Tango from Brussels to Iberia

I am writing this post in the train, travelling from Marseille to Granada, aiming to finally reach home at Faro. This is the final part of a trip that started from the Brussels tango festival. It was the first time I was visiting the city and thus dancing there, while the festival was completely international confirming some old, well known theories… (which are..)

• short people dance better! (even though I am medium height!)
• people from northern countries have difficulties touching each other.
• however, some of them can dance very well!
• Parisiens can be extremely snob…
• people from the Netherlands can be crazy in a very interesting way!
• Tango is becoming really international with so many different interpretations and approaches, a fact that makes it even more interesting! (and addictive.. mmmm!)

Starting with the comment regarding short people, this goes to the Argentinean professional dancers which are as fabulous, as … short! I am talking about the couples that impressed me in this festival, the perfect Pablo Vilarraza and Dana Frigolli and the playful Oracio Godoy and Cecilia Garcia. All short, flexible, musical and so charismatic! I wonder if we have any chance to become so smooth, if it is a matter of hard work or there is a limit there!
About the northerners, well, having danced REEEEALLY close embrace most of my tango years, I always find difficulty in the beginning to dance with people who don’t enjoy and feel comfort by hugging others! I understand that for cultures where contact is completely out of everyday life this is can be an issue, especially when people pour sweat on others (!!), but well… we do it in the south and it doesn’t hurt! What happens is that at first you ‘invite’ your partner to come close (I never grab anyone but I leave him ‘space’) and you feel her uncomfortness. This is already a bad starting point.... You try to dance more open but then you are under-qualifying yourself as this is not your tango, not the way you want to express it… Anyway, given that at such festivals people in general dance well (which is the most important) this can be overpassed. On the other hand some adaptation is necessary as posture, definition of axes, interpretation and several others when the bodies break up….

Continuing commenting on my remarks, I have to admit on the other hand that in that ‘family’ of tango dancers from the North (I say family as it is the same ‘tribe’ of French, Belgians, Swiss, Dutch, Germans, etc going to one tango gathering to the other..) there is a style developed which is very elaborate, light, technical and creative. There is less passion according to my humble opinion, but a lot of musicality, technique and improvisation; it is a more mental rather than emotional way to do it. And on top of that everything remains ‘fresh and clean’!!!
And that brings us to the famous world wide snobbism of the people from Paris. Guys, it is true that some of you dance very well, but RELAAAX! You are not even the best to act like that… I have been around a lot, as an unknown tango traveller and I have seen and danced with many excellent dancers (thank goodness…). Nobody ever made me feel as intensely as some tangeras from Paris that I am giving some kind of harsh exams, that I am not good enough and I shouldn’t be there at the first place. Even girls dancing tango one year have this attitude of tango divas, sitting in the milongas and saying no to the people they don’t know, in order to ‘protect’ themselves from the ‘bad guys’ who will ruin their perfect technique.
As I have written above, I have danced with several ‘super’ tangeras and inevitably some ‘super’ tantas have occurred several times, with better and worst dancers than me. When the first was the case, what made the tango great was not the technique, but the presence of the partner, just feeling all the energy, soul and attention to this awkward but so creative addiction we are subject to. My (again humble) opinion is that tango in the milonga should always be popular and not elitist, a social gathering as anyway good or bad is relative and to go to the extremes, even people you don’t consider good dancers can often surprise you. For all those of you who feel so lonely at the top, why don’t you start giving tango shows and let us common living beings enjoy getting together?

In the other extreme (in the good way) have been several Dutch girls (or at least girls living in the Netherlands) I have met in several milongas. These people have something that completely liberates them from clichés, dos and don’ts and makes interaction with them a very relaxing and at the same time dynamic and creative process. In Brussels I had one really amazing tanta (if not the best of the 5 days) with a Dutch girl which was so present and so communicative that I was sure she was Argentinean. In fact it was really funny as between the fantastic tangos (I was starting to lose it and getting dizzy..) we were trying to define the language in which we would talk. As her French was not good she was trying to speak to me in Spanish, with her thinking I was Belgian or French probably and me confirming that she was a super tangera from Buenos Aires!. In the end we realized that none had any ‘exotic’ origin and that English was the best choice… Tango was great though!
Finally, about the internationality there are many things already mentioned above. Different styles, interpretations, all this orgasm of workshops and festivals make the tango scene very dynamic. In this festival I saw for the first time (in my life) coloured people dance very good tango, while I am looking forward to meet again the very funny and creative 2 m tangero (so interesting to watch him dance…) and the so charismatic (and polite indeed) young dancer from Russia!
All the above make Brussels festival a good choice for international tango experiences. In general the festival was very well organized with good quality professional dancers, courses and demonstrations. On top of that, the venues for the milongas were really fabulous, extremely cosy and elegant and the only drawback is the same that applies for all the festivals of this scale… They are too big and rather cold… Meeting people and making ‘friends’ is a little bit difficult as there are too many people in such a big space and the ambience hardly ever warms up. On the other hand the feeling of being part of something so big and well organised has a charm on its own…
The train is arriving in Granada in few minutes and my trip to Faro continues by motorbike!! Hope to see you all my friends at the Lisbon festival end of May!

