Tango … I would like to tell you a story before I introduce myself. This story will take us back a few years to July 2007. In a small town, right by the Ionian Sea, where you can almost see the ships for Italy go by, a group of people were enjoying themselves dancing. It wasn’t tango, but that made no difference. Everyone was having a blast, only one person seemed different from everyone else, he stood out as a better dancer, more secure, confident in what he was doing. I wasn’t dancing tango then – I was in love with Argentina and Cuba though – always a dream, not yet fulfilled!


Two months after watching the dancers at that seaside town, I saw a flyer offering Argentine tango lessons at the dance school right next to the house I was renting. I decided that this was my chance and I took my first class the next day. A friend decided to join me and because there was a car accident, we ended up being a bit late. We rushed up the stairs and the minute I entered I realised that the teacher was the same guy I had seen dancing in July. From then on he became my teacher. He taught me how to tango.


You can never say that you know tango, it is probably like saying you know life, so you are better off saying you know how to live, you know how to tango. For me tango is constant give and take. Each second you can be with or against your partner. You never know tango, you are always in the process of learning – after every seminar, every lesson, after every dance, after every step. This is why I remember my first teacher, because with him I saw the logic of tango, the logic of life! Everything has an end, nothing lasts for ever. This is what we need to realise, eternity doesn’t exist. Everything changes, everything flows, why should we stay here standing? So why would we think that tango is always the same?


My first teacher was Panagiotis Karaboulas from Greece. Many teachers followed, including: Sebastian Achaval and Roxana Suarez, Mariana Montes, Romina Tumini, Raul Bravo, Gabriel Marino, Celine Ruiz, Monica Parra, Metin Yazir, Milena Plebs, Demian Garcia, Los Hermanos Macana, Ezequiel Paludi, Geraldin Rojas and Pablo Veron.

Somewhere along the way I decided that tango was IT. I had tried many types of dancing before tango. I always wanted dance to be a major part of my life but I had never imagined that I could make that dream come true. As I got into tango, I realised that was direction my life had to take. Of course it wasn’t easy. People don’t take you seriously when you introduce yourself as a dancer so it was difficult for my family and friends to accept. But these difficulties made me stronger because they made me realise the reality of the tango – always either with or against each other.

What do you hope to do with your tango in Toronto?
To fulfill my tango dream I got into conflicts, I left people I loved behind me, I made new friends, I lost my country but I entered a new one. Someone listening might say, “That’s life”. It is tango. Tango got me here. When people ask me about my plans, I say I’m going to teach people how to tango and see how that works out for me.

The first time I entered a milonga, I felt sure about what I was going to do – we all make the same mistakes when are starting to dance – we create steps not moments and feelings, we give instructions but we don’t listen. I would like change people from trying to know how to dance some tango steps to how to tango. I would like to offer Toronto what was offered to me, the opportunity to see life from the perspective of a never ending tango dance. Somewhere between logic and sentiment. Live and dance by the rules but create the rules in your heart and mind in order to love what you are living every second. This is my style of tango. I know the rules – they live in my mind and heart – and then I play along.

There is no nuevo or traditional there is only tango. Why do I need to decide if I am going to live in the city or the country when I can grill lamb chops right on my balcony as long as I don’t set the building on fire? Go from traditional to nuevo and back if you feel like it but remember the basic rules, this is the only way to create something new even with new rules! Nothing stays the same so why should tango, why should we?

How many pairs of shoes (tango obviously) did you bring to Toronto?

One thing does stay the same – women’s love for shoes! And I am no exception. I only brought five pairs of tango shoes to Toronto, I miss the ones I left behind but I have already added a pair and there are some more in the works. All my shoes are from Argentina except two pairs from Istanbul. They are my favourite shoes and I have to admit that the next pair is also coming from Istanbul.


