Tangotourist in Berlin, Summer 2014
This milonga reminded me of the milonga at Plaza Dorrego in BsAs. Colored lights, tourists drinking wine, smiles and dancers of all ages and levels. This one was full of boys arrived for the weekend’s queer tango festival.
WITH a beautiful backdrop of river and museum.
Very crowded (it cleared out a bit by the time I took the photos) but fun.
The floor was pressboard, and had a distinct edge. And one of my dear students from Queer Tango Boston is here. What a surprise!
I had a great dance with UP, at last, changing roles the whole time. He dances barefoot so we bring the footwear spectacle to new heights of noisy stares and exclamations.
I danced with a couple of girls, one of whom reverse cabeceod me, which I have to say put me in a very sour mood. She tried a week ago, but this time I gave in. I have to say that I feel I came a long way to lead girls who have slightly better connection and softer motion than Sydney tangueras but still insist on doing whatever ocho they have in mind even if they have to break their shoulder to do it because the mark is going somewhere else.
And I just have no motivation whatsoever to humor them. I am here to make art, baby, and you are going to need more than two colours if you want to paint with me.
The onda was so beautiful – setting and mood, but the dancing was generally (and has been elsewhere) exactly what makes people say “tango nuevo is ugly and disconnected”. Why is good onda inversely correlated with level? I want happy, inclusive tango, but I want people to dance better. And I think it’s possible.
And I do feel some teachers are trying to make it more complicated, not less so.
