Late Nights in New York: How late are they?

Since I got back to New Jersey, I've wanted to test out the New York night. New York is known for late nights, so I figured that my Port Authority curfew of 2am would be way too early. I should mention that this analysis would not apply to all scenes, obviously.

I joined some friends of mine at Iguana on 54th St. for a salsa night (downstairs there was a different scene). When I got there at 11.15pm the place was cookin', but it only filled up another 2% while I was there. At 1am the place started to empty out. By 1.30 the tendency was clear -- which is when I should've headed for the bus station -- and by two it was only 20% of the people left (the late nighters).

At 3.30am the lights were on already, and music was shut off and the bouncers were corraling people to the door. By 3.45 we were out on the street, and a friend offered to bring me to the All Night Milonga at Steppin Out Studios. At 4.15 I rang the bell but to no avail. Then I looked at the website: 9pm to 5am only.

On the street walking to Penn Station most everything was closed. The situation inside the station -- no doubt the same all year round -- is squarely third world. No chairs, people on the hard tiles laying down or sitting, some with laptops connected to the free wifi here.

Blog Reopens

I'll need to do some work to figure out if I want to change the name and so forth, but I've decided that I can blog no more. I'm going to tweet instead. You'll see the feed here on my blog or find me at http://twitter.com/tango2050.

My Advice on Madrid

I've got a lot to write about Tango from where I am (Venice, Italy) but for now, some notes on Madrid. This is a from an email to a friend who will be traveling there soon:

Madrid: Was there for four years, living. Madrid is a pretty open book. Definitely check out some of the less-nice barrios, like Lavapies. You're probably more likely to be pick-pocketed in the MOST touristy places, so it's fine. Also, try to get an idea of the local food: try to get an idea of what people eat at a normal place at a "menu del dia." In Madrid, relax into the mad schedule: don't bother waking up early, or take a siesta to bridge to the night. That will let you check out the nightlife, which is not as age restricted as in the US, and not as alcohol focused.

Jose y Virginia, Seminario en Canning: Clases + Practica guiada

This just came into my Facebook... since I'm thinking about starting to write in this blog more soon, this is a small start:

Jose invited you to "Jose y Virginia, Seminario en Canning: Clases + Practica guiada" on Thursday, February 5 at 8:30pm.

Event: Jose y Virginia, Seminario en Canning: Clases + Practica guiada
      "Jueves de febrero, 20:30 hs."
What: Class
Host: Jose , Virginia, Parakultural
Start Time: Thursday, February 5 at 8:30pm
End Time: Thursday, February 26 at 11:00pm
Where: Salon Canning - Parakultural

Palermo?

A friend just sent me this link, asking if this place in Palermo is cool

http://www.caseronporteno.com/ubicacion.php

That's not Palermo. It's Belgrano.

Went to PracticaX last night and hung out for just a few minutes. Upshot: totally crowded, no space to dance, people doing all kinds of weird nuevo figures where they don't fit (like voleos into other couples) and it was so hot it was deadly... plus the floor got all sticky due to the humidity.

Last week I went to la Viruta on Wednesday, and it was a pretty nice vibe. There were enough people to dance and a lot of space, and if you go late enough -- like after 1, I suppose -- it´s free to enter.

Lunes at Canning, Reexamined

Did the intermediate-advanced class at Canning last night with these guys

http://www.gabrielangio.com/

at 9pm. The class was good, but very argentine: if you want them to help you, you have to ask. And if you have no clue, they really can't help you much :) But the style was what I'm looking for these days -- Tango Salón -- and the focus of the class was sequences, which is good for me (even if I still don't get it). Just the warmups for the class -- to see them once and then go practice them at home -- are probably worth the 15 pesos ($5 US).

The class is funny because they explain everything quickly with no explanation whatsoever. Then they come back and break everything down. It's neat that every week they are completely surprised by how bad the students are and little they understand. That said, there are a lot of good dancers in the class, and it's one of the only non-nuevo places where real dancers go to study.

