I went to Portland for the first time last weekend, for the Portland Tango Fest. It was a pretty amazing affair, with pictures to come, whenever I can get my hands on them. WARNING! Below is a lot of stuff that won't make sense unless you dance tango:
Friday night's milonga was good, and Norse Hall was well packed. The performances at 11 were great, and Homer from San Fransisco danced in a way that played with gravity almost, just a ton of balance work, and off axis movements.
Saturday I took intermediate workshops. First was a milonga class from Jorge Nel, which was fun. I took Pulpo and Luiza's class on pasadas, and it opened my mind to a whole bunch of new possibilities. Finally I took a class from Robin and Jennifer on the hip cortado, which basically takes the second half of the ocho cortado, and slows it down, while using a lot of hip movement.
Before going to the milongas that evening, I visited the shops in east Portland. I've never seen so many well behaved vagrants, or perhaps I was confusing the hippies for vagrants. That area is completely chock full of odd juxtaposition, like a super high end salon followed by a neighborhood barber shop with barred windows a block away.
I went to the Grande Ball that evening at the Tiffany Center, and it was packed. Alex Krebs' ensemble, Conjunto Berretin, played a great couple of sets, and they got a new bandoneon player, making Portland a 2 bandoneon town. The performances that night rocked my socks off. I then went to the Post Grande Ball in Oak Parks Pavillion (a theme park) which I enjoyed the most that weekend. I eventually got home a bit before sunrise. Kent Wade hosted me, along with 3 other guests, and I definately appreciate the generosity of other tangueros. Usually, I never have to bother paying for a hotel room, the tango community tends to be pretty tight knit.
On Sunday I took two advanced workshops. Musicality and rhythm by Felix and Anne-Sophie, which taught me some good excercises and one ok figure. I then took a class from Fabrizio and Mariana which was easily one of the hardest figures I've done. It starts out with a turn with sacadas, followed by a colgada, followed by a volcada with a front ocho, followed by a linear back boleo, and finishing with another colgada.
Anyway, there's more details I'll have to flesh out when I get the chance. Right now it looks like I've found some potential new work within Boeing, and that'll be my next topic to share, I guess.
Friday night's milonga was good, and Norse Hall was well packed. The performances at 11 were great, and Homer from San Fransisco danced in a way that played with gravity almost, just a ton of balance work, and off axis movements.
Saturday I took intermediate workshops. First was a milonga class from Jorge Nel, which was fun. I took Pulpo and Luiza's class on pasadas, and it opened my mind to a whole bunch of new possibilities. Finally I took a class from Robin and Jennifer on the hip cortado, which basically takes the second half of the ocho cortado, and slows it down, while using a lot of hip movement.
Before going to the milongas that evening, I visited the shops in east Portland. I've never seen so many well behaved vagrants, or perhaps I was confusing the hippies for vagrants. That area is completely chock full of odd juxtaposition, like a super high end salon followed by a neighborhood barber shop with barred windows a block away.
I went to the Grande Ball that evening at the Tiffany Center, and it was packed. Alex Krebs' ensemble, Conjunto Berretin, played a great couple of sets, and they got a new bandoneon player, making Portland a 2 bandoneon town. The performances that night rocked my socks off. I then went to the Post Grande Ball in Oak Parks Pavillion (a theme park) which I enjoyed the most that weekend. I eventually got home a bit before sunrise. Kent Wade hosted me, along with 3 other guests, and I definately appreciate the generosity of other tangueros. Usually, I never have to bother paying for a hotel room, the tango community tends to be pretty tight knit.
On Sunday I took two advanced workshops. Musicality and rhythm by Felix and Anne-Sophie, which taught me some good excercises and one ok figure. I then took a class from Fabrizio and Mariana which was easily one of the hardest figures I've done. It starts out with a turn with sacadas, followed by a colgada, followed by a volcada with a front ocho, followed by a linear back boleo, and finishing with another colgada.
Anyway, there's more details I'll have to flesh out when I get the chance. Right now it looks like I've found some potential new work within Boeing, and that'll be my next topic to share, I guess.
posted by Tango Master at
5:10 PM
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