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30-Oct-06 04:04 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1603
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Arrived Buenos Aires yesterda on Sunday morning and visited with Martin Vittone all day. We had a great time hanging out in Palermo having lunch and walking the streets. Martin said that some girls he had met said that they go to Villa Malcolm all the time, so now he wants to go there as well. That will be our next stop....lol. Never dull. More later... Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: Arrived Buenos Aires yesterda on Sunday morning and visited with Martin Vittone all day. We had a great time hanging out in Palermo having lunch and walking the streets. Martin said that some girls he had met said that they go to Villa Malcolm all the time, so now he wants to go there as well. That will be our next stop....lol. Never dull. More later... Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
Click Here to see larger Image
26-Nov-06 06:48 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1604
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Well, this Tuesday night at La Catedral I danced tango with Audrey, a drop dead gorgeous beautiful French brunette girl, who just blew into town from Mendoza, Argentina (where all the great Malbec wines are produced), offering us all sips of her Mate, while speaking perfect Argentine Spanish, French and English of course...lol. The hotel staff went crazy watching Audrey sun bathing in her little bikini on the rooftop sundeck on the security camera. Audrey loves tango of course, and we danced again Friday at Villa Malcombe. I also introduced her to Martin Vittone at Villa Malcombe that night and he loved her of course. Oh my God, French women are just too much...lol. We will all be dancing again tonight at Portenos Y Ballerines if we can all recover from the weekend...lol. Rebecca, who plays polo, is off to either Brazil or England this week, not sure which, because she is working at securing a job with a beverage company here in Argentina. Hmmmm... work before polo???? Iyva, who is from Hamburg, Germany, but who is actually Swedish, is off this week visiting an Argentine family for awhile, so things have calmed down a bit since dancing tango until 8am last Saturday, but not too much...lol. I worked on the Internet this Wednesday and Thursday, so I took it easy for awhile, but of course on Friday, I went to Villa Malcombe to meet up with Martin Vittone and his friends. Martin showed me an historic plaque on the wall at Villa Malcombe which says that Villa Malcombe has long been a very famous tango hotspot. The plaque commemorates the fact that all the great orchestras from the thirties, forties, and fifties have played at Villa Malcombe. Not bad for a place that does not have a wood floor...lol. Note: Most places to dance here in Buenos Aires do not have wooden floors for dancing tango. People here dance on concrete and they do not care about the floor. Michaela, the absolutely beautiful blond, who I danced with at Nino Bien a week ago, was at our table with her friends. Also Audrey, from France, showed up with a string of guys following her of course, Gareth, Daniel and some others I think...lol. Also, the Japanese girl from Nino Bien, was there again as well. I danced with Karen, a friend of Michaela's. who is from Montreal. Quebec, and she was a fantastic nuevo tango dancer. We danced and danced. What a great girl! Karen is beautiful of course and she could move... The highlight of the evening at Villa Malcombe was a tango show. I did not even know that there was going to be a tango show. It just kind of happened out of the blue. All of a sudden these guys came by and placed strong white lights down on the floor all around the edge of the dance floor. The lights lit up the dancers but also left some areas where there were total dark spaces. The overall effect was psychedelic, because we would see dancers appearing in and out of the darkness. Then the music suddenly stopped and about ten or twelve professional dancers came out in full costume and started to dance tango doing everything under the sun, incredibly complicated lifts, turns, you name it, the works. The overall effect was just dazzling. All you could see was brief glimpses of beautiful girls faces appearing in and out of the darkness, followed by legs, arms, sparkling jewelry, tango shoes etc. etc. It was totally supercharged dramatic tango done with great taste and immense passion. It was like watching a dream sequence in a movie. We all thought that we had died and gone to heaven watching this show. One guy at our table, Daniel, who has been in the movie business, just went crazy. He said, "Wow! This is tango!!! I am canceling my plane ticket home...". After a wild Friday night at Villa Malcombe, I crashed a burned again, and then I tried to take it easy on Saturday....except for watching the Gay Lesbian Parade from the sundeck rooftop (where Audrey sunbathes....lol) going right past the hotel. My hotel is at the intersection of Grand Boulevard 9 Julio and Avenida de Mayo, a few blocks from the Obolisco, so I am basically right in the center of downtown Buenos Aires. I can walk to most milongas except the ones in Palermo and those are just a 10 peso taxi fare (three dollars US). I am close to just about everything, and I love it here. I have seen these stupid Gay Lesbian parades in Houston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, but never one in South America. If you want to see what happened, check out the Argentine cable television channel in your area. It was wonderfully crazy and of course here in Buenos Aires, all of it was on television without any censorship at all....lol. My favorite part was when all the lesbian strippers (I think that they were women, but who really knows....lol) were prancing around in high heels and thong underwear with there enormous breasts just out there for all to see. These girls??? were posing for the television cameramen and the cameramen were out in the middle of the avenue doing this incredible crazy media dance with them. They were all circling around each other as the cameramen were trying to get the best shots of the girls bodies and the girls were trying to bet maximum attention from the cameramen. In the middle of all this commotion, a very feeble male senior citizen who was just barely able to walk with a cane, suddenly tried to cross the street. The poor man was just trying to get away from all the crazy people around him...lol. One of the strippers walked right up two him and put her chest right into his face and buried his head in between her huge breasts (her breast were not balloons. They were real I think). The man almost had a heart attack right there, and stumbled around trying to catch his breath after being almost suffocated....lol He was OK but I think that he thought that he had died...lol. What a scene...lol. Anyway, the Gay Lesbian Parade in Buenos Aires, was the best one that I have ever seen. This city is just never dull...lol. Well today is Sunday, and I finally got some rest, so will be going to dance tonight. More later... PS - I do have pictures of all of this that I am talking about, and will post some soon, but just have not had time to organize them. Derik d.rawsonrawsonweb.com
Click Here to see larger Image
Dear All: Well, this Tuesday night at La Catedral I danced tango with Audrey, a drop dead gorgeous beautiful French brunette girl, who just blew into town from Mendoza, Argentina (where all the great Malbec wines are produced), offering us all sips of her Mate, while speaking perfect Argentine Spanish, French and English of course...lol. The hotel staff went crazy watching Audrey sun bathing in her little bikini on the rooftop sundeck on the security camera. Audrey loves tango of course, and we danced again Friday at Villa Malcombe. I also introduced her to Martin Vittone at Villa Malcombe that night and he loved her of course. Oh my God, French women are just too much...lol. We will all be dancing again tonight at Portenos Y Ballerines if we can all recover from the weekend...lol. Rebecca, who plays polo, is off to either Brazil or England this week, not sure which, because she is working at securing a job with a beverage company here in Argentina. Hmmmm... work before polo???? Iyva, who is from Hamburg, Germany, but who is actually Swedish, is off this week visiting an Argentine family for awhile, so things have calmed down a bit since dancing tango until 8am last Saturday, but not too much...lol. I worked on the Internet this Wednesday and Thursday, so I took it easy for awhile, but of course on Friday, I went to Villa Malcombe to meet up with Martin Vittone and his friends. Martin showed me an historic plaque on the wall at Villa Malcombe which says that Villa Malcombe has long been a very famous tango hotspot. The plaque commemorates the fact that all the great orchestras from the thirties, forties, and fifties have played at Villa Malcombe. Not bad for a place that does not have a wood floor...lol. Note: Most places to dance here in Buenos Aires do not have wooden floors for dancing tango. People here dance on concrete and they do not care about the floor. Michaela, the absolutely beautiful blond, who I danced with at Nino Bien a week ago, was at our table with her friends. Also Audrey, from France, showed up with a string of guys following her of course, Gareth, Daniel and some others I think...lol. Also, the Japanese girl from Nino Bien, was there again as well. I danced with Karen, a friend of Michaela's. who is from Montreal. Quebec, and she was a fantastic nuevo tango dancer. We danced and danced. What a great girl! Karen is beautiful of course and she could move... The highlight of the evening at Villa Malcombe was a tango show. I did not even know that there was going to be a tango show. It just kind of happened out of the blue. All of a sudden these guys came by and placed strong white lights down on the floor all around the edge of the dance floor. The lights lit up the dancers but also left some areas where there were total dark spaces. The overall effect was psychedelic, because we would see dancers appearing in and out of the darkness. Then the music suddenly stopped and about ten or twelve professional dancers came out in full costume and started to dance tango doing everything under the sun, incredibly complicated lifts, turns, you name it, the works. The overall effect was just dazzling. All you could see was brief glimpses of beautiful girls faces appearing in and out of the darkness, followed by legs, arms, sparkling jewelry, tango shoes etc. etc. It was totally supercharged dramatic tango done with great taste and immense passion. It was like watching a dream sequence in a movie. We all thought that we had died and gone to heaven watching this show. One guy at our table, Daniel, who has been in the movie business, just went crazy. He said, "Wow! This is tango!!! I am canceling my plane ticket home...". After a wild Friday night at Villa Malcombe, I crashed a burned again, and then I tried to take it easy on Saturday....except for watching the Gay Lesbian Parade from the sundeck rooftop (where Audrey sunbathes....lol) going right past the hotel. My hotel is at the intersection of Grand Boulevard 9 Julio and Avenida de Mayo, a few blocks from the Obolisco, so I am basically right in the center of downtown Buenos Aires. I can walk to most milongas except the ones in Palermo and those are just a 10 peso taxi fare (three dollars US). I am close to just about everything, and I love it here. I have seen these stupid Gay Lesbian parades in Houston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, but never one in South America. If you want to see what happened, check out the Argentine cable television channel in your area. It was wonderfully crazy and of course here in Buenos Aires, all of it was on television without any censorship at all....lol. My favorite part was when all the lesbian strippers (I think that they were women, but who really knows....lol) were prancing around in high heels and thong underwear with there enormous breasts just out there for all to see. These girls??? were posing for the television cameramen and the cameramen were out in the middle of the avenue doing this incredible crazy media dance with them. They were all circling around each other as the cameramen were trying to get the best shots of the girls bodies and the girls were trying to bet maximum attention from the cameramen. In the middle of all this commotion, a very feeble male senior citizen who was just barely able to walk with a cane, suddenly tried to cross the street. The poor man was just trying to get away from all the crazy people around him...lol. One of the strippers walked right up two him and put her chest right into his face and buried his head in between her huge breasts (her breast were not balloons. They were real I think). The man almost had a heart attack right there, and stumbled around trying to catch his breath after being almost suffocated....lol He was OK but I think that he thought that he had died...lol. What a scene...lol. Anyway, the Gay Lesbian Parade in Buenos Aires, was the best one that I have ever seen. This city is just never dull...lol. Well today is Sunday, and I finally got some rest, so will be going to dance tonight. More later... PS - I do have pictures of all of this that I am talking about, and will post some soon, but just have not had time to organize them. Derik d.rawsonrawsonweb.com
Click Here to see larger Image
28-Nov-06 05:53 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1605