Which Toronto milongas have you checked out?
I’ve been to: TangoLoft, La Cachila, La Coqueta, La Central, Paradiso, Sidewalk Tango, Club Milonga, Tango Tea, El Toro, Milonga Portena, Milonga-2-3 and the UofT milonga – hope I didn’t forget anyone. I have quite a few more to try. I try to visit every tango place and have a good time, meet new people, see, listen, feel … I have only been in Toronto a few months so it’ll take some time to get to know everybody.

If you were talking to a good tango friend back in Greece, how would you describe the Toronto tango scene?
The impression I have of Toronto is generally the same one I have about tango. Toronto is a very big city, there so many things going on, construction everywhere, and the people are pacing. This is exactly what I see in tango. So many people trying, so many things going on around, of course there’s a lot to do, but the people are pacing. I feel like something has tied everyone down. I feel people need to break free, unfold, reveal themselves and run towards every unknown new possibility that every dance offers.

To a friend back in Greece, I would say that everyone in Toronto is very gentle, very kind and very careful. But tango isn’t like that, neither is life. People in Canada aren’t present enough in their daily life but they need to be if they wish to become better tango dancers. You love and you show it, you hate and you show it again, with every part of your body, from your fingers to your toes.

Often I see Toronto dancers let the dance go by without realising it. A Toronto dancer might say,I take lessons, I go to practicas, I go to milongas, I enjoy myself, in the same way a non-dancer would say, I go for a drink, I go to the movies, I have a wonderful family, I travel, I enjoy myself. For tango, this is not enough – every day should be new, every dance should be new. Look around as if it is your first time out of house, get on the dance floor as if it is your first time there. Do you remember the first time your parents allowed you to go out and how that felt? Or how you felt the first time you danced? In both cases you thought a lot about the details. You felt the energy filling your body! This is what I would say to a friend in Greece. The people in the Toronto tango community need to allow themselves to feel more and show it!


This helps to explain why one of my best experiences in Toronto was seeing Rene Torres and Junko Mori at La Cachila. Watching their tango I sensed their primitive feeling of satisfaction. The magic was everywhere – on their feet and fingers, in their eyes and in their little smiles.

Tell us about the tango salsa workshop your organised?
Tango contains a struggle, it comes across in so many of the songs. A constant struggle through bad and good. All the Latin American dances have this struggle in common.

Most people think salsa and tango are completely different dances but in my opinion they are just a different way of expressing life. Most salsa songs don’t have fun lyrics – if you listen to them the lyrics are serious. It is the salsa music that reveals how Cubans see life differently than Argentinians. This helps explain the connection I see between tango and salsa. However, I don’t teach salsa and tango together, usually my workshops are one hour and a half hours of tango followed by an hour of Cuban dances.

You can combine tango and salsa in one dance. In fact, I choreographed a salsa-tango using a remix of Libertango which was very successful but it does take some skill to go from one dance to the other without confusing the rules. Even though the lead is similar, combining the two requires more imagination and feeling the music.

The most important thing, and it is the same for both salsa and tango, is what they teach you about life. Go for it! This maybe your only chance! This moment will be gone and will never come back! With a “friend” or an “enemy” you go on through life, through tango, through salsa. Don’t be afraid to feel, to put your sorrow, your happiness, your loss, your gain, everything into every dance. This is my way of dancing.

Where will you be teaching in the next couple of months?
I’m really excited to announce my latest plans for both existing and new tango dancers:

• 12-week tango workshop with Cardio-Go (four fitness centres in Toronto). Email contact@cardio-go.ca or watch the special offers from livingsocial.com and groupon.com in March.
• New Salsa Cubana and Tango Argentino classes n downtown Toronto with Damarys Aguirre – a wonderful dancer and teacher from Cuba. More info coming soon.
• Intermediate tango classes at Erin Mills Fitness in Mississaugua started Feb. 16 (drop-ins allowed).
• Tango technique classes at Dancelife Studio (Yonge and Wellesley) for men and women.

