tango hub

I’ve read as many tango books as the next person. None of them have really left a lasting impression though. Books about how tango ‘heals’(oh for God’s sake), books about the origins of tango (again? REALLY?), which go over and over the basic steps and turn the whole thing into rocket science. I’ve even stumbled [...]

Mamié Sancy is a Tango Dancer and Researcher for the military in Santiago, Chile. She has been dancing since 2002 and has, over the past 3 years, become something of a Tango celebrity after videos of her dancing started to appear on the old YouTube; First with Carlitos Espinoza and then with her current partner, [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com Hmmm, I think, this will be interesting. She is a tall, handsome Italian woman with a beautifully precise and, above all, clean style of following, largely free from superfluous decorations. It is like strong, black coffee in a slender espresso cup: rich and heady. No sugar please. No milk. [...]

Richard is the organiser of the Menuda Milonga. Well worth a visit and always attracts a really good level of dancer. When I read the article on Tango Hub by Lynn (some thoughts on getting well-heeled), I spoke to TH about the fact that nobody ever writes about shoes for us leaders. I groaned as [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com How did I find myself here? Strange music is sounding, with a wailing falsetto singer and a powerful, thumping beat. In the semi-darkness, I can make out the shapes of bodies, moving in a way which seems somehow strangely familiar. Those jerky movements and sudden, vicious kicks; those teetering [...]

The tango hub website uses some sort of geekno techery witchcraft which allows us to see what people are searching for when they stumble across our little haven of tangoy goodness and we have found that second only, in the more abstract search results category, to searches about Lady Gaga and Catsuits (no really! I [...]

TH asked me to write something designed to do two things: firstly to offer some advice to post beginners seeking their first pair of tango shoes and secondly to talk about the acceptability or otherwise of women dancing in flats. Both of these topics are juicy and interesting so let’s dive into first shoes first. [...]

This is a post from Mari’s blog over at http://mytangodiaries.blogspot.com I received two emails from readers, one leader and one follower, regarding my continued “rabid” support of the “archaic” cabeceo.* (All I wrote in the last post was that a good, clear cabeceo knocks my socks off. I didn’t think that sounded rabid.) Normally I [...]

Normally in Buenos Aires when you hear the term ‘La Revancha’ it applies to a sporting fixture. It means the second game in a home and away draw, a game played over two legs. We’ve heard it in Gotan’s ‘La Revancha del Tango’. But its more than revenge, it’s a return; it speaks of purpose [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com It´s a Saturday night, let´s say. I´ve just been at a traditional milonga, i.e. one where the music is played in tandas of four or five songs and people sit at tables around the room, making eye contact and subtle head signals to get dances. But it´s 3.30am and [...]

*edit Sunday 14th August 2011* It is with great sadness that we have come to learn of the passing of one of the most influential figures in tango, Esther Pugliese. We offer our thoughts and deepest condolences to Mingo, Pablo and the rest of the Pugliese family at this difficult time. *Original Post* I was [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com “Funny things happen when you dance with another guy,” a male friend tells me, “They just do.” We are watching the floor at a tango marathon, where several male-male couples are swapping the lead back and forth. In their flat shoes, the followers look a little clumsy and there [...]

It was the Bajofondo tour 3 or 4 years ago. Yes I know… Bajofondo? but stay with me. This concert exposed me to two of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. One was Gustavo Santaolalla performing De Ushuaia a La Quiaca on his Ronrocco with a minimum of input from the rest of [...]

At the milonga . . . See more blog entries by Mari at http://mytangodiaries.blogspot.com Our out-of-town visitor sat almost the entire milonga, dancing only three tandas all night. I was disappointed not to get to dance with him, but I knew he had taught workshops all day and likely just wanted to unwind. In this [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com It’s an unlikely venue for a milonga: a huge, echoey sports’ hall, complete with bleachers at one end; white divider lines to remind us that the dance space also doubles as a football and basketball pitch; and grubby blue-and-white walls with ancient tin advertisements for empanadas, football boots and [...]

The Life Of A Frustrated Milonguero is a great little blog, with posts that will appeal to almost all readers.. You can see it here When I ask a woman to dance she has the right to expect me to know what I am doing. We are two strangers who have only met on the [...]

Tangocherie Is a Tango teacher and writer currently living in Buenos Aires. She writes a splendid Blog which you can see here – http://tangocherie.blogspot.com/ Warning: Dark! Read if you dare! The Tango Tourist should expect tears in Argentina. One’s own. It’s a given that before the trip is over, there will be sobs in the [...]

I know what you are thinking. Changing rooms was playing practically every night, Laurence Llewelyn Bowen was a super star and we rag-rolled nearly every surface in the house… Since then we have painted over the walls, thrown all the MDF in the bin but we are still left with a laminate floor the size [...]

Tangocherie Is a Tango teacher and writer currently living in Buenos Aires. She writes a splendid Blog which you can see here – http://tangocherie.blogspot.com/ Don’t get me wrong, I love the codigos of the milonga. But sometimes they can backfire. For example, when I first saw Ruben dancing years ago in the milongas of Lo [...]

Ok.. While Terpsichoral is making her confession I thought I would take the opportunity to make a confession of my own. My confession (or “Mi Confesion” as it may, more appropriately, be known) Is slightly dirtier, a little more embarrassing and could turn out to be positively damaging (well, probably not, but you would surprised [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com I have just returned from my first tango marathon, bursting with impressions, comments and thoughts — some of them provoked by brunchtime conversations over scrambled eggs and bacon in a light-filled refectory. You can find my more general thoughts about the differences between European and Argentine dancers here. In [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com I have recently heard so many assertions (here in Europe) from dancers who claim never to feel anything even remotely verging on the erotic when they are dancing tango. At the risk of stating the obvious, I’d like to say something briefly about this. To me, tango remains a [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com Disclaimer: this is going to be a very geeky and navel-gazing entry: more of an opportunity for me to think aloud than a description of the tango lifestyle in Buenos Aires. You have been duly warned. I find it extremely ironic that I seem lately to be getting complimented [...]

See more blog entries at www.tangoaddiction.wordpress.com I’m currently away from Buenos Aires, visiting the much smaller and less well established London tango scene. In this context, I’ve been thinking a lot about the basics of tango: what really enables us to connect with each other and feel the tango bliss, even when not necessarily in [...]

It is no secret to anyone that has spent more than five minutes on the dance floor that, contrary to what a lot of non dancers might think, the hardest, most challenging and often most physically demanding type of music to dance to (well) is music of the slow variety. I have fond memories of [...]

That’s right… I’m going to spend the first 20 seconds of the track walking in parallel and before that time is up you are already going to know that i am the daddy. There is a lot to be said for a confident walk and that is illustrated here as Carlitos Espinosa makes John Travolta [...]

I’m walking quickly along a quiet back street in the wilds of N19, my ears tingling from an unseasonably cold breeze, raindrops pattering on my umbrella and a full moon hanging pendulously in the sky over Dalston Junction. I spot a red glow in a first-floor window and hear the faint but unmistakable sound of [...]

Massive jacket? – check!, massive trousers? – check!, massive hair? – check! What more could you ask of from what has to be one of todays most iconic dancers??? Whats’s that? a partner with killer footwork and that effortless air of Argentine arrogance? Ladies and gentlemen, you are in luck, we have Sebastian Arce & [...]

Pablo Rodriguez and Noelia Hurtado… Yes, they look like they have just been dragged away from youth club (where i assume they were playing spin the bottle and drinking cider) but don’t let that put you off. These two know how to move. Take a gander and leave your comments below.