Christmas MDC on 20 Dec

MDC with Special Guest DJ Royce Chau on Oct 4

Milonga Del Corazon has invited one of the best DJs in Asia - Royce Chau, as the guest dj on 4 October.

About Royce Chau

Royce has been dancing tango since 1999. From the early stage, she felt in love with tango music and since then, she collects tango music from all possible sources, including tango CDs from Argentine, Europe and Japan, LPs and even SPs. Now she owns one of the biggest tango music collections among DJs in Asia.

Royce DJed regularly for TangoTang’s practices and milongas since 2002. After she left Hong Kong, she DJed for her tango home whenever she visited her birthplace. She was also one of the organizers and DJ of the milonga “Las Ventanas del Corazón” in Singapore. During her last stay in Tokyo, she DJed occasionally for Zero Hour’s overnight milongas.

To know more about Royce, check out her website – http://www.loksze.com/

Tango Teaching? Tango Sharing!! -- by Coleman

我有一種感覺，那就是不記得是從那一天開始我們「開班」教argentine tango後，以前在practica裡走來請教跳舞心得及經驗之朋友們便失蹤了，得到的是一群對我投以信心的Private Lesson學生。這無疑是對我們之認同，是一種很直接的鼓勵！

但這個現像不太是我們原先想爭取的…我猜是因為朋友們現在都對「唔交學費想問工課」感到不好意思吧！是嗎？那我們大埤兒都錯了！！！

那麼先不要想學費，先跳舞吧！

自己跳了5年Argentine Tango，看到阿根廷探戈在香港的成長和普及(主要有賴Tangotang一班義工之努力)，我仍然堅持只有來自阿根廷 Buenos Aires之舞者才是真正的「Tango老師」，只有操著純正阿根廷口音式西班牙語，一天到黑都鬧著要喝 yerba mate茶的舞者オ能感動我們這群亞洲人去愛上跳這種在地球另一邊誕生的舞，因為 argentine tango 不像ballroom dance，不單純是技巧及舞步，是一種文化，還包括對音樂的認識、與異性溝通技巧、衣著打扮、及舞池內及外的禮儀，只有一輩子都生活在阿根廷的老外舞者跳的和教的才算得上是「真正探戈」！ They are the real thing., man!

所以有時有人向朋友介紹我們時稱我們為「老師」真有點渾身不自然。我想我們最多只能被看成「補習先生」好了，真正的「老師」在阿根廷。

但我們不竟都跳了數年，亦跟了很多「真正探戈老師」學習，從中得到不多亦不少的領略，可以跟新加入argentine tango的朋友分享交流，我深信要argentine tango在香港繼續發展，一種無私的分享精神是必須的。

我跳tango之初期都是得到像 Billy、Loretta, Ann Geis及Kitty這些前輩的「免費」分享及鼓勵，才得以渡過放棄tango之「危險期」…

我看到你們很多都曾經投下不少金錢、時間、汗水希望能學會tango、希望在每天繁忙緊張的エ作後能陶醉於美妙音樂之中，為身心充電，但我亦看到你們很多都踏進了那個我亦經歷過的「危險期」，似乎對tango感到「老鼠拉龜」。請大家不要輕易放棄，自古以來，珍品一向得來不易，而argentine tango就是我們都市人心靈的「珍品」，它改變了我們亞洲人對「擁抱」的抗拒、tango的improvisaton及那亳不造作(與其他社交舞比較)的舞姿令習慣含畜的我們更勇於表達自己的情感，我以前亦已講過，「真正」的argentine tango不是為比賽、舞臺表演或專業舞蹈家而設的，它是真正屬於你和我這種平凡都市人的社交舞蹈，在地球的這邊過十幾億人口當中，只有很少數人能親身遇過 argentine tango，這是您跟它的緣份，是您的福氣，不要隨便讓它「刷身而過」！

我想說的是 : 請不用先想給我們學費吧，你們在Practica (請不要在 milonga內教跳舞，或對舞伴指指點點，那是不尊重舞會的禮儀傳統!!) 如有什麼問題，不論是有關音樂或技巧，請不用客氣的走到我們面前問吧，我想我們都有可以跟你分享的知識及經驗。

我仍會繼續專注教 Private Lesson，因為分享的深度及層次不同，看到的進步及我們得到的滿足感更大，不過你們都先不用考慮這個。

來問吧！

Javier Rodriguez, Geraldine Rojas, Lidia, Ofelia, Margarita's interview in documentary

Film clip of "El último bandoneón" (The Last Bandoneón) by Alejandro Saderman.