Styles of tango at the salon usually are initiated by one man and a committed partner. If his style has an appeal, then others, with complete approval, would copy. The Villa Urquiza style is a relaxed natural look from the walk and lead which depends on the unique leading technique which can be immediately recognized by the onlooker.

Carlos says that the man seduces his partner into a non-existing move which encourages the lady to wait, rather than the lady, recognizing a movement, doing it independently, which disconnects the unit. “This teaching duo makes it quite clear that there are three components to a unit.”

1. Music.
2. Man becomes synchronized with the music.
3. Man passes his musical synchronization to his partner.

When this is complete, the couple become a unit that is connected with the music, The unit from then on is dancing within the music, The ultimate experience is when one knows a particular piece of music; then the man may be able to fit the movement to the music as if the couple are truly part of the orchestra.

Carlos and Alison, using simple basic exercises, demonstrate how you can practice by yourself at home. Carlos and Alison make sure you understand as an individual what’s required; after all only perfect practice makes perfect.

The man has a responsibility to learn these basic essentials. You don’t have to set up a meeting with a partner who may or may not be able to show up. Practising by yourself helps you to to maintain your equilibrium. The result is a dancer who is light on his feet which gives him a sense of freedom to dance the figures.

Carlos and Alison demonstrate how the man is in complete control of what is being well danced, as well as his connection to the music. When you watch Carlos and Alison dance, you get the impression the music is playing specifically for them.

I highly recommend this Urquiza style of salon tango and the teaching expertise of Carlos and Alison. In my opinion they teach the true essentials of tango … or “heart of tango”, the type of tango we have been denied for over two decades.

Photo:
Bob Waugh originally posted this a comment to another post in November 2012.

About Bob

Bob Waugh was one of the first wave of Toronto tango dancers in the 1980s when he hosted the In Citta bi-weekly milonga. He started instructing in 198? and has taught at many locations over the years, including: his own classes at Trinity St. Paul Centre, Club Milonga, ? and ? Bob is a regular at Palermo Tango Club on Saturdays and also likes to dance at ?

Click here to read an article about Bob in the Etobicoke Guardian.

At times I have asked myself if other people that dance tango in the milongas truly adore the absolute thrill and visceral power of dancing totally “improvisationally” as much as I do.

When the opportunity arises to attend a milonga the anticipation beforehand is palpable. What music will be played? What should I wear? How will my tandas be? Will my favourite partners be there? How will the floor/group feel? Will I be able to open a little door and create some of the magic that will leave us both desiring more at the end of our beloved tanda?

Having the experience of dancing here in Toronto, abroad and travelling to Buenos Aires many times, as well as residing there for months on end, my desire to improvise something beautiful, passionate and completely in the moment has never been diminished.

I would be thrilled to hear some of your stories about interesting spontaneous tandas and would love you to share some of them here if you like.

Here is one of my last demos this year in Buenos Aires at Cachirulo,the Saturday night milonga hosted by Norma and Hector in Villa Malcolm. This tango is pure spontaneous improvisation….and to me, completely thrilling.

Isabella Szymonowicz currently is one of the hosts of a Monday night practica. For details/times please check: http://swanseatownhall.ca/sth/?p=869
practicaelbeso.net
NEW! YOUTUBE.

Other blog posts written by Isabella Szymonowicz:
Why Study with Alicia Pons
A Tango Video in Words

Other blog posts about Isabella Szymonowicz:
Nicolai and Isabella Talk Tango
Isabella -Tango Teacher
What They Wore on Oscar Night

Soñemos

Music by Roberto Caló
Lyrics by Renaldo Viso

I know that it’s impossible to follow you and adore you,
That it’s a sin to love you and give you all my heart.
But no matter, darling, let us dream this nighttime,
Even though tomorrow, we’ll weep when we awake.

Let us dream,
That both of us are free.
Let us revel,
In the glory of our love.
Let us dream,
That nothing more can part us
And that we are like two souls
That were born for love alone.

