676  NYC Tango, Inside and Out Festival

Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 09:48:21 -0400
From: Michael B Ditkoff <tangomaniac@JUNO.COM>
Subject: NYC Tango, Inside and Out Festival

I concur with everything Timmy said about the festival. (I waited for
months and it was over in days.) The teachers were great, friendly, and
supportive and spent time with students who were having difficulty. They
never lost their patience. They were able to show the secrets of
difficult moves. The most important classes were those that challenged me
to open my mind and think outside the box. I can't list all the
examples, so I'll just list two.

Virginia Kelley: Interleading
I am used to leading a parada with my right foot against the woman's left
foot as I stop her as she moves to my right. Suppose, I stop her as she
moves to my left and I place left foot next to the right foot? I was
surprised that more women didn't take the class. This was a golden
opportunity for women to take the lead when they feel the man is NOT
giving them enough time to play and show their creativity. Virginia asked
me to assist her in illustrating what a woman can do. She gave me a
gancho I'll never forget!!

Carlos de Chey: Irregular moves and sacadas
Suppose the man leads the woman into back ochos. He is stepping sideways
while the woman is stepping backwards. There s NOTHING to stop the man to
pivot with the woman so both are facing the same direction. Ochos are
discontinued and the couple are moving backward and forward. They are on
the same foot so the man can pivot on the forward or backward step and
advance down the floor. When finished, the man pivots and resumes leading
the woman in ochos. (It sounds easier than it is to execute.)

The festival began with Spice, the Wednesday night combination
Salsa-Tango-Samba dance. Tango is danced an old barge on the Hudson
River. There was a special presentation at Spice honoring Rebecca Shulman
and Daniel Trenner and their contribution to understanding salon tango
and the history of salon tango in New York and the rest of the country.
Rebecca led Daniel.

On Thursday, we took a trip on the Staten Island Ferry where we danced
tango round trip across the Narrows. (I hope my geography is correct.)
One passenger was so taken with our dancing, she didn't get off at Staten
Island and rode back with us to Manhattan so she could see more dancing!!
The captain was going to throw us off in a lifeboat when he angrily said
"This is the dining room. Dancing is upstairs!!" (LOL)

After some free time, it was off to Hoboken via Ferry and dancing under a
gazebo on the Hudson River after a class with HoboTango.

Classes began Friday morning. Each class was 90 minutes and participants
got their money's worth. A local Argentine, Agustin, sold his empanadas
for lunch. After classes, we had time to prepare for the black and white
ball. We had dance performances from Sarah LaRoca and Johnny, and Diego
and Carolina.

More classes on Saturday. An imaginative class was Barridas and Other
Soccer moves, taught by Rebecca Shulman.
After class, it was to Central Park for a hit and run milonga.
Unfortunately, the local power company, Con Edison, had some burned out
cables that shut down portions of the subway so I had to lead a group via
bus. Buses were jammed with passengers who couldn't use the subway. After
a few ganchos, I was able to convince some passengers to move to the rear
so we could get on.

Later that night, we could go to either the Lafayette Grill, where Sondra
teaches, or Danel and Maria's Bailemos Tango at Pierre Dulaine Studio.
Milena Plebs and Ezequiel Farfaro performed. (This was NOT connected to
the Festival.)

More classes on Sunday, if you could get up from dancing Saturday night.
The festival finished at the Il Campanello Restaurant where we had
dinner, dancing, and performances. I don't remember all the performers,
but I do remember
Maria Franganillo and Cesar Coelho and Valeria Solomonoff.

The festival lived up to its name, Inside and Outside. I love this
festival because I can go around the city, not spend all my time in one
hotel for a whole week or weekend.

Pictures will eventually be added to the photo gallery on their web page
www.nyctango.com

I recognized a number of returning participants from last year's
festival. They enjoyed this year's festival.

I salute the organizers, Lucille and Gayatri, for their perseverance for
organizing this festival as the city undergoes its healing and closure
from the savage attacks of last September.

Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC