Berlin

Berlin 6 Dec - 10 Dec 2007
With so many friends traveling to Buenos Aires there is only one thing to do... fly to Berlin and console myself in Europe's Tango capital. I have timed the trip to coincide with Kirsty and eight of tangueros/as making the trip from Brighton so it will be a big get-together. Who needs Buenos aires when you have Berlin? :O/

Warsaw Festival

An intensive, enjoyable, eventful weekend with many unexpected suprises and events Living in Malmö it is easy and very cheap to travel to Warsaw to dance tango - for example, the return flight is less than the fare to Stockholm (unless you are like Pixie and book your train ticket 6 months in advance. So my trip to Warsaw was long overdue and what better time to visit than the last weekend in September for the festival. Having booked my trip I was happy to find out that one of my favourite teachers was at the festival and not only that but he was only teaching milonga. This gave me the 'röda tråd' that I find is missing at (most)festival workshops. The chance to go deeper and build on previous workshops and expand your dance all under the watchful eye of the same teacher. I took all the milonga classes at all levels with Diego'El parajo'& Victoria. The milongas were a joy to be at. Even if the Thursday venue was not ideal and the floor quite bad the dances and music more than made up for it. The Friday and Saturday milongas were more plush, being held in a beautiful old building and the dances were second to none. Unfortunately I had to fly back on Sunday and miss the last evening of the festival, but it was good to go out on a high. I will have to plan better next year to include the Sunday milonga. All in all it was a great festival to end a perfect tango summer! (Sorry no photos - too busy dancing)

Stockholm 59 Festival - August

Just arrived back from 3 hectic days in Stockholm.
This time I managed to squeeze in some sun instead of just tango. 9 of us spent all-day Saturday on Arne's boat in the Stockholm archipelago a perfect way to recharge the batteries ahead of a long night of dancing. The festival was a fantastic experience, a great mix familiar and new faces. The official milonga finished at 3am and then it was a short walk to the 'after party' in the basement of Chicago. Now I can add Stockholm to the places I have danced in: Malmö, Lömma, Lund, Veberöd, Tylösand, Sitges, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Stockholm and soon to be Warsaw. I have just booked my flight to the Warsaw festival at the end of August.

Sitges Tango Festival 2007

Well it lived up to its high expectations!
A mixture of fun dancing in the sand, serious dancing at the gorgeous milonga venue and narco dancing until well past dawn at the after party.

Tylösand

Living room Practica

Why do I have a coffee table, armchair and foot stool if all they ever do is get pushed up against the living room walls? It has become essential to have as much free floor space in my apartment as possible. My 'living room practica' is open 24/7 Monday evenings, Wednesday afternoons, Thursday mornings but most frequently in the small hours as my weary body comes home from dancing out-and-about and my brain says just one more Tanda. The tango drug addiction gives energy and extreme pleasure with the bearable side-effects of sleep depravation and an empty living room.

Sitges soon!

After a fantastic intensive long weekend at Tylösand it was back to basics in Malmö as I took 4 basic workshops to brush up on my skills ahead of the highlight of the summer in Sitges. Last year Sitges was a well-kept secret but now it seems like the cat is out of the bag as half of Malmö seems to be descending on the quaint Spanish resort not to mention all the other tango freaks from around the world. To refresh your memory of the festival here are some photos from last year's beach tango

Tango Camp Tylösand

Time for a midsommar weekend of dance, spa, lots of food and no sleep!
Courses in Advanced Classic with Malin from Uppsala - see photo!

April Sun - SILENCIO in Malmö

A perfect warm-up to the Malmö Tangofestival, today the sun shone bright and we danced in the park. It was a strange sight to see all the couples dancing yet no music could be heard.

Silencio

This evening we danced to the silent tune of SILENCIO in the ampitheatre of Pildams park in Malmö.
We couldn't wait for Blue Sky tango and the dance by the sea at the West Harbour so on Pixie's initiative we took my I pod and two sets off ear plugs and danced in the park. Spectators soon appeared and were curious to see two people dancing to no music (at least no music that they could hear. We began to feel sorry for all those who could not hear the angelic tones of Vargas or the wonderful rhythm of Biagi, not to mention Gotan Project and Canaro so we plugged in the loudspeakers and carried on dancing. A wonderful spring evening in Malmö all thanks to Pixie!!

If you want to join us next time, hop along to claus ohlsson and buy a double earplug adaptor for 35kr.

Next?

Back home to the Snow
Cold and windy
Practica that finishes at 2300
Few, very few milongas to choose from!

There are a few silver linings to the cloud
Malmö Tango Festival
Copenhagen Tango Festival
Sitges Festival in July
Tango Camp
Weekend in Berlin

but can any of them live up to BsAS? ...only time will tell...

Other Buenos Aires Photos

Last Full Day

Time for reflection! Have I really been here dancing every night for a month? Time really does fly.
Stocked up on CD´s today and found the Tanghetto remix versions of Depeche Mode (Enjoy the Silence) and New Order (Blue Monday).
Will go to la Glorieta one last time to dance outside, the next time will be at Blue Sky Tango in Malmoe in a May if we are lucky.
Will eat at my favourite Parilla the one with the best fresh sallad buffe including lentils and beans and of course great Provaleta.
Then it is off to my last milonga not sure where could be Sunderland or another place mentioned yesterday but I hope to be in La Viruta from 0500 - 0700 for the last dances and the last last last La Cumparsita in Buenos Aires.