Ate logo!

Tango to sell-Tango to gift....

Well most of you are probably familiar with the situation already. An Argentinian ‘tango dancer’ giving his ‘special workshop’ in some festival or event somewhere on Earth (Lisbon in my case). With his big mouth, telling stories about his country and its big traditions, showing how macho he is. When he starts dancing you realize that there better dancers among the students, but everybody is mesmerized as he is …Argentinean! In the meantime you did 200 km for the ‘special’ event, you ruined your weekend and on top of that you paid several euros!

Tango is a growing passion for an increasing number of people globally and apparently it has become a product from which others make profits. Those people are trying to do their job as well as they can which apparently is to …sell; and as a vendor is interested in increasing his productivity, rather than provide useful products, a ‘professional’ tango teacher wants to sell more steps. It doesn’t matter if they are of any use to you, if you are capable of doing them, or there is enough space for them in the milongas; they have to be fancy and complicated. Schools are into a race of who is going to teach the ‘sakada’ or the ‘ganzo’ first, neglecting if their students can take it. This has lead to a tango community having discussions about their good friends ‘Cicho’ or ‘Sebastian’, before or after going to the milonga to execute non-musical, un-balanced complicated steps, trying to imitate them.

Tango dancing on the other hand is a combination of skills and cannot be purchased. It is a language that requires time, experience and talent to be spoken fluently, so inevitably some of the customers have to be disappointed. Of course this is not acceptable from the commercial aspect and as a result tango classes have to change orientation in order not to fail. So often there is a clear effort to by-pass the problem, which is that the students are not learning! Several ‘special workshops’ are flooded by jokes and ‘funny stories’, turning out to be more entertainment, rather than learning. Furthermore it is not acceptable behaviour from a teacher to tell his students that they should try to learn to equilibrate, instead of learning the ‘soltada’, as this will harm the present system which brings profits. Some do however, like Javier Rodriguez, but this guy is a different story, as he has nothing to prove. Like his demonstrations are pure tango, without any choreography and theatrical elements, similarly in the class he doesn’t have problems to express himself in a non politically correct manner.

There is no doubt that there are many magnificent Argentinean dancers but definitely the equation Argentinean=tango dancer is not correct. The many mediocre or bad ones, as good professionals, have to find efficient ways to cover their weaknesses and become the good product they have to be. So they are preparing complicated choreographic demonstrations to distract the spectators who shouldn’t notice the lack of musicality, finesse, and flow in their dancing. And this adds a lot of distortion to the beauty and simplicity of tango, which is made to be danced between the couple and not to be watched. Excuse me if I sound crude, but if I want to watch a choreographed dance I’ll prefer going to the theatre to watch real dancers perform perfect steps after years of exhausting efforts. In the tango demonstrations I want to see true communication, musicality and desire to share.

Tango classes on the other hand are becoming extremely profitable with the prices increasing exponentially with the reputation of the professional dancers. This is a vicious circle putting pressure on them to become even more spectacular on their dancing and the steps they teach as they have to be ‘among the few who know these things’. Even famous couples of more milongero style are starting to make efforts add more ‘modern’ elements in their dancing, with often negative results. In the meantime tango dancing and consequently learning is a recreational activity and consequently the lesson has to be fun. Of course this is an important element of any pedagogic effort, but it cannot be the main goal. But often in tango classes it is.. Latin American people with their vivid and pleasant character are ideal to entertain people and tango teachers often abuse that skill. You may find yourself into a class where you learned nothing but had many good laughs, paying a little bit more than going to the movies though…

The extent to which all the above take place depend on the level of tango on the area and the cultural level of the people. I have noticed that Italian people who dance well and know what they want, will not be ‘bullshited’ so easily as the French for example who are fascinated by avant garde and ‘crazy stuff’. But still all those festivals, workshops and special events take tango in a very superficial direction and this is becoming visible almost everywhere.

