Here is my review of the festival, as promised in Tango L.
Wed, July 21
I leave my office in Washington, DC at 3:49 PM and catch Amtrak #178 at Union
Station, leaving from Track 24. I listen on my scanner to the conductor
calling the engineer at 4:05 p.m. "Conductor calling head end Amtrak 178. We've
got the gate. No "D"s. One TSRB. Take us out of here on signal indication." The
engineer puts the throttle into first position. After a few seconds, he pulls
on the brake handle, sending air out of the main reservoir into the brakes. The
train smoothly glides out of the station like a milonguero dancing on the
floor. The train arrives NY about 15 minutes late at 7:30, track 9. Even though
my hotel is directly across the street from Penn Station, I still have to dodge
taxis to cross the street.
Not part of the festival, I go to the milonga at Empire Dance. Kana Kubota, a
professional teacher, introduces me to a friend, Mariko, who flew in from Japan
for the festival. (Her arms must be tired.) We dance and dance and lose track
of time.
Thursday, July 22
The festival offers a special class with Jorge Torres of "Forever Tango" from
10 to 12. Other participants go on Lucille Krasne's quirky East Village Tour
that began at 11. After class, I return to my hotel to relax and then on to
South Ferry to catch the Staten Island Ferry. (I take the scenic route via the
M6 bus.) Robin Thomas is our DJ. We dance in the terminal with a little
resistance from ferry personnel but we persevere as we wait for the arrival of
the 4 PM ferry, Samuel I. Newhouse, one of the two largest ferries in the
fleet. The ferry has a capacity of 6,000 passengers. Just imagine if all of
them knew how to dance tango.
The boat has a wheelhouse at both ends so the ship doesn't have to be turned
around after leaving the terminal. I tell Robin to take the dancers to the rear
of the boat. "Rear" is relative to the direction the boat is moving. Robin
leads them to the rear, which is the rear UNTIL the ship leaves for Staten
Island when the rear is now the front. We move to the other "rear." A crew
member won't let us dance because the ship is under video surveillance and he
would lose his job if he didn't stop us.
We get off at Staten Island, walk around to the turn stiles and get back on the
ship. On the way back, a crew member encourages us to dance. We don't need any
but we'll take it. The ship is virtually empty as the PM traffic flow is
Manhattan to Staten Island. After we arrive at Whitehall Terminal, some go to
dinner at a restaurant near the Shubert Theater where "Forever Tango" is
playing. I go to Brooklyn ("R" train to DeKalb Avenue, "B" to Sheepshead Bay)
to eat at my favorite NY restaurant, Lundys, on Emmons Avenue.
I return to Manhattan and meet a college friend I haven't seen for 15 years.
Then, off the Jueves milonga at Pierre Dulaine where there is a cast party for
"Forever Tango." The floor is jammed and navigation skills are a must. I wish I
had an electric cattle prod to use on leaders who don't pay attention to where
they are going or what they are leading.
Friday, July 23 Classes at Dance Manhattan.
Karina Romero "Focus on Foundations"
"Press into the floor." Karina emphasizes to fully commit our weight to the
step.
Willie Feuer "Double Time Possibilities"
Willie talks about double time in walking, in rocking, and other possibilities.
Black and White Ball at Stepping Out
I arrive around 9:30. The floor is empty. It gets very crowded later. There are
several demonstrations but I miss most of them because I'm short and there are
too many tall people standing in front of me. However, I do get to see a couple
from "Forever Tango". They are spectacular. But of course, their figures
shouldn't be done on a social dance floor.
Saturday, July 24 Classes at Stepping Out Studio.
Kana Kubota: Basics of boleos
Kana teaches boleos via using molinetes. We hold hands, standing in a circle,
without singing "Kumbaya." We learn boleos while practicing molinetes. On each
back step, we stop before we commit our weight, reverse direction and go the
opposite direction. The class finds out in a hurry who executed the boleo
correctly because if you didn't, you are facing the wrong direction. l've
never seen boleos taught his way. Very interesting, Kana.
Robin Thomas and Jennifer Bratt: Close Embrace
This couple, which teach together, talks about the importance of alignment and
that the man leads with his upper body. Robin talks about his anatomy in
Spanish. I can only guess what he is talking about.
Junior: Anti-collision course
When the space is small, leaders should use the Cadencia. The Cadencia is
forward step, rock backward and turn in the opposite direction. If step forward
with the left foot, rock back on the right, turn to the left, and step on the
left foot. It's the opposite if stepping forward with the right foot. (It
reminds me of right and left turns in fox trot.) He then shows us how to lead
ocho cortado. The emphasis is on defensive dancing to avoid Idiots on the floor.
