Beautiful, unflashy, rhythmical, connected, a real dance. I get bored of all the high kicks and ganchos you see so often, this is really about two people connecting with each other and the music. My favourite tango video.
They are in Buenos Aires. I went there to dance some years ago - best time of my life. I danced 33 hours in my first three days, barely stopping to eat. In the next weeks on Mon, Weds and Friday I would go to the Cafeteria Ideal from 3-9pm and then on Tues and Thurs I would hit La Pavadita from 2-6pm, and on Fridays I would go to Club Gricel from 10pm-1am. I used to be asked to dance by men between 50-75 years of age and never wanted for any dances - ever. It was hilarious actually, because at one point two other girls from Europe arrived (the only other two there apart from me and my friend, Michelle at the time) and they had two young dutch chaps with them. One of them stood up, bowed to me and said 'would you give a younger man a chance?'. It was all so charming and I am so pleased I experienced this moment in time. It was like a bygone era, and yet it still exists. They were flattered that a British woman had gone to the trouble to learn the danceform, and one day, when a short local man asked me to dance - he was around 60 years old - we started to riff, and really expand the dance. The music was a wonderful track called El Corazon D'oro, a waltz, which is my favourite dance. He started doing a move that took me all around the edge of the dancefloor - which I just found so dreamy there. I was completely in love with the whole place, the music and the people. As he spun me around in this wonderful swirling movement, people started making space for us, which was lovely. And then I heard one woman seated at a table lean in to her friend as we passed and say to her with great excitment in her voice 'es la inglesa, la inglesa' - it's the English woman, the English woman. I had no idea that I had become the subject of so much interest. I still dream of those days....
Gosh! Let me know when you go again - I may want to at least Tango - shadow you (with your permission of course ). Tango has been a life changer for me !! Your story is fabulous!!
Indeed, contratiempo dancing is great! What do you mean by the old days? I still see people dance contratiempo in Santiago (Cuba), both younger and older dancers (as well as younger dancers in other parts of Cuba who know son).