Film Clip from "La Confiteria Ideal"

Special Notice: We change the 31 May MDC to a Charity Milonga, raising money for the victim of the Szechuen earthquake

After writing several passages about Javier, it is time to insert a special notice about our upcoming Milonga del Corazon on 31 May, Saturday evening.

Emily and I have decided to change the evening to a "Charity Milonga", we will donate all the entrance revenue we receive from you guys (after deducting for studio rental and food and drinks cost) to a recognised charity fund specially dedicated to the Szechuen earthquake victim. We are also now asking the studio owner to waive the rental charge for that night as a gesture of sincerity and appreciation for our effort. We hope this will allow us to donate a bit more. We will scan a copy of the bank deposit slip to put on our blog for you guys to check out.

The entrance fee will remain the same as HK$100 and you will be able to enjoy the same high quality classical tango music and romantic atmosphere as usual. We hope this small effort and initiative from us will create more repercussion in the rest of the tango community and we hope other organisers of other milongas will make similar or bigger effort together to help those who are suffering from this natural disastor.

"Milonga del Corazon" means "a tango party of the heart" and we hope that while all of you are enjoying the beautiful dancing that tango is, you will at the same think about those who are living in another part of this world needing our help.

I would also like to take this opporunity to appeal for the directors of Tangotang to make a sizeable donation to similar charity on behalf of the members. I am not sure what procedures would be needed to have this approved, probably it is just a matter of having the directors proposing this and an amount and have it approved by voting in a special meeting. We all know Tangotang is cash rich now after so many successful projects and many of us have been wondering how we can best use those money. Perhaps making some donation to the Szechuen earthquake charity is the best way to pull together the spirit of the tango community and to show that "tango brings people closer together".

Now we have taken the first step, we hope you will follow and do more!

Support us on 31 May MDC!

PS: Eventually we have donated totally $2900 to Red Cross via HSBC. Thank you very much for your kind support!

我接受 nuevo tango, 不過更愛 Javier ……(之三)

上回我說到我不太認同一些極瑞「反nuevo」舞者不斷借用 Javier或一些老一代之”milonguero”老師 之名不斷在舞池內打壓”tango nuevo”之老師及學生去美化自己學不懂nuevo technique…

一方面，這種心態及行為沒剎了眾多”tango Nuevo”老師的悉心教導及為推廣tango所付出的耐性及熱誠，因為假如10年前沒有了”tango Nuevo”之出現，argentine tango今天可能已經失傳，或只可以在Buenos Airesオ看得到。另一方面，這樣的利用Javier之名，會誤道新加入argentine tango大家庭的舞者，以為Javier便代表著「慢步」，令日後在學習道路上變得消極及保守。

Coleman在說什麼？由 pro-nuevo到有點反nuevo，而寫到這裡又忽然「挺」 nuevo?神經病乎？呵呵…

非也!

Argentine Tango美妙之處便是風格無邊無際，在argentine tango之歷史上從來沒有一個人走出來，或開一個 ”tango committee” 寫下規絛「阿根庭tango是這樣的‧‧‧」，更不像一些competitive dancing如ballroom dancing有syllabus可以「刨」。如果有人跟你說他可以借一些書給你看，你便可以跟著內裡的「腳印心法」學懂argentine tango，這人可能是特區政府經常在電視廣告叫大家提防之「全家祈福」騙子，要立刻話給警察叔叔聽！

說笑吧！

「和而不同」是Argentine Tango大同世界之精神…

假如舞池內的200人全部都跳同一種style、同一set舞步、穿同一套衫、穿一模一樣的一對 Comme Il Faut，你我可能已經再沒有興趣跳argentine tango了！