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Someone said to me that I am posting too much social stuff and not enough useful "tango facts", whatever those are...lol. Hey! Tango is social. That is what it is all about. If you cannot do the social stuff, then why bother to tango. Here are some "tango facts" that I have seen here in Buenos Aires with my own eyes first hand. Excuse me if I repeat myself, but some of them have already been in my postings...lol. Fact One: Most milongas here are on bare concrete floors, not wood. Sometimes wood is just pasted onto the concrete floor, like at Porteos Y Balleriies. The fancy expensive tourist trap milongas are the only ones that have the nice comfortable floating wood floors. Villa Malcombe is all concrete. Fact Two: Argentine women are great leaders and Argentine men are great followers, BUT ONLY FOR WORKING OUT STEPS IN LESSONS, WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMING!!!! It is considered inappropriate for women to lead and for men to follow at a milonga. It may be done as a joke or in a performance, but that is all. Women who try to lead and men who try to follow at milongas are politely asked to go to the lesbian or gay milongas down the street where this is appropriate behavior. Also, men who wear shorts and women who do not wear high heels are not welcome. Tango tourists have big problems with respecting Argentine culture and this is why they have to have their own overcrowded milongas where no one can move.....lol. The Argentines avoid the tourist milongas. Fact Three: Cabecio, or eye contact only, invitations to dance can be a total disaster and much more embarrassing for the men than the tried and true method of just walking over to a woman and asking her to dance. At La Nacionale, a so-called traditional milonga on Wednesday nights, where cabecio is the sole means of asking a woman to dance, I have seen two or three men show up for the same woman at the same time because of eye contact miscommunication. The big public embarrassment begins when the woman has to stand up and choose only one of the men at her table and politely refuse the others. The jilted men then have to walk back to their tables alone without a woman, sit back down and try again....lol. Again, this problem probably occurs because the tango tourists do not try to really understand Argentine culture. The tourists do not actually know anyone at the milonga and this is a big problem. The "cabecio" is really meant to be used by close friends who already know each other well, so it does not work for tourists. Okay, I guess that these are enough "tango facts" to get me in a lot of trouble, so I will stop for now...lol. Bottom line. Tango is social!!!! To do it well one must be open to learning about the culture and learning to speak the Argentine Spanish language. Tango tourists teaching other tango tourists about Argentine tango and then having all the tourists dance together in their own tourist milongas is a big waste of everyones time. My opiion. Derik d.rawsonrawsonweb.com
Click Here to see larger Image
Dear All: Someone said to me that I am posting too much social stuff and not enough useful "tango facts", whatever those are...lol. Hey! Tango is social. That is what it is all about. If you cannot do the social stuff, then why bother to tango. Here are some "tango facts" that I have seen here in Buenos Aires with my own eyes first hand. Excuse me if I repeat myself, but some of them have already been in my postings...lol. Fact One: Most milongas here are on bare concrete floors, not wood. Sometimes wood is just pasted onto the concrete floor, like at Porteos Y Balleriies. The fancy expensive tourist trap milongas are the only ones that have the nice comfortable floating wood floors. Villa Malcombe is all concrete. Fact Two: Argentine women are great leaders and Argentine men are great followers, BUT ONLY FOR WORKING OUT STEPS IN LESSONS, WORKSHOPS AND PERFORMING!!!! It is considered inappropriate for women to lead and for men to follow at a milonga. It may be done as a joke or in a performance, but that is all. Women who try to lead and men who try to follow at milongas are politely asked to go to the lesbian or gay milongas down the street where this is appropriate behavior. Also, men who wear shorts and women who do not wear high heels are not welcome. Tango tourists have big problems with respecting Argentine culture and this is why they have to have their own overcrowded milongas where no one can move.....lol. The Argentines avoid the tourist milongas. Fact Three: Cabecio, or eye contact only, invitations to dance can be a total disaster and much more embarrassing for the men than the tried and true method of just walking over to a woman and asking her to dance. At La Nacionale, a so-called traditional milonga on Wednesday nights, where cabecio is the sole means of asking a woman to dance, I have seen two or three men show up for the same woman at the same time because of eye contact miscommunication. The big public embarrassment begins when the woman has to stand up and choose only one of the men at her table and politely refuse the others. The jilted men then have to walk back to their tables alone without a woman, sit back down and try again....lol. Again, this problem probably occurs because the tango tourists do not try to really understand Argentine culture. The tourists do not actually know anyone at the milonga and this is a big problem. The "cabecio" is really meant to be used by close friends who already know each other well, so it does not work for tourists. Okay, I guess that these are enough "tango facts" to get me in a lot of trouble, so I will stop for now...lol. Bottom line. Tango is social!!!! To do it well one must be open to learning about the culture and learning to speak the Argentine Spanish language. Tango tourists teaching other tango tourists about Argentine tango and then having all the tourists dance together in their own tourist milongas is a big waste of everyones time. My opiion. Derik d.rawsonrawsonweb.com
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03-Dec-06 08:51 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1606
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: I just fixed the public discussion so it loads much more quickly now. You can click on "Archives" to see the older postings complete with pictures prior to November 1, 2006. I went to La Catedral again this last Tuesday. Finally, for the first time here in Buenos Aires, I saw two girls dancing together at a milonga. They were both performers in the tango show at La Catedral that had just finished and they were working out some steps. The were laughing while they were dancing and the embrace was not passionate ..lol. Also, La Catedral does have wonderful wood floors because it is on the second floor of an old warehouse building, so it is not concrete like Villa Malcombe. It is a great place to dance. The best dancer I saw that night at La Catedral was a girl from the USA, BUT she has lived in Buenos Aires for more than one year, speaks Argentine Spanish fluently and understands the Argentine culture. This girl is definitely not a tango tourist. She came here to learn and grow and her efforts have paid off. She is a beautiful girl and a wonderful dancer. Naturally, she is a friend of Andres and Meredith, who were both there that night, and she learned to dance tango from them and other Argentines...not tango tourists....lol. Her name is Cecile. Great girl. On Wednesday, I went to hear Orquesta Color Tango¨"live" at Confiteria Ideal and said hello to Roberto Alvarez backstage. He only speaks Argentine Spanish of course, but we seemed to communicate fairly well because my French is close to Spanish, so I understood most of what he was saying, I think...lol. Basically, we talked about when he was in Dallas with the orchestra this last August when I was there dancing with Irman and Imegu. I think that he said that he remembered Irman´s body glove bright red dress, which was hard to forget...lol. He also said that he and his orchestra were planning to come back to Dallas this next year again. Anyway, Roberto is a great guy and of course his orchestra is the best....just beautiful music...so full of soul and energy....just fantastic. I did not get a chance to dance tango with the beautiful red haired piano player, Carolina this time, but maybe next time...lol. Mario from Houston said that he loved dancing with her in Dallas, and I was going to do it too, but Irman and I were dancing all the time, so I missed my chance. The first time I met Carolina she was pregnant, so I could not dance with her that time either....lol. Oh well. Sooner or later...hopefully. She is a great spirit and an incredible musician. She plays the piano with maximum intensity, which I love. By the way, watching Color Tango perform "live" at Confiteria Ideal was an almost psychedelic experience...lol. The place was filled with tango tourists who could not move. They were either standing around like fence posts posing all the time trying to "emote", or jumping around doing endless tango steps one right after another by the numbers. The only people who were actually listening to the orchestra's music and moving with the rhythms were the handful of Argentine tango teachers who were there trying to sell tango lessons. The whole scene was so visually disturbing, that I had to close my eyes to be able to enjoy the music. One young Argentine couple were really wonderful dancers, but the girl had this quizzical look on her face as she danced. The only time that she really smiled was after the concert was over when the tourist left and the nuevo tango music from Tanghetto came on. Suddenly, she came alive and she really started to move. Oh my God, could she move...lol. Her dancing was absolutely breathtaking. Naturally, I saw this same girl later in the week at my favorite hangout Villa Malcombe. Not a big surprise. Villa Malcombe on Friday was great again. When I arrived Martin Vittone was already dancing with Naldo, the beautiful Japanese girl who I met and danced with two weeks ago at Nino Bien. Fortunately for me, she remembered me and we danced next. Naldo is a really great dancer. She can do anything. What a wonderful girl. We danced a lot...lol. I also danced with Tamara from Mexico City who was at our table. Michaela, the world´s most beautiful blond, also appeared at our table and Andres and Meredith and Adam and Ciko also showed up on the dance floor nearby as well, and we all said hello. Even Chicho Fromboli was out there on the dance floor dancing his tail off with a beautiful girl. When I went to get another glass of wine Chicho went to the bar too, so we both said hello in French and talked about Bistro Latin in Paris, which is where he hangs a lot. I think that his two big places to hang out are basically Bistro Latin in Paris and Villa Malcombe in Buenos Aires and he also has a place for his urban street tango stuff in Paris too. Anway, he liked speaking French and he was definitely having a good time....lol. Well, it was a busy week, so I crashed a burned on Saturday and probably will go out and do some more tango tonight on Sunday. Never dull here in Buenos Aires. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
Click Here to see larger Image
Dear All: I just fixed the public discussion so it loads much more quickly now. You can click on "Archives" to see the older postings complete with pictures prior to November 1, 2006. I went to La Catedral again this last Tuesday. Finally, for the first time here in Buenos Aires, I saw two girls dancing together at a milonga. They were both performers in the tango show at La Catedral that had just finished and they were working out some steps. The were laughing while they were dancing and the embrace was not passionate ..lol. Also, La Catedral does have wonderful wood floors because it is on the second floor of an old warehouse building, so it is not concrete like Villa Malcombe. It is a great place to dance. The best dancer I saw that night at La Catedral was a girl from the USA, BUT she has lived in Buenos Aires for more than one year, speaks Argentine Spanish fluently and understands the Argentine culture. This girl is definitely not a tango tourist. She came here to learn and grow and her efforts have paid off. She is a beautiful girl and a wonderful dancer. Naturally, she is a friend of Andres and Meredith, who were both there that night, and she learned to dance tango from them and other Argentines...not tango tourists....lol. Her name is Cecile. Great girl. On Wednesday, I went to hear Orquesta Color Tango¨"live" at Confiteria Ideal and said hello to Roberto Alvarez backstage. He only speaks Argentine Spanish of course, but we seemed to communicate fairly well because my French is close to Spanish, so I understood most of what he was saying, I think...lol. Basically, we talked about when he was in Dallas with the orchestra this last August when I was there dancing with Irman and Imegu. I think that he said that he remembered Irman´s body glove bright red dress, which was hard to forget...lol. He also said that he and his orchestra were planning to come back to Dallas this next year again. Anyway, Roberto is a great guy and of course his orchestra is the best....just beautiful music...so full of soul and energy....just fantastic. I did not get a chance to dance tango with the beautiful red haired piano player, Carolina this time, but maybe next time...lol. Mario from Houston said that he loved dancing with her in Dallas, and I was going to do it too, but Irman and I were dancing all the time, so I missed my chance. The first time I met Carolina she was pregnant, so I could not dance with her that time either....lol. Oh well. Sooner or later...hopefully. She is a great spirit and an incredible musician. She plays the piano with maximum intensity, which I love. By the way, watching Color Tango perform "live" at Confiteria Ideal was an almost psychedelic experience...lol. The place was filled with tango tourists who could not move. They were either standing around like fence posts posing all the time trying to "emote", or jumping around doing endless tango steps one right after another by the numbers. The only people who were actually listening to the orchestra's music and moving with the rhythms were the handful of Argentine tango teachers who were there trying to sell tango lessons. The whole scene was so visually disturbing, that I had to close my eyes to be able to enjoy the music. One young Argentine couple were really wonderful dancers, but the girl had this quizzical look on her face as she danced. The only time that she really smiled was after the concert was over when the tourist left and the nuevo tango music from Tanghetto came on. Suddenly, she came alive and she really started to move. Oh my God, could she move...lol. Her dancing was absolutely breathtaking. Naturally, I saw this same girl later in the week at my favorite hangout Villa Malcombe. Not a big surprise. Villa Malcombe on Friday was great again. When I arrived Martin Vittone was already dancing with Naldo, the beautiful Japanese girl who I met and danced with two weeks ago at Nino Bien. Fortunately for me, she remembered me and we danced next. Naldo is a really great dancer. She can do anything. What a wonderful girl. We danced a lot...lol. I also danced with Tamara from Mexico City who was at our table. Michaela, the world´s most beautiful blond, also appeared at our table and Andres and Meredith and Adam and Ciko also showed up on the dance floor nearby as well, and we all said hello. Even Chicho Fromboli was out there on the dance floor dancing his tail off with a beautiful girl. When I went to get another glass of wine Chicho went to the bar too, so we both said hello in French and talked about Bistro Latin in Paris, which is where he hangs a lot. I think that his two big places to hang out are basically Bistro Latin in Paris and Villa Malcombe in Buenos Aires and he also has a place for his urban street tango stuff in Paris too. Anway, he liked speaking French and he was definitely having a good time....lol. Well, it was a busy week, so I crashed a burned on Saturday and probably will go out and do some more tango tonight on Sunday. Never dull here in Buenos Aires. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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05-Dec-06 03:17 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1607
