I thought I'd try to be funny with the title today to lighten the mood.
Today I went to my 2nd tango class. It was Tango Milonguero - Milonga style tango - with Jorge Firpo. I realized I need to start listing the names of teachers and classes and all that for my sabbatical report. Yesterday, by the way, the teacher was Angel Coria and it was just "Tango".
Milonga is a slightly new form of tango that grew up in Buenos Aires in maybe the 40's and 50's. Jorge explained to us today that this style of tango developed because the dance halls were smaller in that era, and people had to find a way to adapt to smaller spaces and more people. Milonga is characterized by small, quick steps and less fancy footwork, but more attention to the rythm of the music in kind of a 1-2-1-2-1-2 beat with some half steps to speed things up or slower steps to draw things out (all according to the music of course). I like Milonga because it is lively and in some ways less complicated that the older form of tango - there are fewer possible steps, so it's really just about moving to the music.
So anyway, I did go back and try again. Today I went to the center of the Escuela Argentina de Tango on Rodriquez Pena, in the same building as my gym. The school was downstairs in a small space that is also a theater. There was a small stage and then an area that normally has chairs for the audience, but that was our dance floor. I liked it that it was kind of funky, old and theatrical. I'll have to take a picture at some point.
The teacher, Jorge, was a little better for me than Angel was yesterday. I think Angel is a good teacher, but honestly, with these classes listed as being for beginner-intermediate-advanced, I can't imagine someone who has never taken a tango class being able to follow any of it.
Difficulty level today, 1-10, was about 950, but I persisted and got through the whole class, thanks, mostly to the kindness of the other students.
The woman who gave me "the look" yesterday was there. We ignored each other. I found out her name is Vicky and she is from Paraguay.
There were a lot of international students in the class, I think because an international tango conference just finished. I missed it and only found out yesterday that it was in the old Harrod's building on Florida Street. It would have been fun to check it out, just to be able to go into Harrod's.
Anyway, Jorge did some things that I liked. First of all, he learned my name, and referred to me several times as Ricardo de los Estados Unidos - mostly to point out what people should not do! But hey, at least I felt like I was a person. And his pointing out my mistakes actually helped me and he also praised me a few times.
He also did some connection exercises. One he did that I liked was using a bamboo stick. The guys had to hold the stick across their chest and then the women grabbed the stick inside of the man's hands and leaned forward. We had to find equilibrium and balance on the stick and then do some simple steps. We did a lot with connection, the embrace and just basic stuff, which was really good for me.
Then he showed us a little pattern that was difficult, but not impossible. Since I haven't danced a lot of milonga (I did with my teacher, Marcelo, but he is a great leader and with him I don't have to think), I was a little lost. One woman from Italy who was my initial partner, kept returning to dance with me, which made me feel good, because I thought after someone danced with me one time they would never want to return. She was a good partner because she has not been dancing tango a lot and we were both struggling, but also patient with each other and kind of getting it little by little.
Next I danced with an Argentine woman who was really lovely. She was very supportive and helpful. It was her first Milonga class and we were both kind of lost. She asked someone else to show us the step and a couple volunteered to go through it several times with us. That was super helpful.
My final partner was a woman from Poland. If I didn't know she was Polish I would have thought she was Russian from her accent. She was very nice too, though maybe a little bossy, but still she helped me a lot. She kept telling me what I was doing wrong and by the end of the song I was beginning to get it.
I was so relieved when the class was over, but unlike yesterday I did not want to cry or disappear into a crack in the floor. I wanted to come back again!
I liked that the teacher knew some of the students in the class and during his "talks" he would point out certain people. It helped us to get to know each other better. I know that if I go back, he will get to know more about me and he will introduce me to the class, as he will introduce other students to me. I think it is important, since we're going to be pressing our chests up against each other!
I also liked that he focused on basics, and I loved that he talked, A LOT! The class was almost like a tango theory class in the beginning. All I kept thinking was "go ahead, talk for an hour". It was really good listening practice for me, as it was all in Spanish, and it was also interesting. I'm definitely going to take more classes with Jorge.
After class I asked the girl working the desk to recommend some classes for me that are more basic. She circled quite a few classes on my schedule and I now have many possibilities between the classes at Rodriguez Pena and Centro Borges. To use up the 12 classes on my abono in 30 days I need to go to about 3 classes per week, but if I find classes that I feel comfortable in, I might do more than that. The Rodriguez Pena classes are more convenient for me as I can go to the gym and then go to a tango class afterwards, or I can come home and take a nap and then go back for a class.
Well, it looks like this is going to work out. Between taking these classes and then my private lessons with Marcelo, I think in 5 months I will be ready to join a regular tango class at Cheryl Burke (formerly the Metronome). I had hesitated to take regular classes (i.e, straight classes) because I was focusing on following and in the straight classes I have to lead (the straight boys get a little freaked when they have to lead a guy). But I think I will be ready to begin leading and maybe continue to follow in the same-sex classes. Then when I come back here next year, I might be able to take any class, even the more difficult ones, and not feel like it's a sink or swim situation.
Right now, I am ready for my siesta.
Here's a video from You Tube with an example of Milonga style tango.
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