只是，我個人較喜歡跳得有creativity(適量的)之同時亦能令自己及舞伴看起來更Elegant，更美麗，令她的腳 (及她喜愛的 Comme Il Faut)顯得更性感，思想更能投入偉大的音樂中及享受到美妙的經典旋律。

而Javier & Andrea所推廣的一切都似乎與我想追尋的比”tango Nuevo”來得更接近(這是學了近4年tango nuevo後之感想。(今天有點累、明天待續)

我接受 nuevo tango, 不過更愛 Javier ……(之二) by Coleman

上回講到我把Javier 之performance與Vladimir Horowitz之鋼琴表演作比較…

熟悉我深一點的朋友都知道我熱愛音樂，可惜我懶惰，曾經學過鋼琴、小提琴、saxophone但都不持久，沒有恆心，但因為喜歡音樂、因此迷上了Hi-Fi及argentine tango。聽音樂，除了「勁爛」的canto-pop外，基本什麼都聽，不過從小便特別愛上古典音樂，手上的CD大部份都是classical之chamber, concerto, piano virtuoso,symphony等等。

在收藏的CD中，最令我印象深刻的音樂家是原籍俄羅斯的Vladimir Horowitz，他被認為是有錄音以來最偉大的鋼琴大師，他差不多已被封神了。HMV古典部都有一大Horowitz之section。

把Javier跟Horowitz連在一起，並不是要說Javier在tango界有等同Horowitz在鋼琴界之崇高地位。這個我沒有資格品評。我想比較的是兩人演譯音樂的風格有些近似，何解？

初次接觸Horowitz之演奏CD，都是知道他是「神」，想聽聽他有多利害，買了一片 “Horowitz in Moskow”之現場錄音及幾片他彈Schumann、Chopin、Litz之CD，因內裡的曲目旋律比較優美，回家放入CD機，一聽便是兩小時，很好聽是必然的，但感覺很特別，同一首樂曲由其他不同演奏家interpret之版本我有不少，但Horowitz的很不同，整片CD由頭到尾都滲透著一種浪漫的氣氛。要更清楚明白我在講什麼的話，拿一片被中國人捧到上天的朗朗 Lang Lang CD，聽同一曲目，Lang Lang音準、指法當然都達到一等一，但你會覺得他好像想打爛個 過百萬元Steinway & Sons琴一樣，你會覺得他很努力在弦耀超凡技巧，很努力的想您「看出」他是一級鋼琴家，很努力的想你「看出」他很投入的一副樣子，很努力的想你知道他一粒音也沒彈錯…我覺得「太努力」了！

Horowitz’s Lizt Hungarian Rhapsody No.2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHGnYQgLLzc

Lang Lang’s Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru84UVcPHDo

幸運地在 youtube也找到Horowitz及朗朗彈的同一曲目，你們自己聽聽及比較吧！

Horowitz之超然地位就是那同一種「駕卸在整篇樂章上，不被強烈的基本節奏所吞噬，快慢有序，有強弱、有層次的演繹出樂章的意境及氣氛」，有「泰山崩于前而色不改，麋鹿兴于左而目不瞬」之功力，聽他的演奏，你會感覺他在歌唱，你已不會再把注意力集中在他如魔鬼般的指法上，你會被他彈出來的「氣氛」所迷惑著。不信的可以今天去HMV隨便找片Horowitz CD回家欣賞，聽多些古典音樂或會對你的tango有幫助。

沒錯，我覺得Javier亦有這種魅力，我覺得Javier最擅長演譯的是所有Osvaldo Pugliese的舞曲，十分「對味」，Pugliese的曲目與其他composers的明顯不同，一首4分多鐘之樂曲內有齊浪漫、激昂的氣氛，而且對比強烈，跳Pugliese時之Javier就是「鐵漢柔情」。



上面之video是Javier 與前舞伴Geraldine其中一段在某年某地之end of class video，隨便的跳了一首Pugliese著名曲目，這卻是我的favourite!