What I believe is that all us tangeros should stay close to our partner, go deep into the music and what we carry inside and try to make something with all those things, first of all. After, as a musician who realizes that another instrument is necessary to enrich a specific melodic part, we have to look for other moves. But as a melody badly played is worse than no melody, similarly a fancy step without balance and musicality is not preferable to walking smoothly in the rhythm.

Travel enlightment

Most if not all people have the tendency to relate to things, situations and places. This tendency is vital for our emotional world as it helps us become involved to our environment and drives our desire to share, create, know and protect. On the other hand, mentally this has a drawback as it often leads us to take things for granted, with the repetition weakening our ability to judge and evaluate new situations. It partially puts our tendency to search and explore into sleep mode.

This is among the reasons that make people who travel more interesting in a spiritual sense, as they lack this fixed frame of mind, imposed by a stationary environment and frame of life. When you encounter new places, societies and ethics, inevitably you are forced to critically evaluate your own experiences and reset beliefs and attitudes. This vital for your effort to integrate and adapt to a new reality, comprising a very entertaining and educational process.
But the main topic of this small post is not the merits from travelling but the mode of being on the move itself… This situation when you are hanging thousands of meters in the sky inside a plane, or you are watching fast-forward changing cross-country sceneries in a train, car or whatever. At that moment you don’t belong anywhere, you are only committed to a destination, while slowly you are detaching your own experiences from your point of origin. There are some musicians who transmit this feeling very well, JJ Cale is for me probably number one. I listen to his music and I feel that I am alone wandering in this big world, without a home, with a constantly changing personality and living environment. Only feelings and thoughts which are being evaluated through time by the frequency that they occur. The desires and thoughts that come to me more often are the ones who define my truth…

During the last years almost all the decisions or ideas that made a difference in my life came while I was travelling. While looking down to earth from the window of an airplane and suddenly identifying a high peak, one the ones that matter more to me. In a state which I was physically and mentally detached and I was able to choose which domain of my life or person I wanted to bring close. Just like that and out of a sudden while being in a ‘vacuum’ and free.

History, politics, despair and tango... Greece

While travelling in Greece by train you realize a lot of things… There are those places where the landscape is so diverse and unpredictable that pores into the people’s minds and souls intense feelings and attitudes. For example, standing at the statue of Christo Retendor in Rio de Janeiro and gazing at the steep rocky formations blending with the wide sandy beaches, you realize that Rio would never be a boring place. Similarly, Greece is a country stretching along pieces of lands scattered all over from intense volcanic and tectonic action. Thousands of islands, uneven, steep landscapes, such an intense mix of sea and mountains, dry land and alpine forests all in such a small small territory. No surprise that Greek people are totally unpredictable, extrovert, impulsive and emotional.

Being Greek myself and visiting my country after a year, it is impossible to write a ‘tango post’ like for example I did for France or Geneva. Especially now that the country is ‘on fire’... Going around by bus you read the messages on the walls: ‘3 bullets for one Alexi[1]’, ‘Watch out for the blood spilled on your couches..’. You see several businesses shut down, burned shops or cars. The economy is receding and the people are sank into pessimism and discontent. The two dominant parties are deep into corruption and there is no hope for a new political movement, neither any ‘space’ for new ideas or approaches. The country is sinking and is slowly killing itself.

Under this ambience dancing tango is not straightforward with all this negative energy everywhere, with the people being blocked by their problems and feeling limited, bonded in a reality that leads nowhere. I strongly believe that inside tango you can find everything, as tango is life! And by going to the milongas these days I felt exactly all this negative ambience, I could tell that things are by far not ok. So this post may be one of the most ‘loaded’ ones, as I have to write (my thoughts) about Greece and then link with tango, in the meantime trying to avoid reaching 200 pages... The present situation is the following of a series of historical events and most of the present problems have their roots in the past and are deeply ingrained in the Greek society. As a result, it is impossible to avoid reference to political and historical beliefs that other people will not share, even though I try to be as pragmatist as possible and take distance from the events.

The Greeks comprise an historical nation with the roots coming from the ancient times, followed by the Hellenistic and Roman periods. These great civilizations were followed by the Byzantine Empire, which erased a lot of cultural elements of the ‘Golden’ ancient era, to establish the more mystic and ‘Eastern’ Orthodox Christian religion (meaning that they closed libraries, stopped the Olympic Games, etc). After 400 years of Othoman dominance the progressive spirit of ancient Greece had almost disappeared and what remained was the beautiful and extremely rich Greek language, the identity of an old nation (even though in terms of blood there has been a lot of mixing since the ancient times) and still a progressive spirit, however judging on the standards of the ‘troubled’ Balkan area. The Greek people were always open, travellers, merchants, trying to find ways of prosperity, even though they found themselves in an area with huge political problems and constant military conflicts which are still impeding progress. This concludes the first part of my ‘fast forward historical overview’…

