Crossroads

In the world of social dancing, there exists a group of dancers that are hired by individuals dance only with them. In Singapore, they are called 'dance instructors (D.I.)' In the tango world of Buenos Aires, they are called 'taxi dancers'.

There is a certain sleaziness attached to the terms. 'Taxi dancers' is derived from 'taxi boy' which means male prostitues in Buenos Aires. It is easy to see why they can be perceived as social escorts, hence attributing the sleaze factor.

Granted there might be extra-dance activities provided by some escorts. But let me shed some light on the reason of the existence of this industry.

People from all over the world spend heaps of money to come to Buenos Aires for their love of tango. When they are here, they want to dance as much as possible. But the harsh reality is you would only get a lot of good dances if you are a good dancer, or attractive, or have lots of good friends in the tango world. This applies to both men and women, but it hits the women more badly, as men can at least move around and invite women, whereas women can only sit around and wait to be invited.

So what if one is not a good dancer, not a looker, and is here for too short a time to know anyone? There are two options, he/ she can either sit around all night in the milonga and sulk, or option two, would be to hire a good dancer and dance the night away.

There are also some extremely good dancers who doesn't want to dance with even an above average dancer. These people, usually ladies with exquisite taste, will hire very good dancers to dance with them, because if not they will hardly dance because they are so selective. And so for these reasons the industry was born and is well and alive.

A week ago I was approached by Jen, a good friend of JM and an extremely good dancer, to be a taxi dancer for her tango tour group. She then passed my contact to Mila, another tango tour organizer and I would be helping her out too.

All sleaziness aside, I think this is a great chance to practise my tango, get to know people and earn my keep. After all, its all about the dance.

Here is the spanish version of the story.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Esto es un tarea de espanol. Pero es verdad.

Definicion: Una escort bailarin es una bailarin que gente, usualmente turistas le pagar para bailar solo con ellos.

Tengo una amiga que se llama Jennifer, de Estados Unidos. Ella es una muy buena bailarina de tango. Tambien es una profesora de tango en Estados Unidos. Ahora ella esta en Buenos Aires por dos meses y baile con ella mucho.

Cuando estaba en Salon Canning, hace dos semanas, baile con una bailarina muy linda, que bailaba excellente, con mucha pasion y perfecta tecnica. Bailimos una tanda Biaggi y disfrutamos mucho. Durante la cortina (una cortina es una pequeno recreo dentro un tanda de cuatro temas de tango), hablamos y me dijo su nombre, se llama Mila. Es de Rusia pero ahora vive en Estados Unidos.

Ayer, estaba en Canning otra vez. La vi a Mila. la salude, y ella me pregunto, 'Yo tengo un grupo de tangueros de Estados Unidos. Y faltan muchos hombres, quieres trabajar con nosotros? Durante los dias, vas a las classes y en las noches bailas con nosotros? Voy a pagar te dos cientos dollares.'

Realmente, me pregunto si yo quiero llegar a ser una escort bailarin. Luego, me di cuenta que ella conocia a Jennifer. Y Jennifer me recommendo como un escort bailarin. Porque antes, Jennifer ya me pregunto si yo quiero trabajar como una escort bailarin con ella. Porque ella tambien tiene una grupo de tangueros que van a venir pronto. Mi personalidad y danza a ella le gusto mucho, por eso me recommendo a Mila.

Esto es una buena suerte para mi. Porque es una oportunidad para practicar tango y tambien ganar dinero.

Mis amigos de alma,

When I first got really into tango, I had a hard time trying to find a tango that is not intense or sad.

Then I realise I might find my answer in vals; Argentine tango version of waltz. Vals play on a 3 beat like waltz. DUM, dum, dum... DUM, dum, dum...

The resulting music is usually light, flowing and romantic.

I love dancing vals. If one thing that was natural to me was vals. I had to work hard on tango and milonga but never in vals.

The vals that I like best till date is 'Novia de Ayer' by Alfredo de Angelis, whose music is simple, harmonic and the violins in his orchestra really gives you a flying feeling, perfect for vals.

Its sung by Carlos Dante, one of my favourite singer, whose voice is sweet yet masculine.

Here you go,

------------------------------------------------
Novia de Ayer

Alfredo de Angelis
Cantante: Carlos Dante

Novia de Ayer
(Girlfriend of Yesterday)

Donde estar dulce novia que fue,
dueña de mi ternura,
hoy como ayer eres tu,
mi unico rayo de luz.

(Where be [my] sweet girlfriend that was,
owner of my tenderness,
today as yesterday you are,
my unique ray of light. )

Hoy como ayer quien por ver tu pasion
dentro de mi corazon,
nada cambia... todo es igual...
solo eres tu que no estas.

(Today as yesterday who by seeing your pasion
inside my heart,
nothing changes... all is equal...
Only that you are not here.)

Nada debo reprocharte
porque fuiste bella para mi,
nada debes reprocharme
porque sin serlo, te perdi.

(Nothing I should reproach you
because you were beautiful for me,
nothing you should reproach me
because without being it, I lost you.)