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: All of the pictures of the adventures which I have been talking about since November 1st in Buenos Aires (I have excluded the Gay Lesbian parade...lol) will be posted here over the next weeks, but if you want to see all of them now you can sign up on the FREE Tango World Wide Mailing list, because the mailing list will have a FREE link to the entire photo album. The photo album pictures include the Argentine busiessman man who taught tango lessons in New York, all the beautiful women here in Buenos Aires who are dancig tango and much more. I hope that you enjoy seeing all these wonderful people who are here in this city livig life to its fullest. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: All of the pictures of the adventures which I have been talking about since November 1st in Buenos Aires (I have excluded the Gay Lesbian parade...lol) will be posted here over the next weeks, but if you want to see all of them now you can sign up on the FREE Tango World Wide Mailing list, because the mailing list will have a FREE link to the entire photo album. The photo album pictures include the Argentine busiessman man who taught tango lessons in New York, all the beautiful women here in Buenos Aires who are dancig tango and much more. I hope that you enjoy seeing all these wonderful people who are here in this city livig life to its fullest. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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10-Dec-06 05:46 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1608
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar This Week - Fontana's Orquesta Imperial at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar I went to hear a friend of mine, Fontana's, tango orchestra last Thursday and Friday. Fontana plays the bandondeon and the orchestra has three of them which is very cool. A beautiful girl plays one of them which is unusual. Anyway, the orchestra played in a little bar and it was packed with really fun people. I sat on a sofa with a girl from Finland who is a water color artist and she painted the members of the orchestra while they were playing. Her name is Hanniine or something like that. She is here to accept an award for a film she made in an international film festival and she is also opening a gallery show. My mother is Swedish-Russian, Natasha, but her family came from the part of Russia which became the country of Finland, so my mother's family is Finnish, so Hanniine and I got along great. Also, there were a lot of girls on the sofa in the fashion design business here in Argentina. They had also worked in Paris. One girl, Sophia, is a fashion film producer. We all got to talking and exchanging phone numbers and Email addresses and talking about making films in Paris etc. All in all, the group was really interesting and avant garde. Great fun. Martin Vittone came to see them on Friday night and sat on the same sofa with girls all around him and us. He loved the orchestra and got some great digital pictures and videos of them playing which he is going to put on a CD for me. We both also bought two very cool CD´s from the group to take home. Wow! What an evening. Check out the website above to see what I mean. Very cool. I missed Villa Malcolmbe this Friday but it was worth it...lol. Life is good. Derik
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Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar This Week - Fontana's Orquesta Imperial at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar I went to hear a friend of mine, Fontana's, tango orchestra last Thursday and Friday. Fontana plays the bandondeon and the orchestra has three of them which is very cool. A beautiful girl plays one of them which is unusual. Anyway, the orchestra played in a little bar and it was packed with really fun people. I sat on a sofa with a girl from Finland who is a water color artist and she painted the members of the orchestra while they were playing. Her name is Hanniine or something like that. She is here to accept an award for a film she made in an international film festival and she is also opening a gallery show. My mother is Swedish-Russian, Natasha, but her family came from the part of Russia which became the country of Finland, so my mother's family is Finnish, so Hanniine and I got along great. Also, there were a lot of girls on the sofa in the fashion design business here in Argentina. They had also worked in Paris. One girl, Sophia, is a fashion film producer. We all got to talking and exchanging phone numbers and Email addresses and talking about making films in Paris etc. All in all, the group was really interesting and avant garde. Great fun. Martin Vittone came to see them on Friday night and sat on the same sofa with girls all around him and us. He loved the orchestra and got some great digital pictures and videos of them playing which he is going to put on a CD for me. We both also bought two very cool CD´s from the group to take home. Wow! What an evening. Check out the website above to see what I mean. Very cool. I missed Villa Malcolmbe this Friday but it was worth it...lol. Life is good. Derik
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13-Dec-06 04:38 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1609
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Well the Argentine government hired Fontana´s Orquesta Imperial at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar to perform his original tango compositions and the standard classics like "Una Cabesa" in the Plaza in San Telmo this last Monday for the National Tango Holiday, so we were all together yet again...lol. Hanneriina and I sat a table right in front and she painted the orquesta again in water color. We were laughing because last week for Fontana's birthday she also sang "Una Cabasa" for him in Finnish with the orquesta playing. Fontana loved that of course ...lol. What a great birthday present. I asked Hanneriina where she was on Friday when I came back to the club to hear the orchestra the second time with Martin Vittone. She said that she was dancing nuevo tango at Villa Malcombe of course...lol. Now I wish that I had gone to Villa Malcombe like I told her I would. Now Hanneriina is on a plane flying back to Finland, so no more chance to dance with her at Villa Malcombe. Oh well. Never a dull moment here in Buenos Aires. All the pictures of us in the plaza in San Telmo are at the end of the Yahoo photo album which is available to people who are signed up on the FREE Tango World Wide Mailing List, if you want to see beautiful Hanneriina and her water color paintings. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: Well the Argentine government hired Fontana´s Orquesta Imperial at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar to perform his original tango compositions and the standard classics like "Una Cabesa" in the Plaza in San Telmo this last Monday for the National Tango Holiday, so we were all together yet again...lol. Hanneriina and I sat a table right in front and she painted the orquesta again in water color. We were laughing because last week for Fontana's birthday she also sang "Una Cabasa" for him in Finnish with the orquesta playing. Fontana loved that of course ...lol. What a great birthday present. I asked Hanneriina where she was on Friday when I came back to the club to hear the orchestra the second time with Martin Vittone. She said that she was dancing nuevo tango at Villa Malcombe of course...lol. Now I wish that I had gone to Villa Malcombe like I told her I would. Now Hanneriina is on a plane flying back to Finland, so no more chance to dance with her at Villa Malcombe. Oh well. Never a dull moment here in Buenos Aires. All the pictures of us in the plaza in San Telmo are at the end of the Yahoo photo album which is available to people who are signed up on the FREE Tango World Wide Mailing List, if you want to see beautiful Hanneriina and her water color paintings. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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18-Dec-06 05:56 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1610
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: In the nuevo tango milongas here, the tango dancers have mostly learned Argentine tango from their grandparents, NOT THERE PARENTS!!! There was no tango allowed in Argentina when the kids parents were growing up, so the parents were completely disconnected from tango history here. Instead of learning how to dance tangos, the parents got into the dance of the tourists, which was the Beatles and rock n roll. If the parents learned any tango at all it was not in Argentina, it was a simple easy-to-do limited tango from tourists while living in other countries. This total disconnect of the parents from tango is why the parents generation here in Argentina is called "the lost generation". It is also why the grandchildren and the grandparents got together to rediscover Argentine Tango. The parents are totally out of the loop and have "no clue". Now "nuevo tango" includes all the gaunchos, boleos, side by side dancing etc. that the grandparents and their parents enjoyed, plus all the newer dance elements, changes of embrace etc. of swing, salsa, hip hop and so on, all combined into one wonderful new Argentine Tango. Nuevo Tango is now revitalizing the dance. It is the experiment which is going forward and will define Argentine tango for the future. This is the reason "nuevo tango" is so exciting to watch and dance to. Oh, and yes, there are a few Argentines at the tourist traps, but now you know who they are. It is the parents who were taught by the tourists. The kids and the grandparents have their own milongas. The grandparents party until dawn and so do the grand-kids. The tourists and the parents go home early...lol. Morale; Next time someone tries to teach you Argentine Tango ask these questions: 1. Do you speak Argentine Spanish? 2. Did you learn Argentine Tango in Argentina from a grandparent or a grandchild, or a tourist? Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: In the nuevo tango milongas here, the tango dancers have mostly learned Argentine tango from their grandparents, NOT THERE PARENTS!!! There was no tango allowed in Argentina when the kids parents were growing up, so the parents were completely disconnected from tango history here. Instead of learning how to dance tangos, the parents got into the dance of the tourists, which was the Beatles and rock n roll. If the parents learned any tango at all it was not in Argentina, it was a simple easy-to-do limited tango from tourists while living in other countries. This total disconnect of the parents from tango is why the parents generation here in Argentina is called "the lost generation". It is also why the grandchildren and the grandparents got together to rediscover Argentine Tango. The parents are totally out of the loop and have "no clue". Now "nuevo tango" includes all the gaunchos, boleos, side by side dancing etc. that the grandparents and their parents enjoyed, plus all the newer dance elements, changes of embrace etc. of swing, salsa, hip hop and so on, all combined into one wonderful new Argentine Tango. Nuevo Tango is now revitalizing the dance. It is the experiment which is going forward and will define Argentine tango for the future. This is the reason "nuevo tango" is so exciting to watch and dance to. Oh, and yes, there are a few Argentines at the tourist traps, but now you know who they are. It is the parents who were taught by the tourists. The kids and the grandparents have their own milongas. The grandparents party until dawn and so do the grand-kids. The tourists and the parents go home early...lol. Morale; Next time someone tries to teach you Argentine Tango ask these questions: 1. Do you speak Argentine Spanish? 2. Did you learn Argentine Tango in Argentina from a grandparent or a grandchild, or a tourist? Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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20-Dec-06 08:40 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1611
