Shoe shopping

Links and info about tango shoe shops! Let me know if your favorite shoe shop is missing, or if you find that the contact information has changed!

* My favorite brand: Comme Il Faut at Arenales 1239, door 3, apt. M.  Open Monday-Friday 11-19, Saturday 11-15. Shoes only for women. Heels 7,5cm and 8,5cm are recommendable; nowadays they have some models also with a lower heel. Prices around 750-790 pesos.

* NeoTango at Sarmiento 1938. Shoes for men and women; men's shoes also in small sizes. Also sneakers. Cool designs for both sexes, comfortable heel, clear shop: low heels on the right hand side and high heels on the left. Low meaning 7 cm and high 8-9 cm. Price around 750 pesos.

* The new hot shoe brand for women: Souple at Parana 348, 2 A. Open Monday-Friday 13-19, and could be wise to call first to make sure lady Souple is there (11-4371-6813 or 15-5327-3424). The sole is very soft, flexible (hence the name) and well cushioned, the heel is very distinctive, well placed, and you see many professionals wearing this shoe. The fit seems to be for a normal foot. They have several models, and the heel height is 8,5 or 9,5 cm. In one shoe they have a 7cm heel, but the style is more ballroom or salsa and not so much a tango shoe. We are praying for a 7,5cm heel and a wider fit... Prices around 700-800 pesos.

* DNI tango store at the DNI tango school on Bulnes 1011; also a web shop. Open Monday-Saturday 13-20. Great shoes for women: one comfortable heel height, 7,5cm. Three models. Two widths. I love the rubber sole; great for slippery floors and performances! Also several types of sneakers with different heels. Price 630 pesos for the heels, a bit less for the sneakers.
Men's shoes: 3 different models + sneakers. Fun designs and colors. Price 630 pesos.

* 4 Corazones have great sneakers for men and women. Av. Callao 257, 3rd floor.

* Alanis at Diagonal Norte 936. Women's tango shoes with different heel heights, bright colors, flexible sole, padding. Monday-Friday 10-19, Saturday 11-13. Some people swear by these shoes; did not convince me.

* GretaFlora, Acuña de Figueroa 1612, in Palermo Soho, Monday-Friday 11-19 and Saturday 14-19. 

* A Swedish girl who makes the shoes herself!!! Three models of high heels and the famous flat dance shoes from Katrinski; check also the Facebook page. Women's shoes.

* 2x4 al pie: men's shoes with interchangeable sole. Very soft construction, almost a sneaker, soft heel. Scalabrini Ortiz 1753, Dpt 3. Monday-Friday 14-19, Saturday 15-19. They used to have a women's shoe also, but not any more. 

* Fabio shoes: sneakers for men and women, and maybe also high heel shoes again. Showroom on Riobamba 10, piso 10 A. Monday-Friday 11-19, Saturday 11-16. 

* Tango Leike on Sarmiento 1947. Women's shoes, also with a lower heel. 

* VB tango shoes in San Telmo, Independencia 389. Shoes for women and men. 

* Traditional tango shoes on Suipacha street: Flabella on Suipacha 263 and Darcos on Suipacha 259. Check also Suipacha 256 on the other side of the street; that's where I bought my first (5 pairs of) tango shoes!!!. Shoes for men and women. And they still have the amazing full glitter shoes!!! I think I need one pair...

* Raquel at Bolivar 554 in San Telmo. Shoes for men and women. One model of a lace up practice shoe with 5cm heel. Also custom made shoes for a higher price.

* A new shoe shop on Estados Unidos in San Telmo, Alma. They have several models with different heels, a nice shop, and they also can build an arch support or an olive in the shoe if you feel you need that. The fit seems to be for a normal foot (with long toes). Only women's shoes.

* And the best shoes for men come from Señora Leo. Shoes made to measure, you choose the model and leather and the heel, and get a shoe that fits like a glove and last for years. Pasi has already written about this. The small shop Artesania AR-SIL at Avenida Juan de Garay 908, on the border of San Telmo and Constitution. I usually take the subte to San Juan and then walk along Tacuari street. Open Tuesday-Friday 12-18, Saturday 11-16. Very reliable and friendly people, a family business, making shoes for 27 years! Price around 600-650 pesos, depending on the materials used.

They make shoes also for women, and I recommend it if you need a special fit, like much wider shoes or feet very different sizes or shapes, or want a special design. They also make normal street shoes, sandals and lace up shoes, so if you have the dream shoe in your mind, with pink and glitter and leopard, go for it! If you find easily ready-made shoes from the regular shops, then this process of shoes made to measure might not be worth the trouble. I have had some shoes made, and I use them as summer sandals, because for tango they are not the best for me. I'm getting one new pair tomorrow, let's see how they fit!

Even though the shoes are made to measure, there might be problems about the fit, especially with the first pairs. So don't hesitate to tell them the problem and they will fix it. Sometimes it is best to use the shoes for a couple of days and then you know if they fit or not, and then you still can take them back to be fixed.

* Shoes made to measure, for men and women, also from Fattomano, Guatemala 4464, Palermo Botánico, just off Scalabrini Ortiz, tel. (5411) 4832-3156 or 4832-9633
and PH Tango,  Grito de Asencio 3602, Pompeya, tel. 4911-0925.