Como lloramos los dos,
al pronunciar el adios...

(As we cry the two of us,
to the saying of the goodbyes...)

Fuiste la primera novia
que jamas olvida el corazon,
tu eres la primer caricia
que tus dulces manos oprimio.

(You were the first girlfriend
that never forgets the heart,
you are the first caress
that your sweet hands pressed.)

Y hoy si la emocion de mi cancion
llega hasta ti...comprenderas
que siempre soy el que ayer fui.

(And today if the emotion of
my song reaches you. ..understand
that I am always the one that yesterday was.)

------------------------------------------------
If you ever get to hear this vals you will feel really light and happy. But just understanding the lyrics probably gives you a better picture what is it about. No wonder they say argentines can't dance with foreigners.

There goes my best hope of a happy tango music. Till next time.

My first kiss was when you were sick; down with flu. You were on a medication of some antibiotics.

We kissed and kissed that night. My first kiss, for you, 6 years ago in the little beige university dormitory.

As we kissed the smell lingered. So that was how a kiss is suppose to smell like; I remember myself thinking.

I remembered as you went to New Zealand for a four week hospital attachment, shortly after we got together. I was wandering around aimlessly in Takashimaya shopping centre and I found myself hovering around the pharmacy counter. They had the brand of antibiotics you were using.

The other day, as I was walking down the streets of Callao, Buenos Aires, I suddenly remembered your kiss again, your kiss that night.

Then I realised, I just walked pass the local pharmacy.

"春去秋来，岁月如流，杨过日日在海潮之是练剑，日夕如是，寒暑不问。木剑击刺之声
越练越响，到后来竟有轰轰之声，响了数月，剑声却渐渐轻了，终于寂然无声。又练数月，
剑声复又渐响，自此从轻而响，从响而轻，反复七次，终于欲轻则轻，欲响则响，练到这地
步时，屈指算来在海边已有六年了。" - 第三十二回　情是何物, 神雕侠侣。

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its been four months since I arrived in Buenos Aires, these are the changes in my dance.

1. Calmness - The calmness I first felt dancing with Gabriela two months ago had disappeared. Only recently it has just came back. This peaceful and calm feeling had returned by applying the 'flow' principle of marking the lead of Javier.

Instead of marking all the steps with a sudden spike of energy or impulse, all the steps are in a constant flow, the energy is consistent with a gradual increase and decrease to mark the steps.

2. Teachers - The selection of teachers have been furthur narrowed down. Cacho, who teaches an evolved milonguero style, who stresses a lot on pivoting and maintaining an upwards energy for axis and elegance. In his dance, there is much apilado and because of that, no marking by hands is necessary.

Javier, whom to me and a lot of portenos is one of the best dancers in the tango world now. Because of his speed, agility, elegance and musicality. He advocates an even more upright way of close embrace. His tango is faster, more speed demanding. Lesser apilado but very much still lead with the chest and body. He concentrates on the energy and musicality aspects of the dance.

From Cacho I learn to be grounded and the precision in each and every mark. From Javier I learn the flow, the speed and musicality.

Tete whom I continue to learn giros and vals with.

Flaco Dany whom I continue to learn milonga con traspie with.

3. Milonga con traspie - From the hard landing of traspie a few months back, my traspie is now lighter and has a slight upwards rebound to facilitate the speed of return. Its more natural and more dynamic.

4. Music - From the early 30s to 40s music, I find myself drawn more and more to the 50s to late 60s music. The early music were simple, rhythmic to dance with, very spicy and light. Especially the likes of D'Arienzo, Tanturi, Donato, etc..

These days, the pieces I enjoy dancing to most, are the late instrumentals of D'Arienzos (eg, La Loca, Pampa) , Biaggi (El Recodo, El 13), De Angelis (Pavadita, Mi Dolor) and other more dramatic pieces from the later epoca.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are times when I get it right; the music right, the feeling right, the lead right and it feels great. Then the cycle where everything starts to feel wrong comes again. Then another night it will work again.

I'm so faraway from having any control; under the mercy of unknown factors. Some days I feel like I'm the greatest dancer, but within a few days I feel I can't even walk properly.

At least I am contented just learning and working hard with the great masters of tango. But I just wonder how many years it will take before I reach the stage of control over my dance.

Perfectly combed hair, with a self assured smile on his face. Always decked out in a dress shirt and smart suit. His piercing blue eyes surveying the scene with measured calmness. He walks to his table, eliciting a suave nod of acknowledgement and a gentle smell of eau de toilette.

He's not James Bond, neither is he your modern metrosexual. He is El 'Flaco' Dany, Daniel Garcia, 73 years old this year; and the epitome of a gentleman.

I first heard about him from Royce and Jean Michel when they were here in BA in August. They showed me his milonga video and I am amazed. Amazed by his speed in milonga, his elegance and the way he 'plays' with his unique intricate awesome figures with the milonga music.

