Soft milonga - thanks to MsHedgehog

I don't have time right now for my own comments on MsHedgehog's post on "soft milonga," but I do at least want to make a small note or two.

First, she's chosen a beautiful example of why milonga is my favourite dance, and she writes about it in a simple, appreciative way that I, in turn, appreciate. You'll find it here:
http://mshedgehog.blogspot.com/2010/03/soft-milonga.html

Second, here's the video she's posted and that she writes about.



Enjoy!

hanspetermeyer

Thrivability - A Collaborative Sketch by Jean Russell

Jean Russell has just launched a very cool "Thrivability book." I'm going to do a bit of an intro on it, but feel free to skip my intro it and head to the bottom of this post to see it... Or you can linger and read my intro. Just letting you know I'm going to say a few words before showtime.

An introduction to my life of full-on thrivability
I was up late last night, doing what I often do: indulging my creative capacities. Last night that meant working with images, posting them to various sites to share – and then reply to comments as "friends" and "fans" and "followers" quickly responded. When I finally turned off the light and got up from my little "kitchen of the mind," I realized that this is a very propitious time for some like me: I have the tools, the skills and talents, and the social nature to spend most of my waking hours creating and sharing my creations. Sometimes it feels like full-on 24/7 magic in my life!

One of the reasons for this is my ability to use the tools at hand: digital media like still fotos, video, text-forms like blogging and micro-blogging (Facebook, Twitter, etc). Another reason is the inspiration and guidance (and opportunity) I get from so many people I meet, sometimes face-to-face, sometimes its via virtual connections, similar to what "penpals" used to be, I imagine. (btw: The richest f2f encounters happened at last years Media that Matters event – I strongly recommend anyone who wants/needs to plug into a powerful current of creativity to check out this year's MtM in May).

Tools, talents, people
I'd like to say that I can't tell which is more important right now: my capacities to use the tools available to me, or the people who inspire and guide me. But, like so much else in my life, what is at the heart of my creative outpouring is my connection with people. Jean Russell is one of these.

I've never met Jean f2f. We've never spoken. I can't even remember how we "met." I do know that we are mutual Twitter "followers," that we are Facebook "friends," and that I was drawn to her notion of "thrivability."

I won't get into what "thrivability" means to me. I will however say that thanks to Jean I've found a handle that describes what's important to me: that I don't simply sustain or maintain myself, my family, my community, my work, but that I do what I can so that these are places of active, creative engagement. Places that I can describe as thriving.

All of this is a long introduction to a project Jean asked me to be a part of, an online "book" that you can look through via this embedded slideshow. She "crowd-sourced" the project, putting out the call to folks like me to submit a word that we think relates to "thrivability," and to accompany that with a page of writing, images, etc. It's was a beautiful idea. Now its a beautiful "collaborative sketch."

My word...
Dance. As you may know, I love to dance, and I love to talk and write about dance. I love to take pictures of dance too (though it's hard sometimes, because mostly when I see others dancing I only have one thing on my mind: to be dancing too). Thanks Jean. Thanks for inviting me into this project. Thanks for giving me another opportunity to explore my experience of dance.

ps. It's on page 28, surrounded by many amazing pages of images, writing, thinking. An inspiring neighbourhood to find myself in!

And above all – Congratulations Jean, on this lovely "book!"

Thrivability: A Collaborative Sketch

View more presentations from Jean Russell.

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Saturday evening thoughts about Friday night tango

Image by hanspetermeyer.ca via Flickr

Saturday evening. Generally a time of rest for me (sort of), after dancing Friday evening. I need the evening off because after 5 hours of dancing, this 50 year old's body usually has a deliciously sore feeling. Also, my dancing soul has been thoroughly nourished. Though I am a dance-aholic, I'm OK with taking the evening off.


But I'm not here to talk about Saturdays; I want to make a comment on last night's tango experience.

I spend most of my Friday's with the crew at ValDance.com. It's the heart of my week. Friends gather for happy hour beforehand, often at Hank's Bar and Grill. We usually take in the 1 hour beginner or intermediate workshops on whatever is being offered (swing, rhumba, waltz, foxtrot, chacha, etc); then we dance dance dance until ValDance closes down and it's time to move on to another dance venue.

Good stuff. A lively crew; a good mix of music; lots of great dancing!

Last night was "tango" night. At one time the ballroom tango was interesting to me... and then I made my voyage to Buenos Aires, following a trail left by Sally Potter and her Tango Lesson movie. That ruined ballroom tango for me. As I stepped into what tango can be, I didn't want to go back to the ballroom version.

So instead of workshopping ballroom, I took tickets – and practiced. Away from the class, in the foyer of the hall, I practiced Argentine tango. And whenever the talking stopped in the hall, and the music played... magic. And that was good.

I'm not a fan of "moves." Less and less of a fan of moves for the sake of moves. Which is one reason I like Argentine tango over ballroom: the emphasis moves away from dramatic gestures towards simplicity and connection. Sometimes it's enough to hold a woman close. To pause. And just walk. And walk. To pause again. To breathe. And walk some more.

We didn't walk much in the foyer as the rest of the ValDance.com crew were learning to sway and sweep etc. Instead, we took the opportunity to practice some of the minor moves that make navigation with tango – Argentine tango – a pleasure, and so much more than navigation. We did some work on timing, bringing our feet and ankles together at the just-right moments. And a few embellishments. Simple stuff. The stuff of elegance. Almost meditative.

A nice way to warm up for an evening with a fair number of tango tunes. When the dance started we got travel 'round the floor in our own time. Feeling the music between our bodies. Walking. Pausing. Stepping quickly when the candombe rhythms emerged. Slowing when it receded. An ocho here, a gancho there. But mostly the simplicity of the walk, slow or fast, with the music moving through and between our bodies.

Tango. Love it. Love that I followed Sally's lead, and the fantasy I had about going to Buenos Aires and learning to dance there. Love that I got to come home to a local version of Sally's BsAs salon with Kirra and VancouverIslandTango.com. It just keeps getting better, the more I dance, the more I feel the music and the presence of my partner.

¡Muy bueno!


6 March 2010
hanspetermeyer

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