Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Derik,

Sorry I missed you at the cafe on Tuesday night. My Mom had just
been admitted to the ICU after successful heart surgery at St. Luke's.
It was my hope to join you for the stress relief several magic tangos could
provide, but it just didn't end up coming together.

I am more than hopeful I can join your group at another venue later
this week. Being with my Dad non-stop is driving me nuts and I really need
to get some exercise. What is the next best event for me to plan on attending?
I am staying near the Texas Medical Center off Main Street.

I appreciate your help,

Janell Banit

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Janell:

Great to here from you. Sorry that you are going through a lot. Yes,
you are right, Tango is a good cure for stress...lol.

Not much going on tonight in Houston Tango-wise, but I can tell you
that a great place to relax informally in the evenings is a small but poplular
unpscale coffee house not too far anyway from where you are at the Medical Center.
It is called Brazil and is at the corner of Dunlavy and Westheimer, and Dunlavy goes
straight to the Medical center about 2 or 3 miles away.

Brazil always has a lot of world travlers and Tango types visiting
from around the globe. I met some Bosnians there last night and danced Tango there
with a French girl, Claire, from Paris. Sometimes they have impromptu live music and
Tango depending on the musicians that show up. After 9pm the musicians starting coming
into Brazil to jam, play music, and many dancers from the Houston Ballet, which
is nearby, also show up, and we all dance. Come on over tonight if you like. I will
be there hanging out. I will buy you a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and you can
meet the Bosnians...lol.

As far as Tango is concerned there is a huge Tango milonga dance
this coming Sunday evening April 18th at the Orchid Lounge in the Village Shopping
Center near downtown Houston at the corner of Dunstan and Morningside, also
near the Medical Center. It is in the phone book too. Our entire Tango group will
be there Sunday instead of the usual place at Cafe Express on Post Oak.

At the Orchid Lounge we will have a full Tango orchestra from Austin
, Texas on stage "live" and a huge dance floor, so it will be a big deal.
Lots of people. It all starts at 8pm.and goes until 12m or later The cover
charge is $7.00 and there is dinner available and a bar if you like. The Orchid
is setup like a New York dinner club of the old days with booths around the stage
and dance floor. The food is OK, I think.

The orchestra, Tosca is the combination of a jazz piano player who was the
lead jazzman for the Eight and a Half Souvenirs and a classical
quintet (5 girls). The rumor is that he got mad at the record company promoting
his Jazz band and quit. After this, he apparently got into Tango and teamed
up with five beautiful young girls from the University of Texas School of Music
who had a classical quintet and could not find much audience for the classics.
Now the girls have put on their high heels are into doing a Tango orchestra, called
Tosca, which is a mixture of Argentine Tango, jazz, and a bit of Chopin and
Rachmaninoff..lol. The orchestra has a concert pianist, two violins, a cello, and a
base. The jazz man is the leader and he plays accordion with a bandondeon feel. They
are definitely a wild group and are already famous in Argentina. They are semi-neuvo
tango and definitely classical. In short, beautiful music.

Anyway, that is what I know, so far. If I hear of anything else,
Iwill let you know. Hope that you enjoy your stay here in Houston. Looking forward
to dancing Tango with you soon.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com
 
 
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Janelle:

Well, I am here at Brazil Coffe House and Cafe and there is a really
cool band playing. The place is packed but somehow I have great big table,
so I am here hanging out sending you this E-Mail from my 2lb Toshiba Libretto
Win95 palmtop computer using a wireless data connection. Ain't technology fun.
So far no sign of the Bosnians...lol.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear All:

I took these digital photos last Tuesday night at the Angelick Theater
going away party for Marcelo and Analia. As you can see Analia is a fun person..lol.
From left to right there is Lisa, Marcelo, Joan and Analia.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear All:

Jasmine and Tim, changing his shoes, Tuesday night...lol.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com

PS - Jasmine will be going to Buenos Aires for two and one half months
to study Tango at the Camona School where Marcelo and Analia dance. Lucky
Jasmine...

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Vanessa:

La belle Sarah and I are here at Brazil Coffe house listening to
a cool band. We are closing the place down. How are things in Aussie land?

Derik

rri@neosoft.com

PS - Janelle. Lots of dancing going on here... Wish that you could
have made it here. Sarah is a great tanguera and we had others drop in. Stress
releif big time....lol. Hope to see you Sunday.
 
 
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Janelle:

Got you E-Mail this morning. Sorry we missed connections last night,
but will look forward to dancing with you this Sunday at the Orchid for sure.
Have a great Saturday. The weather is perfect. Spring is in the air. I am going out
to have a glass of wine and a light lunch at a sidewalk cafe and people watch today.
Tango tomorrow..

Derik

rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear All:

Below is a picture of Tosca, the Tango Orchestra playing "live" at
the Orchid Lounge in the Rice Village at Dunstan and Morningside tonight at 8pm.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

You are so fortunate to be recipients of Tosca's fine musical performances.
I really enjoyed myself tonight during the milonga at the Orchid Lounge.
Original tango of this calibre is extremely rare and a gift to be treasured.
I regret I was only able to join you for this one evening. You can bet
if I am back in Houston I will look you up. I also expect that if any of
you are in Washington D.C. you will contact me or one of the other Capitol
Tangueros so we can help you find a venue to dance. It was my distinct
privilege to be able to participate in such a memorabe evening of music
and dance.

Janell Banit

jbanit@aol.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 
 

Dear Janell:

Wow! It was a pleasure to meet you and dance with you. Everyone said
"who is that tall beautiful woman in that long silver evening gown....My God,
can she dance the Tango".

Today I am having a problem focusing on my work because I am still
immersed in the music and our many dances of last night. I am so happy that you
came to visit with us. Everyone thought you were wonderful. They really enjoyed
talking with you and dancing with you. Glover Gill, the leader of the Tosca Tango
Orchestra said that he enjoyed meeting you and talking with you too, and he hopes
that you enjoy the CD of their music.

Of course, now all the men in our group want to go to Washington
D.C. to Tango..lol. You are welcome back to dance with us anytime. We will all miss
you here.

Derik

rri@neosoft.com

PS - I myself am going to a big family wedding in Manhatten this
June 5th so hopefully I will be able to come by by Washington on the way up
or back, Maybe there will be another chance to Tango, and by then I will hopefully
be a little better at leading those boleos that you love so much. I will be
working on them this next Tuesday at our practica. I am also going to practice
standing up straighter which can always be better. You did a great job of following
me in all my numerous mistakes and making me look good anyway. Thank you....lol.
Have a good trip back to Washington. Hope to see you again soon...
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Good morning...

Practice tonight at the Houston downtown YMCA health club. A new series of beginner
and intermediate classes begins today at 7:30 - 10:00pm. See you there.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Remember when we were talking about ours days in Santa Barbara? Well, here is
another fun resident of Santa Barbara, California.

My cousins lived in Santa Barbara and I was even in the children's Fiesta Parade
when I was a kid....I still am a kid of course...lol. I wore a big Mexican hat in
the parade and walked with a pony. My mom has a picture somewhere.

