A New Poll - - How Do You Stay Awake?

I've finally come to a point where I enjoy going to milongas. Even if I don't dance there are some milongas that I enjoy going to just to sit, watch, talk and laugh with friends. However, going out more often has a toll attached to it... I'm exhausted.

I've learned a few tricks about how to stay awake and fully functional at my full-time job.

Coffee, Tea, Mate, Espresso, Mountain Dew - My drink of choice after a long night dancing is a triple shot latte with skim milk (four shots if I've danced two or more nights in a row).

Exercise - I will exercise during my lunch break if I feel my energy start to wane. After a run or a spin class I usually have enough energy to conquer the day.

Power Naps - This I can only do during the weekend. Although there is a 'nursing & resting' room at work for women that are expecting I don't want to get into the habit of sleeping on the job (even if it is on my lunch hour)

Eating Snacks - This is not a good way to stay awake but I admit there are times when I will reach for something to eat when I am over tired. Since I don't want to gain the weight back that I lost I will go for extra fruit, soy crisps, or cut veggies.

So here's' the poll question - - what do you do to stay awake after long nights of tango fun?

Ciao,

Pantina

Road Trip - - BsAs!!!

Well, I wish it was me...

But those things called 'work' and 'year-end projects' were getting in the way of my international tango fun.

However, some of my friends (Miss Gold Star, Miss Venus, Mr. Gentleman, Ms. Yogi, and Instructor) are going to BsAs this week and I'm so excited for them. Any suggestions about milongas they can attend? They all dance wonderfully and you'll be able to spot the women as soon as they walk into a room - - are all 6'0 and over with their heels on.

Next year I will be in BsAs..... Until then - - practice, dance, and enjoy!!

Ciao,

Pantina

Marry, Do, Kill....

One day I was hanging out with a group of work friends from my part-time job and someone suggested that we play a round of 'Marry, Do, Kill' with the work schedule to help pass the time.

The rules are simple. You go through the list of people scheduled for the day and you have to choose whether you would marry them, kill them, or simply 'do' them.

Now while I'm watching on the sidelines at a milonga I sometimes play a tanguera's verison of 'marry, do, kill'. There's a sexiness to this dance that some leads embody immediately and other simply miss.

There are tangueros that are T.A.Ts that specialize in MbMs and then there are the Pushers & Blamers.

T.A.Ts - 'Time & Attention' Tangueros: These wonderful leads spend time and attention on their dancing and what they learn they share with their partners. They take classes, go to workshops, practice & drill, read books, watch videos, embrace musicality (some even bring a change of clothing to milongas) and they listen to their partners. These are leads that never rush and always satisfy.

The first time a T.A.T asked me to dance I was overwhelmed. I watched him dance for months and admired the way he treated all of his partners with respect. He makes everything look effortless. When we went into our embrace I immediately started shaking. I thought to myself, "AACCKKK!!! Why am I shaking now??" However, the T.A.T simply took a few deep breaths, waited for me to breathe with him, held me closer, and gave a me hug in the embrace.

I immediately stopped shaking and became putty in his hands. Since that dance he could ask me to dance in the middle of the Sahara at noon, barefoot, in my underwear and I would follow him with a smile on my face.

Mind-blowing Multiples (MbMs): Some tangueros love to dance multiple tandas with their partners. I've waited entire milongas for particular tangueros to become free, however, tangueros that focus on MbMs will dance with a single tanguera until she finally says, 'I need to take a break'. Their focus is solely on the partner they're dancing with and they want to get to know everything about her. After dancing with these marathoners they know everything about your tango and how your body works. At the end of the night your feet ache and your legs feel like rubber but it was all worth it!

On the other side of the coin are the Pushers and Blamers

Pushers: Have no regard for their partners. It's all about their technique and their tango. They will push and shove a tanguera until she either gets the step, falls, or walks away. Their focus is selfish and centers on self-gratification and self-fulfillment. It would be less painful if they worked out their technique on a blow-up doll.

Blamers: When you dance with a blamer every mistake is your fault. Never mind that his lead was unclear it was your fault for not reading his mind and taking the step. Blamers never see the error in their technique. If the dance isn't smooth and beautiful it's always the tanguera's fault. They never see their short comings.....

Now while I'm waiting on the sidelines I watch the dancefloor with a new perspective. Instead of thinking, "When will someone ask me to dance?" I'm trying to find T.A.Ts and avoid the Pushers and Blamers.

Ciao,

Pantina

Poll of the Week: To Dance or Not To Dance

It's been a long while since I've posted a Poll of the Week question. I didn't want to ask something too basic like "what's your favorite tango shoe?" or something too contrived. I've been waiting for something to hit me. Something that was interesting. I hope this question satisfies.

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To Dance (With) or Not to Dance (With) - - That is the Question

Earlier this year I started taking privates with Mr. Vanquish (aka Mr. Privates Instructor). I learned a lot about tango technique and was able to not only build a solid foundation but also build my tango self-esteem. One day during our lesson he said something that shocked me,

"Dancing with students at milongas is work."

Excuse me?

Really?

Since he had danced with me at a few milongas around town I immediately did the 'woman' thing applied his off-handed remark to myself. I asked, "You've danced with me at milongas. Are you saying that those dances were 'work'?"

He back peddled and talked about 'dancing with people at his level' and how with students you never really get to dance..... blah blah blah..... etc. etc. etc.

I stopped listening half-way through his explanation.

Needless to say I was immediately indignant (and my tango self-esteem took a hit). I understand an advanced dancer's desire to dance with someone of a similar skill set but aren't milongas also social events where you dance with your friends? It's not a workshop where the two of you need to be at the same level in order to keep up with the subject matter. A milonga is about the social environment, the people around you, the music, the connection, the atmosphere.

Since my conversation with Mr. Privates Instructor I have encountered two types of teachers - - those that dance with students socially and those that don't.

What are your thoughts? Should teachers dance with students at milongas? Why? or Why not?

Ciao,

Pantina

Tango Adolescence

Recently I reconnected with some friends from highschool through Facebook and laughed at what I saw. People were posting photos of themselves and their friends from 'back in the day'. At one point someone had a picture of me complete with BIG 80's hair, a unibrow (I didn't wax or tweeze my eyebrows until I graduated college), and purple glitter eyeshadow. (At the time I was a huge Prince & Sheila E. fan so everything wore had to have a hint of purple in it)

Adolescence is rarely pretty but everyone has to go

through those awkward moments in order to reach adulthood.

This brings me to a new phase in my tango journey - - 'tango adolescence'. I'm no longer a beginner but I'm not even close to being an advanced student. Sure I can sit in on an advanced class and if the leads are generous and the teacher is kind I can catch on but the sheer excellence and consistency of clean, sharp technique is still a work in progress.

You know you're in tango adolescence because you feel an awkward tension in your movement like you're caught between two worlds - - to a beginner you look advanced and confident but an advanced student sees all the imperfections and areas that need improving.

There is a positive side to tango adolescence - - the dance is still new, exciting and fresh but in a different way. I'm no longer scared of volcadas or looking for the next BIG move or combination. I'm more concerned with my walk, am I collecting, are my feet articulated, how is my embrace, and how's my musicality. Tango adolescence draws me into myself and back to the complicated basics of the dance. My focus is on the question, "how can I make this dance elegant and beautiful?"

Thank goodness tango adolescence isn't marked with bad hair & makeup and poor eyebrow maintenance. Instead I mark my process to adulthood by the smoothness of my walk and the shoes that I walk in!

Ciao,

Pantina