Traveling Tango

Anticipation…….

Guest authors: Alexandra Kuncio and Ken Brown organizers of Encuentro Elegante, Seattle, USA

This is what makes these two encuentro organizers tick…Anticipation.

The Encuentro Elegante Seattle is defined by this anticipation…as Ken Brown recalls.

I suddenly bolted awake with beads of sweat running down my face. Reality hit me hard. I’ve committed to organizing an Encuentro during a Pandemic!!!

This was scarier than my recent bout with Leukemia.

Let’s go back to the beginning. For many years, I have had a dream of running a milonga.

While dancing tango in Poland in 2019, I received notice that a milonga that I had been running during the winter months for the original organizers was being offered to me as they retired back to Argentina. Turns out that being in Poland at that particular point in time was serendipitous. The venue I was negotiating with was the Polish Home Association in Seattle.

This leads to my second dream of organizing an Encuentro. How hard can this be?

Ha!! I was fortunate in getting the good advice of experienced and trusted friends.

One said, “Build it and they will come!”, people are desperate to dance after 1 ½ years of no dancing.

The most important aspect at the beginning of this Encuentro journey is having someone who believes in you. Alexandra Kunicio is that someone.

Someone who wants to share in this journey. She tells you “No” when you need to be told, “No”, and suggests “Can we add velvet drapes to the reception area and maybe flowers on the tables?”

They say “The devil is in the details”.

After many hours of our volunteer team working diligently along our side, the scene is set. The ballroom with its high ceilings and velvet drapes, newly refinished dance floor, sound system checked, tables set up with tablecloths, candles to add sparkle, runners that reflect that candlelight, and flowers to bring in the beauty of nature.

All we need now is to add the music and the dancers. Adding music is one of the most important parts of a convivial event. Great music makes people happy and makes them want to dance every tanda.

Choosing Tango DJ’s is like putting on a Broadway show. Each DJ is selected for a particular milonga.

Your goal is to have great music with the dancers being the stars.

That brings us to the most crucial ingredient; the right mix of people. Good dancers with friendly personalities that are welcoming to all, is our goal.

So far we have been very blessed with an amazing group of dancers that have enhanced the tango experience for all of us.

We try to put out tasty food to everyone’s liking to keep their energy high. This also provides a place for people to chat for a short while and perhaps strike up a conversation with someone they have not yet met.

The stage is set. It is opening night, 5:30pm, as we await the arrival of our dancers.

Everything is in place and looks beautiful, but…

Oh wait, the plumbing is backed up?!?

Ok, the downstairs bathrooms are functioning. Whew, we dodged a bullet.

Oh wait, our food prep helper had a family emergency?

Ok, we roll up our sleeves and start chopping and plating.

Oh wait, a dancer has left his knapsack at the airport in Miami with ID.

OK, we verify who he is and manage to register him.

Finally, it’s time. As our guests arrive, we are greeted with warmth and embraces from known dancers and happily greet our new ones.

Every year gets a little bit easier. After 3 Encuentros, we feel proud of what we have accomplished.

Someone always asks “Why do you do this?”.

There is not really a direct answer to that question; it’s a combination of many things.

Our love of Tango music; our love of the stories about life and dancing during the Golden Era; our anticipation of embracing that one person with whom you will experience Tango Magic. That person with whom you can journey to a place so few people will ever experience.

That Tango Magic we all search for.

As we watch and observe the many people who travel from near and far to our Encuentro, we have this thought: with each smile, each embrace, each step, Tango bridges all.

It brings the souls of people together to have that moment in time to experience the desire to become one.

Why do we do this? For the Love and Soul of Tango.

TODO EXISTE EN EL ABRASO

Ken Brown & Alexandra Kuncio, organizers

For more info http://www.encuentroeleganteseattle.com/

Photos courtesy of Alexandra Kuncio, Ken Brown and Adrienne Yvr

While the sun heats up the days, tango heats up the nights.