Of course, I like Carolina's costume much better. She is from Argentina but now
lives in Santa Barbara. I met her in Austin, Texas when she was dancing in the show
and with all of us at the milonga after the show. She had on a pin striped suit just
like mine so we were twins...(not really...). She is a very nice person and very
down-to-earth. She also has a ballet background just like you, so I guess ballet
does work for Tango in the long run...lol.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

More of Carolina on the back cover. By the way, the CD is fantaatic. Great full
Tango orchestra. A double album and definitely worth it. Two CD's inside.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

My name is Dan Sharp and I am a graduate student in Latin American Studies and Music
at UT Austin. I am in the process of preparing a presentation on the Tango in general,
and the band Tosca in particular, for my ethnomusicology class. I would be very
grateful if some of you dedicated tango enthusiasts could write me regarding how
and why you became interested in the tango and why it is so meaningful to you.

Thank you. I look forward to your responses,

Dan
dan.sharp@mail.utexas.edu

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Derik here just back from a week of Fiesta in San Antonio.... Had a wonderful time.
Was up until 4am last night in black tie at the Fiesta's Queen's Ball at the Menger
Hotel (The Menger Hotel is where President Theodore Roosevelt recruited his famous
Rough Riders in 1898). Danced the night away weith about 3,000 people in the Hotel's
many ballrooms and gardens. Stayed in the Presidnetial suite. Wow! It was a blast.
We did rock n roll with just about all the women dancers in the ballroom ending up on
stage in evening gowns, singing along with the band and the band's lead singer
a black guy, dressed in a superman costume (complete with cape) ...lol. Was fun.
Never dull here in Texas.

Also, met with a tanguera from Manhatten, Mary McFadden, who I think designs clothes.
She just got back from a big wedding in India where some Indian guy married a Russian
and the wedding went on for 10 days. Now that is a wedding...lol. She says that
there is a great Tango group she knows in New York, so I am going to meet up with them
this Jume when I am staying in Manhatten for a family wedding. Should be fun.

Anyway, now that I am back here in Houston, I am heading over to Cafe Express on
Post Oak tonight to Tango at 9pm., of course. I am meeting with a beautiful Russian
named Natasha...naturally, and her girlfriend from Poland to get them started in Tango.
Should be fun. See everyone there.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

PS - We are going to try to get a Tango group going in San Antonio. I was with a
Hungarian girl, Patricia who was recent Miss Fiesta and is now on the boards of many
civic organizations there. She is now playing the Forever Tango CD in her little
white Myata (sp?) sports car while driving around the city and she will be coming to
dance in Houston soon. She will be a great Tango dancer. She is like a workout
queen, runs, bikes,etc. everyday, so I think Tango will suit her just fine...lol.
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Future tanguera from San Antonio...

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Dan:

Welcome to World Tango. Tomorrow at our Tuesday practice I will relay your post to
everyone here in the Houston group and will send E-Mail to others here. Tango is
wonderful and TOSCA is the greatest. We love them. If you need anything, my E-Mail
is rri@neosoft.com.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Well, there was impromtu Tango again this past Wednesday night at Brazil Cafe. I went
over there to work webpages with my palmtop wireless Internet and everyone started
showing up. Greg Harbar and the Gypsies came by to play with Terrence of the Houston
Ballet and his band, Moodafaruka. Also, the wonderful Antoine, the classical bass
musician from Montreal, Canada, played with the group and many of his classmates from
the Rice University Shepherd School of Music came by to offer their support. His
girlfriend Lori and I danced Tango (Antoine met Lori in our Tango group), while a
friend of Lori's from Germany danced Greek dances to the Greek songs. Another fun
evening. Never dull in Houston. We all had a great time. Lots of characters
for sure.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Are you alive and well up there in Washington D.C? Hope everything is going well.
We miss you down here.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Alive and well, but not dancing I'm sorry to say. Been very busy with some business and legal issues and have not had any time to tango. I will probably not get to dance for another week :(

Hope all Houston tangueros are getting their fill.

Janell

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janell:

Sorry to hear that you have not been able to dance recently and that you are having
to deal with so much stuff. Down here we can never dance Tango enough, as you might
expect...lol.

Our next session is tomorrow at Cafe Express on Post Oak at 9pm. Wish that
you could be here to dance with us. We would take you away and dance until the early
hours of the morning.

On Easter Sunday a few weeks ago, Cafe Express closed early at 6pm and turned off
the air conditioning. The management thought that our hard core dancers (about twenty
of us in the late hours) would leave, but we didn't..lol. We just kept going even in
the heat (actually it was steamy and kind of fun. Perfect for Tango). Finally at
about midnight the managemnet had to send over the security guard to lock up. Most
of us had to go to work Monday morning, but we just could not stop...lol. Tango is
soooo good for the soul somehow. We were all very happy.

All of us here in Houston really hope that you will be able to dance again soon. You
are such a wonderful dancer. I cannot tell you how terrific I felt the next day at
work after dancing with you. You were fantastic. The best. Have a great weekend.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Gasan and Judith in Dallas:

Sending you two men who want to Tango with the Dallas group. The first guy is Brad
Chisom from San Antonio who is at SMU. The second guy is Charles Ward from Houston,
California, Hawaii who is in the television and media business in Dallas. I saw Brad
at Fiesta week in San Antonio and Charles came by to see us Tango last night at Cafe
Express. You should be hearing from both of them very soon.

Dear Janelle:

Wish I could send a guy to Washington D.C. for you too...lol. Today I met a very
nice girl named Heather who is sending her friends here in Houston to our Tango
group here. She also wants to Tango, but she is now living in Washington D.C. You
may be hearing from her soon. I told her that you would know all about the Tango
scene in Washington. Next time I will send a guy. I promise...lol. Heather, if you
are out there, please say Hi.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

I would be more than happy to acquaint Heather with the Washington, D.C. tango scene! If she calls I'll help her find a good teacher and introduce her to our most gentle and accomplished leaders. We are always looking for additions to our committed troupe of tangueros.

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Sounds great. Thank you for the offer of help for Heather in Washington D.C.
Hopefully she will see your post and Send you an E-Mail.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

PS - Would you believe that I have just spent about an hour just listening to the
CD of Tosca's tango music this afternoon? They are such incredible musicians. They
really took me away into another world. I am feeling great.

I had a crazy morning dealing with a bunch of programming problems, so finally I got
them fixed, rewarded myself with a big Rocky Mountain Speckled Trout for lunch,
enjoyed a few glasses of red wine, put on my Sony walkman earphones, laid out in the
sun, and forgot it all. Nothing like a "Tango cure"...lol. Works everytime.
Life is wonderful... Hope things are going better for you too.
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Well... Here we go again...lol.