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Tuesday night at La Catedral: Wow! Thunder and Lightning and a heavy rainstorm while dancing last night at La Catedral..lol....wonderful.. I could see all the lightning strikes outside through the big windows above the dance floor, near the high wooden ceiling of the old giant warehouse. The entire building shook with each thunder clap, and we wondered how sturdy it was. All this was just perfect to add drama of dancing tango..lol. The staff calmly went all around the place setting up big white plastic buckets to catch the rain water dripping through the holes in the roof. I had a bucket set up right next to my table. How cool was that....lol. We all kept dancing of course and the dance floor was OK except for one or two spots. When I came back to the hotel the fun really began. There was a huge party going on and we all started to dance tango in the lobby. This all went on until after 3:00am and now of course we are all exhausted...lol. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: Tuesday night at La Catedral: Wow! Thunder and Lightning and a heavy rainstorm while dancing last night at La Catedral..lol....wonderful.. I could see all the lightning strikes outside through the big windows above the dance floor, near the high wooden ceiling of the old giant warehouse. The entire building shook with each thunder clap, and we wondered how sturdy it was. All this was just perfect to add drama of dancing tango..lol. The staff calmly went all around the place setting up big white plastic buckets to catch the rain water dripping through the holes in the roof. I had a bucket set up right next to my table. How cool was that....lol. We all kept dancing of course and the dance floor was OK except for one or two spots. When I came back to the hotel the fun really began. There was a huge party going on and we all started to dance tango in the lobby. This all went on until after 3:00am and now of course we are all exhausted...lol. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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24-Dec-06 07:41 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1612
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE Wow! I danced tango in San Telmo in a little cafe with Romina Veron. Oh My God! What beautiful Argentine (French??) woman. Found out later that she teaches tango of course...lol. Her publicity photo is below. This afternoon on XMAS Eve day, I was walking down the street looking for my friend Nicholas Fontana and his Orquesta Imperial and I heard this beautiful tango music coming out of a little cafe at the corner of Defensa and Chile streets, so I looked inside. I saw this wonderful tango orchestra playing and a man in a suit singing a great tango, so I came inside to have a beer, relax and enjoy the music. I sat at a table with a couple from Brazil who are television producers from Rio. We all got really excited by the music and started jumping up and down yelling bravo after every song, because the orchestra and the singer were so wonderful. The orchestra was only three men, a bandondeon, a guitar and a bass, but it was absolutely fantastic. After this wonderful music, Carlos and Romina came out to dance a tango. Carlos had on a tailored Grey suit and Romina was in a killer beautiful dress. They danced and of course the Brazilian television producer and I fell in love immediately with Romina, who was just gorgeous...stunning. Carlos was definitely "THE MAN"....lol. He and Romina could do it all, from the classic tango to nueuvo tango alto gaunchos to changes of the embrace and all with perfect precision and perfect styling. They also both smiled at each other and laughed a lot while they were doing all of this stuff. They were clearly fun people and we all felt at ease. Next thing I knew, I was dancing with Romina and then Carlos Sosto and I danced with all the women in the room...lol. We all had a blast! Carlos and I made sure that every woman danced a tango. Wow! Now this is what I mean about tango being exciting!!! None of the boring predictable tourist milonga stuff for me. This was definitely tango the way it should be with a capital "T". What a wonderful Christmas present, to be able to dance "improntu" all afternoon on Christmas Eve with beautiful women in a little cafe in San Telmo. I hope everyone has as good a Christmas as I had today. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Derik
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Dear All: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE Wow! I danced tango in San Telmo in a little cafe with Romina Veron. Oh My God! What beautiful Argentine (French??) woman. Found out later that she teaches tango of course...lol. Her publicity photo is below. This afternoon on XMAS Eve day, I was walking down the street looking for my friend Nicholas Fontana and his Orquesta Imperial and I heard this beautiful tango music coming out of a little cafe at the corner of Defensa and Chile streets, so I looked inside. I saw this wonderful tango orchestra playing and a man in a suit singing a great tango, so I came inside to have a beer, relax and enjoy the music. I sat at a table with a couple from Brazil who are television producers from Rio. We all got really excited by the music and started jumping up and down yelling bravo after every song, because the orchestra and the singer were so wonderful. The orchestra was only three men, a bandondeon, a guitar and a bass, but it was absolutely fantastic. After this wonderful music, Carlos and Romina came out to dance a tango. Carlos had on a tailored Grey suit and Romina was in a killer beautiful dress. They danced and of course the Brazilian television producer and I fell in love immediately with Romina, who was just gorgeous...stunning. Carlos was definitely "THE MAN"....lol. He and Romina could do it all, from the classic tango to nueuvo tango alto gaunchos to changes of the embrace and all with perfect precision and perfect styling. They also both smiled at each other and laughed a lot while they were doing all of this stuff. They were clearly fun people and we all felt at ease. Next thing I knew, I was dancing with Romina and then Carlos Sosto and I danced with all the women in the room...lol. We all had a blast! Carlos and I made sure that every woman danced a tango. Wow! Now this is what I mean about tango being exciting!!! None of the boring predictable tourist milonga stuff for me. This was definitely tango the way it should be with a capital "T". What a wonderful Christmas present, to be able to dance "improntu" all afternoon on Christmas Eve with beautiful women in a little cafe in San Telmo. I hope everyone has as good a Christmas as I had today. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Derik
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26-Dec-06 07:30 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1613
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: I am beginning to think that San Telmo, Bocca and downtown Buenos Aires is where all the real action is in dancing tango. San Telmo, where tango began, has the history, the grandparents, and the grand-kids all together in a single place. It also has "live" orchestras playing in the streets and in the cafes all the time, just like in the old days of the original tango. Why would anyone want to go dance memorized choreography to the CD´s of tango orchestras in a big crowded milonga, when it is now possible in BA to dance to a "live" orchestra in the cobble stone streets, in the plaza outside at night under the stars, or in a little sidewalk cafe? Also, I just received an Email from Mario and Grace in Houston who know Carlos and Romina here in Buenos Aires and have even taken lessons from them. Mario is the man who got to dance tango with Carolina, the pianist, who plays with the Color Tango Orchestra when we were all in Dallas together....lol. Somehow it does not surprise me that he and Grace would know Carlos and Romina, because Mario and Grace are wonderful fun people. It is a small world. Grace and Mario, I will definitely say hello for you guys. Hope to see you here in BA soon. Life here is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: I am beginning to think that San Telmo, Bocca and downtown Buenos Aires is where all the real action is in dancing tango. San Telmo, where tango began, has the history, the grandparents, and the grand-kids all together in a single place. It also has "live" orchestras playing in the streets and in the cafes all the time, just like in the old days of the original tango. Why would anyone want to go dance memorized choreography to the CD´s of tango orchestras in a big crowded milonga, when it is now possible in BA to dance to a "live" orchestra in the cobble stone streets, in the plaza outside at night under the stars, or in a little sidewalk cafe? Also, I just received an Email from Mario and Grace in Houston who know Carlos and Romina here in Buenos Aires and have even taken lessons from them. Mario is the man who got to dance tango with Carolina, the pianist, who plays with the Color Tango Orchestra when we were all in Dallas together....lol. Somehow it does not surprise me that he and Grace would know Carlos and Romina, because Mario and Grace are wonderful fun people. It is a small world. Grace and Mario, I will definitely say hello for you guys. Hope to see you here in BA soon. Life here is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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03-Jan-07 12:19 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1614
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: From Last Saturday Dec 30th... Yes, life here is good and getting wilder...lol. Last night I danced my tail off at Villa Malcombe doing nuevo tango and classical tango with Georgetta from Romanian, Katrina from Norway, Naldo from Japan, and a Raphael from France. Also, the world most beautiful blond, Michaela from Germany showed up direct from the beach looking gorgeous and sat at my table. All of these girls were fantastic tango dancers with all kinds of energy. The last one, Rapha, the French girl, lives in San Telmo. The level of dancing at Villa Malcolmbe is just amazing. People there know how to move.... Andres and Meredith were there also, and Martin Vittone with a beautiful girl from Peru, so we were all going ninety miles an hour...lol. Tonight, more dancing of course and tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Daniel Barenboim, the pianist, is doing and worldwide television broadcast from the Obelisco. A stage the size of a small seven story building was built just for the concert. It starts at 7pm and should be fantastic. Never a dull moment here. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Derik
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Dear All: From Last Saturday Dec 30th... Yes, life here is good and getting wilder...lol. Last night I danced my tail off at Villa Malcombe doing nuevo tango and classical tango with Georgetta from Romanian, Katrina from Norway, Naldo from Japan, and a Raphael from France. Also, the world most beautiful blond, Michaela from Germany showed up direct from the beach looking gorgeous and sat at my table. All of these girls were fantastic tango dancers with all kinds of energy. The last one, Rapha, the French girl, lives in San Telmo. The level of dancing at Villa Malcolmbe is just amazing. People there know how to move.... Andres and Meredith were there also, and Martin Vittone with a beautiful girl from Peru, so we were all going ninety miles an hour...lol. Tonight, more dancing of course and tomorrow is New Year's Eve. Daniel Barenboim, the pianist, is doing and worldwide television broadcast from the Obelisco. A stage the size of a small seven story building was built just for the concert. It starts at 7pm and should be fantastic. Never a dull moment here. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Derik
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05-Jan-07 07:02 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1615
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: From Last Monday Jan 1st.... Danced tango to "live music" again for New Year's Day with beautiful Florencia while a man played the bandondeon for us. Met with Florencia, her mom and Dasha today in the historic (founded in 1859) Tortoni´s Cafe for lunch and then we all went walking on Florida Street where we found the ancient man who plays the bandondon. Wow! What fun. We all did it again the last Wednesday at another cafe and danced tangos all night to a live orchestra. Tonight Florencia wants to go to Villa Malcombe of course....so we will be there. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: From Last Monday Jan 1st.... Danced tango to "live music" again for New Year's Day with beautiful Florencia while a man played the bandondeon for us. Met with Florencia, her mom and Dasha today in the historic (founded in 1859) Tortoni´s Cafe for lunch and then we all went walking on Florida Street where we found the ancient man who plays the bandondon. Wow! What fun. We all did it again the last Wednesday at another cafe and danced tangos all night to a live orchestra. Tonight Florencia wants to go to Villa Malcombe of course....so we will be there. Life is good. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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08-Jan-07 07:04 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1616
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Florencia and her mom invited me to a milonga in their barrio, Belgrano, this last Saturday. We even brought Flo's dog to watch us....lol. We all had a blast dancing tango all evening in a a huge covered pavilion. After that we went to their place and had champagne to celebrate King's Day, the day that the three wise men followed the star to find the newborn baby Jesus in the manager. What a wonderful evening. We were also going to dance on Sunday, but both Florencia and I had to work at our jobs on the Internet early on Monday, so we give up on that idea. Florencia is an architect by training and now works in asset management on line for IBM in BA, so we are both computer people living in Argentina and working around the world...lol. Florencia is a native of BA but of course speaks perfect English as well. Life is good. What a great weekend. Derik
