[Tango] Tango this week

[Lois Donnay]

This week we are continuing to work on the techniques that make your tango smooth and 
beautiful. We have been working on turns, because turns are such a necessary element in 
tango, and they can be so much fun when done right! Thursday lesson we will continue work 
on more exotic elements, like volcadas, etc. The small class size makes it a valuable and 
challenging class. Saturday morning classes are also smaller now that summer has hit - a 
great time to get personalized attention!

Tuesday party is going strong! We have had the advantage of some really great food lately, 
so come and join us. 9:30PM If you are still looking for practice partners, this is a good 
place!

This coming Thursday, July 10th and Sunday, August 10th, from 7 - 9 pm, head down to Lake 
Harriet Bandstand and enjoy watching (for FREE) some tango dance performances by local 
teachers, plus a fashion show. Music will be by a musical trio including Jacqueline Ultan, 
cellist; David Wright, violinist; and Sonja Thompson, pianist. I'll be there until 8.

As you are watching the performance tangos, and also following Youtube and other ways to 
chase tango, remember - with the Argentinean tango we emphasize feeling. How you and your 
partner feel is more important than how you look - you can't share that with your audience. 
To do the Argentine tango properly you cannot hide yourself and you can't put a shield 
between what you really feel and think and how you dance. It will all be revealed to your 
partner on the dance floor. It is incredibly revealing. You only need minimal movement to 
make it interesting, it is what you bring to that particular movement - your full being. 
Whereas there could be false emotion behind show tango - just ornamental flourishes, the 
equivalent of a rhumba or merengue. So - the moral is, don't chase steps because they are 
cool or fashionable. That's not tango, that's ballroom. When you can dance with feeling, 
the right moves at the right time, to the music and only for your partner.....THAT's tango!

Followers - I have several guys looking for practice partners. Let me know if you have some 
time to share with these guys!


Lois Donnay
www.mndance.com