Next weekend, May 14th we are having another big milonga on Friday and a Tango
weekend here in Houston Saturday and Sunday with Susana Miller, a native of Buenos
Aires, who will be flying in to teach us the "close embrace" milongero style of tango
which is popular in Buenos Aires. It is preferred because the tango clubs are packed
with many people on the dance floor. We will all learn how to dance in a style which
is very close and very intimate. The details are below:

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

An Argentine tango Weekend

with
Susana Miller

Argentine Tango Workshop and
3rd Anniversary Dance Party
Friday, May 14, 7–11pm, $12 at the door
West End Multi-Service Center, 170 Heights Blvd. near I-10
(Workshop 7-9pm, Milonga 9-11pm)

Argentine Tango Workshops
Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and May 16, 1:00–5:30pm
Barbara King Houston Center of Dance
5700 S. Rice Avenue at Glenmont

Susana Miller specializes in teaching the Milonguero, or "close embrace" style,
which is danced in the crowded clubs of Buenos Aires. While apparently very
simple, the Milonguero style is a rich and complex form of body signals that
incorporates deep respect for the music and its varied rhythms. The result is a form
of tango that allows for simplicity of steps while encouraging a natural connection
between the dancers. Susana will help participants improve their posture,
grounding, breathing, balance, and sensitivity to the lead and follow roles. Her
philosophy is one of helping dancers to develop unique improvisational styles
through intimate knowledge of music, body and space. She emphasizes step and
rhythm quality rather than predetermined patterns. Many dancers say that Susana
gave them the thing that was missing from their dance. Susana is a native of
Buenos Aires and has been dancing and teaching tango for twelve years. She
founded and directs her own tango academy in Buenos Aires, and she works with
dancers of all skill levels and interests.
 
 

The weekend workshops are designed for a mix of beginning and intermediate dancers. The workshops will cover basic skills and more
advanced techniques with refreshing innovations direct from the tango salons of Buenos Aires. Because of the many interesting teaching
techniques introduced, and the well established value of repetition, we strongly encourage all dancers to register for the entire weekend.
Partners are not required. Argentine tango is a social dance, and we always encourage all dancers to practice with many different partners.

Susana Miller is also available for private lessons from Friday, May 14 through Tuesday, May 18. The price for private instruction is $60/hr for
single students and $80/hr for a couple (plus studio rental). To schedule, please contact Lisa Ellison at 713-652-6227(w),
, or Lester Buck at 281-335-4428(w) or
713-665-2258(h), .

TANGO REGISTRATION FORM

Please use one form per person (no refunds).

Saturday workshop: 40 4 hours of instruction

Sunday workshop: 40 4 hours of instruction

All workshops discounted: 70 8 hours of instruction

Amount included in the enclosed check: $___ (Full time student discount: 50%)
 
 

Name:__________________________ Home ph#:____________________ Work ph#:____________________

Address:__________________________________________________________

City:____________________________ State:_____ Zip:________ E-mail:_____________________________

Prepaid tickets will be held at the door. Mail form & payment to: Houston Argentine Tango Association, 3618 Glen Haven, Houston, TX
77025-1308. Workshops fill on a first paid, first confirmed basis, and space is limited, so
pre-registration is highly recommended. Please mail registrations by Wed, May 12; otherwise, register at the door.
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Below is a photo of Susana Miller

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Whoops....

Click on the "Full Sized Pictue of Sender" to see Susana as a tall
person..lol.

Also, to see a full sized picture and registration form try the link below:

Susana Miller Tango Registration Form

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Trying again...

Susana Miller Tango Registration Form

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Boy are you in for a treat!! Susanna is amazing and has a wonderful way of communicating how the energy of the dance should flow from the body. Any of you who are serious about improving your dancing quickly should consider taking private instruction with her. And just a tip, if you take a workshop with her, never fold your arms across your chest. She will scold you for closing your energy. My favorite piece of advice from Susanna to followers was, "Be his shirt!" My friends and I have had great fun reminding eachother of this simple exhortation. Enjoy her time with you.

Janell

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Ah. Hah! So that is where you learned to dance like that...lol You are a great tango
dancer, and now I know partly why. You were my shirt when you danced with me and I
will, of course, never forget it...lol. Now I am really looking forward to learning
from Susana next week. She sounds terrific.

Tonight is Tango night at Cafe Express. Wish you could be here. Thank you for
telling us about Susana. We are really looking forward to seeing her this next
weekend starting at the milonga on Friday. I will try to post some digital pictures
here of our experiences.

Hope things are going well for you up in Washington and that you are going to be able
to dance tango this week. I will keep you posted on all the events down here with
Susana, and I am going to practice keeping my energy open and my arms uncrossed, so
I can stay out of trouble...lol.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

I would like to come to a session of tango. I love to dance but I have never joined a tango group or am a seasoned tango dancer. What' going on in Houston?
Thanks
Bettye124@aol.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Bettye:

Welcome to World Tango. It was a pleasure to talk with you yesterday on the phone.
Hope that you got your phone call to Chicago through all right. I have forwarded
your E-Mail address to Lester Buck at the Houston Argentine Tango Association and he
is adding you to our automatic E-Mail notification list for all our Houston people.
It will alert your to all of our events here in Houston. You should be getting a
"welcome" message soon.

Our next big event is this Friday, a "milonga" dance party on Heights Blvd. You
should be able to dance Tango on your first night. All you have to do is find a
strong leader and we have a few. Lester and I will both be there to help out and get
you started. Just ask for either of us when you arrive. The complete info is above
and some of it is below:

An Argentine tango Weekend in Houston

with
Susana Miller

Argentine Tango Workshop and
3rd Anniversary Dance Party
Friday, May 14, 7–11pm, $12 at the door
West End Multi-Service Center, 170 Heights Blvd. near I-10
(Workshop 7-9pm, Milonga 9-11pm)

Argentine Tango Workshops
Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and May 16, 1:00–5:30pm
Barbara King Houston Center of Dance
5700 S. Rice Avenue at Glenmont

For reservations contact:

Lester Buck at 281-335-4428(w) or 713-665-2258(h)

We also dance EVERY SUNDAY and EVERY TUESDAY of EVERY WEEK at Cafe Express on Post
Oak in the mall next door from 9:00-11:30pm FREE! and at the YMCA Health Club in
Downtown Houston from 7:30pm-10:00pm for $5.00 each time (lessons included). In
addition, we contantly have Tango events here in Houston, in Austin and Dallas, so
there is basically something going on almost every other week. Also the Austin and
Dallas groups have regular dancing every week. Their web page links are on the
World Tango home page. And if that is not enough, you can also go to Washington D.C.
and Janelle will get you dancing up there, right Janelle?

We also have tangueros and tangueras here from Amsterdam (Kim where did you go? Are
you still in a Tango crisis?), Sydney. Australia (Vaneesa how is your tango group
doing down there? Any progress?), Brussels, Belgium (George, how was your trip to
Buenos Aires? Have you found Kim yet in that Tango coffee house/cyber cafe in
Amsterdam? Are you two dancing?), Buenos Aires (Jasmine, how do you like it down
there? Are you dancing a lot with Ernesto and Norma, Marcelo and Analia. It
sounds like you have found a great place to stay while you are there from your E-Mail.
Does Ernesto still have that TOSCA CD I gave him? Does he every play it in his
studio as a sample of "Texas" Nuevo Tango original music scoring? He seemed to like
having some tango music from Texas...lol.)

Anyway, Bettye, welcome to our group. As you can see, we are all addicted to tango
...lol. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janell,

My name is Ron Jones, and I am with the Houston Tango group.

I talked to Derik just to see if I might contact you. I am going to be in
Washington D.C. from June 2 to June 6 (tentatively) and was hoping you could
fill me in on the tango possibilities for that weekend. The D.C. web page is a
little out of date. Plus I figure that someone who lives there should know
the better places in town.

