The blog in categories

books file on book shelves

Social

  • The false promise of self-improvement

    The false promise of self-improvement

    Become the best version of yourself. Invest in yourself. You are your greatest asset. You don’t need anyone else to be whole. You have probably seen or heard these, or similar, motivational messages encouraging self-improvement. From physical to psychological and social aspects of life, there is no shortage of content pushing us to upgrade ourselves.

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  • It’s not for the community we have…

    It’s not for the community we have…

    I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but last year I actually made one. I told myself: “Let’s try to start a YouTube channel… something for new or future Tango dancers. Something that connects Tango life with real life.”

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  • It’s not the steps you teach

    It’s not the steps you teach

    A few weeks ago, Dimitris wrote a post about tango teachers complaining that “the level of Tango is declining.” His point was simple: maybe teachers judge the level based on the events they attend. Events that are often poorly curated and therefore not representative of the wider tango community.

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Self exploration

  • The false promise of self-improvement

    The false promise of self-improvement

    Become the best version of yourself. Invest in yourself. You are your greatest asset. You don’t need anyone else to be whole. You have probably seen or heard these, or similar, motivational messages encouraging self-improvement. From physical to psychological and social aspects of life, there is no shortage of content pushing us to upgrade ourselves.

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  • It’s not for the community we have…

    It’s not for the community we have…

    I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but last year I actually made one. I told myself: “Let’s try to start a YouTube channel… something for new or future Tango dancers. Something that connects Tango life with real life.”

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  • It’s not the Tandas you dance

    It’s not the Tandas you dance

    I’ll start with my unpopular opinion. I don’t like Biagi… Or Valses. (But strangely enough, I don’t mind a Vals by Biagi!) Usually, these are the moments I take a break in the milonga. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s not the point. The real question is: how did I end up here? And…

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Musicality

  • Precision, recall and musicality

    Precision, recall and musicality

    Frequently, in discussions with friends, they tell me that they like such and such dancers because they find them very musical. When I ask for more details on why they think so, they have a very hard time explaining what exactly it is that they do. The answer is usually quite vague… Something like… They…

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  • Struggling with… noise

    Struggling with… noise

    We had a very interesting conversation last week in the newly founded group about what is musicality. If you haven’t yet joined, do so! I saw so many different responses but amongst them, there was almost always a common pattern. Most people agreed that at some level, musicality means being able to understand the different…

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  • Do it like kids

    Do it like kids

    I visited a friend’s house the other day. They have two adorable kids and we were playing with them all the time. It is impressive how a couple of game hours with kids can totally change your mood. For better or for worse. I mean you leave the house full of smiles or with a…

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Connection

  • Connection

    Connection

    This… the ability to sense your partner’s body within your chest, your core, your own body and eventually feel it as if it is part of your own body, is maybe the answer to the incompleteness of the previous post which satisfies our deep need for connection.

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  • Flawed

    Flawed

    We are all flawed, incomplete peripherals, and the irony of the dance is exactly that. You need two to dance it but you will never experience it in its entirety. You can never understand the dance in its entirety.

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  • Incomplete

    Incomplete

    If you ever really grasp this… you can understand that there is no leading and following in Tango. There was never such a thing… not even from its beginning. There is only cooperation… partnership… like in a family… in a couple… from the age of cavemen till today… where the man hunted and the woman…

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Language


Story telling

  • Is it really your own story?

    Is it really your own story?

    Then whose story is this in the end? Is it the story you had in mind to tell in the beginning? Is it the story your partner wanted to listen to? Is it the story they wanted to tell you?

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  • How do you tell a story?

    How do you tell a story?

    What can we learn from TTS software, ebook reading apps, and so many other communication experiences? If the voice has its tools to communicate emotions what are the equivalent tools in our dance?

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  • What story are you telling?

    What story are you telling?

    “I now understand how important it is to listen to a lot of music.” A good friend (follower) told me recently. She explained that when she knows the song she feels more confident and natural for her to also contribute to the dance.

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