回頭看當今各路 “tango Nuevo”之表演，感覺上都是花式多，招招新奇，有些什至古靈精怪，好像完全是為創新而創新，有些什至在跳舞中男方突然捉著女方的鞋，My God!有沒有想過舞伴花那麼多錢買對最新版Comme Il Faut就是要look good and elegant，為什麼要捉著她的腳呢？感覺上大部份Tango Nuevo之舞者都好像是背負著10年前”tango Nuevo精神所給他們帶來的壓力，不斷拿著”Nuevo”之key去開鎖、開路，要「不斷創新招」，才是不浪費所學的？或是基於要糊口的現實，要不斷靠「發明」新招來突圍而出？

Javier給我的感覺，是比較把注意力回到音樂的演譯，及舞伴的感覺上。

但我亦不太認同有小部份極端 “anti-nuevo”之舞者，因為身手不太靈活，學不懂tango nuevo，便把自己的不靈活美化成一種style、什至借Javier之名來不斷為自己的缺點包裝，不斷的跟跳過的每一位舞伴說自己跳的是” Javier style”，這未免有些污褥了Javier的造藝。Javier不是只「行左行右」、不是停在line of dance久不久動一動的，Javier絕對身手敏捷，請看這個吧！ (待續)

More about Javier and Andrea

After reading Coleman's post, I also want to add a little bit. I want to clarify the style that they dance - I once asked Andrea how would she describes the style of tango, and what she says they dance "Salon tango". She says "villa urquiza" is just a famous place where there are many good salon dancers. I believe that this term is widely used by Ney Melo, who want to promote Salon in the US with an attractive name on youtube...you know, it's like a marketing strategy.

Javier once told me, "there are only two types of tango, one is good, and one is bad." He then told us a story. They had a chance to meet a nuevo tango dancer, who is one of the most famous one (i don't want to dispose their name, so do Javier). In one performance, he danced with a new partner whom he is not used to dance with. After his performance, he told Javier that he didn't like his performance at all, cos it was not as satisfactory as those with his previous partners. but Javier thinks the performance was his best, in a way that he never saw this nuevo dancers cared his partner so much, like a gentleman cares a lady. For Javier, to dance good tango is not to show off the steps and technique, one of the essence of tango is how you feel and care the woman, and how you let her dance beautifully. If you really understand Javier's teaching, you would realize that his way of walking and embrace are made for the woman, to make them feel warm and comfortable, as what he says "tango is a woman's dance".

I think that makes Javier different, and so to many milongueros in BsAs.

我接受 nuevo tango, 不過更愛 Javier ……(之一) by Coleman

(以下純是個人觀點)

Tangotang 又再次邀得 Javier & Andrea 來香港，Richard 問我們本地老師可否撰文推介。 我直認 Javier 是我最欣賞的舞者，當然 Richard 唔問我都會寫。誰不知我末動筆，所有的class已於首兩小時登記便售出了。我很高興，因為我感覺到本地的tango智慧步向較成熟的方向，何出此言？Coleman 不是很 “pro-nuevo” 嗎？呵呵！

是的，過去4年， Tangotang引入了很多新一代的老師，世界興起了一片 “Nuevo 風”所影響，十居其九都是 “Nuevo” style。 Pablo & Dana, Matias & Kara (我的恩師及好朋友), Gaston & Mariela, Gonzalo & Mariel, Pablo & Noelia 等。每年來港的5對中便有3、4對 “Nuevo 風” 舞者。我亦因此學了4年多的nuevo technique。亦曾經認為 “nuevo” 是最好的…

4年前我首次參加 Taipei Tango Festival，第一次上了 Javier & Geraldine (J 的前舞伴)….印象不太深刻…..不是他們不好……他們絕對是一級棒的舞蹈家……只是我完全不明白他們上堂講什麼………J&G 在堂上完全用西班牙語授課……間中須要organiser Daniel 以普通話 翻譯……可是對我來講沒太大意義…….因我的普通話聽力不比西班牙語好很多。結果上 J & G的幾堂都是跟近50人迫在一起不斷「狂操」steps, 有時只能從舞室內的鏡子看到 Javier的腳在「搞」乜東東….有些掃興，沒法， Javier & Geraldine 是 Salon Tango之明星，人人爭著一睹他們的風采。

過去兩年，Youtube上多了很多 Argentine Tango的video，關於 Javier & Gerladine 及 Javier & Andrea 也有很多，而不只有 Nuevo 的如 Chicho, Sebastian & Mariana, Pablo & Dana。我因此可以欣賞到不同風格的表演。

