14 abr 2008

Have not been in much of a tango mood lately. Don't know if it's because of the high volume I've been getting at work, the crazy ass weather in the Bay Area, taking care of my mom (she's better now) or just overexposure. For the past couple weeks I've been keeping it almost strictly in a practice mode with A. We've been attending the advanced class with David and Mariana on Wednesdays which has been really refreshing for us. I'm not one to take many classes and apparently people know this about me, as colleagues were expressing surprise at my attendance. D and M structure the lessons around an extended sequence which they demonstrate piece by piece and deconstruct along the way. The point is not to memorize the sequence but to understand how the elements interconnect, which will in turn hopefully give the dancers greater insight into making different connections as well as gaining proficiency and possibly devising new variants of the elements. It's fun and challenging to get outside of my comfort zone which admittedly is something I tend not to do, although in principle I know it is necessary to keep growing. And this class leans toward modern concepts (single axis, centrifugal force, contradictory leads, etc.) which I haven't really explored in depth, although for the most part I have previously studied the movements to some degree and can manage fairly decently--again, somewhat to the surprise of those who know my conservative dancing tendencies.

Aside from the workshops, A and I do our regularly scheduled practices on Thursdays and Sundays and beyond that I haven't gone out much, maybe one or two milongas per week. And on the occasion that I do go to a milonga I've been averaging maybe one tanda for the evening, sometimes none. That's fine. I think that by the time summer hits I'll probably get more energy and incentive to get more active again.