Tango in East Anglia, inc Cambridge, 6-10 June

This all happened because Sharon invited me over to dance. I drove across to Sharon on Wednesday, 6th, and tango that evening was at East Bergholt. A good crowd and a really good evening. However there was a real test to follow as Thursday is La Falena milonga, in Cambridge. Again a lovely evening, quite a range of standards as a lot of young people, presumably students, were there.
Friday I joined in with birthday celebrations for Sharon's relatives. They were all so lovely to welcome me into the group and I felt I had known them forever. That was in St Albans and we then drove to Bedford for the only tango we could find in the area. Begonia drove over from Nottingham. We had some good dances to Nuevo music, in a lovely village hall.
Saturday morning, Begonia and I went by train to Cambridge, to look at Attitude, a tango shoe shop. There was a very limited choice so that was disappointing but we enjoyed Cambridge and resolved to punt on the next visit! That evening, joined by Nikki and Jim, we were off to Tangamente in Cambridge. This is the top milonga and Sharon and Nikki have spent time and effort breaking into the dance circles. Sharon introduced Begonia to men who would talk for a while but then not ask her to dance. It was only at the end of the evening that Begonia started to get dances with some of the good men. The arrangement is strange in that there is a room to sit in and a separate room to dance. It was a good experience!
Friday and Saturday after dancing Sharon, Jim, Begonia and I sat round the table with drinks and nibbles and talked and laughed and it was so lovely and so much fun.
Sunday I drove back (with a short stop for lunch with Paula) to Nottingham for the Sunday Lounge Tea Dance while Sharon and Begonia went to Diss for much more informal tango which turned out to be B's favourite!

Rant 3: the girls dance, with their eyes shut,with certain men and come back to me to tell me what a great dancer he is. OK they have done wonderful things, boleos, leg wraps, volcadas...and stuff they never knew they could do. I watch these men dance and often they are rubbish in terms of style! They never collect, never brush their knees together, are frequently on both feet, braced to instigate some move, their shoulders hunched,  back bent,  left arm working overtime....of course that list is all faults of mine that I am desperately trying to correct. Does it matter, if the girls don't care?

Tango in Edinburgh- the Edinburgh International Tango Festival - 1-5 June

EITF is a feast of tango. Milongas every night (Friday through Monday), workshops and, maybe best of all, the Tango Cafe. Music playing from 12.30 to 6 or 7 for informal dancing amd much talking with old and new friends. Kay is good enough to let me stay with her but this year her back was so bad that she did not dance at all!
The line up of teachers is amazing. Jennie and Ricardo, the resident Edinburgh teachers, are simply the best teachers I have come across. The guests this year were Bruno Tombari/Mariangeles Caamano and Corina Herrera/Octavio Fernandez. Their demonstration dances were superb and very different from the many great performances I have seen. The speed of movement was incredible. Sexteto Milonguero provided live music for the ball and played wonderfully to the audience. They gave an extended encore with milongas getting faster and faster and creating more and more excitement! Sharon and I resorted to a fast jive which got some good comments from people the next day.

Rant 1: couples who think they can dance in a crowded milonga as they would if the floor was just for them alone. Extravagant boleos with a foot reaching above waist height, when there is no need for the foot to ever leave the floor. Rondos sweeping out an area that they should not be claiming as their own. They probably come off the floor saying that it was not crowded, which it was not for them, as they had carved out a large space.

Rant 2: men who dance with their left elbow straight out from the shoulder. Such an attitude would bring a red card on a football pitch but is condoned as a style! Why, it is anti-social.
Despite the rants, thank you Edinburgh!

The Trent Bridge Test Match v WI, 25-28 May

The weather was glorious, 30 deg, cloudless sky, every day. It was Ian's turn to visit and we ate out every night except for one when Begonia and Graeme came round to watch Bilbao v Barcelona in the Spanish Cup Final.
Begonia made proper Tortilla for us but despite that her team lost.
England won the test match and 6 wickets on the evening of Day 3 was the defining time. I was willing England not to take wickets as Graeme was joining us for Day 4 and I wanted him to have a decent day. The WI resisted on that morning so Graeme's visit was worthwhile.
Thank you Trent Bridge!

France (with a little bit of tango) 10-21 May

I felt privileged to be asked by Kay to join her and Anna on a trip to France. We would spend 10 days in a house in the village of Carmatin. The house is owned by friends and our task was to get the garden under control.
I travelled to Edinburgh, took in an innovative tango lesson from Toby, and then we flew to Geneva, picked up a car and Kay drove us to Carmatin (about 2.5 hours). Lovely mountain scenery around Geneva and then rolling hills of central France. Carmatin is between Dijon and Lyon with Macon as the nearest big town. It is famous for its newly restored Chateau and being close to Taize, famous as a religious retreat which is extensive enough to feed 5,000 visitors! Cluny is close by with its Abbey. The days took on a pattern. Anna was up first and shopped for the croissants and fresh bread. We did jobs in the garden or visited local villages and markets during the day. Anna usually made the sandwiches if it was to be a long trip. In the evening, Kay and I would dance some tango and then we would eat the local produce, cooked by Kay.
I did a lot of washing up to add my skills to the group!
We had a log fire and settled down to eat chocolate and watch DVDs. The King's Speech on the penultimate night and Out of Africa on the last night. It was good relaxed living! We took in a couple of Early Music concerts in local churches, saw all the local sights and almost became French for those days!

Tango in Nottingham - Sharon's Visit (19-22 April)

I have known Sharon from several years ago at various Modern Jive events and holidays. Recently she has joined the tango obsessives and has rapidly become a very good follower. It was planned to be an intensive few days of dancing and we started on Thursday evening with Ceroc. Marc and Di came to West Bridgford and we all had a good evening. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, maybe I am not such a tango snob after all!
Friday we had a private lesson from Facundo (Edinburgh teacher) who was also giving a lesson before Lisa's milonga. Despite women outnumbering men, the lovely Nottingham tango dancers welcomed Sharon into their midst - she was delighted. There are famous places to dance tango where she would have been made to feel an outsider.
Thank you girls.
We had a great milonga as always happens when Lisa is in control.
Saturday afternoon we went to Via Fossa (where the Monday class is held) and they let us dance in one of their rooms for nothing.
Thank you Via Fossa!
Saturday evening Begonia joined us and Lisa kindly drove us to Morley (Leeds) for their milonga. It was a bit daunting but we soon got into the swing of it and all had a good time. BUT it is too far to go for an evening.
In between all that dancing (and sometimes during it) Sharon and I talked....and talked...and laughed. Saturday evening was special as Begonia joined us and we talked even more. Sharon and Begonia got on so well and that is a friendship that will last.

Tango in Nottingham - Chan Park (13-14 April)

Chan Park has produced a wonderful film (Tanfo Your Life) in which he interviews many people in Buenos Aires about why they dance tango. For those of us who have become obsessed with tango, this film goes right to the heart. The film was shown at an excellent milonga organised by Tango Gardens. I would like a copy of that film to view regularly!
I went to the workshops that were arranged for Friday evening and Saturday. There were lots of exercises about the connection - leading and following in various ways to build up to the close embrace. I do not know what followed on the Sunday but I wanted to learn about what the onlooker does not see in a tango dance. To explore when lead and follow becomes less distinct and two people are doing what they both want to do. This did not happen for me and I was therefore disappointed. In discussion Chan Park said that he would watch a dancer for several weeks before asking her to dance. This was to see that she danced the way he liked and that he would not be injured by her!! I prefer my approach that if she is wearing nice shoes then I want to dance with her.