Going to carpool to El Valenciano tonight with Serena and Hitoshi. It will be my first time there and I am really looking forward to it. This will be the last time I dance until Friday when we will be dancing in Buenos Aires! I have been resting my feet more this past week in preparation for 10 days of straight dancing in BA. My feet are thankful and hoping to find some new comfy tango shoes on the trip. Lots to do before my trip... a bit sleep deprived, but all is good :)
Well I survived the weekend and it actually wasn't that bad. It was actually kinda nice to start Saturday morning by playing quartet music together, and then on Sunday to start the day at Taiko class. Alberto's milongas have been good ever since they got the new floor, but that's probably just a coincidence. It felt great dancing with Martin, V, and B. I felt really lucky that V asked me to dance 3 tandas with him! Unfortunately the performance was canceled due to illness.
Martin and I saw Bottle Shock Saturday night and really enjoyed it. It's kind of like the movie Sideways in that it deals with wine of certain regions. It was a good mix of comedy/drama. We had really good private lessons yesterday, but my feet barely made it through class and practica. The last song of the night was Poema and Martin came to grab me, but I'd already changed my shoes so I just kicked them off and danced in my socks... not bad! Romina flies to Buenos Aires today, so the next time we see her we will be in Buenos Aires as well. I can't believe the trip is only 2 weeks away. We are so looking forward to it.
I barely made it to Elaine's Palo Alto milonga tonight. My apartment was a good 90 degrees when I got home from work, and about all I can do in that kind of weather is sleep, so I took a nap. By the time I woke up it had cooled to a mere 88 degrees. I dragged myself out of bed, took a cool shower, and got ready for milonga. Martin didn't get there until around 11pm anyway, so my 1015pm appearance wasn't so bad. I got to dance 2 tandas with B. For some reason he felt really great tonight, not that he doesn't usually feel good, but tonight felt more solid than usual. My first tanda was a milonga with him, and later I danced a tango tanda with him. He's a solid dancer and always impresses me with his musicality. I danced with U for the first time I think tonight. He's a good dancer, although it usually takes me a second or third time to totally feel comfortable dancing with someone. I got one tanda with F and he had some fun new steps. I think because there was also Los Altos milonga tonight it was a small turnout, but that just left a lot of room on the dance floor for the rest of us :) I am really having fun doing embellishments now, and not just with Martin but with almost everyone. Lots of fun!
I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, partly because I can't sleep in, and also because my whole day is shot with 2 gigs, one bright early in the morning, and another one in Watsonville in the late afternoon. We really only have a couple more gigs for the rest of the year fortunately. I'm a bit burnt out, and while the extra cash is nice, I'm greatly looking forward to the added free time come winter.
This Sunday I start a series of 2-hour weekly Taiko classes in San Jose. I'm really looking forward to that since I've had one taiko class earlier this year up in Emeryville. Emeryville is just too far away though so I wait-listed myself for this local but popular class. I think it runs for 2 or 3 months. Then next Saturday I start Spanish classes (ya I'll only get a couple classes in before I go to Argentina, but hey, it's a start and I'll plan on continuing through the levels in preparation for my next trip there). Did I say I'd have free time come winter? Hmm.... 2 1/2 weeks till Buenos Aires. Man I can't wait to get some real tango shoes that actually fit my feet right!
I am really loving Alberto's milongas partly due to the new floor, and also the great performances and teachers that Dorcas has been drawing to the venue. Yesterday I took the afternoon follower's workshop with Lisette, which was good. She spent a good amount on warming up, which is something I should probably start doing to take care of my body, especially warming up the joints. Then, I didn't really learn anything new, but some basics were reviewed and reminders that I'd forgotten were brought to light. It was a good class, and a great deal as it was only $20, which included the $10 milonga price for that evening.
Despite some of the good dancers being out of town or just not showing up, there was a really good turnout at the milonga. I enjoyed dancing with F, T, and R, and of course Martin. There was one performance by Andrea and Gato/Omar Vega. I really enjoyed watching Andrea dance both in the performance and also just watching her dance with various leaders in the milonga.
Tonight's privates and class were good with our teachers, Marcelo and Romina.
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If you are in Los Angeles on August 15, please come to my Author Talk at
the Memorial Branch Library, 4625 W. Olympic Blvd. I would love to see you
there!...
Meeting my Match?
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On Sunday, I'm sitting alone at a local *milonga* while my partner goes off
to dance a *tanda *with one of her friends. I'm minding my own business
just st...
Zen Nihon Kata
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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
*Kyoshi* Yuriko Nakamura (Fukuoka) and *Kyoshi* Keiko Fukuda (Nara)
demonstrate Zen Nihon Kata during th...
On the crest of the wave
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I think it's arguable to say that the visibility of tango outside of
Argentina has reached a point not seen in recent memory, perhaps even not
since the he...