Let us dream,
That you love me and I love you.
No matter
That tomorrow, when we awake,
Your kisses
Bid farewell to all my kisses
And our rapture must then die
With this our love.

I know that nothing ever could hope to part us,
And though we’re not together,
By one love we are joined.
Perhaps another lifetime
Will bring us all the closer,
And never more shall we weep,
At the anguish of this love.

For comparison, here’s a version by the orchestra of Roberto Caló, who composed the song (Roberto Rufino on vocals):

And lastly, to let you hear the same sentiments sung by a woman, the great Nina Miranda, with her own orchestra, conducted by Alberto Córdoba:

Other blog posts written by Al Daigen:
ESTA NOCHE DE LUNA

Other blog posts about Al Daigen:
WATERLOO’S CLEVER PISTA

A fellow dancer related to a student of ours their surprise to see her dancing tango milonguero, having identified us, her teachers, as teachers of tango salon. He was right – we do generally teach and dance in a salon style. But we know, love and understand, and can teach, tango milonguero. The two styles have more in common than many people think, they are siblings, not third cousins once removed.

I remember a time in Toronto, not so long ago, when tango was just tango and people did not worry so much about definitions. For those in the know, it was apparent – for example, Bryant and Faye taught Tango Salon, and Regina at Paradiso taught Tango Milonguero. All well respected teachers.

When Carlos and I began teaching here, we encountered a lot of confusion and discomfort around issues of tango ‘styles’. So we began to offer a clarification at the beginning of our classes – which we still rely on. It goes something like this …

From our perspective there are 4 main styles of tango:

1. Tango Escenario or ‘stage tango’ – choreographed steps developed for dramatic
   impact, including jumps, dips, kicks and lifts not suitable for the social dance floor.

 

2. Tango Nuevo – characterized by an open embrace, separate axis for both partners deconstruction of traditional steps, and danced to electronic tango music.

 

3. Tango Milonguero – a traditional style of tango characterized by a fully frontal close embrace which never relaxes or opens, a shared axis ( ‘apilado’), the women’s hips in a fixed position parallel to the men’s.

 

4. Tango Salon – a traditional style of tango characterized by a ‘3/4’ close embrace which relaxes slightly to create space to perform complex figures, upon completion of the figure, the embrace returns to its ‘close’ position. The woman and man are on their own axis. The woman’s hips move between a parallel and a perpendicular position in relation to the man’s.

What Tango Salon and Tango Milonguero share is the concept that the dance is led and followed, improvised, with an intimate relationship between the partners, and to the music. When one has understood what the differences in style imply – for example that a Salon style ‘ocho’ with the woman’s hips turning 90 degrees in relation to the man’s cannot be comfortably executed in a firm Milonguero style embrace – its actually very possible – and pleasurable – to mix and match elements from both styles, and for dancers of each style to accommodate small changes to do the other. The embrace is key – the embrace dictates what is possible in terms of steps and figures.

Some of our most influential teachers back in Buenos Aires would not agree – Carlos Perez and Rosa Forte being purists of Tango Salon, and Osvaldo and Coca being well known for their traditional and creative Milonguero style. Neither couple approves of or appreciates the art of the other!

But if someone can dance one style, the posture, walk and manner of leading is very similar in the other. The style of the embrace and the figures performed are just different clothes worn by the same skeleton.

Something happened this year in Toronto which was very interesting to me, to go back to the two examples of local teaching styles mentioned above. Patricia and Regina of Paradiso have a history of teaching Milonguero, and of bringing wonderful Milonguero style teachers to Toronto. Bryant and Faye of Tango Soul have a history of putting on El Congreso, inviting the crème de la crème of Tango Salon. Yet this year both organizations broke their molds – Bryant and Faye featured the fantastic Milonguero couple Armando Orzuza and Nuria Martinez, while Patricia and Regina recently hosted talented Tango Salon dancers, Alejandro Hermida and Paula Ballesteros. Good for them! And I don’t think anybody complained. After all, they are all in the same family.