Shakespeare Statue at Central Park
After the last class, I escort some out-of-towners to the Hit and Run milonga
at the Shakespeare Statue in Central Park via the subway. If you dance tango,
you can figure out the subway system. I don't have a clue how people are able
to dance on the pavement. After two dances I give up and go to dinner.
Milonga at Sandra Cameron Dance Studio
Later in the evening, not part of the festival, I go to Carlos Dechey's milonga
at Sandra Cameron dance studio. My New York friend shows up and we dance and
dance and dance... (you get the idea.) It's about 1:30 am and it's time to
leave. She says "Oh, I love this waltz. Let's dance it." We dance. Another
waltz comes on. She says "This is the last waltz." Another waltz comes on and
she says "I mean it. This is the LAST waltz of the night." Another waltz
follows and she says it "I MEAN it!! THIS IS the LAST waltz of the night." I
forget how many "last" waltzes we dance. I'm starting to understand the
milonguero expression "4 legs, 2 bodies, one heart." She drives me back to my
hotel. It would take three times as long if I took the subway because the
headway is about 20 minutes and most of the trains run local after 11 PM.
Sunday, July 25 Classes at Stepping Out Studio
Diego and Carolina: Different ways to dance to the beat
Diego describes the instruments of the orchestra and tells us to pick one
instrument and dance to that instrument. Each partner should choose a DIFFERENT
instrument. It's a strange sensation to dance to ONE instrument and not the
melody.
Diego and Carolina: Boleo technique for both
D&C emphasize balance and pivoting. The leader must rotate the woman in the
opposite direction before
she commits her weight to the foot that is about to make contact with the floor.
Virginia Kelly "Inter-leading" MY FAVORITE CLASS!!!!
My private teacher in Washington, DC says "Men have possibilities, women have
opportunities." Virginia teaches me the meaning of the statement. To
illustrate, Virginia and I dance. (Now I'll see if the years of lessons pay
off.) Virginia slightly presses my frame to get me to stop. She does an
elaborate adornment. Sometimes, she leads me (feels like back leading) so that
I get into a position where she can do something.
Virginia teaches women how to find and take advantage of opportunities. We
start off where the man sweeps the woman's foot. The woman can sweep the foot
back in the other direction. She also teaches the women how to give the leader
a back sacada, though he might freak out when it happens because it's rarely
done.
That's it for the classes. They were excellent. Even if I knew something, I got
a better understanding. That's the wonder of tango. The more you know, the more
you find out the LESS you really know.
Il Campanello Restaurant Afternoon Supper and Milonga
I only list the dancers I remember who performed. Ney and Mariana dance a
steamy close-embrace tango. I am inspired to learn one of his figures. While he
is leading Marian in forward ochos, he is moving backwards in a zig zag. I have
to figure out if he is changing his weight before he moves in the opposite
direction.
Junior and Beverly Durand seem to defy gravity. I attempt to explain one
difficult move. Junior has his weight on his left foot. His right foot is
raised to knee level. Beverly stands on raised right foot while Junior pivots.
It happened so quickly it took my breath away.
Gayatri announces that next year's festival will be during the second or third
week of July. OK. 12 months to the next festival, only 5 months to the Cheap
and Chic New Year's Eve party, and most importantly; 18 months before I become
eligible to retire from the federal government with 32 years service.
South Street Seaport
Not part of the festival, there is a milonga at the Seaport which has a
boardwalk pier. Trey Parker, of Spice, gives a free tango lesson to a large
crowd. He has to yell over the music and the sounds of the city. I don't know
how he does it. Dancing is much easier than at Central Park though not as easy
as a dance floor. I dance with Grace, a complete stranger. It's very romantic.
We move through the cool breeze coming off the East River as the sun slowly
sets on a wonderful festival. The lights of the Brooklyn Bridge give a nice
counterbalance to the slightly cloudy half moon. A tall building in Brooklyn
displays the time and temperature. (I can't believe it. 70 degrees!!) River
traffic is light and quiet.
I return to my hotel with a sigh of regret, knowing that I'm leaving the next
day.
I was proud to assist Gayatri and Lucille, the promoters of the festival by
gender balancing and acting as assistant registrar. It was good to work with
the other volunteers to make the festival a success:
Lisa: the wizard of the (computer) keyboard who handled registrations
Ruby: The master of the food at the B&W ball.
Andy: Hercules who carried the wine and champagne from a parked car to Stepping
Out
Joyce: Helped with Administrative details
Ilene: Helped with Administrative details (and puts on her own event: Woodstock
Tango)
My apologies to anybody I forgot.
To paraphrase the conclusion of Garrison Keillor's weekly monologue on "A
Prairie Home Companion"
That's the news from New York
Where all the women lead.
All the men follow.
All the children, learn tango.
Good night.
Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC
I'd rather be dancing argentine tango