Hope to hear from you soon.

--Ron Jones

rejones@uh.edu

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

See, I am sending you a guy this time and best of all Ron is a stong leader. Hope
that you guys have fun up there in Washington D.C.

I do not know whatever happen to Heather. I guess that she will send you an E-Mail
when she is ready to Tango.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Heather:

I do not have your fountain pen...lol. The waitresses over at Avalon Diner told me
that you lost it and thought that I might have it by mistake. I used my own pen to
write down Janelle's E-Mail address, so I did not use yours I hope. Maybe look at
the ink and you can tell. My pen writes in black ink. I bet yours writes in blue.
Anyway, I hope that you find your pen OK. Let me know if I can do anything to help
you remember where it is. I will be here if you need me. Hope that you have a
wonderful time tangoing in Washington D.C.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Well... tonight we are all going over to Brazil Coffee House and Cafe for an evening
of "live" music from all over the World, provided by Terrence Carnes of the Houston
Ballet and his band Moodafaruka and Gregg and Marianne Harbar of The Gypsies. We
ARE GOING TO TANGO!!! OF COURSE as Marianne plays her violin Hungarian Rapsodies etc.
etc. and tango music. I think Antonione and Lori, Ron and Dana, myself, Sarah and
many others from our tango group will be there relaxing and dancing.

It all starts at 9pm with Indian Sitar music and then moves right on into Greek dances,
Romanian dances (Dana is Romanian), tangos etc. etc. Should be going great guns by
about 10:00pm on. Hope to see everyone there. Never dull in Houston...

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Well, yours truly is on "web time" which means "anytime". I fell asleep Wednesday
evening working on a website for a company in California and did not wake up until
11:30pm, so I missed all the Romanians that came with Dana to Cafe Brazil. Greg said
that they all were singing Romanian songs with the band and dancing Tango of course.
By the time I got there at midnight, the Romanians had just left, (sorry Dana...will
make it next time...see you tonight at tango. Ron, hope you made it over there too)
but, another round of music and dancing had already begun.

Turlock from Ireland showed up and was playing faster Irish folk songs with the band,
and Mary Anne was going full blast on her violin. Chris and Kelly from the Houston
Ballet were there dancing to the music. Then we all launched into some wonderful
French songs "a la Edith Piaf" etc. etc. Needless to say, the evening was not dull
even though I missed the first half. We went on until about 2:00 am of course...lol.
There are some advantages to being on "web time", like I can sleep late if I have too.

Anyway, tonight, Friday at 7:00pm we will all be over at 170 Heights Boulevard,
between Washington Street and I-10 Freeway for our big "milonga". Hope to see
everyone there. I will try to take some digital pictures, but if I do not it will be
because I am too busy dancing...lol. See you soon.
 

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

I finally got the World Tango Chat Archives working. Just click on item below:

Tango Discussion Archive

or look for Tango Discussion Archives at the top or bottom of each web page.
The archives go all the way back to the beginning of the World Tango Chat.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

We are having a wonderful time with Susana Miller learning the "milongero", close
embrace style tango as danced in the clubs in Buenos Aires. The dance workshop was
packed yesterday. Lots of fun. Going back again today at 1:00pm today Sunday.

"Chico! Mira!" (sp?) "Chicks! Watch me!" My favorite Susana instruction...lol.

Derik (who is keeping his arms unfolded down at his side, his chest out and his
energy open...lol.)
rri@neosoft.com
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

I hope my Spanish is right...lol. I think she meant it for the girls ("chicks").

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Been working hard on web pages trying to catch up on my business life...lol. BUT!
Guess what? This evening, Tuesday, Susana Miller is teaching from 7:30-8:30pm at
the downtown YMCA here in Houston for the regular $5.00 fee for our "practica" which is
from 7:30pm to 10:00pm, so I am going to learn more tango close dancing "milongero"
style. It is very different from regular Tango and definitely worth learning,
because it is THE ONLY WAY POSSIBLE to dance socially in the crowded tango clubs in
Buenos Aires. If you do not know how, you will not be able to dance at all except in
someone's home. In the clubs you will be asked to leave if you bump into other
people, so it is very important to know what to do.

Derik (who bumps into people all the time just like Georges from Belgium...lol.)
rri@neosoft.com

PS - Tomorrow, Wednesday is another big impromtu Tango night at Cafe Brazil at
Westheimer and Dunlavy starting at about 9:30pm-10pm until 2am.
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Just back from Brazil Cafe. The "live" music was great. Danced Tango with Brenda,
a new tanguera, who will now be coming to dance with our tango group. The Bosnians
were there...lol. They said hi!

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

PS - I think I finally got the idea of the close embrace "milongero" tango from Susana
Miller. Want to practice with you. Hope you have been dancing.

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hi All,

Sorry to have been out of touch for awhile. Ron, I will research your dates and let you know what we have coming up. My greatest regret is that you will miss my favorite venue Diversite, a club in downtown Washington that plays only tango on Monday nights. We have other venues on other nights of the week, but that one has a special ambiance about it.

I'll be in touch once I have more specific information for you. Looking forward to seeing you when you arrive. If you want to contact me directly, please e-mail me at Jbanit@aol.com

Happy Dancing,
Janell

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Thanks for answering Ron's post. I will see him tonight at Cafe Express and let him
know that you said hello here with info on Washington. The Monday night tango event
sounds great. What is it like?

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

PS - I have some digital pictures of Susana Miller which I took while she was
teaching us here in Houston and will be posting them when I get a chance. We all had
a great time. She is fun. I can see why you liked her.
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janell,

Thanks a lot for all of your help. Yes, those days are now my official
travel days. I fly in on June 2 in the afternoon and leave on
June 6 at the ungodly hour of 6:15 am.

I'll be visiting relatives, but I should have Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday nights free ( and maybe Wednesday night ) for
entertainment and tango.

I look forward to meeting you and sharing a few dances. Maybe I can
get some of my relatives to join me so they can learn how wonderful tango
is.

--Ron

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Still dancing down here in Houston. It has been a wild week. Went to the opening
night of the Houston Ballet, on Thursday, where my family hosted a reception for the
dancers. Naturally, I found more tango enthusiasts among the corps de ballet.
Cameron Smith, a soloist in the new ballet "Rules of the Game", and Julie Gumbinner,
a principal both said that they want to come to tango with us at Cafe Express on
their day off, which is Sunday. They are both full time professional dancers,
but they want to tango...lol.

Also, I was invited to a fashion show by a model who I have worked with on film
projects before and I met a belly dancer in the show who is encouraging her entire
belly dancing school to come to tango. She and two other dancers, dance at the
Mausoleum at 411 Westheimer, every Tuesday evening at 10:00pm (right after our tango
practice is over at the downtown YMCA 7:30-10:00pm) Her name is Vicki, and she is
good...not too overt, very subtle, very slender, great isolation, the best I have
ever seen (definitely a dancer's dancer). I introduced her to Terrence Carnes, a
teacher of "character dancing" at the Houston Ballet and now he is talking to her
about a dance project. With these new additions, hopefully our tango group will
become even more interesting...lol. Never dull here in Houston.