Tango Trivia

 
• Stage tango shows are created almost exclusively for tourist audiences in Buenos Aires, and for export.

 

• Tango Milonguero was generally danced in the ‘downtown’ of Buenos Aires where the salons where smaller and more crowded, with no space for complex figures or opening the embrace. Some say that it proliferated under the last dictatorship because as tango was prohibited, it was danced in small, cramped hidden venues where there was no space for Tango Salon.

 

• Tango Salon developed in the outer barrios of Buenos Aires ( such as the famous neighbourhood of ‘Villa Urquiza” ) where the dance salons where much bigger and less crowded, affording space for complex figures, bigger steps, and the relaxation of the embrace. To this day one can witness a difference in styles between outer barrio milongas such as “Club Sunderland” and “La Baldosa’, and ‘downtown’ milongas such as “Cachirulo”.

 

• There is a joke in BA, that the young people dancing Tango Nuevo in Practica X in their 20’s are dancing close embrace in la Baldosa in their 40’s.

Photo: Sam DeLucia

Other blog posts written by Alison Murray:
PRACTICA MAKES PERFECT
MY WOES OF TORONTO TANGO
MY JOYS OF TORONTO TANGO
ALISON (OF CARLOS Y ALISON) WRITES
PRIVATE INSTRUCTION WITH CARLOS AND ALISON

Other blog posts about Alison and Carlos Tango:
CARLOS AND ALISON HAVE SHOES! FOR GUYS TOO!
CARLOS & ALISON ANNOUNCE THEIR TORONTO PROGRAMME
A SHOW OF COMMUNITY
THE ALISON TANGO FAIRYTALE

Now that I’m home, with the indispensable help of some online tools – the Reverso Spanish/English-English/Spanish dictionary, the Spanish Verb Conjugator, and the Todo Tango library of tango lyrics – I’ve taken a crack at translating some lyrics from a song that has always moved me when I’ve danced to it: Esta Noche de Luna, music by José García and Graciano Gómez, lyrics by Héctor Marcó. One of the versions that I like best is by Pugliese’s orchestra, with Jorge Maciel singing. Listen for yourself:

To call these lyrics over the top might be an understatement, but to call them romantic would be one as well. In other words, mi sembran como el alma de tango. See what you think:

Come close to me now,
And hear my heart beat
Content, like a clock that’s enchanted.
The night is so blue,
It invites us to dream.
The sky has just lit
Its most beautiful lamp.
If I give you a kiss,
It need be no sin.
The fault is the night’s:
It invites us to love.
Love tempts me so.
Come close to me now.
Believe in this dream.
It will give us new life.

Speed on, little ship,
On the flood of my illusion.
From the song of the waves,
Let my confession arise.

I am a star on the sea,
That today halts its course
To plunge into your eyes.
And in the spell of your ruby-red lips,
I will give up my life,
To go straight to your soul.

I am a star on the sea,
That today wanders lost
without love or good fortune.
And in the depths
of this moonlit night,
I wish only to live,
On my knees at your feet,
To love you and die.

Corrections and comments welcome. Abrazos tangueros,
Al

© 2012 Al Daigen

About Al:

I live in Kitchener/Waterloo which boasts a vibrant tango community. We invite our Toronto friends to come check out our milongas: every Friday evening at La Guanaquita Restaurant and one Saturday every month at The Button Factory. For more details see WaterlooTango.com

Well, not just walking. Walking backwards, practising and refining ochos, adornos, and elements of the giro to be more precise. Focusing on my posture, my breathing, my transference of weight in each step. So that I don’t have to think about these things (or about falling over!) when I am dancing with a partner!

