Tango shoes
Accidentally came across this weblog discussing exclusively everything under the sun that is related to Tango-wear: Tango shoe divas. As can be expected, most of the talk is about Tango shoes – for ladies in particular.
Be sure to also check out the other links here for more tips on choosing the right shoes for yourself!
Readings for BA
Over at Argentina Travel Guide, a website of travel advice and stories contributed by other travellers, there is a nice article “The Beginners Guide to Tango in Buenos Aires” by Tangocherie, who is an expat Tango dancer and teacher living in Buenos Aires. Definitely worth your while to at least check out the Top 10 Destinations in Argentina if you were considering making the trip to Buenos Aires at some point in future!
Other references:
Authentic milonga experience
Continuing along what Royce had commented about “chasing the past” (in reference to her visits to Buenos Aires in order to study Tango at the birthplace of Tango) from the perspective of a student of Tango, and following up on a conversation I had recently about what is a milonga (versus, say, a party where there is background music and occasional dancing), I feel that a large part of what most milonga organizers outside of Buenos Aires are doing is in fact trying to recreate the past – or what they imagined to be the past… In other words, they are trying to present the elusive authentic milonga experience to their local communities. Naturally, this image may or may not tally with the reality.
Putting aside the controversial question of whether or not the attempt is futile or even necessary, given that most of us – including yours truly – have not had the opportunity to visit Buenos Aires, the Mecca of Tango, we may ask ourselves what are some of the elements which are essential for an “authentic milonga”?
Is it the venue or the dress code?
Becoming an expert
Over at CPU Blog (Creating Passionate Users), there is a great article called “How to become an expert”. While this is not Tango-specific, I am sure many of us can relate to the process described here!? I think the graph below says it all.
By the way, in case you were wondering why I blatantly copied someone else’s work (the graph), the contents of the CPU blog are actually licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. In fact, the author of the blog has written a specific entry to clarify the situation.