Who´s the Hottest?

Sorry to disappoint the guys reading this but I mean the ones on the pictures not Argentinian girls! Top prize for first correct answer to the following question

Who was the hottest in buenos Aires today?
a. The purple thing- Barnie?
b. the white thing?
c. simon el pata de perro?

Answers on a postcard to Luba Tango Guest House Buenos Aires by Monday 15th January 2007.

Taxi

The best taxi service in Buenos Aires.

Pata de Perro

I have become the original Pata de Perro walking the streets aimlessly like a stray dog shopping for tango shoes for the cheeky ones, converse for friends and baby converse for soon to be baby, visiting cafes, internet cafes and finding tango matinees and such like. The heat is increasing here but you won´t find me complaining soon I will be back in sub-zero windy, rainy, dark, miserable Sweden - the place I have chosen as home, don´t ask me why! But at least the cats and maybe someone else will be glad to see me and warm me a little.

Soho Tango

Quite a humble little event every Thursday but one that is very endearing - Soho Tango is the new kid on the block in the Buenos Aires tango world, but one to recommend. Easy-going, unpretentious, relaxed, friendly and a small but great dance floor. Maria and Eugenia hold classes from 2100 after which the milonga starts. In the photo you see Emilio in True Italian style gripping the girl and refusing to let her go!

New Shoes 3

Yes I know, more black and white shoes but the other pair were zapatillos (sneakers). Expensive but worth it! I remember Harald told me when he was leaving that he had ordered one pair from Artesanal and that he wished he had ordered more from there. Now I know what he means. They feel great to dance in and are so comfortable, absolutely worth the extra dosh.
www.shoes-susanartesanal.com

Sleepless Perrito!

It is "impossible to sleep around here, no sooner have I managed to get my head down when...one of my brothers decides to chew my leg... and my friends jump on my head" quote from a poor labrador puppy Belgrano 10 Jan 2006

Sad Day!

It was a sad day today as it was the last lesson with Carolina Calas. The teacher assigned the unenviable task of transforming this elephant with two left feet into a bailarina slash milonguero. I am not sure if the mission was accomplished but at least this elephant is a bit more agile and elegant on the dancefloor and I am forever grateful for the patience, hardwork, expertise and perserverance that Caro showed me.
I will miss laughing at her vocabulary slip-ups i.e, calling toes - fingers, and her inventive ways to describe tango moves i.e, picardia (mischief)
I will miss her saying hoppla as I mess up and the word Essoooooooooooooooooooo (the Es is said as I do a good move but the last syllable ooooooooo is stretched as she realised I cocked it up at the end).
I will miss the agua tonica.
I will miss the terrible sad lyrics of the tango that was in the middle of the CD that we always fast forwarded.
I will miss the words Muy Bien, Eso, Mejor, Mucho Mejor, the words that became a little more frequent towards the end.
Now I am on my own and have to work on all the things to make them work in the dance, practise makes perfect.
Muchas Gracias Caro yo estoy en deuda con tu siempre!
http://www.estudiocalas.com.ar/

Glamour and Gourmet - Not!

The not so glamourous, inconspicuous entrance to La Catedral kind of sums up the bohemic atmosphere. One of the many things on the plus side is the meat-free menu, although it is far from a gourmet restaurant.

la CATedral

I am going to miss this dancing cat, without a doubt he is the star of the show at La Catedral

Shoe Shopping!

Now I have shoes for all the ones that were cheeky enough to ask me to buy for them, Neotango is closed now as they have no stock left. I just hope I have room left in my baggage for my shoes and that I don´t get stopped at customs in Copenhagen they will think I am a transvestite with all the ladies shoes in my bag.

Canning

Canning is like an old friend. It is loyal and reliable and always there for you in times of need.
Other venues have special nights Catedral on Tuesday, La Viruta on Wednesday/Sunday (not not not Saturday), El Beso on Sunday, Villa Malcolm on Friday, Soho on Thursday Club Grisel on Monday? etc etc but Canning is consistent throughout the week so much so in fact that one tends to neglect it and go to the special days of the other venues. It is reassuring to know that Canning will always be there and that you know what you are going to get.

Club Grisel

Club Grisel was a bit of a disappointment. The milonguera class was a milonga class and the teachers were not very enthusiastic to say the least. Still it was good to see a new venue and we still got back to Canning for the last hours.

Deadbeat!

This poor doggy must have also been dancing at the milongas. This is how I feel as I am walking home in the early hours of dawn, dog tired!

New Shoes 2

Burgundy and black with heel - sorry short girls, now I am even taller!

Empanadas!

After the closure (temporary) of Krishna I have had to seek my daily munchings of empanadas elsewhere and decided to try the equivalent of McDonalds in the empananda world EL NOBLE REPULGUE. The verdict, not bad! At least i won´t starve here!