Brian Dunn wrote: "Here in Boulder, we're finishing up two weeks worth of working with Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne, learning from them, sitting with tears in our eyes watching them dance, listening to their music choices as DJ's, and sharing the social dance floor with them to live tango music."
Dear List, Brian and Deb, Gustavo and Giselle: Let me preface what I am about to say by affirming that I have no financial connection either with Dance of the Heart in Boulder Co, or to Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne "G/G". The only reason I am writing this is to convey my sincere gratitude to Brian Dunn, Deb Sclar, Gustavo Naveira, and Giselle Anne, for providing two weeks of tango bliss and inspiration I will never forget. It is really difficult to put into words how extraordinary this program was, from the organization of events, the quality of the venues, the combination of instruction and social dance opportunities, plus some time to hike the gorgeous Rockies, the sincere good nature of the hosts, Brian and Deb, the genuine open friendliness of the dancers of the Boulder and Denver area, (miraculously, every cabaceo I sent out was accepted! Colorado followers, rock on! ) and most of all, the incredible quality of the teaching of G/G. In my humble opinion, G/G are the best in the world at what they do, which is to convey the essence of tango, the structure of the dance, the beauty and quality of the movements, the passion, the theory, musicality, rhythm, phrasing; Gustavo and Giselle give you the total package, with their full heart and soul. They open your eyes to the possiblities in Tango, they give you the tools, and then it is up to you to practice, and use those tools to create you own personal interpretation and style. Yes, they deserve deification, or whatever accolade you can think of, including Buddha, the path to tango enlightenment. True, they may not have the only path, but it is the most clearly marked trail this tango hiker has ever experienced. I have only been dancing for 9 years, but I have had the good fortune to experience many different talented teachers, here in the US as well as in BA, each having unique strengths. This is subjective of course, and what impresses me may not impress others on this list. For example, just to name one other inspiring teacher, Gavito was unique in his conveyance of passion, for me he had the "heart" of tango. Gustavo has, in addition to the passion, the Mind, the living brains of tango. I do not easily use the word "genius". But here the word is warranted. His analysis of how, why, when, and where things work or dont work, look elegant or not, fit the music or not, communicate with your partner or not, is simply on the highest level. The performances of G/G at two of the milongas were amazing, after a full day of exhausting workshops at mile high Boulder altitude they delivered four dynamic, sublime, moving, dance numbers per night that, like you guys, brought tears to my eyes as well, which took me by surprise, that has not happened to me before during a tango performance. If you really love tango, if it touches you at your core, how could you not cry during that experience? You knew you were witnessing world class partnership movement in musicality, artistry that you might never be lucky enough to see again. Brian, I really don't think you should take seriously any of the simplistic negative comments from anyone on the list, either they are playing devils advocate for purposes of debate or attention, or they have never attended a full G/G seminar week, so they are ignorant on the subject. In any event, perhaps it is not a good idea for me to tell the world how incredible G/G are, as I am happy to keep them a "secret" for those of us who treasure such a resource, so we don't have to fight for a slot in their seminars :-). I beg you to repeat the encuentro at least once a year! Love, Martin Nussbaum _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