你今天問我喜歡那一種style，我會答你…..不是什麼 “villa urquiza”、”salon”、”Nuevo”、”tango fantasia”、”close embrace”、”milonguero”…..這些只是名稱而已、每一種style都有跳得很出色的舞者、同時亦有跳得很「爛」的。

我會跟你說 「就像是 Javier那樣！」。

我不是要否定 “Nuevo style”，起碼過去10年間 “Nuevo” 的興起有助 Argentine Tango reach more people。”Nuevo tango” 是一個tango史上的革命動力多於是一種舞風。Nuevo的老師一般都很年青‧很有活力，超級友善、丁點兒架子都沒有、授課時非常有耐性。”Nuevo style”比較科學化，每種動作都要找出 core concept去support and explain，尤其對我們一眾自以為授過高等教育，每樣事物都要用羅緝去justify，而前一輩子都沒有跳過舞的人來說，”Nuevo tango” 的確很吸引、因上課時只要你的腦袋跟你說「lead 這個voleo的core concept」很合羅緝，大家便很有滿足感，立時覺得自己已學會跳舞、覺得”argentine tango”原來很易跳。”Nuevo tango” teachers are very friendly, and “Nuevo tango” is very user friendly，making tango more popular than ever。

但又如何呢？ 雖然 “Nuevo tango” 有這麼多「優點」、promises，但看了無數 video and live performance, 沒有幾多次令我真正感動。看了一些 Nuevo performers的表演，我會 …..高聲歡呼「利害!!」、「好野!」、「有創意！」、「很有趣！」、「他真是敏捷!」….

但看過 Javier 的表演，我沒話可說，真的是找不到貼切的句子來形容。我只覺得他用身體來唱歌、把自己溶化在樂章中。從 Javier 的表演、我深深體會好的 “musicality” 不只是 follow the beat (sense of rhythm) 那麼膚淺，不是只在一兩個bar內玩一些特別的拍子，而是駕卸在整篇樂章上，不被強烈的基本節奏所吞噬，快慢有序，有強弱、有層次的演繹出樂章的意境及氣氛。

你沒有看錯！我不是在說Choreography，我是在講Javier improvisation的能力…

很多人喜歡 argentine tango就是因為 “improvisation”一詞，誤以為等於不用花時間聽音樂，以為只要「識lead」很多「花」便能跳好argentine tango，以為只要跟到beat便足夠了….完全沒留意旋律變化、沒留意整首舞曲想營造的情緒高低起復。看過個Javier 後，你可能有新的體會。

若我告訴你，有無數次我看完Javier 跟partner perform 後，我被感動得差點哭起來，請不要笑。

我真的有哭。

簡簡單單的walking，畢廷神氣的posture，緊密的embrace，乘巧而不經意的adornment，加上一對好耳朵，便比別人跳得更震憾，更悅目…

若你還認為跳好argentine tango便是要懂十八般武藝，首首音樂都要拿你的partner來做齊全套high, low, linear, circular, back and front voleo, 什麼什麼colcada，什麼什麼volcada，什麼什麼soltadas….無數個前後左右 rebounce，只講opposite energy, dynamics and impulse…或你發覺跳了3年後仍然覺得自己像在與舞伴搏擊一樣的感覺，而從未有一次感受過自己身體、舞伴、音樂及舞池上其他couples連在一起的浪漫感覺，那便是時候看看Javier那一派。

看Javier之 performance與新一派Nuevo之對比，令我聯想起被喻為過去一世紀最偉大的鋼琴大師 Vladimir Horowitz 霍洛維茲之演奏…. (待續)

Tips of dancing in a crowded milonga - Emily

I wish all of you enjoyed Milonga del Corazon at Xperience last saturday. I always recalled New York New York in Taiwan and even El Beso in Buenos Aires when I danced in Xperience for its cosy space. Dancing in an atmospheric bar or restaurant is always nice - but one problem may occur in this occasion. The dance floor, like that of Xperience, may not be as big as those of a dance studio or a dance hall, and people have to squeeze themselves on a crowded dance floor. This may end up leaders have less intention to invite ladies for a dance since the floor seems not to have enough room. But I think all of us, including leaders and followers, can make an effort to make a small and crowded dance floor a heaven to enjoy the music and dance with your partner. Being a dj, who always have a full observance of the dance floor’s traffic, I would like to share some tips of dancing in a crowded dance floor that I got from crowded floors in BsAs and my tango teachers. These are not golden rules of no reasons - all are originated from our considerations to other dancers on the same floor and our care to your partners.