Also, as if this all were not enough, this Friday I am flying up to New York
(Manhattan and Long Island) for a family wedding this weekend. I did a web page for
Peter Duchin, whose orchestra will be playing at the wedding, so I am going to ask
him if he knows any tangos. I bet he does...lol.

Hopefully I will find time to tango in New York on Sunday also with the tango group
that Mary McFadden, the dress designer, said would be interesting. I would imagine
that designers would know "where to tango" in Mahatten...lol. We shall see if the
energy for all this is there...lol. After all "that", I thought that I might sleep
in on Monday and....

Que passa in Washington D.C. on Monday evening? Your favorite venue, Diversite,
sounds like a club I went to years ago with a group of writers from New York, doing
a book on the "founding of the CIA". The CIA people we were with, took us there. It
was a sleepy club a la the 1930's with all these very strange but very interesting
types all sitting around a dance floor at small tables with Rudolfo Valentino slicked
back hair, and the women in long gowns. The club looked a lot like the one in the
film "Cabaret". I loved it. What a trip...lol.

I thought that I might try out the new high speed AMTRAK train from Manhattan to
Washington on Monday afternoon (get some sleep) and then take a taxi to Diversite that
evening for tango. Hopefully the club is near Union Station and I can get there
easily. Do you have any information about the location etc.?

I am hoping to dance tango with you this next Monday if Ron has not already worn you
out while he is visiting this week...lol. I spoke with him last night at Cafe Express
and he says that he is definitely coming up.

Hopefully, I will be much improved in the "milongero style tango" as taught by Susana
Miller, from when I saw you last, so maybe I will dance better...lol. Do you know
what time the club opens etc? Looking forward to seeing you and dancing with you
soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com (who is trying to do webpages for a living, but is out dancing...lol)
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Ron:

Have a good flight up to Washington D.C. Say hello to Janelle for me. Will be here
on the web page druing this weekend when I am in New York. Tango until you drop...lol.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Cameron:

Looing forward to seeing you at Tango at Cafe Express when I get back from New York.
Found this photo of you the other day in 002 Magazine. You look great.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Ron and I will be here on this web page while we are traveling just in case we have
trouble getting our E-Mail on the road. We can always get to a friend's computer
and pul up this web page. I will be in New York and he will be in Washington D.C.
Have fun dancing tango...

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hi Derik,

I am trying to get back in touch with you, having been on the road. I couldn't
send a post while I was in Washington D.C., since my relatives did not have
the necessary access to the internet. I hope you are able to read this while
you are on the road. I know that with all your hi-tech gizmos, this
shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, I just got back from D.C. and boy are they ever good. I went to a
Friday night milonga at the Du-Shor dance studio. The instructor, Isodoro,
(sp?) was having a birthday and danced with all of the women there. He was
very good, very Argentine. He used short figures with nothing too
extravagent, and he always danced at the level of his partner. Hmm...when
does my birthday roll around?

Unfortunately, I did not meet Janelle there, but I'm sure you'll
see her if you go to Diversite on Monday. Be prepared
for some high-quality tango. Meanwhile, I'm going to Cafe Express tonight.
Keep us updated.

--Ron
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Ron:

I am here in Mahatten staying at the Union Club at 69th and Park Avenue, recovering
from the wedding...lol. It was wild and I videotaped it all with my pocket digital
videocamcorder. We had the rehearsal dinner here at the Union Club on Friday after
flying in from Houston and a cocktail party at a high rise, then on Saturday we went
to a wonderful little French cafe called Ma Petite Cafe at Lexington and 63rd for
breakfast(cafe au lait and croissants)--which is run by a beautfiful French girl from
Emillion district of France--we spoe a lot of French, then we all doned black tie
tuxedos and boarded three buses for the ride out to Locust Valley, Long Island and
the wedding itself....drinking Marguaritas all the way.

The wedding was in a private home and we took golf carts from the house down to the
tents that were set up for the ceremony and the dance in the backyard down the hill.
For the wedding we heard a full symphony orchestra hired for the occassion...lol...
and then we all danced the night away to the Peter Duchin Orchestra. I did Peter's
webpage a few years ago, so I asked him if he knew any tangos, and of course he didn't
...lol. Anyway, we did not tango, but we had a great time. There were people there
from all over the world.

Tonight I am going to tango in New York and I will give you a report. Also, tomorrow,
I will be taking the new Amtrak high speed train down to Washington D.C. to dance
tango at Diversite Monday evening. Will give you an update here on this webpage as
I travel.

I am sorry that you could not find Janelle, but it sounds like you had a blast anyway.
I cannot wait to see the tango scene in Washington. I am glad that they are great.
Hopefully I will learn something and not embarrass myself...lol. Please say hello
to evenyone in Houston at Cafe Express for me and have fun dancing. I maybe back on
Tuesday, but I will have to see how it goes. I am having a great time. See you soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

Derik here in New York City. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Diversite.
Will be coming in on the new high spped train and I assume into Union Station in
downtown D.C. Can you tell me what time things start? I will call the club on my
cell phone from the train so I can get directions etc. Will be here on the
Internet and my cell phone will ring me direct if you call my Houston office at
713-522-0888. If you let it ring many times the call will go right through and find
me. See you soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Wow! Just had a fantastic time at tango here in Manhattan. I danced for 3 hours.
Beautiful women everywhere and the men are great dancers with mucho style and grace,
and they were really nice guys who really knew how to dance and have some fun.
Everyone had a wonderful time.

On Sunday there is a practica in a dance studio right on Columbus Circle on the West
side, nearby Lincoln Center, very convenient at 1845 Broadway at 61st Street. I went
up a flight of stairs to the second floor and there was a nice small group just about
the same size as we have at Cafe Express on Sundays and they were all dancing to
CD's on a good stereo system. I paid $10.00 at the desk and went straight to the
coffee and cookies and potato chips that were included, in a small room off to the
side of the dance floor.

Everyone was very friendly and nice, just like in Houston. I danced with about 10
wonderful women who are all addicted to tango just like us...lol. We had a blast!
The men were very good leaders and they were fun. They loved to show everyone their
style of dance and the women were great followers. The women even made me look good.
..and one of the women, a beautiful dancer, even told me that I was a good dancer.
Boy, was that good for my ego...lol.

Also at the very last minute at the very end, two girls blew into town from Seattle
and one of them had her tango shoes in a plastic bag. She strapped them on as fast
as she could and we danced tango for the last few songs. She was a great dancer and
she said that she just had to tango in New York before she went back home ...lol.
She also said that we are all welcome in Seattle anytime.

I also met a a girl from Maryland and North Carolina, another from New York, and
even ran into a guy who dances in Forever Tango on Broadway with Carolina and Diego.
His name is Leonardo Suarez-Paz and he was dancing with a beautiful partner for the
first time. He reminded me a lot of Ernesto Carmona in his style...great footwork.
He also knows Sandor and all the other people in the cast. We talked afterwards and
he said that he is into tango and he is a jazz musician too. I told him about Tosca
and their Austin, Texas, Neuvo tango orchestra with a classical and jazz flavor, and
now he wants to come visit us in Texas. I told him that maybe he could come visit
and maybe also teach us some tango etc., so we may be seeing him soon. I will give
his E-Mail address to Lester and we will see what happens...lol.