And while I have been doing this walking back and forth with a gang of women in stilettos, my gaze has been drifting over to the line of men, arms held up in imaginary embraces, walking in a line on the other side of the room. There I see my husband Carlos (well, more times than not he is sitting against the wall gossiping with Carlos Perez, lazy dog!) … also concentrating on his walk, his posture, how he steps, how he does the lapiz, how he initiates a turn – 45 degrees, 90 degrees … the more experienced milongueros turning 180, 360 degrees on one foot, then continuing to walk. What dedication! And Carlos Perez whispers to them – “you need to walk as far as Bariloche before you will dance well” (Bariloche in the southern tip of Argentina …).

And so we are introducing a similar Villa Urquiza style practica at Masha Getz’s La Coqueta here in Toronto, starting Oct 4 and running through to the end of the year. We hope it will give dancers a great opportunity to improve, and therefore enjoy their social dancing experiences more fully.

Carlos & Alison dance and teach traditional Villa Urquiza tango in Argentina and Canada.
Photo:© Samuel Delucia Images

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Last week I mentioned music and the number of pieces played per tanda and asked for some feedback with respect to WE Tango. Five people provided feedback; interestingly enough, the majority were men. The feedback was quite different with respect to their preferences.

One person would like to see/hear more vals. One person would prefer four tangos per tanda especially the more passionate, slower, golden age orchestras. One person was quite happy with the present mix except would prefer two milongas instead of three as he finds three milongas to be too tiring. Two, (a male and a female) liked it the way that it was.

So the question is, how does one satisfy the preferences of them all? Perhaps there may be a way. I actually don’t mind three but the problem for me as host is that by the time I allow guests to choose, and then scan the room to see if any ladies are not dancing, there are usually only two tangos remaining which hardly allows for one to become totally immersed in the dance.

During our time off, Ilona [of El Abrazo] was kind enough to let me read a very lengthy article by Arnoud de Graaff, a well-known and well respected tango DJ from the Netherlands. Arnoud runs a very different milonga than what is run here; he knows his music well enough that he can run on the fly and not from a playlist which means that he can adjust his music based upon the reactions of the dancers. Also, he does not use cortinas which means the music plays continuously (apparently this is not uncommon in Europe). Arnoud listed the music played at a typical milonga and, with the exception of alternative music (the pieces that he played I do not have), I was able to replicate it into a playlist so that I might get a feel as to what it sounded like. Here is the first hour and a half or so of the music:

5 Calo Tangos
3 D’Arienzo Vals
5 Tanturi Tangos
3 Laurenz Milongas
4 D’Agostino Tangos
3 Demare Vals
3 Malerba Tangos
3 Quinteto Pirincho Milongas
5 Donato/D’Arienzo Tangos
3 Biagi Vals
4 Calo Tangos

As Arnoud’s evening progressed, both alternative and electronic tango were played. Remember, there was no cortina, not only that, there was not enough seating (deliberate) for everyone attending ensuring that the attendees both danced and circulated. Interesting concept but I am not sure if I would have liked the basic approach. However, it did give me a couple of ideas with respect to generating my playlist. I see nothing wrong with having some tango tandas of four and others of three, depending upon the orchestra. However, I do believe that three should be a minimum.

On the average, milongas (the dance) are some 30 seconds shorter than the average tangos. However, mixing orchestras and types is acceptable which means that I will try one or two rhythmical milongas plus either a condombe or a fast milonga. I will always have a cortina and hopefully, seating for everyone.

I began dancing with a leader whose dance partner’s schedule suddenly changed. She had to step out, so would I mind I stepping in? Hell’s bells, yes!

I had been longing to learn tango for a full seven years before I took my first lesson. I had seen it being danced in a gazebo every Thursday evening in a park in front of my loft in Little Italy. I would sit on a park bench with puppy eyes, watching them, aching to join in.

Fast forward seven years to my friend’s invitation. We took classes with teachers who were also mutual friends. The female teacher had left her full-time job at a non-profit organization to open her dream dance school with the love of her life, who she met while dancing tango. They taught other kinds of ballroom dances together too and had added tango to their teaching repertoire not long before I met them. From our teachers, to my beginner leader friend, to me, It felt like a situation of the blind leading the blind leading the blind.