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Dear All: Florencia and her mom invited me to a milonga in their barrio, Belgrano, this last Saturday. We even brought Flo's dog to watch us....lol. We all had a blast dancing tango all evening in a a huge covered pavilion. After that we went to their place and had champagne to celebrate King's Day, the day that the three wise men followed the star to find the newborn baby Jesus in the manager. What a wonderful evening. We were also going to dance on Sunday, but both Florencia and I had to work at our jobs on the Internet early on Monday, so we give up on that idea. Florencia is an architect by training and now works in asset management on line for IBM in BA, so we are both computer people living in Argentina and working around the world...lol. Florencia is a native of BA but of course speaks perfect English as well. Life is good. What a great weekend. Derik
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14-Jan-07 07:51 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1617
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Florencia finally made it to Villa Malcombe this last Friday and we all had a blast! She brought an Argentine girlfriend with her who works with her at IBM, and we all danced the night away. Martin Vittone also showed up, so we definitely kept the girls busy...lol. Today on Sunday we are all going to meet up again to dance tango in San Telmo in the little cafes, on the street and on the plaza. Life is good... PS - If you want to see the pictures from Villa Malcombe from this last Friday, the link to the photo album is available to those on the Tango World Wide mailing list. You can join the mailing list on this web site for FREE. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: Florencia finally made it to Villa Malcombe this last Friday and we all had a blast! She brought an Argentine girlfriend with her who works with her at IBM, and we all danced the night away. Martin Vittone also showed up, so we definitely kept the girls busy...lol. Today on Sunday we are all going to meet up again to dance tango in San Telmo in the little cafes, on the street and on the plaza. Life is good... PS - If you want to see the pictures from Villa Malcombe from this last Friday, the link to the photo album is available to those on the Tango World Wide mailing list. You can join the mailing list on this web site for FREE. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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17-Jan-07 11:22 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1618
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Well, Florencia, Luciana and I all danced tango Sunday evening outside in the street in the little square in San Telmo called Dorrego Plaza and it was fun. We had a great time. Also I went earlier to the little cafe Sunday afternoon and danced with Romina again to a "live tango orchestra", and she was fantastic as usual. We also danced the previous Sunday afternoon as well. Carlos and Romina and the orchestra at the little cafe also invited us all to a big show this Thursday evening at La Confiteria Ideal. Florencia, Luciana and I are going, and next week, this coming January 26th, Carlos and Romina are doing another big tango show at Confiteria Ideal with Orquesta Color Tango, so we are going to that to! Wow! Never dull here in Buenos Aires...lol. Life is good. Derik
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Dear All: Well, Florencia, Luciana and I all danced tango Sunday evening outside in the street in the little square in San Telmo called Dorrego Plaza and it was fun. We had a great time. Also I went earlier to the little cafe Sunday afternoon and danced with Romina again to a "live tango orchestra", and she was fantastic as usual. We also danced the previous Sunday afternoon as well. Carlos and Romina and the orchestra at the little cafe also invited us all to a big show this Thursday evening at La Confiteria Ideal. Florencia, Luciana and I are going, and next week, this coming January 26th, Carlos and Romina are doing another big tango show at Confiteria Ideal with Orquesta Color Tango, so we are going to that to! Wow! Never dull here in Buenos Aires...lol. Life is good. Derik
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22-Jan-07 04:54 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1619
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Wow! What a killer tango week...lol. Thursday we all danced seven hours at Carlos and Romina´s tango show at La Confiteria Ideal and then at Nino Bien, and then on Friday danced another 6 hours at Villa Malcolmbe. I think Florencia and Luciana are worn out, but they said that they are ready for more tango this week...lol. I also danced with Romiana and two girls from Lausanne, Switzerland in the little cafe in San Telmo Sunday afternoon, took a nap and then danced all night at the little square in San Telmo. Now, I am worn out too...lol. Today, Monday, Florencia, Luciana and myself are all back to normal working online on our computers and talking via Email about the next tango venture. Never dull. Derik
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Dear All: Wow! What a killer tango week...lol. Thursday we all danced seven hours at Carlos and Romina´s tango show at La Confiteria Ideal and then at Nino Bien, and then on Friday danced another 6 hours at Villa Malcolmbe. I think Florencia and Luciana are worn out, but they said that they are ready for more tango this week...lol. I also danced with Romiana and two girls from Lausanne, Switzerland in the little cafe in San Telmo Sunday afternoon, took a nap and then danced all night at the little square in San Telmo. Now, I am worn out too...lol. Today, Monday, Florencia, Luciana and myself are all back to normal working online on our computers and talking via Email about the next tango venture. Never dull. Derik
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25-Jan-07 08:13 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1620
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Well, for something different....neuvo tango at a hip hop and disco club...lol. Florencia called and Luciana invited everyone to come to OPERA BAY, which is the largest nightclub in Buenos Aires. The club is located in the upscale Puerto Modero section of downtown Buenos Aires. The IBM company has a deal there for its employees and their friends, so we all (Martin Vittone and I) got in for free. There were thousands of executives there with their girlfriends from the working world of Buenos Aires, all dancing the night away to mostly hip hop and disco music. When the disco music came on, Florencia and I danced some nuevo tango steps, and people in our group in the IBM group are all wanting to come to Villa Malcombe this coming Friday to try to learn nuevo tango. Interesting...lol. Never dull in Buenos Aires. Derik
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Dear All: Well, for something different....neuvo tango at a hip hop and disco club...lol. Florencia called and Luciana invited everyone to come to OPERA BAY, which is the largest nightclub in Buenos Aires. The club is located in the upscale Puerto Modero section of downtown Buenos Aires. The IBM company has a deal there for its employees and their friends, so we all (Martin Vittone and I) got in for free. There were thousands of executives there with their girlfriends from the working world of Buenos Aires, all dancing the night away to mostly hip hop and disco music. When the disco music came on, Florencia and I danced some nuevo tango steps, and people in our group in the IBM group are all wanting to come to Villa Malcombe this coming Friday to try to learn nuevo tango. Interesting...lol. Never dull in Buenos Aires. Derik
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29-Jan-07 07:04 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1621
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Best milonga after Villa Malcolmbe is Sunday evenings in San Telmo outside under the trees and the stars on a cool summer's night in Dorrego Plaza. Besides being FREE, this milonga is elegant. It costs nothing to watch or dance and all the tables in the plaza have food and drink service usually on white table clothes. This milonga is the perfect mixture of the grandparents, the grand-kids, and the parents taught by the tourists. In the plaza one can watch the different styles of dancing all mixed together, from the classic "street" tango of the grandparents, to tourist tango of the parents (close embrace all the time, because I do not know all the steps), to the nuevo tango (changing the embrace all the time, to include new dance ideas) of the grand-kids... and best of all, the hours for the milonga are from sunset at 7pm to midnight at 12am are perfect for working people. Surprisingly, everyone gets along just fine, in spite of all the different styles of dancing. There are no real issues. The grandparents run the event, so it is very mature, open and friendly, instead of closed, insecure and cluby. Everyone, even the tourists who watch and do not dance are encouraged to join in the fun. There are even people who work for the Argentine government at the event who show people how to participate. To me, this is the way tango should be. It does not surprise me at all that, San Telmo, the birth place of tango, would have the best milonga in Buenos Aires. Perhaps, the "cluby and closed minded" tango tourist people can learn how to open up their hearts by going to the milonga in San Telmo on a nice summer afternoon and see what tango is really about. My opinion. PS - What I like about Villa Malcombe is the same as the above. At Villa Malcombe, everyone is encouraged to experiment with tango and open up the dance to new ideas. Maybe the grand-kids learned this about tango from their grandparents...lol. Derik
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Dear All: Best milonga after Villa Malcolmbe is Sunday evenings in San Telmo outside under the trees and the stars on a cool summer's night in Dorrego Plaza. Besides being FREE, this milonga is elegant. It costs nothing to watch or dance and all the tables in the plaza have food and drink service usually on white table clothes. This milonga is the perfect mixture of the grandparents, the grand-kids, and the parents taught by the tourists. In the plaza one can watch the different styles of dancing all mixed together, from the classic "street" tango of the grandparents, to tourist tango of the parents (close embrace all the time, because I do not know all the steps), to the nuevo tango (changing the embrace all the time, to include new dance ideas) of the grand-kids... and best of all, the hours for the milonga are from sunset at 7pm to midnight at 12am are perfect for working people. Surprisingly, everyone gets along just fine, in spite of all the different styles of dancing. There are no real issues. The grandparents run the event, so it is very mature, open and friendly, instead of closed, insecure and cluby. Everyone, even the tourists who watch and do not dance are encouraged to join in the fun. There are even people who work for the Argentine government at the event who show people how to participate. To me, this is the way tango should be. It does not surprise me at all that, San Telmo, the birth place of tango, would have the best milonga in Buenos Aires. Perhaps, the "cluby and closed minded" tango tourist people can learn how to open up their hearts by going to the milonga in San Telmo on a nice summer afternoon and see what tango is really about. My opinion. PS - What I like about Villa Malcombe is the same as the above. At Villa Malcombe, everyone is encouraged to experiment with tango and open up the dance to new ideas. Maybe the grand-kids learned this about tango from their grandparents...lol. Derik
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31-Jan-07 08:06 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1622
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Danced at a tango show with Romina last night. Wonderful. Carlos, Romina and I went into the audience to try to get the people to dance. Only the Argentines danced of course. Next Tuesday we will all do it again. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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Dear All: Danced at a tango show with Romina last night. Wonderful. Carlos, Romina and I went into the audience to try to get the people to dance. Only the Argentines danced of course. Next Tuesday we will all do it again. Derik d.rawson@rawsonweb.com
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31-Jan-07 08:30 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1623
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Florencia and her mom are still recovering from this last Sunday´s milonga at Dorrego Plaza in San Telmo. Below is a picture of the event (Note the white table clothes). The man dancing is the man with the Argentine government who helps people participate in the event. He even asked Florencia´s mom to dance, but she was too shy. I, of course danced with everybody....lol... Florencia, her mom and even a French Canadian girl who sat with us with her boyfriend. We all had a lot of fun. Martin Vittone even gave up a night of studying for medical school to join us, so we had a big group all sitting right in front of the dance floor. Life is good... Derik
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Dear All: Florencia and her mom are still recovering from this last Sunday´s milonga at Dorrego Plaza in San Telmo. Below is a picture of the event (Note the white table clothes). The man dancing is the man with the Argentine government who helps people participate in the event. He even asked Florencia´s mom to dance, but she was too shy. I, of course danced with everybody....lol... Florencia, her mom and even a French Canadian girl who sat with us with her boyfriend. We all had a lot of fun. Martin Vittone even gave up a night of studying for medical school to join us, so we had a big group all sitting right in front of the dance floor. Life is good... Derik
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05-Feb-07 04:48 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1624