The modern Greek country was established in 1829 after the Greek revolution against the 400 years Ottoman rule. After that first recognition there was constant war for the independence of the remaining territories with Greek majority and the map of Greece was constantly changing until the 1940s. The revolution was followed by the Balkan wars (1912-1913), the First World War (1914-1918), leading to the Greco-Turkish wars (1919-1922) and finally the Second World War (1939-1945). Through all these hard times, the Greek nation became very mixed as Italian, French, Turks, Slabs, and in general people from several ethnic groups started to use the Greek language and practice the Orthodox Christian religion, which now defined the modern Greek identity. Even though the Orthodox church was much more discrete and didn’t intervene to the political life as the Vatican did, Greek people still sympathize the church, as it united the people during all those difficult times.

During the Nazi occupation in the 40^s living conditions were really harsh with famine, diseases and massive deaths taking place everywhere, while in the meantime some people made enormous profits and lived comfortable lives by collaborating with the Germans. The above resulted in the creation of military units with such Greek people (along with others desperate from starvation) to fight against the resistance and in general support the Nazi regime. The Greek resistance on the other hand was mostly organized around left sympathizing groups, creating fertile ground for communist regimes like the ones in Bulgaria, Albania, etc.

In the meantime, the country was under the sphere of British influence which would never allow a communist government, a fact that finally lead to a civil war: on one side was the left-sympathizing Greeks (independent groups which continued to fight against the British after the Germans), fighting against the right wing Greeks, aided by the well organized British army, with the latter winning of the conflict. Most of the leaders of the left were forced to migrate to the Soviet Union, with some being eradicated after by the Stalin purges and others finding shelter to Europe.

The above events constitute the darkest pages of modern Greek history with a lot of violence, hatred, segregation, and have deeply hurt the country’s integrity. Both sides indulged in very harsh atrocities and most families lost members often without knowing in which side they were fighting. (people fighting on the ‘official’ Greek army were favouring the left guerrillas and were either secretly helping them, or even joined them). The most negative outcome of the above is that several traitors and people of lower ethics found themselves in positions of power, while several patriots lost their lives. All the above resulted in a poor, exhausted, deeply religious and not united post war Greece.

After the British, the Americans took over the situation, driving the country’s history, according to their (famous world wide) ‘strategic plans’ and they would always find helping hands in this corrupt and exhausted country. The results are known; the military regime of 1967-1975[2], peaking at the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus, started by the desperate junta who wanted to annex Cyprus to Greece, only in an effort to win some popularity, while the people were already on the streets.

The following left governments didn’t have the virtue, talent or force, to exploit the people’s trust and to change this entire situation; after 20 years of government the country was again into economic recession and corruption. The current right government is expressing the regressive spirit of conservatism of the past decades, ruling without any serious political, economic or social plan and supporting populism, far right ideas, xenophobia, religion and even (secretely) monarchy and totalitarianism. In fact, the surnames of the members of the parliament are exactly the same like in the 60^s, guarantying that the same failed and historically proved corrupted cast will be in power of this country. The political situation in Greece is a deadend situation with no signs of hope…

In the meantime, the people lack the spirit and mentality to change their fates. The 400 years Ottoman influence, made the Greek society miss all the developments in economy, politics and philosophy taking place in the west and instead brought eastern, more mystic and backward looking mentality and practices. People are very emotional and very easily manipulated, as they were at the same time poor and without social consciousness, from the constant lack of unity. Thus they let Greek politics taken over by people which in their majority are corrupt, pursuing only their own personal motifs for wealth and power, building the country on the same basis. The political parties only express different aesthetic approaches… Even though one would disagree with my historical beliefs, I think that few people wouldn’t share the opinion that the degree of corruption in Greece is higher compared the any other European country. The structures according to which people find jobs, gain access to wealth or power are absolutely unjust and are based on a ‘sick’ mentality of knowing the ‘right people’. All these exist everywhere, but even more in Greece…

Making a pause to the historical analysis and going back to tango it is obvious that under these conditions, the Greek people feel weak, constrained and suspicious about the others. Nothing is simple and good motives are by far not the default. The situation cannot change easily and the result of all the above is that when you try to dance with somebody the first time it is very likely that the dance will be a ‘struggle to win your partner’s confidence’. Instead of saying ‘why not’ you may find people in the ‘why yes’ mode and it will need something from more you to ‘turn the tide’. On top of that due to the Orthodox conservatism (only on the surface though), women in general need more time to feel relaxed, comparing to the Northern countries. But after the first ‘adaptation period’ things improve radically!