General Etiquette
1. Line of Dance
Line of dance is always one of the key factors defining a good and a bad milonga. While Nino Bien and Salon Canning getting the fame of the most popular and crowded milongas in BsAs, they also become notorious for bad traffic and bumpings. One reason, that many people believe, is that more and more tourists, who usually have less awareness to the importance of traditional dance etiquette in milongas of BsAs, are attracted to these popular milongas, making the dance floors lacking good discipline. Milongas of good traffic in most of the time, like El Beso, are always my favourite. As you can observe from the video showing a regular milonga at El Beso, there are actually roughly two lines of dance - one is around the boundary of the dance floor, and one in the inner circle. Thanks to the interior design of El Beso, having huge column in the middle of dance floor, dancers who favour fancy steps can hardly enjoy themselves in the middle, making the dance floor one of the best in BsAs. Dancers should keep moving in a dance floor at the exterior circles, maintaining a smooth traffic. The middle of the dance floor should be remained to beginners who have less experience of following the line of dance or those stubborn dancers who are obsessed with fancy steps.

2. Type of Embrace
Credits should also give to the milongueros in El Beso who prefer close embrace, which allows more rooms to dance in a smaller dance floor. If the floor is already quite crowded, it is absolutely unwise to show off the steps of nuevo style which demands open embrace and bigger space. Even you really make sure your steps cause no disturbances to other dancers, your steps may scare other dancers who want to squeeze in away.

3. Steps
It is always wise for leaders to avoid big steps or any steps that may let the ladies kicking people around you both, like gancho and high boleos. I am sure most ladies would enjoy more with the leaders’ smaller steps of good musicality, then the heels of her elegant Comme il faut being forced to kick the chair leg behind her! Leaders should also avoid back steps unless you make sure no one is behind you, since back steps would interrupt the smoothness of the line of dance. I think leaders should take more responsibility on this since the ladies have less control about the steps while they may have their eyes closed in the embrace. Turning on the same space and doing hero in close embrace would also help yourself getting away from a traffic jam.

4. Embellishment
Ladies can try to keep their embellishment smaller to avoid kicking your leg to the people at your back. I make this fault sometimes too… = (

5. Cortina
Cortina is a good chance to reshuffle the traffic of the dance floor. It is always good to leave the dance floor when cortina is played. Invite your favourite partner once again later, chance is there!

Celebrating Milonga del Corazón First Anniversary with Norberto "Pulpo" Esbrez & Luiza Paes on 2 Feb & 9 Feb

Thank you very much for your long support...MDC is just one year old and we are celebrating its birthday in February. It is really not easy to have a themed milonga for more than a year. We can't grow without you! Please come and share the joy with us, since you are one of the most important motivation for me to get more good music from BsAs! Please keep supporting our milonga and our passion of classic tango music!

Welcome Milonga Including mini-performance, soft drinks and biscuits
Date: Saturday 2 February 2008, 9.30pm-1.30am
Venue: Amico Studio, Amico Studio, 2/F, 167-169 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, HK
Tickets: $120

Grand Milonga to Welcome the Year of the Rat
Including buffer dinner and performance
Date: Saturday 9 Feburary 2008, 9pm-3am
Venue: Xperience, G/F, 33 Lockhard Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tickets: $180 in advance; $220 on the door

Dj: Emily

To book tickets, visit http://www.hktangolab.com/ and download a booking form, or contact:

Hong Kong Tango Lab Simon Cartledge, scartledge@bigbrainsltd.com / 852 - 9746 5279 / http://www.hktangolab.com/
Milonga del Corazón milonga.corazon@gmail.com/ /Coleman - 852-92676627 / Emily - 852-94060996