This is a work in progress and has been approved by the International Council on Fog Fog is divided into three greater categories according to the degree of Moisture (wet or dry), its Source-— from sky, ground, or water—and its Light Content. I MOISTURE CONTENT A. Pluvia: wet fog a. Plumerie: (not to be confused […]
Happy St. Pat’s – Boop Boopy Do!
March 17, 2012 by
Tango in Nairobi, Africa
January 7, 2012 by
Oh, how many people told me “You won’t find tango in Nairobi?” They didn’t know Mario Ruggier, a native of Malta and naturalized Canadian who came by way of Geneva two years ago to work in Nairobi in an engineering capacity for the U.N. also. (There are some 25,000 expats in Kenya.) Mario found that only ersatz tango—the ballroom stuff of stiff frame, bodies held apart, making like a tulip. So he began to teach the real thing, Argentine tango and now he has a good following. I was received with open arms and close embrace.
A Brainy idea of tango and zen
April 27, 2011 by
In tango, just pay attention, don’t get too excited, and you’ll enter the zone, the flow
I could’ve danced all night
February 1, 2011 by
Original article here. [VIA Magazine, 1999, photo 2007, Kent Wade, Buenos Aires] On a nine-day cruise across the Atlantic, swinging to the Big Band sound of Tommy Dorsey was a breeze—especially for women traveling alone. By Camille Cusumano (photo, Kent Wade) A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle, I chanted […]
Visitors’ Guide to Buenos Aires, Argentina
November 25, 2010 by
Where to eat, stay, tango, dance, walk, and more in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From an American who lived, loved, and danced there.
Rubbing up against a stranger (tango)
November 17, 2010 by
From National Geographic Traveler, October, 2010 NOW AND THEN, in Buenos Aires, I have the urge to rub against a man I’ve never met. When that occurs, I usually go to La Boca . . .
Tango for World Peace
November 3, 2010 by
World Peace Begins at Home – start with a dance, a tango, it takes two.
Your writing instructor
April 8, 2010 by
About me . . . I bring to my workshops more than thirty years of experience in publishing as researcher, writer, editor, and instructor in a vast array of subject areas including essay, memoir, food, travel, fitness, health, mind/body/spirit, creative non-fiction, fiction, and more. My latest book, a travel memoir, TANGO, AN ARGENTINE LOVE STORY, […]
Writing Workshop Goals
April 8, 2010 by
HERE ARE YOUR FOUR GOALS WE’LL ACCOMPLISH IN THIS INTENSIVE: 1. Understand and embrace your writing setpoint. Just as with body weight, we all have a writing setpoint—a natural length that suits our message and determines our ideal genre. 1,000 words is the mean, from which you assess your need to unpack and flesh out or […]
Mar del Plata in photos
December 26, 2009 by
I finally got to Mar del Plata, Argentina’s much loved and much maligned seashore. Those guilty of the latter have certainly not grown up in New Jersey where the seashore sports some of the same grit. The tango—at Milonga de Gente Madura, on Gason near España—was wonderful.
The Tango Lesson for Virgins
December 26, 2009 by
Teaching tango this morning to virgins – total beginners, I had them first just walk as they normally would walk, in a circle, the line of dance, which is always counter-clockwise. Next, I had them walk applying sensory awareness techniques that are commonly used in guided meditation, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Alexander technique, and the oldest known practice of SA on earth, yoga.
The Last Tango Christmas Show
December 25, 2009 by
December 23, 2009 Eugenio Maria follows me around like a puppy, trying to be heard over the din of music and chatter. He is telling me I’m beautiful or something similar. We’re milling around at the Christmas party awaiting the Tango Show at Jose T. Borda psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires where I assist in […]
Mother Seton Class of ’69 40-year reunion
October 20, 2009 by
From those halls of truth and knowledge . . . We—most of us—stepped through the doors of Mother Seton Regional High School one last time in June 1969 and here we are 40 years later. I don’t think there was a woman in attendance who had actually aged 40-years’ worth. Call it the marvels of […]
Tango in Jeopardy
June 27, 2009 by
Tango was on Jeopardy, featured as a category in the first round of the TV game show on Tuesday, June 24. Just as I was telling someone who is not in the “Tango Club” that, yes, tango is like a cult, there it was on mainstream network TV. I felt elated—the dance that is more than a dance was finally of wide-spread interest.
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?
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 […]
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 […]