All the above regime of corruption, suspiciousness and constant ‘deceleration’ of every human effort had a very interesting positive side effect on the people. Similarly to many of the ex-communist countries the luck of any solid legal structure, the difficulty to express thoughts, desires and in every aspect of life in general, has resulted in an elevated average intelligence and in intensified virtue by some. This is even stronger since ‘traditional’ lifestyles and attitudes (which often simplify roles) have been surpassed and society wears ‘modern clothes’, while on the other hand the help and support usually present in such western countries are absent. Without any ‘map’ for life, any ‘real’ laws, or social care and by the fact that history was so turbid, the people were forced to find the way on their own, they had to use their judgement every moment, just to achieve the basic things. And they got ‘better’ through that (learn-the-hard-way) training, something you can see in tango! Tango is communication and even amateur tangeras ‘feel’ a lot, understand and follow very well. Once the line is crossed you find yourself on the other side…

Going to back to my thoughts about Greece I have to refer to what Plato said: ‘the real moral principles of a person, are the ones he would follow if he was invisible..’. The conditions I describe are almost as close to invisibility as they can be, as Greek people are very impulsive and unconstrained; there is no ‘savoir vivre’ in this country! This means that you can directly spot the naturally polite people, or the ones with the open spirit; you can see talent where it exists, as education is weaker or at least less ‘elaborate’ compared to average western Europe countries. The people who have a drive for something will pursue it anyway, like nobody stopped Da Vinci open corpses or Jean d’Arc fight battles in the 15^th century. But in a country ideal to disorientate its people only few may find the way, while the majority struggle in ignorance. What is encouraging is that the talent is there and that even without any practical motivation or reward a lot of people finally choose to do the ‘right thing’, the follow moral paths. The problem is that as majority they still vote for immoral leaders, which implies something about the ethics of the whole society.

Another historical aspect is that Greek people had traditionally dominated the commerce in the area, even under Ottoman dominance. They have this historical memory and pride of an old civilization, with the heritage of the sea and as a result the tendency to find solutions and ways of survival. As a result, they produced wealth enough to always have access to education and thus broaden their spirit, more than the living conditions favour. All the above mean that when you dance tango in Greece it may take a while to win the others confidence, but as soon as you do it you’ll find a lot of extra potential. There is broad spirit, talent, feeling and talking about women, I would say that they are very feminine, passionate, adaptable and flexible.

Another interesting characteristic of Greece is that while the country is poor, there is a lot of wealth concentrated in the hands of the people and exchanged in ‘corrupt’ ways which cannot be tracked by any economic indexes. Most people don’t pay the taxes they should, and this results in a country without incomplete and ‘spontaneous’ social care (only Greek people can understand this phrase!). In the meantime the past generations have deposited their small fortunes and they will do their best to support their children, by providing them everything. Cars, fancy clothes, education… But what they cannot do is find them jobs!

All the above have resulted in the Greek nightlife which is of unprecedented scale and intensity for any European country (even Spain is comparatively weak). I have been around a lot and I am sure that there is no other country where so much time, energy and money are devoted to going out and partying. Even in cities of 50000 people you can dine at midnight, party until minimum 3 o clock, find the streets flooded with people every day. The ample variety of bars and clubs makes selection of the ‘place’ and the dressing a form of expression which reaches levels of professionalism or even art. The people show who they are by choosing the place and their clothes and they are evaluated according to that. They will find (almost every night) the people with shared taste of music and even attitude for life in their favourite place.

This huge amount of young people on the streets, looking for ways of entertainment results in a very youth and dynamic ambience in the ‘tango world’, far more to most of the other places I’ve been. The average age is around 30 and there are many people around 20 starting to dance which makes Greek tango really fresh and pleasant. On the other hand, some of these ‘new entries’, just coming from the fancy clubs introduces a ‘show off’ approach on tango, leading to less modest and more demonstrative dancing styles. Tango in Greece is mostly Nuevo and not always good one… If you are a woman and you cannot lead the dance you may spend some time with guys pulling your arms to do the fancy soltada or ganco. If you are a man and you dance stylo milongero, you will encounter some more gancos, but anyway… it will not hurt!

In general I would say that you can dance very good tango in Greece, but you have to be ready to adapt to some strange attitudes! I believe that people are hot in general and they can emit a lot of emotions. There is emotional intelligence, feeling and understanding, as well as drive for passion and for adaptation of the leader-follower roles, necessary for good tango. Anyway, it’s a fact that almost everywhere I’ve been in Europe there are Greek people deeply involved in the community, organizing milongas, djs, good dancers, etc, which implies something.

