Tango Links

No, it’s not a story about a sensual golf course . . . just a list of a few tango-related links I think are useful to any tango aficionado. There are numerous tango blogs in the ether-sphere, but I find most difficult to follow. Here are my pix:

About SF Tango – In case you didn’t know it, San Francisco has the best, most vibrant tango scene outside of Buenos Aires. So you think that’s an insider’s view? Then have a look at Maika’s site, jam-packed with all things tango, including tango shoes, tango wear, and much more..

To Tango – I can’t say enough about this site and the wealth of information it offers on tango, steps, composers, history, music, trivia, everything tango. It’s easy to navigate, too. I’m not much of a Net surfer, but I’ve spent much time at this site. Check it out, http://totango.net/ttindex.html.

TangoMango is the definitive site for details on milongas, classes, workshops, and more in many cities throughout the U.S. http://www.tangomango.org.

Tales of Two Tangos – Perhaps it’s in bad form to link back to your own Web site, but I’m getting such perceptive and penetrating comments on this new series of “mostly true tales.” This links to the first, with many more to follow; and eventually with a multi-media platform. Love to hear what your think.

Very Tango is one of the most rounded sites with oodles of practical info for new and experienced tangueros and milongueros. The site is a breeze to navigate and has everything from history to detailed info on shoes for men and women. If you bookmark only one tango site, make it this one.

Batango – is the site of the Bay Area Tango Association for my home base, the San Francisco Bay Area, and lists all the milongas, classes and special events in that area. www.batango.com.

Richard Lipkin’s name is on the lips of anyone who knows anything about tango in New York. Do check out his page, eminently useful and fun to navigate. http://www.newyorktango.com/

For all the tango in the Washington D.C. area, go to Capital Tangueros Calendar. I can vouch for the quality of dancers at McGinty’s in Arlington, VA, Monday nights and the awesome venue, Freedom Plaza,  aptly named Milonga a La Libertad, Sunday nights in D.C.

Deby Novitz is based in Buenos Aires, where she has lived for several years  dancing and teaching tango. She operates her inn, La Casa de Deby,  in the Palermo barrio—I enjoyed a month-long stay there in December, 2006, and cover some of it in my book, Tango. Contact her for more info and check out her blog, too. www.lavidacondeby.com.

Cherie Magnus – I enjoyed watching Cherie and her partner, Reuben, dance in milongas in Buenos Aires. Cherie and Reuben teach. She keeps a blog about her life as a California expat in Buenos Aires. Enjoy her artsy, colorful site. http://tangocherie.blogspot.com/. Also, check out her story, Church of Tango, on Le Catedral, a really cool milonga, but not for everyone: http://www.the-vu.com/church_of_tango.htm

Clay Nelson is Mr. Portland Tango. I haven’t met him yet, but I know enough about Portland tangueros to know I’ll like him a lot when we do meet in October at the festival he heads up. You’ll enjoy his site.  http://www.claysdancestudio.com/

Horacio Rodriguez sent me the link to his new Web site and I list it here for the fact alone that Pugliese’s Nochero Soy serenades you throughout your visit the site. Horacio, a maestro who lives in Buenos Aires, lists interesting “opinion notes”—everything in Spanish and English—and a bit of fun travelogue on Buenos Aires. http://www.truetango.com/

A prophet is not without honor even in his own country, if I may irreverently mis-quote Matthew, Chapter 13, Verse 57. Such biblical allusions come to mind when I view the work of Portland pastel artist Michael Fisher (photo left is of his “Milonga at El Beso”; see his site for price, details). I first had the immeasurable pleasure of gazing upon his pastels in Buenos Aires. Please have a look at his gallery before I wreck things for you with words (which elude me when faced with startling artwork). It’s like a mini-tour of the city long called the “Paris of South America.” His works take you to favorite haunts, known and secret corners of Buenos Aires—el Abasto, the botanical gardens, San Telmo, Corrientes, El Beso Tango Club, and more. http://mfisherart.com/

Speaking of the City of Light, I met Michael and his wife, Thomasina, both elegant dancers, at a favorite Saturday morn haunt, the classes of Oscar and Mariana Casas in El Beso. I can’t resist alluding to Paris in the 1920s and la generation perdue when I recall the many wonderful, creative people I’ve met in their classes. Oscar is an artist himself. We enjoyed so much stimulating conversation at crowded cafe tables after class—do I dare compare his tango class to the likes of Cafe Select and les Deux Magots, Paris’s two cauldrons of intellectual and artistic ferment??? I do, I do. Je crois, donc, c’est vrai.  The artistic juice runs high among the young and the, ahem, mid-life in BA. Heck, Coppola lives there part time (as does yours truly), in the Palermo barrio, where he’s been filming  and the cafe/bookstores are prodigious. The NYT is fond of running travel stories on this phenomenon and in some ways I wish they wouldn’t let out the secret.

Which brings me to my friend Senor Kent Wade, another Portlander of noteworthy dance skills and artistic bent. He’s also handsome, as you can tell from his photo. He’s funny (humorous funny), too, and I could say more good stuff, but I believe he has a girlfriend now, so I won’t get anyone’s hopes up . . . for now. We threw the best party in town one night at his place in Barrio San Nicolas, which you can visit at his site. He’s taking applications for room-mates (see details at his site). You’ll enjoy the photos and travelogue of our beloved city at his site, too. Here’s a plug for his daughter’s yoga place, Aerin Alex O’Malley, who lives and teaches in San Francisco (my other great city). I am a huge proponent of yoga as the best discipline or cross training for tango dancers, bar none.

Jay Rabe, Portland tango teacher, is very dear to my heart—although we have met only by phone and email. First check out his site. I love that he calls tango an “obssession,” a word that I have avoided, being related to too many psychologists. But it’s true–es una obsesion. Jay’s site answers many questions people have about tango—floorcraft, history, etiquette. And I love that Jay presents and sells the workbook, The Tango of Learning Spanish written by my esteemed Spanish teacher, Demian Gawianski (who is a whiz kid schooled in English, French, Greek, Sanskrit, Portuquese). It’s a wonderful book for tango dancers, with language exercises built around tango obssession. Jay is dear to me because he so kindly offered to help me (sight unseen!) give a tango demo when I present my book, Tango, at Powell’s bookstore, October 14. Please join us. Un beso y un abrazo para Jay!

Heriard-Cimino Gallery in New Orleans has an eye for great art. The gallery represents some beautiful work, by Argentine artists, Rosario Marquardt and Roberto Behar, like this darkly humourous one of Carlitos playing with the airplane that he no doubt perished in, in Medellin, Colombia, 1935 . See more of their tango art at this link.