2010 Revisited (Chris)
December 17th 2010
(The equivalent 2009 and 2008 entries for us can be found in the December 2008 and December 2009 pages.)
Dancing
In 2009 I went back to the basics, posture, embrace, the walk. This year I went back even further; the cabeceo, invitation, posture, embrace. Because until these really start to work, they make everything else so much harder.
The gradual shift in London away from "moves" and sequences and more interest in musicality and floorcraft has continued. Notably several musicality classes were open to complete beginners. Various venues began making it known that they follow tango etiquette (and what this is).
It looks like more Cerocers are taking up Tango.
Workshops
I managed to attend quite a few of Adriana Pegorer's "Tango Release" workshops, and had a lot of fun doing so.
Embrace
I finally got much more comfortable with my embrace and was surprised at what a difference this made.
Performing
I took part in my first (and last!) performance.
Contributing
Writing
The 2nd Edition of the Ghost Guide was completed, now including videos. The Tango of Zero project began.
DJ-ing
I got called upon to "take over for a bit" in two venues, but I still didn't take the opportunity to play the Chipmunk version of Bad Boys.
Groups
Tango Practice Group
The Tango Practice Group continued, gaining cortinas and finally an even number of men and women.
Tango at Ceroc
Interestingly no-one where I dance Ceroc ever refers to Jango any more. With women who actually know tango I just dance traditional tango. With women who don't, I dance Ceroc with a tango accent. With more experienced women who I dance with each week, gradually we're evolving a vocabulary of nuevo moves.
LGTN
The "Let's Go To Negracha's" group became the "Let's Go Tango" group, and we ventured further afield.
Towards the end of the year, downstairs at Negrachas had better music, floorcraft and dancing than upstairs, to the point where people were actually leaving upstairs to come down - a first I believe.
Interacting
Becoming more selective
I finally abandoned my previous strategy of dancing with whoever was nearest and started paying more attention to the ways in which I could recognize women who wanted the same thing from a dance that I did, which led to a tremendous increase in my enjoyment of tango.
"Dances with Beginners"
However as this included having enjoyable dances with beginners, I failed to become a Hotshot.
Harpies and Trolls
The first real downsides I've experienced of tango. Several women got rather offended that despite their incessant stalking and / or rudeness I didn't want to dance with them, nor particularly feel the need to explain myself to them. Sadly this eventually led to my giving up dancing at two milongas. A few, presumably rather bored, people felt the need to use the internet to contribute fairly incoherent abuse.
MsHedgehog
MsHedgehog. continued to be insightful, both from a woman's perspective and also about tango further afield :o)
Moments and Quotes
Some notable moments:
- Dancing with a stranger for over an hour
- Feeling more comfortable wearing a suit to a milonga than casual clothes
- Realising I was finally breathing while dancing
And some memorable quotes:
- "We were ****ing great"
- "Chris, be a woman"
- "Ghost's verging on being good at tango I reckon"
- "You didn't stop dancing for a split second all night did you? I kept playing music you like. If I kept playing music, you'd dance all night"
- Christopher O' Shea, 17th December 2010