The Walking One

I have been curious about the Tango music scene in Japan for quite a while. Finally this past weekend I got the chance to go to Tokyo to see 2 orchestras play. The occasion was the 2009 Asian Tango Championship in Tokyo. For the final gala event, they invited 2 tango orchestras to perform. The first one was the Orquesta Tango Waseda, which is the tango orchestra of Waseda University. If I remem..

Friends have asked me about the Tango scene in South Korea often, so I have decided to write down a few of my impressions here. For your information, I have lived in Seoul for two and half years and I plan to continue to live there for the foreseeable future. I work full-time as a Tango teacher and organizer, and I visit the local milongas often. Tango in Korea started around 2000 and it has gro..

2008-11-11 Alberto Podesta at Porteno y Bailarin 2008-12-11 Andres y Isabel at El Dia de Tango Milonga 2008-12-11 Javier y Andrea at El Dia de Tango Milonga 2008-12-18 Fabian y Virginia at Canning 2008-12-18 Osvaldo y Coca at Canning

Last night Hwayi and I heard a live translation of the lyrics of Esta Noche de Luna (Carlos Di Sarli with Rufino, 1943, composed by José García and Graciano Gómez, lyrics by Héctor Marcó). By "live translation", I mean our teacher Javier Rodriguez played the song verse by verse and translated it along the way. It was a great translation because the tra..

Eating in restaurants is not so cheap in Buenos Aires anymore. Because of this, I am trying to cook as much as possible. Groceries at supermarkets are still very affordable - you can easily find a really nice steak for less than 10 pesos (US$3). Here are some of my creations in the past 2 weeks. Enjoy! 2008-11-10 Chicken pasta in white sauce 2008-11-13 Baked drumstick with vegetables & fries 20..

Alberto Podesta was going to sing at Porteno y Bailarin on Wednesday night. Even though Hwayi and I were taking a class until 11:30pm, we still made our way over to PyB to hear him. When we arrived, the milonga was packed but quite uncomfortable. The floor was chaotic, the atmosphere noisy and rowdy, and the music unpredictable. We were tired and thirsty, but waited patiently for our star. Pode..

Someone in Seoul is new to the milongas and asked me how he can enjoy himself. Here are my 10 recommendations: 1. Listen to the music, whether you are dancing or not. Find out what music you like and what music you don't like. 2. When you like the music, dance; if you don't like the music, don't dance. 3. Dance with the people you like dancing with, try not to dance with peopl..

If I have the money to open a nice tango bar in Seoul right now, these will be the 10 rules of my milonga: 1. Anyone who dances in t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers pays double entrance fee. 2. Anyone who invites somebody to dance during a cortina gets turned down automatically. 3. Anyone who invites somebody to dance verbally and got turned down cannot make another invitation for 3 tandas. 4. Lead..

Javier and Andrea came to Korea for the first time in 2007. They visited us again last month for a week of workshops and milongas. I feel this visit was even better than the first - here are some photos, observations, and even a little video. ***** Before the big event there was a planning party with "Korean-style Chinese food" at our home (for those of you who have had real Chinese food this i..

On this sleepless morning I found the following Youtube video... I remember seeing this couple in an early Tango Forever video a few years back. They were definitely my favorite then. I am so glad to see their dance again. And they use Derecho Viejo again. I liked them most because the power and intensity in their dance is obvious, yet their presentation is so... calm. There is no exaggerated f..