the angry letter, written by Those darnn Victrolas in a local Santa Fe newspaper attests However,, Matt Mateo pointed out in an online discussion, we cannot yet say for sure, whether these victroleras were indeed playing music for dancers in the clubs, akin modern musicalizadors or DJs, or served more like long-legged local attractionsf or the patrons of cafes, as the heroine a Fellini-like story La Vitrolera.

When the custom playing tandas separated by cortinas appear?

Firstly we should mention a well-thought answer to this question that appeared in Tango-L mail list.

However, the brothel origin of tango, and the very existence of tango academias is more of a legend than a historical fact, and also, this answer was met with lots of criticism on the ground that live orquestas do not play music in tandas. Many modern tango orquestas do not play any danceable music. Those few that do, pften use tandas format, in one or another form. But what about the orquestas of the Golden Age? And what about the early DJs? In the Golden Age a contract on the radio was a prestigious and a lucrative source of income for any orquesta tipica. The standard radio format was to have an orquesta tipica play a live quarter-hour set, change the type of programming for the next quarter-hour, and then play another quarter-hour set, and so on. Of course, any orquesta worthy of its name, would not just randomly chose pieces from its repertoire, but rather build this fifteen minutes set into a certain story, with a beginning, culmination and conclusion. At least for the radio performances, an orquesta tipica would use a format, both by its length and its design similar, although not identical to a modern tanda. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 43 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

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When did the peculiar custom of men gathering This tango contains by far most favorite quote of mine: in the middle of the dance floor, to cabeceo the Te invito a penetrar en este templo ladies sitting at the tables emerged? donde todo el amor lo purifica.

Viviremos los dos el cuarto de hora The tango, Muchachos, Comienza la Ronda, by Leopde la danza nost·lgica y maligna! oldo Diaz Velez to the music of Luis Porcellano that directly alludes to this custom. It was recorded by I invite you to enter this temple both Osvaldo Pugliese with Roberto Chanel and Riwhere everything is purified by love. cardo Tanturi with Enrique Campos in 1943.

Together weíll live through the quarter hour Muchachos, comienza la ronda of a nostalgic and evil dance! que el tango invita a formar QuiÈn, al oir el arranque This quote gives us both the timing of the historide un son tan brillante, cal tanda, and the proof that the custom of dancing no sale a bailar? with the same partner for quarter hour existed as Guys, the round is starting far back as in 1929. It is not a coincidence that this That the tango invites us to form. timing is exactly the same as the timing of an orWho, hearing this starter questa tÌpica set on the radio — the same magical which is so brilliant quarter hour. would not go dancing?

In order for men to gather in the middle of the floor, or to use an across-the-floor cabeceo, the floor itself must have been cleared of all dancing couples, and the only way to achieve that for the live orquesta was to stop playing the music.

A live orquesta of the thirties would play five to seven songs in one uninterrupted set. Given a standard length of a song of the time was between two and three minutes, this would be about fifteen minutes.

It would include mostly tangos, but possibly an occaBut, when did they stop? How long was a tanda? sional vals, polca or fox-trot, and in later years, milongas, as well.The band would then go silent for a while, As it turns out, we have precise answers to those allowing to clear the floor and change partners. questions in the wonderful tango Danza Maligna, with its anthem-like lyrics by Claudio Frollo and music by While the word tanda itself is of dubious origin, the Fernando Randle. It was first recorded by Azucena Maizani in 1929, and later by Imperio Argentina, Car- etymology of cortina (curtain) is obvious - the stage melita Aubert, and Francisco Lomuto, and in 1940 curtain would be closed when the orquesta was not playing. Also, we can imagine that in a big venue, corby Enrique Rodriguez with Armando Moreno. tinas might have been spiced up by a solo number of an aspiring talent. The most prestigious venues and carnival organizers might hire more than one orquesta on the same date, and alternate them over the course of the night.