Anyway, I must say that New York is a wonderful place to tango and the people are
very friendly and as nice as can be. I asked the girl from Maryland about the
situation here and she said that it is possible to tango every night in Manhattan,
and the best night is probably Monday. Everyone asked if I was going to come
the next evening, for the big event, but I said that I was planning on going to
Diversite in Washington D.C., so I guess I will miss Tango Monday in New York, but
I will try it the next time I am here.

I gave everyone this webpage address and told them to say hello to us here if they
have a chance, so hopefully some will appear soon. I also told everyone that they
are welcome to come down to Houston anytime to tango with us anytime. Soon we may
see some messages here from New York, so we all can ask questions about the Tango
activities in Manhattan.

Well, I am wound up from a lot of coffee and tango, but I am going to try to get
some sleep tonight so I will be ready for Diversite in Washington tomorrow. Will
be here on this webpage talking about that tomorrow. I am having a great time
dancing tango as I travel. I highly recommend it...lol. See everyone tomorrow.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

PS - Janelle, see you soon...
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Derik,

Hey Derik, how could you meet a beautiful French girl and forget to give
her my phone number? Just kidding. It looks like you're having a great
time in NYC dancing the tango and spreading the word about the Houston Tango
scene.

We had a good turn-out at Cafe Express last night. It looks like Pat
Dickerson will be going to Albuquerque soon on a business trip, and
I let her know all I know about tango there. Also, someone, I think
it was Lydia, is going to be in NYC soon for a tango visit. I told her
about how knowledgeable a contact you now are on NYC. Maybe you can
give her some good suggestions.

Enjoy Diversite tonight. Hope you don't get caught off guard.

--Ron

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hello
I am new to Houston and am looking for a place to take Tango lessons:
at the intro level

Any information you provide will be appreciated.

Thanks
Dr. Ryan
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hello Derik and Ron,

I must have the worst timing in the world. The weekend Ron was here, I was in Brooklyn (not tangoing). Now, when Derik comes to my favorite venue I am also no where to be found. Unfortuately, that is what happens now and then. I still got the full story on you though Derik. Gossip travels fast amongst tangueros. I heard you had a wonderful time and danced with nearly every woman in the place! You had the full benefit of our regular group. The folks there last night were our hard core tangueros. I am very sorry not to have been able to join you. I know my compatriots danced you hard enough that you didn't really miss me. I am sure we'll bump into eachother again, probably someplace neither of us lives!! Have a safe trip home.

Janell

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

I am Anne-Sophie from Washington DC, and yesterday at the milonga I met with Derik.
He gave me the site so here I am for a chat.
I want to send a special "bonjour" to Gearges Crauser. I am actually from Belgium and will be going there in August to visit my family. So hopefully we can get in touch and maybe meet and go and dance. I heard from Derik that you just spent 3 months in BsAs.... lucky you!

Hope to hear from you soon

anso
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Janelle:

I did miss you a lot and I want to dance tango with you again somehow somewhere soon,
but you are right I had the most wonderful time. I danced and danced and danced.
Everyone was so wonderful to me, Dave and especially all the women who tolerated my
my leads and made me look good anyway...lol. I am looking forward to coming to visit
again as soon as I can..lol. I especially loved hearing about the plans for the
dinner and tango dance coming up soon at the Argentine Embassy in Washington D.C.
and maybe the Texas Tango Orchestra "Tosca" coming up in the future to play for your
tango group. It all makes me want to join the Capital Tangueros and live in
Washington...lol.

Would you believe that I got back into Houston this last night, Wednesday, and then
went directly over to the Brazil Cafe for more "impromptu" tango to "live" music by
Terrence Carnes, Greg Harbar and the Gypsies until 2am. I am so addicted...lol.

Camelia, who is Romanian, and I danced several tangos and then she did a Romanian
Gypsy dance with me (on the latter dance, I mostly just stood there on the dance
floor and watched her in awe as she danced around me...lol.) Then, Vickie (Victoria),
the wonderful belly dancer that I met a few weeks ago at a fashion show, came out to
join us (she is half Dutch and half Spanish) She did an incredible belly dance with
Terrence, who teaches at the Houston Ballet. Terrence played the drums for her and
he danced around her too (much better than I did...lol). It was wild. Then after
that Greg and his wife, Mary Ann, who plays the violin, and the orchestra launched
into some beautiful French waltzes a la Pigalle (sp?) and we all waltzed. Is was an
incredible time. I could not believe it. Wow! What a week...lol.

After all the dancing, Antoine from Montreal, the virtuoso base player who plays with
the Gypsies and is also on music scholarship at the Rice University Shepherd School
of Music, came over and showed me his latest incredible musical passion. ANTOINE
HAS A REAL 1920'S GERMAN MADE BANDONDEON!!! It is beautiful and he is learning how
to play it. Wow! We are going to have a bandondeon in the Gypsy orchestra in a
few months. He purchased it in Montreal from an bandondeon player in one of the
original famous Argentine orchestras from the 1920's, so it is the real thing with
a history as well as a beautiful sound. He said that he could not believe his luck.

Well, this morning, I am finally back at my laptop computer, working on my business,
doing web pages for a living, but thinking about Tango...lol. (Believe it or not, I
actually may have found a new webpage client from all the dancing last night, a new
television station channel 24 here in Houston, so last night was productive too...)

I just want to thank you and all the Capitol Tangueros again for a wonderful time.
Please come down to Houston to dance with us anytime, and Janelle, I am looking
forward to our next Tango, somewhere in the world. I hope it is very soon.
My best to all.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Anne Sophie:

Wonderful to see you here in our tango chat room. I loved dancing with you Monday
evening in Washington D.C. at Diversite. You are a beautiful woman and a great
dancer and if I was in Washington I would definitely being taking many tango lessons
from you. I know that you must be a fantastic tango teacher.

I just got back to Houston last night and am now working on my computer, so I will
be sending Georges Crauser an E-Mail to tell him that he is so lucky that a beautiful
tanguera from Belgium will be coming to see him in Belgium this summer. I will tell
him to come here on this web page to say hello and also to send you a private E-Mail
as well. I know that you two will have a wonderful time dancing tango in Europe in
August. Please do give us a full report and tell us if Georges has learned anything
new in his style from his recent time in Buenos Aires. He is a great dancer and I
bet that he is even better now that he has been in Argentina.

Thank you for a wonderful time in Washington D.C. Please come to Houston anytime to
visit us. Janelle will tell you that we are a fun group too, just like all the
Capitol tangueros, and we love to have visitors..lol. Have a wonderful week and
please feel free to join us here anytime for conversation. We will all be here, and
we would love to hear all the latest news of tango in Washington D.C.

Derik
rri@neosoft.co
 
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Ron:

Wow! I had a fantastic time in Washington D.C. Diversite was a blast. Janelle was
right! It is a great place to dance tango. I will show you a video I took there
this Sunday when we all meet a Cafe Express. I have a short video of the dancing and
a hello video from Anne Sophie to Georges in Belgium.