I have just got in the train on my way to Athens. A young man (around 18) is sitting next to me, looking quite cool and ‘free’, dressed in modern clothes and smelling tobacco. His mother is sitting outside, in front of the window nodding at him. It’s the first time he is travelling and she is afraid. He has 2 motorbikes and he wants to buy a third one to do enduro. He goes to the football game every Sunday and sometimes he likes to get into fights with the hooligans. Still his mother will wait for him until the train will leave, nodding, protecting and showing her love and affection. Greece is a country who always wanted to be in the west, but has been educated in eastern schools… The spirit of innovation and progress lives strongly in the minds of some people, but most of the Greeks are confined in just wearing Calvin Klein and Prada and cannot support true change or innovation (like in everywhere but here contrasts are maybe more intense). At least, the hearts are beating hard and they are still flooded with emotions, good or bad, while the minds work hard to find solutions in an almost chaotic and desperate reality. In the meantime, they go out almost every night trying to find themselves, love, friendship, but most of all ways to forget and release the tension. The same huge amount of tension that became visible with the long wave of violence of the last weeks. I don’t think this is a good image of a society, but at least could be a good background to dance tango….

Cities:

Thessaloniki is known in the country for the very beautiful women, dressed in fancy clothes even during daytime and the city is known for having a mentality of show off. So it is not surprising that tango is full of people who try to do fancy stuff without having the necessary basis in terms of technique. Unfortunately the people who started teaching in this place didn’t do a good job. Women are really interesting to dance with though; after having sorted out the things I describe above.

Athens is the capital of the country a big metropolis of 5 million people, famous for the professionalism, but also for the fast pace of life and the overall inhuman living conditions. As a result, the people who dance there (and they are many) usually dance well. In general the average dancers are more open and spontaneous (in such a big city you don’t have time for questions…) and you will feel a more free and dynamic ambience. However, you may find some people really tense, or even snob, especially some of the very good dancers, something which is common for big cities (I believe that Paris is the capital of tango snob elite..)

Small tango groups exist in other places as well and some of them are really worth to try. For example in Lesbos there are few dancers that I consider good for any place.

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[1] Alexis was the name of the 15 old kid killed by a policeman this December, triggering all the extreme violence and demonstrations all over the country

[2] The recently open CIA files proved that the regime was supported and organized by the American government.

Airports-windows to the future?

In the Greek language the word for ‘man’ is άνθρωπος, which is the product of the combination of the words ‘άνω’ (up) and ‘θρώσκω’ (to look). This means that the name man gave to himself was ‘one who looks up’, with the latter referring to god (who was expected to live in the skies…), but as well as to anything divine and superior in the broader sense. Man is ingrained with the ambition and desire to understand what is around him and ‘above’ him, this magic power that, at least the way we perceive the Universe, separates us from the other forms of life. Then, through the years we have learned to use the expressions ‘high technology’, ‘haute couture’, ‘high standards’ for the best and the ‘sky’ was always linked to excellence…

There are some places that can express this spirit, that can be considered as ‘temples’ of the mankind’s drive for progress and innovation; for sure some of them are airports. Back in the end of the 19th century, the pioneers of aviation were doing passionate efforts to conquer the skies and most of them were so dangerous resulting even in loss of lives. Such was the passion and the desire of these people to achieve what was regarded as impossible and through these efforts mankind was again ‘looking up’, but this time in the absolute sense… Hopefully all these efforts, driven by full devotion of mind and soul, succeeded and aviation is nowadays part of everyday life.
This fact has changed not only our way of life, but also the way we think, as flying with a plane is a new and unforgettable experience. Man is not made to stay kilometres above the Earth (or is he?), but he does it; even if landing may be scary sometimes, or presence the air cabin may bring some inconvenience. Nobody can say no to airplanes and in that way we are convincing ourselves that we can do achieve even more, that we may have limitations personally but not as a species.
In the meantime, while life may change, several aspects on mankind remain the same. Wars, prejudices, attitudes, weakness and in general social, personal and any other sort of human problems persist. And most probably that’s because we, as groups, societies, or as a whole, we don’t want to change! Many of us live lives ‘flying low’, convinced of our limitations and driven by our fears and weaknesses and most of all… we are ok with this! If there was a referendum, people would probably say no to airplanes, among several other things, like heart transplantation operations, submarines, lasers, etc. But, hopefully it doesn’t work that way and innovation springs from the minds and gets established through practice and following our needs.
For that reason there are not so many places which express this spirit of excellence, the tendency ‘to stare up’; even in many universities the attitudes are dominated by small hearted feelings, politics, or any other negative aspect of our existence. But airports cannot be like that, as in aviation there is no space for mistakes. Everything has to be and to look perfect, radiating a feeling of security and confidence; in an airport man has to and wants to be perfect. So, thanks also to some gifted architects, many airports can be called ‘temples of innovative spirit’, generating an ambience not so common in the real world.
Sitting in an airport lounge, watching the planes land and take off, takes you to the ‘future’, at least the one we would wish to have. I am not a ‘technology radical’ and I am deeply aware that several technological products have brought serious problems to people and the environment. But I cannot avoid being overwhelmed by the magic ambience of airports and everything that this may imply. Because by taking a moment to observe things after making a step backwards, I realise that I am in the situation in which man achieves things that I would just dare to imagine… And not only that, but he can also bring it to a level of functional perfection, proving that we have more potential than what we think. Even though this ‘other reality’ is restricted in few thousands of square meters and outside there is the ‘real world’ with the many problems… At least when you are in an airport you feel that you have to ‘look up’ and you can do the world better. And hopefully we will in the future…

