“We work in the dark,” wrote literary giant Henry James of the great task of writing. Here is an opportunity to nurture that passion for writing to life in a place of fabled light, Mendoza, the province of Argentina’s spectacular wine country. Over seven days in the luxurious and comfortable lodgings of Posada de Rosas, […]
Mendoza Writing Workshop Schedule
May 8, 2009 by
Day One: Transfer from airport to lodgings 1:00 p.m. on: informal buffet lunch at the Posada, siesta 5pm-7:30 p.m.: Orientation to Mendoza (tour) 8:00 p.m.: Argentine barbeque (asado) dinner at the Posada Day Two: 8:00-10:00 a..m.:. Breakfast 10:00 – 1:00 p.m.: Workshop “Musings in Mendoza – Setting a Goal” 1:00: Depart for walk to San […]
What makes a “real artistic tango dancer?”
April 29, 2009 by
Your question really got me thinking—how to answer this succinctly, when really, it took my whole book to write about tango, the art and wonder of it!
I pondered your phrase “a real artistic tango dancer”—whether you meant dancing for exhibition or for your own pleasure. In the end, I think the answer would be about the same because in essence all tango dancers have received a venerable art form. And as artists they are sort of avatars.
Travel Writing Workshop, Mendoza, Argentina
April 23, 2009 by
Anyone can craft an image-rich postcard to send home, but how do you fashion prose with your personal style intact and the substance that give it broader appeal, longer shelf life, and publishing opportunities?
Yoga Journal covers Tango
April 15, 2009 by
These poses were struck in anticipation of publication of a short article I wrote for Yoga Journal, which will appear in the March 2009 issue in a section called OM. It’s about how my Catholic upbringing fed seamlessly into my yoga practice, which fed seamlessly into tango.
Dancing Street Tango in La Boca
April 14, 2009 by
I absolutely love walking up to the street dancers in La Boca and asking if they’ll dance with me. I’ve never been disappointed. They are so kind and willing and bravely accept the challenge. My friend Robert Levering (the best-selling author) was visiting the city and I wanted to show him how it works, how you can walk up to a total stranger and talk tango. We scouted out El Caminito and the tanguero in my video on my Home Page was not to be found. But I found my perfect stranger in Gustavo—seen in the two videos
The Spanish of Tango, a great book!
March 13, 2009 by
So, you had a year of Spanish in college and think you can get by in Buenos Aires . . . fageddaboutit. You may as well put a Brit in the same room with an American from the Deep South. Demian Gawianski, esteemed linguist and author of BUENOS AIRES EXPERIENCE, can quickly get you up […]
Milonga Heaven – Oscar Casas
March 5, 2009 by
his is Oscar Casas one of the best tango teachers for all levels in Buenos Aires–and all the world. Mary Ann, Oscar’s wife and partner in teaching, filmed us at the end of a private class. Oscar is out of this world, but so down to earth in his approach to tango.
Patagonia story, Honorable Mention, Solas Award
March 2, 2009 by
n late 2007, I took a break from my busy dancing schedule in Buenos Aires and visited Patagonia for the second time – a 3M place—myth, magic, mystery. While there I met Ronan Lawlor . . .
I’m delighted to announce that my story, Missing in Patagonia, about that heart-wrenching experience, received an Honorable Mention in the Third Annual Solas Awards Winners for 2008.
My Tango Precepts
February 27, 2009 by
I would like to expand a little on what I meant by my third tango precept, Accept what’s offered. In my book, Tango, an Argentine Love Story, I describe how I distilled four guiding precepts for attending the many milongas (where tango is danced) here in Buenos Aires. I distilled the four pithy adages from […]
Chapter 5. Even Gauchos Dance Tango
February 27, 2009 by
From Tango, an Argentine Love Story By Camille Cusumano It’s a Friday night in late September when I decide to go to the milonga at Salon Canning. Every time I sit down after dancing, I feel something like a loving jolt, so intense is the tap on the back I keep getting from a woman […]
How not to reek of the stinking rose
February 26, 2009 by
I will not give up eating garlic, not even for tango dancing. I will modify my habitual need. If I know I’m dancing within the next 12 hours, I would avoid garlic in its raw form. Cooked garlic seems to run through the system more inconspicuously and more quickly. The best way to rid your […]
Eating Argentina
February 26, 2009 by
First law of tango-thermodynamics:
A tango dancer has to carry her weight.
• How to eat garlic and not reek
• Maple Walnut Pancakes (recipe, below)
• Fagioli Toscana (recipe, below)
I love the food here in Argentina. It doesn’t reflect the abundance and diversity of the food in my home, San Francisco Bay Area, but no other place does. Still, fresh ingredients are plentiful, the wine is getting better all the time (and still cheap). You can compose your own fresh salad in most restaurants from a long list of ingredients that usually include radichetta (a chicory), arugula (rucula), romaine, tomatoes, sugar beets (remolacha), grated carrots (zanahoria), peas (arveja), corn (choclo), and more. Naturally, there is a huge Spanish influence, but also the food culture is very Italian.
Scenes from Tango, an Argentine Love Story
February 20, 2009 by
Here’s Pato, aka Patricia Jacovella, best guide, Spanish teacher, girlfriend, and host of LivingYourSpanish.com. I shot Pato around San Antonio de Areco, her home. It’s Gaucho Central – oh, those three young gauchos loved posing for us.
Embarrassing Tango Moments
February 20, 2009 by
the two of us were living, both passionate about this Argentine dance often called “a vertical position for horizontal desire.” He had eyes set deeply, like currants in a scone, but also thick chestnut hair and a seductive close embrace and torso sway. I loved to watch his bum as he danced.
Tango, my patriotic duty
February 20, 2009 by
When President Barack Obama called our nation to a day of service, I looked no farther than my two arms and feet. I would bring tango, the dance of love, to elderly residents at the Redwoods, a senior community in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco.
Why Argentines aren’t so hot on Valentine’s Day
February 20, 2009 by
Buenos Aires, the birthplace of the most sensual dance on earth . . . you would expect Valentine’s Day to offer a major opportunity for commercial exploitation of eros.
Recoleta Apartment for rent in Buenos Aires
February 20, 2009 by
I lived and worked as a writer here for more than a year, through all four seasons – and I can vouch that the place, though not fancy, has “mucha buen onda” – lotsa good vibes.
Chapter 18. Tango Rapture
February 20, 2009 by
An excerpt from Tango, an Argentine Love Story “The stillness shall be the dancing and the darkness the light.” -“East Coker,” T. S. Elliott ” . . . Happy is what I feel as I cross town in a taxi with my five suitcases in tow. I love that it’s summer in January here, and […]
Shape Magazine calls Tango “moving memoir”
January 14, 2009 by
Shape Magazine calls Tango “moving memoir”