第一次見Javier Rodriguez，我還以為他會像其他的老師一樣，在Guided Practica示範難度高的舞步，然後在學生旁邊點撥一下。出乎意料，他請男女生分開來坐，然後跟Andrea Misse一起，告訴學生一些應當知道的舞會的規矩和社教禮貌。

Last update: 24-05-2007 10:18

It is undeniable that embrace closely is never a Chinese culture. We seldom embrace each other in every day's life, unlike many westerners do. But we also can't deny that that embrace is one of the most important elements in tango. If you want to have a fuller picture of tango, I think everyone, no matter what style you like, should at least have a taste of it and experience different styles of close embrace, and have a basic understanding of how the embrace works. Nowadays many people adore some masters like Pablo and Dana or Gaston and Mariela and want to dance like them. If you know them well and observe carefully how they dance, you will find out the way they dance is different with some younger dancers who have never had traditional dance training. These masters have a sense of unspeakable elegance underneath their footwork and technique, that they benefit from the so called "boring and old-fashioned" way of dance.

Last update: 05-08-2007 13:35

By my 4th visit to BsAs, I don't start shooting my eyes around the salon for a cabeceo invitation as soon as I sit down in a milonga. Must say it's a bit of a dilemma - you're new to the scene, people want to see how you dance before inviting you, you want the same but you have nobody to dance with in order to be seen! On the other hand, it's also unwise to jump straight into a dance without scanning the floor and the dancers first for you never know what you'd get.

Going with male friends who dance well can often "jump start" my chances on the dance floor. But if they are not available, I have no choice but to start the evening with people watching while sipping cafe con leche at my table. Occasionally I'd dash a gleam at a few men who happen to be in my line of sight. To survive in the strictly coded tango world in BsAs, a woman (esp. one who's a visitor) needs guts.

Last update: 20-01-2008 11:42

Whenever I youtube Javier & Andrea, I come across the term "Villa Urquiza Style".  Feeling puzzled, I googled a bit and made some copy and paste, and here is what I found.

Villa Urquiza

Villa Urquiza is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  It is a residential neighborhood of both old houses and apartment buildings, quiet streets and a few fast-traffic, crowded avenues.  It has several parks that make it very pleasant.  During the summer, it is not uncommon to see neighbors talking to each other, comfortably sitting on their chairs on the sidewalk.

It is the home of 2 milongas of importance to the Buenos Aires tango culture, Club Sunderland and Club Sin Rumbo.

A bird's eye view can be found here, you may need to install Google Earth:-

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=837868

Last update: 05-08-2007 13:34