God, we were all at Brazil Cafe last night, Camelia, Victoria, and Juliette. We
needed another man there, but I was OK...lol. Never dull in Houston. See you soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

last night and it was a wild time. Wish that you could have made that one..lol.

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Ron:

I forgot, Susan from Washington D.C. said hello and she said that you were a great
dancer. The video I have is of her and her partner dancing at Diversite.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Dr. Ryan:

Tonight there are begginer tango lessons with our group at the downtown YMCA Health
Club in Houston, located on Louisiana Street at Leeland, just 3 blocks south of the
Hyatt Regency Hotel. Just ask at the front desk for directions to the activities
room. Classes are from 7:30pm to 8:30pm followed by a general "practica" from
8:30pm to 10:00pm. We will all be there. Please come join us. It is open to the
public and only cost $5.00. We are a non-profit organization. See you there.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

I own BackStage Dancewear & Gifts in Webster, Texas. BackStage is a full line dancewear shop designed to meet the needs of all forms of dance in the greater Houston Area. Most recently, I have introduced ballroom competition and practice shoes in a variety of styles.. I have swing skirts and dresses, long, full skirts and poodle skirts. Men's shoes will soon be in stock as well as the black/white suede sole jazz shoe for men and women.
This is in addition to a wide variety of dancewear for ballet, tap, jazz, cheer, drill, ice skating and gymnastics. We offer clothing, shoes, accessories and gift items from a large number of suppliers.

I have a frequent buyer card for tights and shoes. Please let your members know about BackStage. I will be glad to carry any items your students may need. Discounts are available for group orders.

How can I get listed as a "resoure" for members? Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Joy Merchant
17170 Mill Forest
Webster, Texas 77598
(281) 286-9894

DIRECTIONS TO BACKSTAGE:
Take I-45 South to Bay Area Blvd. Go East to Highway 3, turn right. Go to Medical Center Blvd, turn left and go over the RR tracks. Mill Forest is the first street and it only goes left. We are near the end on the left. Look for red curtain on the sign and door.

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

I am here in San Francisco all this week working on E-Commerce websites
and dancing tango. Having a wonderful time each day, sitting outside on
a cliff near the Marina District overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge from
an old military base, now turned into a state park. There are about 50
acres of wooded trails here and great grass lawns. It is incredibly
beautiful and peaceful especially at sunset, with the wind blowing
through the giant trees. I am using my laptop and wireless data modem
(GTE is the mobile system here from Berkeley to SF all the way own to
Silicon Valley and I am helping them test their system while I am
working on websites. It is not quite as updated as the data system in
Houston, but it works well enough for me.)

The area where I am working now is called the Marina District. It has
a small marina for sailboats and lots of nice homes and restaurants etc.
The whole area here is a bit like Montrose in Houston, only much more
scenic and more upscale. It is where all the people who work here in
the City try to live if they can afford it. Rents are like Manhatten...lol.

Thursday night I went out with David, who is a relative who lives here.
He is in the E-Commerce business here in SF with InterShop and
Compaq is one of his biggest clients. We had a blast. He took me to
a great Chinese restaurant called the Beetle Nut (a chinese nut which turns
your teeth green when you chew it and is also a drug...lol) a place which the
tourists do not know about yet. The bartender's name at the Beetle Nut
is also Rawson, so we had a good conversation about that...lol. Also we
went to some other restaurants next door owned by the Getty boys (Getty Oil).

All of the restaurants and bars in the Marina District are packed with people
having a good time. The atmosphere here very much reminds me of the French
Quarter in New Orleans....lots of fun....people popping in an out of restaurants
and bars all up an down the street. The residents here are very friendly and are
here from all over the world. Great fun.

Also, since I have been working on my laptop in restaurants especially
at lunch, people here have been coming up to me all the time to ask
about my wireless data modem and my Toshiba palmtop Win 95 machine.
They seemed to be amazed that I am working on websites "live" on the Net
without wires. I am kind of surprised that they have not seen this
equipment from Japan here, since San Francisco is supposedly the
computer capital of the world, but apparently this technology is still rather
new here too...lol.

Also, even when I was down in Silicon Valley they were not as advanced
in their day-to-day networks. In Silicon Valley apparently they cannot hire
enough good people to do the basic installation of the cell phone system,
because no one here will work for the low wages that are paid, especially
since the high tech software jobs out here pay much more....lol.

Also some companies are very advanced in E-Commerce here, but many
are still not up-to-date because they are having a difficult time finding enough
people to do the E-Commerce programming. I have already gotten two new
webpage clients here by just working on my laptop at a Starbucks and at local
restaurants. I am being asked for my business card just about every minute or
two...lol. I guess I will have a bunch of San Francisco clients now, which is
great, because then I can tango out here. Also, was in Sunnyvale yesterday
down in Silicon Valley and have a client there now.. It is a small world ..lol.
Life is good..

*****
ANYWAY...About tango here in San Francisco, which is the real reason that
I am here...lol.....

THURSDAY...July 2nd..

I had a wonderful time dancing tango last night. I received an E-Mail
from a very nice woman named Katherine Kwan from the Tango-L mailing
list and she suggested that I try the Monte Christo on Thursday night
(last night). I did and it was very nice.

The Monte Christo is a wonderful little tango hall upstairs on the
second floor of a little restaurant in a brownstone on a remote hill top street
overlooking the city. It is in an off beat neighborhood but going there
was like being in a movie. It was perfect for tango. You could here the
music down the street and there were about 50 to 60 people in a small room
with a great dance floor just like in New York and we danced all night.

I met a beautiful tall blonde, Susanne who loved to dance close embrace
ALL NIGHT LONG...lol...me too.. Also a beautiful tall brunette named
Mary Ann who was a wonderful dancer. They both were very nice to me
and asked me to be sure to come see them on Sunday night at
"the Broadway" in the North Beach area, which they say is the most
fun regular get together for tango, here in the City.

Mary Ann said that her favorite regular tango event in SF was Monday
nights at the Top of the Mark on Nob Hill for $6 with a live orchestra, but
now that is apparently not happening anymore unfortunately. She said that
it was her favorite event, and I can see why. I myself, remember going to
dance at the Top of the Mark before during my days as a student at U.C.
Berkeley. It was great fun. Actually I had read about the Top of the Mark
Tango on Mondays on the Internet and I was looking for the event when
I first came here last week, so that is why I was looking for tango in SF on
Monday, but there was nothing going on there on anymore... From what
I hear now, Monday is now the day of rest for tango in SF..Just my luck
....lol.

Last Tuesday I went to a club on Valencia Street called La Valencia, but
I was tired from traveling...lol. There were a lot of great dancers doing all
these beautiful moves and they were all very nice, but to me it somehow
seemed to me that they were all performing for an audience.

I danced with an interesting dancer from Ukraine, named Svetlana. She
was very well dressed, not chewing gum...some girls were...lol and she
seemed to have a dramatic flair. I did not know that she was from the
Ukraine until we danced, but I must admit that I was not surprised that
she was special. We danced a bit, but I do not think that her boyfriend
was pleased...lol. All in all it was fun but not as much fun as the Monte
Christo, but it was interesting. Maybe next Tuesday it will be better. .
Everyone here in SF tells me that La Valencia is supposed to be great, so I will
maybe try it again later. I will say this. The food there was great. I had grilled
calamari with onions and tomatoes for $5.95 and it was fantastic.