After consulting tangomango.org we discovered there is a milonga or practika almost every night.

This is now only late October, and the winter sun season begins in December. Snow birds [people] escaping the harshness of the colder climes of the northern US and Canada will arrive then, and the number of people living here in Southern Florida doubles.

The pace of life quickens, too. The traffic and driving become worse as the weather warms up.

That’s why I enjoy living here in southern Florida in September, October, and November. We return to BsAs in mid-December.

It is so nice to go to the beach on a weekday as the beach looks more like dots of people instead of wall to wall blankets and umbrellas.

As we have been living here for a month, we are attending 2 practikas and 2 milongas weekly. The practikas are located close to home, only 20 minutes of driving.

Again, all this information is on tangomango.org

On Wednesday night, there’s the Goldcoast Ballroom. The tango class is taught by my favorite maestros, Paloma Rodrigues and Maximiliano Olaguibel.

The Goldcoast Ballroom is one of the oldest dance clubs in Florida, getting its start in the 1966. They offer every type of instruction from Salsa to Foxtrot to Tango.

After the tango class, there is an hour long practica. The floor is huge, so it’s easy to dance and work on your steps or embrace or musicality. For corrections and questions, it’s possible to ask the two maestros Maxi and Paloma for help.

On Friday nights, we usually go to Manny and Fabiola’s Milonga la Pituca in Pompano Beach. This milonga is celebrating their 15th anniversary Milonga at the Star Ballroom in Pompano Beach.

Here, the space is smaller and more intimate than others places in Southern Florida. This ballroom has a cheery decor, a great wood floor with small round tables off to the side, and lots of mirrors for reflections with a good lighting, and music systems. It’s a BYOB place, but for the price of admission, they provide snacks, sandwiches, sweets, soft drinks, and water. Manny and Fabiola usually teach the pre milonga class, too, or have occasional guest instructors.

Then, on Saturday, it’s a choice and a decision to drive approximately 50 minutes for us to go to dance at the new dance club called Tanda.

It’s a brand new space in North Miami that the owner, Olga Blavatnik, designed and built.

It is a beautiful space with a wooden floor, an exquisite overhead chandelier, and a fantastic lighting system. Add a separate dj booth and a full bar set up, and it’s a pretty impressive club for tango.

Olga started Tanda, and she states, “As a safe, comfortable and welcoming place for women to explore their inner selves, to discover their passionate natures, beauty and freedom.”

Olga believes it’s Tanda’s mission is to introduce tango’s soul and therapeutic benefits to as many people as possible while creating a holistic tango experience.

WOW!!!

We danced there last Saturday and loved the place. It has very comfortable furnishings and I do love the separate bar area, as this is not a typical tango bar.

The night we were there it was a packed house as this club just opened in June.

Everything is new, and this club is shiny and bright with fresh roses on the tables too.

We plan on dancing there again.

And now on Sundays. There are two choices depending on the Sunday.

Every Sunday night in Hallandale Beach is La Ideal, organized by the amazing Lydia C. Henson, which just celebrated their 16th anniversary with a wonderful dinner party milonga and special performances.

Here, the ballroom space is very large and accomdating with dj booth on the side of the stage and a bar in the back. This is the Club Tropical featuring its elegant curtain draping, an excellent flooring and a good lighting system.

Large round-tables dot the floor, with a food vendor in the rear close to the bar.

For years, local and visiting Milongeros have attended this weekly event. Now, most La Ideal Sunday milongas are at the Vk Dance Arena located a few miles away.

And now, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at the Italian club in North Miama, it is the Tres Esquimas Milonga.

When we attended, they, too, were celebrating their 1st year anniversary.

This old Italian club has a rich history of showcasing tango events for many years.

The floor is midsized with white curtain draping in the middle of the ceiling, and there are large round tables placed all along the outer limit of the floor. The dj booth is on the stage, and the bar is in the back of the club next to the complimentary food, soda, and wine.

