Firstly, the music

Attended a workshop by Gladys Fernandez and Ricardo Gallo tonight. Hard to believe it, but this year actually marks their fifth in Singapore! How time flies…

The content of the course can be summed up in a few words: feel the rhythm of the music and express it. The dynamics in Tango were expressed using the simple framework of slow-slow-quick-quick-quick, to some songs from Biagi and D’Arienzo in particular. But how they danced with so much feelings and expression using very simple steps! As they kept saying, the Tango is danced with the whole body, not just with the feet, and not just with the brain.

The emphasis was on groundedness (with flexed knees), the contrast in movements introduced by the “explosiveness” in motion during the quicker portions of the music, and a slight swaying of the upper body – again, in sync with the music. I don’t know if I managed to internalise the material by the end of the class, but I certainly got a good workout in my legs. My feet have not felt so tired in a long time – probably not since the workshops with Esteban just before Playa Noche last October, but this was just after an 1 1/2 hour session!

The night was capped off with a milonga to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Tango in Singapore. While I was not of the “founding” batch, I have been around long enough to be considered a senior. Suffice to say that there were lots of dancing, a cake for the June-birthday guys/gals, and more dancing after that. What a night!