Discover the world through tango-My manifesto...

I have written this post initially in Greek, but as this is the main intro of my blog, explaining my concept, I felt it should exist also in English....

As a person I generally prefer ‘tète-a-tète’… I like sharing a common goal with somebody, particularly when the latter is clear and when defined. I put emphasis on the latter phrase, since according to my opinion when many people gather, the purpose becomes less clear; population dynamics prevail, favoring the more socially charismatic and dominant personalities. On the other hand, when two people interact nobody can be overlooked and communication, as well as mutual understanding is necessary. On the other hand, entering in another person’s reality, you become familiar with his desires and perceptions about aesthetics and life, in other words you encounter new experiences and landscapes you …travel! And this way can offer numerous thrills, as each personality comprises a new planet to be explored.

Apparently, it is not a surprise that I love tango, as it fits perfectly to the above situation, while it carries many additional characteristics… Two people meet while the music starts, implying a mood, a set of emotions, a situation that the dancers have to adopt, live and create. Something like a theatrical play, but this time there is no rehearsal; you don’t know your role, you just have to discover it instantly, along with your partner. And just like a painting or a poem, each tango carries different meanings for each one of us. So, with the start of the dance begins a discussion, with the man saying the first phrase. After, the woman approves, inspires and amends, as both they exchange energy, feelings and ideas, they play, experiment, while they get more familiar to each other. That’s why each tango is potentially a profound acquaintance, a journey into another personality, based in a well defined but so rich and complicated common purpose…

The additional magic comes from the infinite combinations of body-types, moods, as well as perceptions about life, tango as a dance and the music currently playing. All these can transform each tango in a lyrical moment, a relaxing dialogue with a stranger on the street, or a moment of very intense feelings. And this always depends on how each one of us transmits, receives and reflects signals. The extent to which we express ourselves as clearly as possible, without offending or violating the ‘space’ of the others. The more balanced we are in our comportment the less likely becomes to experience negative moments in tango. Good tango dancers usually have class…

The other important property is that tango never lies… When you dance you cannot hide from the others, even if in life you have the habit of hiding from yourself. Tango will reveal hidden truths and desires, it will show you who you are; the more you let this out, the better your relationship is with yourself, the better dancer you’ll be. While in our everyday lives we have our eyes open, staring ‘on the road’, with so many rules and stereotypes ingrained in our minds; in the milonga we close them and we listen, feel and smell. We cannot cheat or be cheated. Tango shows the way… We just let the music dominate us, we open our soul, inviting our partner to join. Whether he (or she) will accept, in what sense and for how long is another issue. That’s why the first tango with a stranger is a test… The rest are as well!

Conclusion… Tango is magic, because it is holistic; tango dancing is a situation so rich that few others (if any) can match. So free and unpredictable, with constant flow and variation of moods. Rich and inexhaustible as it is related to so many varying factors like the music, the dancers, time, space and the interaction of all the above. In addition, while a popular dance, it is so elaborate that it gives you the possibility to share the pleasure of artistic creation with the musicians, rather than just follow. Tango is really creative and free and this characteristic along with the potential of such a direct and varied communication, makes you discover yourself and the others better.

