Mari Travels with Tango

(Share one of your favorite Argentine Tango Songs (tango, milonga,or vals) and promote someone else to do the same 3 Day Challenge) Although I don't generally care for most of the challenges that circulate the web, I must say that I have enjoyed this one tremendously: It has sharpened my focus on what touches and motivates me in tango, how the music influences me and what I am looking for when dancing to it. The third and final orchestra is for me as obvious as the fact that night follows day, winter is forever chasing the summer and all living things must die. No matter how beautiful, powerful or touching other orchestras' interpretations may be, there is no-one quite like Osvaldo Pugliese. While there are times when I seem to drift further away from him, the re-encounter is every time more satisfying, as if I was finally back home from wandering lost, cold and lonely in a strange and inhospitable land. However, Pugliese's is no easy-listening music. To continue w...

(Share one of your favorite Argentine Tango Songs (tango, milonga,or vals) and promote someone else to do the same 3 Day Challenge) While yesterday's choice may have been somewhat unexpected, today will be no surprise to anyone who knows me in the tango context at all. For several years now, Miguel Caló is for me the single most important reason to get up and dance, indeed, to even go to the milonga. If Troilo is deep water, Caló is like sweet, ref reshing spring water or a light, warm summer rain; it restores my faith in life, it soothes my aches, it makes the air easier to breathe. After dancing to Caló, I feel like a seedling that was about to wither but has just received the life-saving drops of moisture, and is ready to grow again. My only difficulty, and a huge one as such, was to select a song that would be above all others, that would epitomize what this music means to me. In the end, I settled on "Los Despojos" for the effect that the lyrics have on me, eve...

(Share one of your favorite Argentine Tango Songs (tango, milonga,or vals) and promote someone else to do the same 3 Day Challenge) After giving it a long and hard thought, am finally ready to post my current favourites, totally aware of how perilous such an attempt is. My first choice has been obvious since the moment I received the challenge, and may surprise some of my friends. As my tango years accumulate, the music of Troilo is becoming increasingly important to me, and in some way I feel it simply couldn't have happened before. While Biagi or D'Arienzo are like fast-flowing rivers easy to surf on, Troilo is deep water and dancing to it is like going swimming alone in a deserted forest lake on a moonless night. Although you know it can be dangerous, it beckons you deeper and further out from the shore. At the same time, it is comforting in a melancholy and all-encompassing way; listening to it you understand that whatever you may be going through, there have been cou...

Leaving Vilnius, sleep-deprived but content. Just like when visiting your childhood playgrounds, returning to tthe place of your tango toddler days leaves you feeling slightly nostalgic: The buildings seem to have shrunk, the colours faded, and the summer is never as warm and sunny as back then when everything was new and exciting. It is good to see the old buddies, but leaving, you feel a sense of relief. In the end, horizons may broaden and tastes may change, but the memories will stay forever.

Still barely able to grasp the wonderful Present I received on Sunday, these photos by Tatyana Matveyeva prove that the magical, exhilarating, moving, joyful and ohh so loving birthday dance really did happen. I want to thank from the bottom of my heart Every Single One of you who were present, as well as all you who sent your greetings via personal messages. Being surrounded by such love is the greatest gift of all. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.860826070674751.1073741871.774985029258856&type=3

Deep in the throes of my worst tango crisis ever, very few performances manage to move me, inspire me or give me any hope of ever getting back into the flow that once was such a frequent occurrence in my dancing. Still, when I watch them dance, I can feel a little of the flame that used to burn me so intensely that I could hardly stay away from the dancefloor for more than a day. And obviously, nothing beats Pugliese in these moments when all seems lost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x9XIDgo9E8