717  Denver Labor Day Sunset Tango (with pictures!)

Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 22:11:28 -0600
From: Brian Dunn <brianpdunn@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Denver Labor Day Sunset Tango (with pictures!)

Dear Listeros,

I and my feet are recovering from the weekend's delightful tango events in
Denver. Rather than a straightforward review of the many events of the long
weekend, let me share with you some musings from the last 24 hours...

Your indulgence, please, with a brief historical preface...
In Denver's Cheeseman Park, a beautiful Greek-revival open-air pavilion sits
atop the site of the old 19th-century Mt. Prospect Cemetery, used in part to
bury the indigent and unknown dead in what was known as a "potter's field."
Development pressures caused the cemetery to be closed by the city of Denver
in 1890. "It was the responsibility of the living relatives to relocate the
bodies of these dearly departed. However those interned at Potters field
generally had no family, or during the course of their lives participated in
activities that guaranteed that none of the living would claim them as
relatives."(from https://www.rockymountainparanormal.com/Cheese.htm) A local
scandal ensued as contractors assigned to move the bodies were discovered to
have thoroughly botched their gruesome task, leading local Denver citizens
to report a rash of hauntings, spectral visits and other paranormal
phenomena related to the untimely disturbance of the lonely dead...

For the past several years, Colorado tangueros have found a way to pacify
these restless spirits. Tango Colorado's annual Labor Day BBQ and outdoor
milonga has taken on a vibrant life of its own, with the mournful strains of
the bandoneon comforting the troubled shades lying fragmented and abandoned
under the dancers' feet.

This year, augmented again by hundreds of out-of-town visitors from Tom
Stermitz's hugely successful "Milonguero Weekend," and graced by the superb
DJ work of Tango-L regular Steve de Tejas, we were again blessed with superb
weather and a glorious sunset.

It's my pleasure to share with you some pictures of the event
(https://www.danceoftheheart.com/photos.htm). Thanks again to all the Tango
Colorado volunteers, to Tom Stermitz's "Milonguero Weekend" crew, and to all
the out-of-town dancers whose special energy made the weekend so memorable.

Maybe I'll see you there next year?

Brian Dunn
Dance of the Heart
Boulder, Colorado USA
www.danceoftheheart.com