Without either disputing the academia origin of tandas circa the beginning of the 20th century, or arguing about modern orquestas habits, or relying on eye-witness accounts, we have established that the custom to play music in quarter-hour tandas separated by cortinas was firmly planted with the live orquestas as early as the year 1929.

Original recording of Danza Maligna, 1929.

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Enrique Lomuto shared the stage with Rene Varela and Anibal Troilo played with Oscar Aleman (scan by M. Krugman) Coincidentally or maybe not, it is this same year that the job of a victrolera was established. The account of events of 1929 is sufficient to believe that at least some of the victroleras were indeed playing in smaller milongas for the dancers, pretty much like the modern DJs. Yet, I cheerfully admit that I lack any tango letras to prove this claim. But whenever it happened, be it in the 30s or in the mid-40s, as the last image proves, the early DJs had no choice but to follow established 1929 pattern of the live orquestas to play the music in tandas with either silent or musical cortinas.

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Tango Moves

B

Raymond Lauzzana

In the last issue, we talked about the organization of the dance floor and various ways to commence the dance (salidas). Remember, it takes more than music and dancer to tango. The dancer must have a partner. You might and should practice alone. But, you aren’t dancing tango until you have a partner. The essence of how the tango works is the connection (la conexión), the way in which the dancers embrace (el abrazo). There has been a lot of discussion about what the correct embrace should be. Instead of entering into this debate, the various types of embraces will be presented, leaving the reader to decide which embrace suits the music, their style, and their partner. No matter which embrace is chosen, at any time during the dance, it is fundamentally important to maintain a connection.

There is a common misconception that there are only two types of embraces - closed and open. In fact, there are many embraces and many ways that the partners may maintain their connection. We’ll explore a few of them. There are many more. In all cases, whether open or closed, a tango embrace is not rigid,. It is firm, but relaxed, like a freindly hug.

Basic Embraces

First, let’s cover the basic embraces and consider the most common terms used to describe the embrace. In all of the basic forms, the partners face each other with the leader left hand holding the follower’s right hand.

Closed Embrace (Abrazo Cerrado) This is probably the most common tango face-to-face embrace, The dancers’ chests are closer to each other than their hips.The dancers may be in contact at about the level of the chest. The point of contact will differ depending on the difference in height of the dancers.

In the modern form of closed embrace, the dancers do not hold their upper bodies arched away from their partner. Instead, each dancer maintains their own individual axis.

Open Embrace (Abrazo Abierto) A common for all styles of tango dancing. In open embrace, there can be as much space as desired between the partners. In the open embrace, the chests are not in contact. But, complete contact is maintained in the embracing arms to give optimum communication. The dancers do not maintain head-to-head contact and they vary the space between them as they dance. Often, the follower may reduce the embrace to holding the leader’s biceps, while the leader may limit the right hand contact to the follower’s waist during dynamic movements.

Same Hand Hold for Doble Frente (Al Reves) Alexandru Eugen Cristea & Alina Pelmus — Photo by Cristian Martis

Close Embrace (Abrazo Intimo) Oft times confused with the closed embrace, the close embrace is quite different. Those that dance in close embrace, usually maintain the same embrace thruout the dance and never change their hold.

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One Hand Hold (Solo Uno Mano) Dancers only hold their lead hands, the leader’s left and the follower’s right.This is most commonly used as a practice embrace to overcome the leader’s grasping with the right hand. The right hand should lightly hold the follower to the frame of their torsos and should not be used to direct the follower’s movement Matched Hand Hold (Mano Contraria) With the partners facing each other, the leader’s left hand holds the follower’s right. The leader’s right hand holds the follower’s left in the embrace.

Same Hand Hold (Misma Mano) Gentleman’s left hand holds the lady’s left. His right Close Embrace at the Close Embrace Festival hand holds her right. This hold is common for Doble Champaign, Illinois, USA Frente when both partners face the same direction.