Well, that is the latest from here in San Francisco. Tonight I am going
to check out a tango function on Powell Street and then tomorrow go to
the Broadway. Will let you know all know what happens As Judith Prister
in Dallas says....Tango until you drop...lol..

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Anne Sophie:

I have been traveling and as yet have not found Georges, but I am working on it.
He is a lost tanguero for the moment...lol.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear All:

Derik here again in San Francisco. Went to the 435 Broadway last Sunday evening and had
a wonderful time. I danced with Deborah from the Dallas tango group. Visited with
Alberto Paz and danced with Valerie, met a wonderful group of people from Sacremento
who know out Texas Neuvo Tango orchestra "Tosca" and was invited to Tango Week by
Alberto at the Holiday Inn in the East Bay. I went there last night but was really
tired...too much work on web pages and not enough time for tango...lol. Back at work
today and probably going back to Houston today to start a new client there. Had a
wonderful time in San Francisco...

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Anne Sophie:

I think that I may have found "the lost tanguero", Georges Crauser. He may be
posting here soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Annie-Sophie:

I have found the "lost tanguero" and he has asked me for your E-Mail address, so you
will be hearing from him soon. I will E-Mail you his E-Mail address in a few moments.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Derik,
Thanks for looking for me even across the ocean. It's great to find out that with this page, one cannot really stay a lost tanguero for long! I am looking forward to meet Anne-Sophie in Brussels; there are a few beautiful places here to tango, and even if half of the population dissapears during the summer for extended vacation in the south of Europe, I am sure we will be able to find some place to practice.
I will let you know...
Georges

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Georges:

Great to hear from you. I received an E-Mail from Anne-Sophie saying that she is
in contact with you, so I am looking forward to hear all about the tango scene in
Brussels.

I just bought my plane ticket to Paris and will be leaving Houston August 4th. Will
be in Paris Thursday and Friday for tango, then taking the train to Reims, France at
noon on Saturday to meet up with all the radio/television people who will be
broadcasting from there for the last total eclipse of the sun in this century. There
will also be a lot of UFO people as well...lol. Should be fun.

We will be broadcasting "live" back to the US. After that, going back to Paris to
tango and then on to Nice by plane and Monte Carlo by helicopter. Will stay in
Monte Carlo with friends and being visiting all the wonderful little French
restaurants to the North in France with my friends and my high school classmates
from Le Rosey in Rolle and Gstaad. It should be fun. Then after that will maybe go
to a tango conference in Portugal and after that on to the beach...lol Hopefully we
can meet somewhere along the way while I am in Europe. Looking forward to seeing
you soon.

Derik
rri@neosodt.com

PS - Thank you for posting here. Many people are reading this web page and then
sending E-Mails to each other, so we all miss out on what is happening. I try to
post as often as I can, and sometimes it looks like I am the only one here..lol.
 
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hi, how's everybody doing?
I'm fine and past my little tangocrisis of a few months ago:).
I read that everybody is going to Europe, so maybe I'll meet some of you here in
Amsterdam. If you're looking for somebody to dance with, mail me: kimv@dolfijn.nl
bye

Kim

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Kim:

Welcome back. Yes, we are all coming up your way this August. I am happy that you
are now over your tango crisis (I have had more than a few tango crisis's myself,
but I just keeping dancing...lol). You have a great tanguero, Georges Crauser,
now living right next to you in Belgium. He just spent 3 months in Buenos Aires
dancing, so I am sure that you will like him. Also, for better or worse, I will be
in Europe this summer and I would love to come up to Amsterdam to dance tango with
you...and if you like, you are welcome to come down to Paris and join us too. We
will all be there in the first part of August.

I missed talking with you here since your tango crisis of last Xmas. How are things
in Amsterdam now? I have been dancing in New York (with some of the cast from
Forever Tango), Washington D.C. (with Janelle, Anne-Sophie and the Capitol Tangueros)
and just recently in San Francisco. I have been having a wonderful time. Looking
forward to meeting you and of course dancing. Life is good and tango is wonderful.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Raphael:

Thank you so much for helping me find the "lost tanguero", Georges. When do you
think we will all meet up in Paris for tango? Will you dance with me too, or just
Georges...lol. Enjoyed dancing with you this past Sunday.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Liz:

How is camping and fishing in Alaska? Hope that you can find an Internet cafe in the
wilderness somewhere...lol. Anyway, as you can see I am still "on my way" to Europe,
so when you are finished with your Alaska adventure, just hop a plane to Paris and
we will all be there. I forgot to ask you about the details on the tango festival
in Portugal, so if you get a chance let me know the exact dates etc. We will all be
here on the chat room if you can somehow get on the net, and of course my cell phone
still works. Will not leave here until August 4. See you in Europe.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Ron:

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed walking into the nearly empty Pavillon
Shopping Mall this past Sunday at 8:30pm, where we all gathering to dance tango.
Upstairs I could hear someone playing a wonderful classical piece on a grand piano
that seemed far off in the distance. The melodies were drifting all throughout the
huge building and it was a wonderful sound. I thought that it was the perfect
introduction to the tango music and dance which was just about to begin. Later, I
heard from Lydia that it was you, just passing time away, waiting for our tango
group to begin. Anyway, it was cool. You are a multi-talented person.. physics,
classical piano and tanguero. No wonder they all liked you in Washington D.C.

By the way I have a new step to show you that Christopher in San Francisco taught me
in a short class at 435 Broadway on Sunday in San Francisco. Christopher may be
coming to Houston soon to teach. He specializes in the milguero style a la Susana
Miller....(hello there Janelle...lol..) The step is really simple and very cool.
As he said to the woman who I was leading, "Make him lead you into the step (Camelia
knows about this trick...lol.). Don't just give it away so easily. Make him work
for it. Go for the drama....lol." Anyway, the step is great and the advice was even
better.

Thanks for the great music in the mall. It was wonderful. See you Sunday.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com
 

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Hi Derek,

When exactely will you all be in Paris? I'm planning on going over there too, just for a weekend, it would be nice to dance there. Bye

Kim

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Dear Houston WORLD TANGO:
 

Dear Kim:

I will be in Paris Thursday August 5th and Friday August 6th and then leave by train
to Reims, France at 12:18pm on Saturday August 7th. I will be back in Paris after
Wednesday August 11th, the day of the total eclipse, then I leave Paris on
August 16th and fly to Nice and then on to Monte Carlo, for about one week. After
that my schedule is open so I can come back to Paris and Amsterdam and just relax.
Anytime is good for me to tango, including August 6th, 7th and after August 11th, and
of course after Monte Carlo.

I apologize for not yet answering your wonderful E-Mail (I think that we agree on
just about everything...), but I have been having a tough week getting all my work
done and have just now come up for air. I will be sending you a complete E-Mail with
all details very shortly. I really do want to meet with you and dance tango and I am
looking forward to seeing you soon. As I said in my last E-Mail, somehow, I already
knew that you are a wonderful dancer, and now after hearing your stories about your
tango experiences, I see that in fact I was right. You are a woman with a lot of
passion and that is great. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Derik
rri@neosoft.com

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