As I blindly scale the rocks on the Virginia side of Great Falls, a sense of bliss surrounds me as I notice the beauty of the national park. What I fail to notice is the rusty pipe hidden within an innocent bush that crashes into my knee and sends me crashing down landing with my ankle sandwiched between two lovely rocks. This is not the kind of mordida I like, people. Instantly, I grow sad because I realize my new injury will affect my tango practice! What a one-track mind.
Alas, four days of uninterrupted teaching and work pass with no real rest in between, and then a Friday milonga rears its head. Anxious to get back out there and practice, I unstrap my custom ankle support–made from an ice pack wrapped in a kitchen towel that’s held together with a belt I bought from Target–and grab my Tango shoes! Upon arriving at what was once an old broom factory in Baltimore, the sign on the door instructs me to call upstairs to be let in.
“Hello,” a voice answers on the other end of the phone.
“The password is TANGO! Let me in.”
Max Gonzales, whom I’ve met before at one of his open role tango classes, laughs down the stairs with his cell phone still on his ear and welcomes me inside. So, here I go schlepping my swollen ankle up the stairs to my first alternative milonga. Before I share my experience, know that my first, and still most familiar, dance community is the Towson Dance Studio.
Their Saturday night dance parties are attended by a more ballroom crowd so tango isn’t the choice dance. Expect the music played to be from the Golden Age with hints of American and International tango thrown in for spice. Since moving to a new building in April 2009, the students now enjoy a smooth-finished maple floor instead of the waxed woodblock tile of the past. I rejoyced on the day when I could buy my first pair of tango shoes without having to spend time after a dance scraping wax off the bottoms.
The space at Studio DNA is quaint and narrow with dimmed lights and chairs around the perimeter. Empinadas are for sale for late-night consumption by the front door where people check in. Among the small, but intimate, crowd, I recognize familiar faces dancing while other first-timers like myself sit patiently scoping out the room. Hmm… they have the exact same woodblock tile as my old studio. Interesting. With my shoes on, I take my first steps onto the dance floor and slip slightly. Argh… wax! A minor setback, but I just have to remember not to wear my good shoes so as to not relive my wax-scraping days.
Truthfully, I am expecting to hear some Gotan Project or other nuevo tango selections at this alternative milonga tonight, but what is considered alternative when it comes to tango these days? Listening to the playlist, I recognize some familiar tunes, but most are new to my ears and this is where my learning begins. Asking my first lady to dance, I find myself thinking too much about interpreting the music and forget about feeling the rhythms and melodies. The music ranges from whimsical Harry Potterish instrumentals to R&B tracks with a steady beat. Even Jack Johnson made it on the playlist!
Compare the drum section of a Piazolla arrangement, accompanied by traditional tango instruments, to that of Beck’s Go It Alone. Beck makes you want to move, well, everything! Your shoulders sway, feet tap the ground, head bobs back real cool like. From a neutral lead-follow perspective, alternative music like this gave more of a west-coast swing feel rather than tango. With its hypnotizing rhythm section, it almost transforms the followers’ walking into a sort of hip-hop tango that I find hard to control with my lead no matter what I do. It’s hard to describe, but it seems like with alternative music, the ability to lead and follow is overshadowed by individual musical expression. It’s frustrating trying to integrate this feeling into tango at this point in my education.
At this point, it’s best I amp up my all-too-subtle lead and give each lady my best while trying not to get too discouraged. Why are we so hard on ourselves as leaders, guys? We have to give ourselves more credit. Needless to say, I reach a point of frustration halfway through the night and decide to take a break from leading. I ask Max if he can lead me through a dance and he accepts and sweeps the floor with me and my inability to follow. Afterwards, I thank him for putting up with my clumsiness and let him know that my nickname at the dance studio is “the tank”. He laughs jokingly as if to say it’s obvious, and I appreciate his great lead and creativity nonetheless.
The room is hot. Only an AC unite in the corner and a few strategically placed fans cool us down. I’m eager to get fresh air, but not excited about leaving the milonga to get to my late-night job. So, aside from the musical shock and my goofy foot, I plan to attend more events and get to know the community better. They’re a welcoming bunch and just as eager to improve their dancing as I am, so it only makes sense to keep similar company while I evolve my tango.
In fact, next time I want to see twice as many dancers stuffed in that little room. As attendance continues to grow, they may need to start a Studio DNA Air-conditioning Fund, otherwise, you’ll enjoy seeing couples doing their sacadas in the corner by AC unit all night. For more information on tango events in the Baltimore area, visit Baltimore Tango or check out the Baltimore Tango Calendar.
Keep dancing,
Panayiotis Pete Karabetis
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I know what you mean about the wax on the shoes, it feels like you’re walking on banana peels all day! I gave the alternative music a chance and it grows on you. You sound like you’re just getting started, so be patient and find the foundation in all music that lets you dance tango. You’ll see