This embrace is what in popular terminology is called cheek-to-cheek. The partner’s cheeks are in contact, Variations either left-to-right or right-to-right. The embrace OK, that was the basics. Here come some variastrong and consistant, Often, the followers arm may tions. There are many more than we have room in be over the leader’s shoulder or wrapped around these pages to describe. Here are a few of the more his neck. As the name, implies this is a very intimate well-known kinds of embraces and holds. These are only an idea of the variety of possibilities. form of embrace.

Practice Embrace (Abrazo Practica) This is the least intimate of all of the embraces. It used by novice dancers and by instructors with pupils.

There are two forms of practice embrace. In the first case, both dancers hold each other’s biceps. In the second form, the follower’s hands are placed on the chest of the leader to provide a greater connection.

In both cases, the dancers are quite far apart, so that they may observe each other’s movements.

Neck Embrace (Abrazo Cuello) In a Close Embrace, the follower may place her left hand around the gentleman’s neck. This may be enhanced by placing both hands around leader’s neck. If she does this, the leader places his arms around her waist.

Hammerlock (Bloqueo de Martillo) Partners facing each other with opposing hands held, similar to closed embrace, except that the follower’s left arm is held behind her back in the Hand Holds Fundamentally, there are only two types of hand holds. ;eader’s right hand.

But, in practice there are four. In the standard hand hold for partner dancing, the leader’s left hand is opened to Teapot Embrace (Abrazo Tetera) receive the open palm of the follower’s right hand. The Similar to the closed embrace, except partners raised arm are in contact at the elbow, so as to form an leader then closes his fingers around her hand. upright angle, similar to the spout of a teapot.

No Hand Hold (Sin Manos) In this hands-free connection between the dancers, no hands are held. The lead is indicated through the movement of the upper torso, head turns, and eye movements.This difficult form of leading and following is a very important practice hold. It requires a great deal of concentration and attention to each other.

Rarely do dancers dance an entire song this way. More commonly, a few moves are made this way, and the couple returns a matched hand hold.

Feathered Embrace (Abrazo Plumado) Partners are offset 50%. Hips overlap, with upper body torque towards each other.. This may be to either side, left or right.

Cradled Hold (Cunita) In cradled holds, the partners face the same direction with one of the gentleman’s arm wrapped around her waist, holding her inside hand. The othe hand is crossed in front holding the gentleman’s other hand.

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Cradled Hold (Cunita) Partners face the same direction, as in the doble frente.

The follower may be to the right or left of the leader.

Their arms crossed over each other and wrapped around the follower. The leader’s arms are over the follower’s arms and wrapped around her waist. The partners hold opposite hands. The follower may be shifted from left to right. Often, the follower leans back. to face the leader.

Reversed Promenade (Paseo Reverso) Partners face opposite directions, side by side with hips in contact.

Butterfly Hold (Mariposa) From open hold, facing partners raise clasped opposite hands to shoulder level or above. The leader’s left hand holds follower’s right. All four hands are held aloft forming the shape of a Y-shape.

Open Hold (Gentlemanos) Typical salsa position. Partners face each other with opposing hands held. The follower’s hands on top of the leader’s.

Crossed Hand Hold (Con Mismo Mano) Same as open hold, except that hands are crossed, so that right holds right, and left holds left. Right hands are usually on top. But, may be changed by subsequent movements.

Pretzel Hold (Pretzel) Identical to a crossed hand hold, except that hands are crossed, so that right holds right, and left, left.

Diamond Hold (Diamante) Similar to a crossed hand hold, except that hands are double crossed, so that right holds left and a diamond shape is formed by the crossed hands.

Maxexe Hold (Maxexe) Facing each other, the dancers clasp their left hands and hold them overhead.Their right hands are at their waist. Dancers frequently sway and swivel their upper bodies while they dance around each other.

Tandem Hold (Tándem) Partners face the same direction, one behind the other. Matched hands are held either at the shoulders or on the hip.They move together in same direction. the follower is in front of the leader.

Sidecar Embrace (Abrazo Compensado) Same a close embrace, except par tners are offset outside each other. They may make hip-tohip contact.