Later on as I took more and more lessons with him I had the chance to see him up close as he teach and as he dances in milonga. At his age, he has an incredible speed in his legs which is unmatched by even much younger dancers. The wealth of figures he possesses are incredible. In tango, particularly milonga music, there are a lot of instances where you can afford to be more playful with the steps that you make or lead. And every lesson he will surprise with a completely out of this world 'fun' figure.

The most incredible thing however, is his ability to lead even beginner students to execute the steps. I asked a lot of ladies that he danced with, they all say his lead is clear, gentle and just nice. An excerpt from Royce's blog on dancing with El Flaco Dany, "...It was “magic” because I couldn’t describe or figure out what exactly happened when he leaded. He leaded me a sequence of steps that I had never done before, without knowing how and having no time to wonder what was going on, my body already reacted and made the steps..." (http://www.loksze.com/thoughts/page/4/)

To sum up, with all his years of dancing socially, he has developed the ability to lead with the kind of clarity and precision, that if he wants a lady to take a backstep that is 30cm, he will use just enough impulse that will lead a backstep of 30cm. No more no less. In addition to that, the uncanny ability to get understand different women and lead different women with that same amount of precision.

From the grapevine, I heard that he grew up in the milongas with his mom, who was a milonguera; not unlike Mel Gibson in the movie 'What women wants', who grew up in the caberets with his mom, embraced by all the women, learning their secrets and what makes them tick. As a youth, he played football professionally in an Argentine club as a defender. As an adult he was a very good foxtrot dancer.

All these probably shaped his personality and his dance. I went out for coffee a couple of times, he is really a perfect gentleman, in his mannerisms, how he speaks. These are important things that a social dancer should learn too. Tango being a social dance, the social aspect is very important, especially in such close quarters. How many times have I heard ladies complain about smelly, sweaty and rude dancers they danced with.

In his dance too, the gentleman in him shines through. His walk, his posture and traspies are all done with elegance. He makes the ladies he dances with look beautiful. Even when doing all the complicated moves at such speed, they are never made to feel uncomfortable. With his gentlemanly presence, he puts the ladies he dances with at ease even before he embraces them; This reminds me with what Jean Michel told me a long time ago, 'I have a secret that is I try to put the lady at ease as much as possible with a friendly smile and invitation. It makes my job during the dance so much easier.'

Like what Royce says, dancing with such a gentleman must be such magic and a pleasure.

Yesterday, in the hostel I met Greg from Australia. Lone traveller in his mid 50s, going to Antartica on an 11 day journey. Works as a mental health worker; his eyes shone of wisedom and a tinge of weariness that must have seen the problems of the world, and the darkness of the heart.

We got on really fine and went out for dinner together. Over dinner, we spoke about everything under the sun. From the state of mental health care in Australia, to the politics of Singapore. Then we settled on the topic of his family.

He talked about his twice divorced love life, his last wife left him in July. As he spoke, water glazed over his eyes, shimmering; with infinite sadness.

Finally he left me with these words, 'treat the woman you love like a queen, and she will pay you back ten fold.' I hope he would find peace in the vast snowy Antartica.

This afternoon I was talking to 'X' after I finished a class with him. We started chatting about our love lives. And he told me he broke up with someone two years ago. They were married and were dance partners for a long time; he is still single. I showed him some videos of him dancing with his ex-partner. He wanted very much to see.

And as I watched him watching intently at the video, his eyes shone brightly, his hands gripped tightly to my ipod. A slight hint of familiar smile broke through his lips. "Hermosa! Linda!" He said. His hands trembled a bit. Then came the same look I saw in Greg's eyes just yesterday night; with infinte sadness, longing and resignation. Halfway through the video I regretted very much showing it to him. As the video finished I whispered 'I'm sorry'.

In their eyes, I see mine.

Zivals Buenos Aires, one of the world's biggest tango music store.

Enjoying the warmth down below.

What's coming off next???

Goodbyes used to be hard. Our first goodbyes are the hardest. I remember the first time travelling out of Singapore; went to China I think. I found it so difficult to say goodbye to the nice lady who was our tour guide, I cried. Because I knew I would probably never see her again. That feeling of loss was probably the hardest thing to take.

As time goes by, we say goodbye to more and more people in our life. We get use to it. Goodbye to my grandpa, goodbye to my first love, goodbye to university hall life. The tears begin to dry. Although the sadness still exists, only but for a brief moment.

Down here in Buenos Aires, I meet and say goodbye to new people everyday. Some goodbyes are harder than others.

Jean Michel, whom I had to say goodbye twice within two months. Waiters were so much more polite when I had the frenchman around. I miss that.

Lucia, the beautiful sicilian, whom I never had the chance to have a proper goodbye and last dance. I will always remember you when milonga music comes on.

Mom, sis and bro, although I'll be back, its always the toughest to say goodbyes to you guys.

Love, I say goodbye to you one last time. Because I don't think I will ever see you again.

Su Lyn and How Meng, whom I just said goodbye yesterday. As I watched your cab drive away I just know its not sadness that filled my heart, but an emptiness.

The harder it is to say goodbye means the better times we had before the goodbye. In this sense, once we accept that memories are the only things we can possess forever, we can and probably should look forward to the next goodbye.