Of note: the beginner class, which is oftentimes not so beginner, with Alberto at 7pm is excellent too and Alberto is a unique case (well, not that unique, but): he started dancing when he was 25 or something and was doing something else (software? or something corporate, I don't remember) and now he just teaches and dances. And he's great because he not only knows what he's doing, but he knows how he learned it. What's his trick? Well, a huge part is that he actually took those exercises that Gabby and Natalia give you seriously. Good guy, good teacher, and a friendly class (though I didn't go last night).

I'm very busy with theater and software development right now, but I hope to make it to PracticaX tonight (maybe) and to Villa Malcom on Friday night for the class at 8pm. Also, I danced all night last night with a woman named Marina,  who told me about the classes at the Viruta... it's true: if you want to hang out in the Viruta and know people to dance with, it's good to go to the classes in the same place. Especially if you can study with Horacio Godoy, who is great (though I never studied with him). I asked her which nights, she said, "just about every night is good." So that's the word on the Viruta (unconfirmed, but it's true that I was there on Sunday night and there were a lot of people at 1am).

In fact, it was kind of hard to leave Canning last night... Monday nights at Canning are pretty cool, so it seems... I definitely think it's smart to take classes that lead into a practica or milonga, because they hook you up with the "después."

Thanks for reading!

This Blog, Alejandro y Marisol, DNI Saturday Night Tango Danced to Rock

It's weird, but today I was looking for the Practica X blog to head over there and suddenly... there I was. www.EsQuienSoy.com, right on the front page of search results and above Practica X. Admittedly, this was in the English search results, but still... pretty neat.

So what about Practica X. First off, Alejandro and Marisol danced. They are really good. Lots of musicality and modern stuff and so forth, but it's obvious (and true, if you ask them) that they come from Tango Salón (or Tango Milonguero, depending on who you ask... these two categories get confused/mixed quite a lot). Why? Because of how they move (caminata, really). And while I was at it, I asked Marisol what's up with the classes, because the horario I put in http://tangobsas.blogspot.com/2008/05/alejandro-and-marisols-classes.html is just wrong... so here are some classes with them.. ah, forget it, check out their website at http://www.marisolalejandro.com.ar/seminariosclases.htm, but note that they go on tour from September onwards or so. You should check 'em out if you're somewhere in one of the countries they're touring. Fun to watch, good posture, good movement.

Practica X is great: people are nice, there are an abundance of woman who dance well, and a minor detail which is very important: there are no (or few) tables. It's organized like a dance place (like a salsa place), so basically, if you're not dancing, you're waiting to dance. I hate how there are tables in milongas and so people are facing each other and engaged and you're supposed to break in and ask a woman to dance. I know, my friend Cristina from Barelona would say that cabeceo (nodding to ask a woman to dance) is a whole world and you have to get into it to appreciate it, but it just doesn't turn me on... or at least not yet.

So every time I go to a Pedro and Julieta class on Saturdays at DNI at 7pm (what's the class called? "Tango danced to REM?"), Pedro asks me if I'm going to write about them here. The answer is no. Jajajaja, no, seriously, the classes with them are fun but perhaps a bit too informal. I happen to be in the ingroup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingroup) so some of the jokes are about me, but I prefer the classes to be didactic with less joking around. However, why do I go to their classes? Some really good female dancers show up on Saturday night, the sequences are fun and challenging, and Pedro and Julieta are very insightful and are interested in the students' progress. They are also funny, to be fair, but not funny enough to have their own comedy show, you know? As all of my acting classes keep reminding me, comedy is not funny.

I want to write an entry soon about a technical point about leading, but I hope to get to it soon. I've been busy but as Argentina explodes (crisis soon!), my tango is advancing. Oh, and when I get back from the US in July, I'm going to start teaching private classes de Inglés para profesionales de Tango. 500 euros an hour :)