For their anniversary milonga, the organizers had the tango harmonica player, Joe Powers play at the event.

This milonga hosted by 4 local milongeros, Cristyan Quiroz, Jacklyn Shapiro Quiroz, Alejandro Szenkman and Stefania Marchesotti. has fantastic energy amd lots of dancing.

We have been so lucky to dance at many places and have yet to try Las Pebetas Milongas on Saturdays nights at VK Dance Arena.

We have reconnected with people we met on our last visit and met many new peeps, too.

Mostly dancing tango in Southern Florida is a happy and fun experience.

Links:

https://tangomango.org
https://goldcoastballroom.com/
https://www.palomaymaximiliano.com/
https://www.tanda.us/

Listed events on facebook
La Ideal Milonga
Tres Esquimas Milonga Les Pebetas Milonga

Leaving…on a jet plane.

My thoughts and emotions on leaving Europe are very mixed.

What an adventure the last 5 months have been. Many kilometers on planes, trains, buses, cars, electric scooter, and ferries.

It’s no small feat to remember leaving BsAs in late April.

We have traveled to Spain, Turkey, Greece, France, Andorra, Jordan and back to Spain.

Different cities with many types of lodgings and the vastness of the flavors of the foods eaten. The lamb, tomatoes, and eggplant in Turkey. The feta, fish, and yogurt in Greece. Beduin tea in Wadi Rum. The wines, croissants and breads in France and the Spanish omlettes, Iberaian ham, and tapas in Spain.

Each country has a unique blend of colors and flavors. Sometimes, an idiosyncrasy or two stands out.

We have danced tango in countries and cities, almost to many to list, but if I did it would make a very long list.

At these milongas, we have been welcomed and ignored. We have danced on most nights of the week, but I think Saturday is the most popular and the floors most crowded.

We have attended marathons, milongas, practicas, and a workshop camp.

From the first tanda at the Calliente Tango Festival, Antalya, Turkey to dancing the last night before leaving in Casa de Valencia, Barcelona, this experience has been insightful and a delightful time of exploration.

I still practice my Milonga habits I learned from my first Tango Momma, Christine, many years ago.[thank you momma!!!]

This is my standard practice that I apply to any milongas I go to.

When you arrive at the Milonga, put on your shoes, order your beverage, and then observe the floor and smile.

Then at the milongas the following questions of looking and listening arise.

How is that man embracing his partner? With respect and care?

Is he totally moving around on the floor without a concern for the surrounding dancers?

Is he listening to the music and leading?

Is he pushing her around, or are they equally moving together?

This is why, when we arrive at a milonga, Maximo and I sit out for a few tandas to get a feel for the crowd and the room.

Then we decide? Is the music what we want to dance to?

Disarli? Pugliese? Vargas? Miguel Calo?

Then we dance. We have gotten very comfortable dancing with each other but continue to try out new steps and remember older learned patterns. But we always have fun and enjoy laughing.

For me, tango is always a bit of drama, too, especially at the end of the tanda in which we usually end with a kiss.

After dancing in many spaces and places from very large ballroom floors to small bar rooms, in my observation, it’s the place, the people, and the music that make a successful friendly event.

I have wonderful memories of many embraces, cities, and their spaces, I truly can not say which was the best, but I can say this.

We will keep on dancing!!!

We will keep on traveling.

We will continue this journey of living and Tango.

These are the experiences that make us happy, enriching our lives and touching other lives. It’s always the people.

So yes, I will miss Europe and all it offers, the antiquities and culture but other adventures await us here in the USA.

Miami, maybe a road trip or two. Atlanta, Chicago?

And we return to Europe next year!!! Mashallah!!!

Abrazo y Besitos, Ruth

Traveling Tango

Anticipation…….

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While the sun heats up the days, tango heats up the nights.

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Leaving…on a jet plane.

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Traveling Tango