Tangoverkstan (Stockholm)

Hi again,

although it is now well past midnight and I really should be hitting the sack in order to be able to get up before noon tomorrow (;-), I wanted to tell you something about my tango experience of tonight.

The workhop (and practica) that I went to was organised in conjunction with a so-called 'Queer Tango' festival that will take place here in Stockholm during the following week-end. Personally, I find the expression 'queer' a bit strong, as really all that is 'abnormal' about it is that both men and women are encouraged to dance the role (as in leader / follower) that they feel most comfortable with. Now, traditionally this was the way people learned the tango in Buenos Aires too, as a man would be required to learn to first follow and later lead another man before ever being able to ask a woman to dance in a milonga. These days too, in most milongas you will see women dancing together, while two men doing the tango in public would be a rarer sight. That in itself is a pity, as a man's (or any leader's) ability to lead can be expected to greatly improve if he learns first hand what it is like to try and decipher the signs that are supposed to guide a follower through the movements in tango. So, I must say I found the whole idea of free choice of roles very appealing, and although personally I am not that keen to learn to lead (at least yet), I have absolutely no problem dancing with a woman!

So, I went to the workhop only hoping on learning something new, and it was a wonderful night. The teachers, Gonzalo Alienso and Mariel Robles (see them dancing in You Tube or their blog in Blogspot) were two of the most gentle, encouraging and motivated teachers you can find, and the whole atmosphere was incredibly easy-going. The topic of the workshop, how to use space on dance floor more creatively, was quite apt, as there were only four pairs participating. Myself, I quickly found a leader in Ingela, a petite but determined swede who had a firm, steady hold and a wonderful, warm personality that made dancing with her a real joy. We spent the following couple of hours learning some pretty impressive ways of moving, stopping and changing direction on the dance floor (basically, that's all tango is about anyway!), and I was happy to see that something really seems to be changing in my ability to relax into the movements. More importantly, Mariel gave me several really accurate, helpful tips that immediately improved my ability to follow to a great degree.

After the thoroughly enjoyable and very instructional workshop, there was a practica/milonga where we could practice the new moves as well as just enjoying the music. The dance floor was under a skylight that must be quite spectacular when it is a starry night, but unfortunately there were very few tangueros present, so I did not get to dance very much. However, the leaders who were there were all really nice to dance with and I am extremely happy that I decided to go.


Dancing with Ingela.

Tomorrow I will finally be making a move out of Stockholm, as today was already a wonderfully sunny spring day that would have been perfect for cycling. At the moment I have no idea where I will end up tomorrow, but according to the map there is no shortage of campsites between here and Norrköping, the next larger town between here and Copenhagen. Trouble is, I just realised that next weekend there will be a tango festival in Copenhagen, and all of a sudden I notice I am toying with the idea of just hurrying there instead of seeing what else there is to see in Sweden besides milongas and tango workshops...;-) I know what you are thinking, this tango thing is really becoming an obsession for me, so maybe it is only good that I am 'forced' to take a few days' break from it...?

Will be sending short updates along the way, and try to talk about something else besides tango for a change. ;-)

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