I started dancing tango in 2006 in a small town of 40000 habitants, located in Lesbos Island, of Greece. The people who helped me do the first steps were members of a local tango association and from the first place they gave me the impression that they were subject to a kind of disease. They were giving free tango lessons, obviously motivated by their passion and desire to share it with others, with this being their only return; watching tango get bigger and bigger, spreading the disease... I deeply appreciated this devotion, with regard to those peoples’ character, as well as to the tango as a ‘germ’ itself… After a year I had exactly the same symptoms, dancing alone in the corridors and elevators, driving 100 km away just to get to the milonga and travelling around Europe, following my obsession… It was and always is tango, this way of getting together with people, of expression and communication, which I still consider the most profound and complete so far.

In the past years I was lucky to travel a lot, live in different countries and of course …dance in all of them! Living abroad may bring several hard times, but triggers a process that I personally find magical and very important… It dissolves the ‘myth’, the one we build growing up in a specific environment, comprising of specific codes of communication, attitudes and aesthetics that can usually be useful only in a certain place. Often our behaviour doesn’t express directly us, but is our position towards our environment; being mostly our response to given conditions. When the background changes, we encounter a different ‘myth’ for which we lack the answers and we often don’t have enough time to construct a new response. We have lost our map… And when you are lost, the fastest, simplest and only way is the truth. The fundamental truths and principles which are valid everywhere and make communication simpler and more efficient. The sediment… I consider this a very important step of improvement for any personality…

According to a Chinese saying ‘if you haven’t planted a tree, written a poem and been in love, you haven’t actually lived’… I would say that you have really experienced a place when there is a song to always remind you, a person that you’ll never forget and when you have danced tango… The addicts like me will agree that you can get more information in a milonga rather than in a hundred museums, bars and restaurants together. And this is what this blog is mostly all about and what wants to prove to the non believers! Travelling, discovering and experiencing the world through tango… I hope you enjoy my mission as much as I do!

Tango on the ocean-Dancing in Gran Canarias

Even though where I current live the temperature is 20 ^oC during the day, it is true that this is not a season for dreaming of summer landscapes and leisure on the beach. However today as I was waking up, during this passage from the subconscious to the conscious, I had the vision of long and high dunes, coloured from white and gold sand, in various formations and spreading for several kilometres.. It was the magic scenery of Mas Palomas. Cliché, touristic, one might say, but always sensational… I visited Gran Canaria last February, in an effort to catch some sun and enjoy the beach and sea in the heart of the winter. Brilliant idea indeed… In the meantime I was lucky enough to have my visit coinciding with a tango festival taking place every year in Las Palmas. I wasn’t very optimistic about the experience, but I couldn’t miss it as well!

The first days of the festival were right on the peak of the carnival which is deep rooted in the local culture and combined with the working week days; it wasn’t big surprise that participation was rather weak,. In the weekend more people showed up, also from other islands, mostly speaking Tenerife. As a result things started to heat up, while in the meantime I started to become more familiar with the people and become part of the ‘group’. Anyway people were very hospitable and friendly and the ambience was cool… So it was the point of enjoyment with the festival peaking with classes and milongas…

The first thing that really stroked me was the devotion of the people to the classes, taking notes and videos, attending several lessons in a raw always focused, trying to understand every detail. Tango passionates exist everywhere, but I had never seen something like this before. It was obvious that the Canarians love tango and knowing that they don’t have a lot of chances for interaction with other dancers and teachers, they won’t definitely miss the few ones available. As a result, despite the fact that the tango groups in the Canary Islands are small, there are some very good dancers (mostly in Gran Canaria and Tenerife)…

Personally I also found my personal ‘tango guru’, Nacho, a local teacher that impressed me with his particular style. Nacho is teaching all the latin American and ballroom dances and he is very much into the dance and the music, while he has built his own hidden bridges, between different styles and dances. His tango is passionate, very musical and precise, while most important of all, even if he masters all the ‘fancy’ tango moves (soltadas, volcadas, etc), he prefers to transform every tango in his own ritual. He knows that he ca write his own lines in the tango book and he does it! And me, I finally skipped some classes of the festival take few private ones with him… Invaluable experience

The other thing that vividly remained from my visit is the contact with some of the people. The Canarians live simple, calm lives in a place which often resembles with paradise. Island people who have learned to take it easy, to appreciate the moment and the simple pleasures. So calm and polite, but on the other hand, present, respectful and technically correct, in the dance. So dancing tango with them brings a pleasant and mild warmth, but as well as something extra too difficult to express with words. Like the felling you have when you watch the see for hours, peace and serenity, but also something supernatural, bringing together aspiration and dreaming. Butterflies flying in your stomach… A feeling that persists every night after the milonga, during the walks on the beach next to the oceanic swell and the music from the swash. Another interpretation of tango and a very pleasant one indeed…