October 16, 2008 – Teaching Dave to Tango
I had my first television appearance for Tango, an Argentine Love Story this morning on AM
Look for in bookstores in October
Northwest in Portland (KATU/ABC), channel 2 there. It was a lot of fun. Dave Anderson is a stand-up comedian, so it was all very lighthearted. I gave him an on-the-spot lesson . . . . But I was so lucky to have Jay Rabe, local tanguero, tango teacher, and massage therapist, accompany me so that the audience could see what “real” tango looks like. Have a look for yourself.
http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/31113809.html
The cameramen figured out how to shoot us as time went on. The floor was a little slippery. But Jay and I have great connection which makes up for all the flaws.
Camille – you and Jay crafted a lovely dance on the Portland TV set. I crouched there in the wings of the studio that day — among the cables and curtains and cameras — watching your feet from down on the dusty floor.
Those studios always feel inhuman to me, what with the too-bright lights, the unnaturally cheery hosts, and the need to summarize your work in four-and-a-half minutes. So I stayed for your dance to see if you could somehow craft tango bliss under those dire circumstances (though: how did I expect to know if you had?)
And about twenty measures in, when you both slid through a silky side-step and you threw a clinging little enganche, and you paused and you paused — I recognized that moment in the dance, when the both of you know that all your intentions in life have arrived in present. And you don’t want to leave that place, so you hold onto one another as long as the dance will allow.
I flushed in tears over the beauty of the thing, knowing well what you had created in the most unlikely place: tango bliss for three of us, at least.
Thanks for the dance.
Chris! Only a real tanguero who knows deep tango could have eyes/vision to have seen all this. What are the chances that the person on AM Northwest before me would be a tango apasionado?? Thanks for sharing the view. For my friends: Chris and I met before I went on the air; by pure coincidence he was a tango dancer, in Portland to promote his book, “Homeowner’s Handbook,” and attend the tango festival. Here’s his bio from the show and the link to see him talk on energy efficiency—I can tell you he wastes none on the dance floor:
“With more than fifty five years of experience working with homes and energy, Chris Dorsi is an expert at reducing energy consumption. . .”
http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/31105699.html