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Nino Bien THURS with girls from Roma, Italia...and more fun FRI at Villa Malcombe with Florencia, Luciana and all. Another wonderful Friday night at Villa Malcombe. Florencia and Luciana came with another girl from IBM. Martin Vittone and I danced with Florencia and Luciana all night long and the girl watched us, and said that she would dance next time. I also met and danced with Christine, a beautiful lawyer from San Francisco. Christine and I danced tango and all the Argentine folk dances. Great evening.... Not dull on Thursday either... I danced with Lena from Roma,Italia at Carlos and Romina's second tango show of the week on Thursday, but Lena did not have her tango shoes yet so she danced in her socks. She said that she wants to wait until she goes back to Rome, Italy to buy higher quality high heels. I told her to buy her high heels here in Buenos Aires and forget about waiting...lol. Anyway, I took Lena and all the others at the table over to Nino Bien after the show so that they could see a milonga before the girls went to the beach the next day. We could not dance there because the girls had no high heels, but Neil (going to Peru the next day) from the UK who was with us, bought a bottle of champagne and we all enjoyed that. We, of course, sat at a table at Nino Bien right by the dance floor, because Italian women are going to do what they want to do, and the waiter also forgot to put a reserved sign on the table (or the girls took it off)....lol. Finally we moved toward the back of the room after our waiter placed the reservado sign back on our table. Anyway, we all had a lot of fun. Neil stayed and danced. I left early with the girls to help them find a taxi. Lena will be back this week for more tango, and hopefully she will finally buy some tango shoes...lol. PS - One thing really nice about dancing tango with girls from Roma, Italia. Italian girls are not afraid of men at all. They look men directly in the eyes while dancing. Lena has big blue eyes, and she looked at me the entire time we danced. Nice...lol. Derik
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Dear All: Nino Bien THURS with girls from Roma, Italia...and more fun FRI at Villa Malcombe with Florencia, Luciana and all. Another wonderful Friday night at Villa Malcombe. Florencia and Luciana came with another girl from IBM. Martin Vittone and I danced with Florencia and Luciana all night long and the girl watched us, and said that she would dance next time. I also met and danced with Christine, a beautiful lawyer from San Francisco. Christine and I danced tango and all the Argentine folk dances. Great evening.... Not dull on Thursday either... I danced with Lena from Roma,Italia at Carlos and Romina's second tango show of the week on Thursday, but Lena did not have her tango shoes yet so she danced in her socks. She said that she wants to wait until she goes back to Rome, Italy to buy higher quality high heels. I told her to buy her high heels here in Buenos Aires and forget about waiting...lol. Anyway, I took Lena and all the others at the table over to Nino Bien after the show so that they could see a milonga before the girls went to the beach the next day. We could not dance there because the girls had no high heels, but Neil (going to Peru the next day) from the UK who was with us, bought a bottle of champagne and we all enjoyed that. We, of course, sat at a table at Nino Bien right by the dance floor, because Italian women are going to do what they want to do, and the waiter also forgot to put a reserved sign on the table (or the girls took it off)....lol. Finally we moved toward the back of the room after our waiter placed the reservado sign back on our table. Anyway, we all had a lot of fun. Neil stayed and danced. I left early with the girls to help them find a taxi. Lena will be back this week for more tango, and hopefully she will finally buy some tango shoes...lol. PS - One thing really nice about dancing tango with girls from Roma, Italia. Italian girls are not afraid of men at all. They look men directly in the eyes while dancing. Lena has big blue eyes, and she looked at me the entire time we danced. Nice...lol. Derik
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12-Feb-07 05:45 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1625
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Florencia and her mom came to Villa Malcombe this last Friday and her mom loved it. Also Florencia told me that Gabriel said we were invited to come to Chico Fromboli´s birthday at Villa Malcombe this coming Wednesday. We are going of course so should be a fun night of nuevo tango. Never a dull moment in Buenos Aires...lol. Derik
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Dear All: Florencia and her mom came to Villa Malcombe this last Friday and her mom loved it. Also Florencia told me that Gabriel said we were invited to come to Chico Fromboli´s birthday at Villa Malcombe this coming Wednesday. We are going of course so should be a fun night of nuevo tango. Never a dull moment in Buenos Aires...lol. Derik
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14-Feb-07 09:22 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1626
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Happy Valentines Day. Today is Chicho Frombolis birthday celebration at Villa Malcombe, so it should be a wild night of nuevo tango ... Florencia and I will be there and I called Martin Vittone to tell him about it, so I think that he is coming too. We are all going to have a blast. Life is good. . Derik Derik
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Dear All: Happy Valentines Day. Today is Chicho Frombolis birthday celebration at Villa Malcombe, so it should be a wild night of nuevo tango ... Florencia and I will be there and I called Martin Vittone to tell him about it, so I think that he is coming too. We are all going to have a blast. Life is good. . Derik Derik
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19-Feb-07 09:22 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1627
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Women dancing with women at milongas in Buenso Aires... Interesting thing happened to me this last Sunday at Dorrego Plaza.... I think that a friend of mine, Mirabelle, who is here from Paris, France, was asked to go to the gay milongas....lol. She danced at the milonga in Dorrego Plaza with several women, then suddenly switched to dancing with a man, then I noticed that she and all the girls she danced with, left the milonga early after about 15 minutes. Who knows what happened. I will have to ask her. Never dull in tango... Derik
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Dear All: Women dancing with women at milongas in Buenso Aires... Interesting thing happened to me this last Sunday at Dorrego Plaza.... I think that a friend of mine, Mirabelle, who is here from Paris, France, was asked to go to the gay milongas....lol. She danced at the milonga in Dorrego Plaza with several women, then suddenly switched to dancing with a man, then I noticed that she and all the girls she danced with, left the milonga early after about 15 minutes. Who knows what happened. I will have to ask her. Never dull in tango... Derik
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24-Feb-07 04:28 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1628
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Villa Malcolm and the Orchestra..... The Revival of the Golden Age of Tango in Buenos Aires is happening right now, and it is coming directly from the source, the Argentines themselves!!! Florencia and I were dancing last night at Villa Malcolm and suddenly the curtains on the big stage opened up and a full twelve piece tango orchestra, complete with a singer and four bandondeons, began to play beautiful classical and nuevo tango music "live". Wow! What a fantastic experience. The orchestra is called "Afronte" and it played tango just like the famous Golden Age Orchestras of Argentine tango in the 1940´s. All of the members of the orchestra are expert musicians who are still in their twenties and thirties. They are the grand kids of the grandparents who actually experienced the real thing in the 1940´s when they were kids. Florencia and I danced to beautiful and totally unpredictable "live" orchestra music almost all night long. All the dancers were forced to improvise and be extra creative, because the music was fresh. No choreography and no memorized steps were possible, so things were never boring. Fortunately, the dancers were flexible and loved the challenge. To me, this is the way tango should be. More and more, tango in Buenos Aires is becoming really exciting again, just like the old days.... Believe it or not Villa Malcolm was founded in 1926 and the world famous Osvaldo Pugliese Orchestra actually played at Villa Malcolm many times on the very same stage in the 1940´s, so for Villa Malcolm, the Golden Age is returning again. This coming Monday my friend, Nicholas Fontanta, and his full 10-piece orchestra orchestra at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar will also be playing at Villa Malcolm, so Florencia and I are going to dance to that orchestra as well. Should be wonderful fun. PS - Nicholas Fontana, plays one of the three bandondeons, also writes his own original compositions, so the orchestra will play a lot of new music as well as Piazzolla and all the classics like "Una Cabesa". The twenty or thirty something guy who sings "Una Cabesa" is absolutely fantastic, and all of the orchestra members are also in their twenties and thirties. PPS- Orquesta Imperial has just finished making a movie, which will premier this next fall in Japan. It is about a tango bar in San Telmo called El Chino. The orchestra is also going on its second European tour this year to Italy, France etc. Orchestra Imperial is well on its way to becoming a major deal. Derik Derik
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Dear All: Villa Malcolm and the Orchestra..... The Revival of the Golden Age of Tango in Buenos Aires is happening right now, and it is coming directly from the source, the Argentines themselves!!! Florencia and I were dancing last night at Villa Malcolm and suddenly the curtains on the big stage opened up and a full twelve piece tango orchestra, complete with a singer and four bandondeons, began to play beautiful classical and nuevo tango music "live". Wow! What a fantastic experience. The orchestra is called "Afronte" and it played tango just like the famous Golden Age Orchestras of Argentine tango in the 1940´s. All of the members of the orchestra are expert musicians who are still in their twenties and thirties. They are the grand kids of the grandparents who actually experienced the real thing in the 1940´s when they were kids. Florencia and I danced to beautiful and totally unpredictable "live" orchestra music almost all night long. All the dancers were forced to improvise and be extra creative, because the music was fresh. No choreography and no memorized steps were possible, so things were never boring. Fortunately, the dancers were flexible and loved the challenge. To me, this is the way tango should be. More and more, tango in Buenos Aires is becoming really exciting again, just like the old days.... Believe it or not Villa Malcolm was founded in 1926 and the world famous Osvaldo Pugliese Orchestra actually played at Villa Malcolm many times on the very same stage in the 1940´s, so for Villa Malcolm, the Golden Age is returning again. This coming Monday my friend, Nicholas Fontanta, and his full 10-piece orchestra orchestra at: http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar will also be playing at Villa Malcolm, so Florencia and I are going to dance to that orchestra as well. Should be wonderful fun. PS - Nicholas Fontana, plays one of the three bandondeons, also writes his own original compositions, so the orchestra will play a lot of new music as well as Piazzolla and all the classics like "Una Cabesa". The twenty or thirty something guy who sings "Una Cabesa" is absolutely fantastic, and all of the orchestra members are also in their twenties and thirties. PPS- Orquesta Imperial has just finished making a movie, which will premier this next fall in Japan. It is about a tango bar in San Telmo called El Chino. The orchestra is also going on its second European tour this year to Italy, France etc. Orchestra Imperial is well on its way to becoming a major deal. Derik Derik
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27-Feb-07 08:38 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1629
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Tanghetto was at La Viruta this last Sunday night at 1:00 am in the morning Monday. Tanghetto is even better live....just incredible. There were over 1,000 people in the club to hear them and to dance....Whew!!! Definitely and wild nuevo tango evening. Good thing that the air-conditioning was set on high and working well.....lol. Fortunately most people stood and watched instead of dancing so there was plenty of room for dancing neuvo in the back of the club. Of course nuevo can be danced in small spaces as well, so no problem. Shot this photo with my cell phone camera. Great dancing!!! Derik PS - More cell phone photos of Tanghetto at La Viruta in the photo album which available only to people who are signed up on the Tango World Wide web site FREE mailing list. The link to the photo album is at the top of the Email.
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Dear All: Tanghetto was at La Viruta this last Sunday night at 1:00 am in the morning Monday. Tanghetto is even better live....just incredible. There were over 1,000 people in the club to hear them and to dance....Whew!!! Definitely and wild nuevo tango evening. Good thing that the air-conditioning was set on high and working well.....lol. Fortunately most people stood and watched instead of dancing so there was plenty of room for dancing neuvo in the back of the club. Of course nuevo can be danced in small spaces as well, so no problem. Shot this photo with my cell phone camera. Great dancing!!! Derik PS - More cell phone photos of Tanghetto at La Viruta in the photo album which available only to people who are signed up on the Tango World Wide web site FREE mailing list. The link to the photo album is at the top of the Email.