Butterfky Hold (Mariposa) — Photo by Juan Mey

Open Butterfly Hold (Mariposa Abierto) From butterfly, partners roll out to a single hand hold with arms raised to shoulder level or above. The position appears form a double-Y with partners standing next to each other. Usually, they will return to a butterfly.

Shadow Butterfly (Sombra Mariposa) From a shadow position with the leader behind the follwer,, grasping her hands and forming a Y-shape.

There are many other embraces and holds that the partners may take. It all depends on them and the music.The most imprtant thing, regardless of the embrace taken, is to maintain a connection with your partner.

Tango is conscious dance. There maybe dreamy moments, even dreamy dances and tandas. But, awarenes and connection with your partner is essential.

Banjo Embrace (Abrazo Compensado) Same as sidecar embrace, but the opposite side.

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Letters to the Editor Thank you!

— Juliati Boudoir

I think you have done a great work with the magazine. Sharing the tango from all aver the world is an added value for Argentina. Well done!!

I think it is a great idea on your part. You are doing the best thing. Music and dance are like brother and sister so you have done a combination of both. Let me say well done again !!

Congratulations !!!

— María (BéBé) Nieves Rebolledo Vila Pozdravleniya!

— Rusty Rose

Pensaron en hacer una revista!

BRAVISSIMOOOOOOO !!

— Luis Lucha

— Mariano Pattin

Divinos! Felicitaciones por su trayectoria y por el camino que están transitando! Orgullosa de ustedes!

— Sandra Waigandt For the record, I love that Adam and Ciko are on your cover.

I am an American based in Riga and regularly traveling the Baltic tango circuit, plus the extended Scandinavian, European and Russian circles.

Let me know what you might need - feature articlewise.

— Jamie Roberts We welcome articles from around the world please feel free to submit articles that describe the tango scene in your community.

We also welcome proposals for special editions on regional areas. Such proposals should be made by several representatives of the community.

— MTW

I am interested to connect both our Buffalo Tango Orkestra and myself as a book writer about tango musicality.

— Moshe Shulman Musicians and musical groups should submit their new releases to Arndt Büssing on Facebook. He is our music reviewer. For books, please contact Alexandru Eugen Cristea. He is our book reviewer.

— MTW Congratulations on your launch of a new tango magazine. We would like to help you to promote it.

— Frank Perquin We are alway looking for help promoting the magazine. Specifically, if you have a festival or major tango event planned, we would like to distribute our flyers at your event. Please contact Raymond Lauzzana for further details.

— MTW I would like to order both editions of MTW, paying postage and handling only once. Would that be possible? I live in Germany.

— Emmy Brock Great idea, Emmy. But currently, you must order each issue seperately. We will work on changing that in the future.

— MTW I met Raymond in Austin at Esquina Tango and bought the New York edition from him. I subscribed to Modern Tango World and friended Ray on Facebook.

But... I can’t figure out how to create an account so I can log in..

— Walt Tashnick No need to log in. We recognize you by your Facebook name and you have access to all Modern Tango groups and capabilities.

— MTW I love it and really enjoyed the article on Julia Juliati — Anonymous

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I just read on Facebook of your new magazine.

I contact you simply because I am passionate about everything related to the world of the tango, and also because being the author of a book entitled Tango T as. I was wondering if you might be interested, if it were a section books in your magazine, inserting a cover image of my book with its review.

Waiting for feedback from you.

— Francesco De Lucia Book authors, please contact Alexandru Eugen Cristea. He is our book reviewer.

— MTW

Greeting from Doha Tango Community. I would like to thank you for doing such a wonderful work.

— Anil Kumar Just received Modern Tango World Magazine! The magazine is a great resource for any tango dancer or for someone interested to learn Argentine Tango.

— Julia Juliati Perfect...even “over packaged”...if that’s possible.

Anyway it arrived waterproofed and in mint condition:. Perfectly accomplished!

— Antonieta Taylor Dank u Awesome!

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— Ward Nuyts — Valecia Cigar

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