Nonetheless, tango we did. Blindly. My friend and I would go to Tango Fabrika on Friday nights, mostly to sit in the same dark, out-of-the-way corner while many of the Montreal nuevo tango superstars danced rings and wild leg wraps around each other with abandon, long past 2 a.m., often. It was there that I got bit by the tango bug—hard. What WAS this dance?!

It didn’t take me long to realize just how uneducated my teachers actually were about tango -they seemed like tourists in the dance, having barely skimmed the surface of its depth. I turned to women’s technique classes to find my way into the mystery. I took weekly classes with Marika Landry and then Jennifer Olson and Dana Frigoli when they visited Tango Fabrika in Montreal, followed by Myléne Pelletier and Cecilia Garcia. Don’t hate me, but I had no idea at the time how lucky I was to learn from these fine ladies, who were spending varying stretches of time in Montreal.

The norm after both Marika and Jennifer’s technique classes was to stretch together on the floor and take the opportunity to ask our teacher burning new-follower questions, like their strategies to get invited at the milonga, and what to do about leaders who lead push/pull style with their hands or who are impolite to other dancers on the floor, and so on.

In these classes I got to know some fellow followers, equally lost as I was. We became friendly, which meant that we would find each other at the milonga to sit and chat with, which made it appear like we belonged at the tango-superstar highways of Académie, Fabrika and the former Air de Tango at Moka Danse. We compared our opinions about various leaders and music, which added extra dimensions to our tango education, and lasting depth to our social system. Some of those ladies I still greet with fondness and know what else is important to them in life, beyond tango.

Technique classes helped me to refine not only my balance and posture, but also my sensibilities as a fiercely independent woman trying very hard to learn how to follow gracefully, in a males-only-invite world. Technique classes enabled me to drop the anxieties – about having to follow someone else, to understand what they are asking for, to look pretty – and opened me up the world of tango, from what felt like “behind the scenes”. I was able to access other female followers in conversation, who were much farther down the path, with admirable experience and expression. In these regular technique classes, tango became, at once, my own personal dance, as strongly as it became a dance about coming together with respectful and skilled leaders.

I was reminded in the technique classes with Junko and Rene in Toronto last month, that technique is the gateway to dreamy tango. It helps us to mindfully refine our understanding and expression of our selves and our bodies, in space. When we have clean, strong technique, as both leader and follower, magic happens.

It was joyous for me to see nearly three times as many leaders in these technique classes than followers! Seeing so many men, not only interested in technique, but also intently practicing their own dance, gave me hope for the ever-changing Toronto tango scene.

I believe that if Toronto tango committed to practicing technique with abandon, our community would greatly change for the better, and improve its reputation among other tango communities. I hope for our community to one day magnetize other dancers to visit us. The more that we work on our own axes, balance, musicality, embrace and walk, the more we can come together with greater connectivity and build freedom in our dance from a place of balance, despite our diversity.

I am an admitted technique junkie – am I alone? Let me know what you think about technique practice in the comments below.

The couple, who must surely put shoes through their paces as they were were finalists in the Campeonato de Baile de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (the Buenos Aires Tango Championship) in both 2009 and 2011, recommend the shoes particularly because they are very flexible and lightweight.

Talking of people who are light on their feet, at Toronto Tango Experience I saw leading Toronto Tanguero Steve Yee sporting a very elegant pair of cream-coloured shoes. He explained he’d spied them in Alison’s treasure chest and was enjoying them so much he was going to buy a second pair from her collection. There’s no need however to be concerned that Steve has bought up all the best ones because if Alison doesn’t have a style or size you are after, in September Carlos will be returning with more shoes, and they will fill specific requests with no commitment on your part to purchase.

If you’d like to see the shoes or talk to Alison about them, click here to contact Alison through their website.