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01-Mar-07 08:14 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1630
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: This last Monday night, Villa Malcolm continued with more wonderful live tango orchestra music from excellent young musicians who play in the little cafes in San Telmo. This time it was Oquesta Imperial... http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar Nicholas Fontana and the entire orquestra came over and sat at my table before the show up on Villa Malcolm's big stage. We all drank beer and had a fun time just hanging out and talking. I danced a lot of tangos with Matilda, who plays the bandondeon. She loves to dance tango of course. Matilda is wonderful and she can dance. She is beautiful, very cool and a great spirit. We had some fun. Just as the band went up on stage to begin playing, Florencia showed up, so her timing was perfect for dancing to live music, instead of CD's....lol. We danced to Orquesta Imperial all night long. The Golden Age of Tango has definitely returned to Villa Malcolm. The place was packed with dancers and they really loved the music. The evening was yet another beautiful dance experience. Great evening. Derik
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Dear All: This last Monday night, Villa Malcolm continued with more wonderful live tango orchestra music from excellent young musicians who play in the little cafes in San Telmo. This time it was Oquesta Imperial... http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar Nicholas Fontana and the entire orquestra came over and sat at my table before the show up on Villa Malcolm's big stage. We all drank beer and had a fun time just hanging out and talking. I danced a lot of tangos with Matilda, who plays the bandondeon. She loves to dance tango of course. Matilda is wonderful and she can dance. She is beautiful, very cool and a great spirit. We had some fun. Just as the band went up on stage to begin playing, Florencia showed up, so her timing was perfect for dancing to live music, instead of CD's....lol. We danced to Orquesta Imperial all night long. The Golden Age of Tango has definitely returned to Villa Malcolm. The place was packed with dancers and they really loved the music. The evening was yet another beautiful dance experience. Great evening. Derik
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04-Mar-07 09:20 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1631
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: So called "undanceable Piazzolla tangos" are beautifully danceable by good dancers, mostly Argentines in their twenties and thirties, who learned to dance tango from their grandparents.... Interesting thing I noticed last night on Saturday at the final big milonga for the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural Exposition Center in Palermo.... When the wonderful tango orchestra "Sans Souci" was playing tangos, over 2,000 people were on the floor, dancing tango, but when when the more modern, up-to-date orchestra "Sexteto Major" (composed of only grandchildren in their 20{s and 30's and grandparents in their eighties and nineties) was playing Piazzolla tangos, the dance floor suddenly thinned out dramatically. There were only about 200 or three hundred tango dancers left, mostly from Argentina and mostly from Villa Malcolm, who could dance well (complete with gauchos, boleos, side by side, turns, whatever...) to this awe inspiring inspiring music with its beautiful melodies. The other dancers at La Rural, who were mostly visiting tango tourists (self appointed tango experts in their own countries) and the parents of the kids who learned tango in foreign countries...all had to stand by on the sidelines and watch others dancing tango. It became blatantly obvious at this point, who could really dance well in the room.... and they were definitely not the people from the tourist trap, close embrace all the time, milongas here in Buenos Aires. Personally, I think that it is time that all tango dancers, tourists, parents and others, begin to upgrade their dancing skills and catch up with the "times". The new tango music is beautiful and it is not going away. It is just getting better and better. Brand new, young orchestras are maturing and doing the classics as well as nuevo, just like Sexteto Major. Things are moving in a new direction. We are now entering a new golden age of tango in Buenos Aires, whether people like it or not....lol. The nuevo tango dance system is all about being able to dance to ANY music that comes along. It works well with the tango classics, close embrace, open embrace...etc... and it works with all forms of the new music. Dancing nuevo tango is about not limiting oneself to a single style. It is about expanding ones abilities and being able to dance ALL THE TIME!!!. If the grand-kids and the grandparents can do it, there is no reason why the parents and their tango tourist teacher-friends from other countries cannot do it. It is time for us to learn some new stuff!!! Anyway, this is my opinion. PS- The milonga at La Rural was beautiful...picture below and in photo album for FREE mailing list subscribers. Derik
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Dear All: So called "undanceable Piazzolla tangos" are beautifully danceable by good dancers, mostly Argentines in their twenties and thirties, who learned to dance tango from their grandparents.... Interesting thing I noticed last night on Saturday at the final big milonga for the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural Exposition Center in Palermo.... When the wonderful tango orchestra "Sans Souci" was playing tangos, over 2,000 people were on the floor, dancing tango, but when when the more modern, up-to-date orchestra "Sexteto Major" (composed of only grandchildren in their 20{s and 30's and grandparents in their eighties and nineties) was playing Piazzolla tangos, the dance floor suddenly thinned out dramatically. There were only about 200 or three hundred tango dancers left, mostly from Argentina and mostly from Villa Malcolm, who could dance well (complete with gauchos, boleos, side by side, turns, whatever...) to this awe inspiring inspiring music with its beautiful melodies. The other dancers at La Rural, who were mostly visiting tango tourists (self appointed tango experts in their own countries) and the parents of the kids who learned tango in foreign countries...all had to stand by on the sidelines and watch others dancing tango. It became blatantly obvious at this point, who could really dance well in the room.... and they were definitely not the people from the tourist trap, close embrace all the time, milongas here in Buenos Aires. Personally, I think that it is time that all tango dancers, tourists, parents and others, begin to upgrade their dancing skills and catch up with the "times". The new tango music is beautiful and it is not going away. It is just getting better and better. Brand new, young orchestras are maturing and doing the classics as well as nuevo, just like Sexteto Major. Things are moving in a new direction. We are now entering a new golden age of tango in Buenos Aires, whether people like it or not....lol. The nuevo tango dance system is all about being able to dance to ANY music that comes along. It works well with the tango classics, close embrace, open embrace...etc... and it works with all forms of the new music. Dancing nuevo tango is about not limiting oneself to a single style. It is about expanding ones abilities and being able to dance ALL THE TIME!!!. If the grand-kids and the grandparents can do it, there is no reason why the parents and their tango tourist teacher-friends from other countries cannot do it. It is time for us to learn some new stuff!!! Anyway, this is my opinion. PS- The milonga at La Rural was beautiful...picture below and in photo album for FREE mailing list subscribers. Derik
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12-Mar-07 04:13 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1632
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar - High school Students in Buenos Aires and More Live performances at Villa Malcolm.... The Tango Festival is over but the live performances continue at Villa Malcolm (Spanish spelling on some web Spanish web sites I think...Villa Malcombe...who knows...lol)... The sign says Villa Malcolm on the door, so I will spell it that way from now on. Again, there was a very cool live music scene at Villa Malcolm a week ago Friday, and a great dance performance this last Friday. Friday a week ago Villa Malcolm had a musicians in their twenties and thirties and grandparents playing authentic Argentine tango from the past called Tuba Tango. The musicians young and old, all sat around in a circle by a gas light in the middle of the huge dance floor, and we danced tangos around them while they played.... just like it was done at the turn of the century in San Telmo. Very cool. The music is wonderful. Florencia and I had a blast. Andriano Quintana, who was here visiting from Houston, also loved it. Florencia danced with Adriano and I all night, so she was happy...lol. TUBA TANGO is now playing every Thursday night at Villa Malcolm as a regular event, so yet another live orchestra is on the huge stage at the club. Student dance companies performing at Villa Malcolm.. At Villa Malcolm this last Friday Florencia and I saw a wonderful live performance by a semi-professional dance company of Argentine school children in full costume, all dancing tango of course. The high school teenagers were better than most adults in the big tango shows around town and the two little six year olds stole the show completely. The six year old girl was a total femme fatale and the six year old boy was a man among men. All of these dancers were just incredible. The show was a totally professional performance, and as Florencia said, "amazing and very intimidating....lol." Now, today in Buenos Aires apparently the coolest thing a student can do is be in a tango orchestra or a tango dance company... What Florencia and I saw this last Friday at Villa Malcolm is just more of the beginning of the new golden age of tango here in Buenos Aires. It seems students everywhere in Buenos Aires are now learning how to dance tango and play in tango orchestras from the age of six-years old up. A friend of mine, Gabriel, who went to the big high school here in Buenos Aires, which is called the Nacional Centro, said to me a few days ago, that now one of the coolest things a student in high school can do, is be in a young up and coming tango orchestra or tango dance group. Tango is now THE BIG DEAL....lol. He also told me that he was very proud of the fact that his high school buddies were asked to play with Sans Souci and Sexteto Major orchestras during the final night of the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural. He said that his friends are just beginning their musical careers and the big break came when their orchestra was chosen to open up the show at La Rural that evening. I told Gabriel that I was there at La Rural when his friends were playing, and that the crowd went crazy when Astor Piazzolla's famous Libre Tango, was played at about six times faster than most orchestras can play it and it was done without missing a single note. The orchestra was unbelievably good. Gabriel said that he is going to find out where his friends are playing in San Telmo. so we can all go to dance to their music as soon as possible. We we are all excited about that of course....lol. Anyway, as you can see, Tango in Buenos Aires is really hot right now and it is going to get much hotter this year...lol. Things are moving fast. Very cool. Life is good. PS - My friend Nicholas Fontana is on his way to Europe with his orchestra called Orquesta Imperial. PPS - Also, Andres Amarilla and Meredith Klein are in Istanbul teaching and going to the 2nd annual Nuevo Tango Festival there. Saw Meredith last week just before she left to join Andres, who was in LA teaching. Derik
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Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar - High school Students in Buenos Aires and More Live performances at Villa Malcolm.... The Tango Festival is over but the live performances continue at Villa Malcolm (Spanish spelling on some web Spanish web sites I think...Villa Malcombe...who knows...lol)... The sign says Villa Malcolm on the door, so I will spell it that way from now on. Again, there was a very cool live music scene at Villa Malcolm a week ago Friday, and a great dance performance this last Friday. Friday a week ago Villa Malcolm had a musicians in their twenties and thirties and grandparents playing authentic Argentine tango from the past called Tuba Tango. The musicians young and old, all sat around in a circle by a gas light in the middle of the huge dance floor, and we danced tangos around them while they played.... just like it was done at the turn of the century in San Telmo. Very cool. The music is wonderful. Florencia and I had a blast. Andriano Quintana, who was here visiting from Houston, also loved it. Florencia danced with Adriano and I all night, so she was happy...lol. TUBA TANGO is now playing every Thursday night at Villa Malcolm as a regular event, so yet another live orchestra is on the huge stage at the club. Student dance companies performing at Villa Malcolm.. At Villa Malcolm this last Friday Florencia and I saw a wonderful live performance by a semi-professional dance company of Argentine school children in full costume, all dancing tango of course. The high school teenagers were better than most adults in the big tango shows around town and the two little six year olds stole the show completely. The six year old girl was a total femme fatale and the six year old boy was a man among men. All of these dancers were just incredible. The show was a totally professional performance, and as Florencia said, "amazing and very intimidating....lol." Now, today in Buenos Aires apparently the coolest thing a student can do is be in a tango orchestra or a tango dance company... What Florencia and I saw this last Friday at Villa Malcolm is just more of the beginning of the new golden age of tango here in Buenos Aires. It seems students everywhere in Buenos Aires are now learning how to dance tango and play in tango orchestras from the age of six-years old up. A friend of mine, Gabriel, who went to the big high school here in Buenos Aires, which is called the Nacional Centro, said to me a few days ago, that now one of the coolest things a student in high school can do, is be in a young up and coming tango orchestra or tango dance group. Tango is now THE BIG DEAL....lol. He also told me that he was very proud of the fact that his high school buddies were asked to play with Sans Souci and Sexteto Major orchestras during the final night of the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural. He said that his friends are just beginning their musical careers and the big break came when their orchestra was chosen to open up the show at La Rural that evening. I told Gabriel that I was there at La Rural when his friends were playing, and that the crowd went crazy when Astor Piazzolla's famous Libre Tango, was played at about six times faster than most orchestras can play it and it was done without missing a single note. The orchestra was unbelievably good. Gabriel said that he is going to find out where his friends are playing in San Telmo. so we can all go to dance to their music as soon as possible. We we are all excited about that of course....lol. Anyway, as you can see, Tango in Buenos Aires is really hot right now and it is going to get much hotter this year...lol. Things are moving fast. Very cool. Life is good. PS - My friend Nicholas Fontana is on his way to Europe with his orchestra called Orquesta Imperial. PPS - Also, Andres Amarilla and Meredith Klein are in Istanbul teaching and going to the 2nd annual Nuevo Tango Festival there. Saw Meredith last week just before she left to join Andres, who was in LA teaching. Derik
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24-Mar-07 02:10 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1633
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: THE BITCH OF ALL BITCHES... a twelve-piece tango orchestra.....lol. CERDA NEGRA loosely translated from Argentina Spanish as BITCH. It is also the name of the tango orchestra of Argentine high school students which played with San Souci and Sexteto Major at the final milonga for the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural. Literally, Cerda Negra means the difficult to control (non-pink, black) female pig of the litter, or the bitch. The orchestra may be difficult to manage but its musicians are great...lol. The website is at http://www.cerdanegra.com.ar Derik
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Dear All: THE BITCH OF ALL BITCHES... a twelve-piece tango orchestra.....lol. CERDA NEGRA loosely translated from Argentina Spanish as BITCH. It is also the name of the tango orchestra of Argentine high school students which played with San Souci and Sexteto Major at the final milonga for the Buenos Aires Tango Festival at La Rural. Literally, Cerda Negra means the difficult to control (non-pink, black) female pig of the litter, or the bitch. The orchestra may be difficult to manage but its musicians are great...lol. The website is at http://www.cerdanegra.com.ar Derik
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24-Mar-07 02:11 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1634
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Busy tango week... This last week Florencia was on vacation, so we danced our tails off every night about five or six hours a night until about 5am each morning. Now we are in recovery this week and she and I are back at our normal work schedules...lol. We went to Dorrego Plaza on Sunday with a group of ten people, La Catedral on Tuesday, Confiteria Ideal on Thursday, and Villa Malcolm on Friday and finally topped of the week by going to a night club on Saturday for Lucianna's birthday party. Finally, we crashed and burned on Sunday...lol. I also went to a dinner show for Argentines on Tuesday night at 36 Billardes with Martin Vittone and two of his girlfriends, Heather and Yannina and got to dance with them plus Romina Veron to a live orchestra. We then all met Florencia at La Catedral afterwards and went on dancing there until 5am....lol. Whew! What a week last week. PS- Villa Malcolm had another fantastic live orchestra this last week from San Francisco and they were really great. I danced with Monica, a beautiful Italian red head, who was here visiting from SF with the orchestra. She sat next to Florencia and I, so we invited her into our group. I introduced her to Martin Vittone when he showed up with Heather and Yannina. and he danced with her too. Monica was a lot of fun. She is a great spirit. The orchestra from San Francisco had an Argentine leader who played the guitar, a US American on bass and another US American on bandondeon and accordion both. This last musician would alternate back and forth between bandondeon and accordion for different songs, which was unusual, but it worked well for the classics and nuevo tango both. Needless to say the Argentines were really impressed when they heard him play both instruments well...lol. The two US Americans in this orchestra certainly had a total understanding of Argentine tango. I was really proud of them. The Argentines loved this group and gave it a standing ovation. Dancing to live music all evening yet again at Villa Malcolm was really wonderful. It now seems now that really great Argentine tango orchestras with the neuvo ideas are popping up everywhere, even in the US. I even saw some of the Californians dancing neuvo tango at Villa Malcolm and of course they had been just been taking tango lessons from Andres Amarilla, who had been living and working in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara for the past two months, before joining Meredith recently in Istanbul.. How wonderful. People outside Argentina are finally beginning to get it....lol. The new golden age of tango is happening everywhere...lol. Life in Argentine tango is getting better and better. Good. Derik
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Dear All: Busy tango week... This last week Florencia was on vacation, so we danced our tails off every night about five or six hours a night until about 5am each morning. Now we are in recovery this week and she and I are back at our normal work schedules...lol. We went to Dorrego Plaza on Sunday with a group of ten people, La Catedral on Tuesday, Confiteria Ideal on Thursday, and Villa Malcolm on Friday and finally topped of the week by going to a night club on Saturday for Lucianna's birthday party. Finally, we crashed and burned on Sunday...lol. I also went to a dinner show for Argentines on Tuesday night at 36 Billardes with Martin Vittone and two of his girlfriends, Heather and Yannina and got to dance with them plus Romina Veron to a live orchestra. We then all met Florencia at La Catedral afterwards and went on dancing there until 5am....lol. Whew! What a week last week. PS- Villa Malcolm had another fantastic live orchestra this last week from San Francisco and they were really great. I danced with Monica, a beautiful Italian red head, who was here visiting from SF with the orchestra. She sat next to Florencia and I, so we invited her into our group. I introduced her to Martin Vittone when he showed up with Heather and Yannina. and he danced with her too. Monica was a lot of fun. She is a great spirit. The orchestra from San Francisco had an Argentine leader who played the guitar, a US American on bass and another US American on bandondeon and accordion both. This last musician would alternate back and forth between bandondeon and accordion for different songs, which was unusual, but it worked well for the classics and nuevo tango both. Needless to say the Argentines were really impressed when they heard him play both instruments well...lol. The two US Americans in this orchestra certainly had a total understanding of Argentine tango. I was really proud of them. The Argentines loved this group and gave it a standing ovation. Dancing to live music all evening yet again at Villa Malcolm was really wonderful. It now seems now that really great Argentine tango orchestras with the neuvo ideas are popping up everywhere, even in the US. I even saw some of the Californians dancing neuvo tango at Villa Malcolm and of course they had been just been taking tango lessons from Andres Amarilla, who had been living and working in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara for the past two months, before joining Meredith recently in Istanbul.. How wonderful. People outside Argentina are finally beginning to get it....lol. The new golden age of tango is happening everywhere...lol. Life in Argentine tango is getting better and better. Good. Derik
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31-Mar-07 01:07 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1635
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Cerda Negra... The orquesta also has 6 dancers who perform with them and one of them is Inez who is 21 years old and now college.... My friend Gabriel and I were hanging out last night at 5 am after dancing tango all night, talking about Cerda Negra at http://www.cerdanegra.com.ar.. He went to high school with them all and is good friends with Inez, who is one of the six dancers performing with the group. Gabriel said that the reason that Derda Negra is not performing right now, so far, or has a CD out, is because all of its members are still high school kids who are still working hard at being students. They all do rehearse everyday, but the rest of the time they are studying. Gabriel says that Inez is also quite busy now working at a new full time job and going to university, so she is not performing much either. Inez is 21 years old and already out of high school. Gabriel said that Inez told him that basically Cerda Negra only performs every once in awhile at special occasions, but mostly it just practices its music every day. I will let you know what happens next when Gabriel finds out more about Cerda Negra's schedule for the future. Sooner or later the orquesta will perform somewhere and maybe even make a CD. The future is very bright for Cerda Negra, so we shall seen what happens next...lol. Derik
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Dear All: Cerda Negra... The orquesta also has 6 dancers who perform with them and one of them is Inez who is 21 years old and now college.... My friend Gabriel and I were hanging out last night at 5 am after dancing tango all night, talking about Cerda Negra at http://www.cerdanegra.com.ar.. He went to high school with them all and is good friends with Inez, who is one of the six dancers performing with the group. Gabriel said that the reason that Derda Negra is not performing right now, so far, or has a CD out, is because all of its members are still high school kids who are still working hard at being students. They all do rehearse everyday, but the rest of the time they are studying. Gabriel says that Inez is also quite busy now working at a new full time job and going to university, so she is not performing much either. Inez is 21 years old and already out of high school. Gabriel said that Inez told him that basically Cerda Negra only performs every once in awhile at special occasions, but mostly it just practices its music every day. I will let you know what happens next when Gabriel finds out more about Cerda Negra's schedule for the future. Sooner or later the orquesta will perform somewhere and maybe even make a CD. The future is very bright for Cerda Negra, so we shall seen what happens next...lol. Derik
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01-Apr-07 09:03 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1636
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar - Orquesta Imperial at http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar is leaving for a two month European Tour this coming Friday, April 6th in France, Italy, etc. This last Thursday, I went to see Orquesta Imperial play again at the 860 Simon Bolivar cafe in San Telmo, and we all had a blast. After the performance from 9pm until 12m, we had an impromptu mini-milonga to CD music at the cafe. I danced tango with Matilda, who plays the bandondeon and her sister Julietta, who came over to watch. Both girls love to dance nuevo tango of course.....lol. Matilda and Julietta are both great dancers. Paulo, who plays bandondeon with Matilda, also danced nuevo tango with some other girls who were there who came to watch the show. Paulo is a very cool guy. We all danced for about an hour or so and had a lot of fun. This coming Thursday is April 5th may be the last night that Orquesta Imperial will play in San Telmo for the next two months, so we may have another impromtu mini-milonga at the cafe again. Entrance is 5 pesos. Life is good....lol. Derik
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Dear All: Tango World Wide Calendar - Orquesta Imperial at http://www.orquestaimperial.com.ar is leaving for a two month European Tour this coming Friday, April 6th in France, Italy, etc. This last Thursday, I went to see Orquesta Imperial play again at the 860 Simon Bolivar cafe in San Telmo, and we all had a blast. After the performance from 9pm until 12m, we had an impromptu mini-milonga to CD music at the cafe. I danced tango with Matilda, who plays the bandondeon and her sister Julietta, who came over to watch. Both girls love to dance nuevo tango of course.....lol. Matilda and Julietta are both great dancers. Paulo, who plays bandondeon with Matilda, also danced nuevo tango with some other girls who were there who came to watch the show. Paulo is a very cool guy. We all danced for about an hour or so and had a lot of fun. This coming Thursday is April 5th may be the last night that Orquesta Imperial will play in San Telmo for the next two months, so we may have another impromtu mini-milonga at the cafe again. Entrance is 5 pesos. Life is good....lol. Derik
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01-Apr-07 05:10 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1637
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Neo Tango from Berkeley, California... I found out the name of the tango trio from San Francisco which played great tango music at Villa Malcolm, when I met Monica, the beautiful Italian red-headed, who came to Buenos Aires with the group. The orchestra is called Trio Garufa and the web site is at: http://www.triogarufa.com/ The dancers in the video are from Berkeley, California where I went to university, and other parts of the West Coast, and there are few from Buenos Aires. Berkeley has had a big nuevo tango scene going on now for some years, called Neo Tango, which is not surprising of course. Berkeley is usually avant garde about most things. The dance system is actually called nuevo tango and it started in Buenos Aires, but I am happy that people are now beginning to get it...lol. Life is good. Derik
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Dear All: Neo Tango from Berkeley, California... I found out the name of the tango trio from San Francisco which played great tango music at Villa Malcolm, when I met Monica, the beautiful Italian red-headed, who came to Buenos Aires with the group. The orchestra is called Trio Garufa and the web site is at: http://www.triogarufa.com/ The dancers in the video are from Berkeley, California where I went to university, and other parts of the West Coast, and there are few from Buenos Aires. Berkeley has had a big nuevo tango scene going on now for some years, called Neo Tango, which is not surprising of course. Berkeley is usually avant garde about most things. The dance system is actually called nuevo tango and it started in Buenos Aires, but I am happy that people are now beginning to get it...lol. Life is good. Derik
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08-Apr-07 08:46 AM USA Central Time Message Number: 1641
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Yet another tango trio played on the big stage at Villa Malcolm this last Friday! Great fun dancing to live music every Friday night. Derik
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Dear All: Yet another tango trio played on the big stage at Villa Malcolm this last Friday! Great fun dancing to live music every Friday night. Derik
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22-Apr-07 04:18 PM USA Central Time Message Number: 1645
Dear Tango world Wide:
Dear All: Maybe it is time for the tango tourists and their teachers back home to learn how to dance tango... Nuevo tango at Dorrego Plaza... Well, it happened again. The tango tourists, their self appointed teachers back home and the parents who learned tango abroad, had to sit down and stop dancing when the really beautiful nuevo tango music was played at Dorrego Plaza last week. Only the nuevo tango dancers were able to dance equally well to ALL OF THE CLASSIC TANGO (open and close embrace)and THE NEWER MUSIC (multiple changing embraces). The grandparents and the grandchildren appreciate nuevo tango, so maybe it is time to learn how to dance...lol. Derik
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Dear All: Maybe it is time for the tango tourists and their teachers back home to learn how to dance tango... Nuevo tango at Dorrego Plaza... Well, it happened again. The tango tourists, their self appointed teachers back home and the parents who learned tango abroad, had to sit down and stop dancing when the really beautiful nuevo tango music was played at Dorrego Plaza last week. Only the nuevo tango dancers were able to dance equally well to ALL OF THE CLASSIC TANGO (open and close embrace)and THE NEWER MUSIC (multiple changing embraces). The grandparents and the grandchildren appreciate nuevo tango, so maybe it is time to learn how to dance...lol. Derik
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