* Another list of shoe shops in BA!

Surviving in BA

This is still a work in progress: I will collect important links for everyday life in BA to have notes for myself and to make your stay in BA better! If you have any questions or good ideas, please let me know!

TRANSPORT

* I love the taxis in BA! There are millions of those black and yellow cars circling around the city, just waiting for you to wave for one! Make sure that you wave for a RADIO TAXI, they are the safest. How to recognize one? On the taxi it is written somewhere Radio Taxi, and there are usually two antennas, one long and thin and one short and thick. Those cars are connected to the taxi center or something, and they can ask for directions and help if needed. Inside they usually have a sign of the driver's name and the prices. Nowadays the taxis are not so cheap anymore; the base price is nowadays around 10 pesos, and usually a trip in the city costs around 30 pesos. Always check that the meter is running, and in the end of the trip you can ask for a receipt, un recibo or ticket. Usually you don't have to tip the taxi driver, only maybe round up the sum to the next full peso like 26,40 -> 27. If you want to go very far, like outside the city, the taxi driver may not want to take you there, or you have to pay also for the return trip to town, even though you are not coming back in that taxi.

* Get yourself a SUBE-card!!! Works for the bus = collectivo, the metro = subte and the train = tren. You can get it on kiosks marked with a lilac and green SUBE sign, it costs 15 pesos, you have to fill a form and fill in your ID-number, and sometimes they ask for your passport or ID-card. Then you need to charge it with money, either in the kiosk or the office at the subte. Then you just show it to the reader in the metro and the bus. In the bus you have to tell the driver where you want to go, because the price can be different: sometimes it is 1,10 pesos and sometimes it can be even 1,25 pesos! One ride at the subte costs 2,5 pesos. From the boletería at the subte station you can also buy tickets with 1-10 trips.

* How to know how to get somewhere on public transport? Use the guides on the internet! My favorite is the trip advisor at Comoviajo: write your address and where you want to go, choose how many blocks you can walk, and you get several options, also with combinations of the subte and colectivo. The bus lines you can check at Omnilineas: mark on the map where you are and where you want to go, and you'll see the bus lines that work the best. There is also the interactive map of Buenos Aires.

The bus stops are usually very well hidden, there can be a postcard sized sign on a lamp post or even attached to a tree. The colectivo stops usually before and after a big avenue, and very often even in every block. Sometimes there are several buses with the same number, and they all go to different places, and somehow you have to know which one is the right one for you; this one I haven't figured out yet how to solve!

* If you are lucky enough to have a bike in Buenos Aires, check the new bike routes here!
The city's slogan for promoting biking is "Mejor en bici", and I think it sounds much better in Finnish: "Paremmin pyörällä"!

PHONE

* Take an old phone with you, or buy a cheap one from here, buy a phone card from a kiosk, and charge it, and voilá! you are ready to make those table reservations to the milonga! Recharging the credit is easiest in the kiosk with "carga virtual": you give them your phone number and money and they recharge it on the internet. You should then get an SMS announcing your new saldo. Often there are promotions that on a certain day for 40 pesos you get 80 pesos; at least my Movistar sends me these announcements about twice a week.

* Not so wise to walk around with your iPhone, so leave it at your BA home.

EATING

* Check the restaurants near you on GuiaOleo!
My favorite vegetarian restaurant is Artemisia in Palermo, Gorriti 5996.
My favorite place for beef = lomo is DesNivel in San Telmo, Defensa 855.

* In the supermarket, read carefully the packets. In very surprising places you find sugar, and if it says "sugar free" it probably means it has artificial sweetener. In most yogurts there is both sugar and artificial sweeteners, and it is very hard to find normal coffee without sugar!!! So read carefully if you want to take care of your diet. Or just enjoy the green, blue and pink breakfast cereals.
The fruits and vegetables are usually better at the Fruteria and Verduleria, the green grocer on your street.
There are some shops that sell organic products, especially in the Palermo neighborhood. Will put links later.
In the Dieteticas you find nuts and grains and sometimes also non-white bread.


LEARNING SPANISH

* A good web dictionary and translator here! Must be several good ones, let me know your favorite one!

* If you really want to learn Spanish, this is a good school! I was planning to go, but then did not have time, but many friends go and really recommend it, and I can hear them improving! There are several levels, from completely beginners to very advanced, there are more and less intensive courses, and you can start any Monday!


SAFETY

* This is a big city, so take care of your belongings as you would in any other big city. Have a handbag with a zipper, and hold it tight. Hold your backpack in the front, not on your back. Be aware in the crowds, like the crowded subway or a busy street, parks, markets, and La Boca area. In restaurants also always have your bag at hand, don't put it behind your back or on another chair. And don't go out with all your credit cards and all your money at once. Just don't.

* The classical BA way to get robbed is that somebody throws some dirt on you, or bumps into you with his ice cream, or smears your jacket with McDonalds ketchup or bird poo, and then wants to clean you, and then really cleans you off, also of your money. So if something like that happens to you, please leave and go to a safe place to clean yourself. Oh, and I heard that the new thing is that somebody pukes on you at the subte and then tries to rob you... eew...

* The crowded subte is of course the place to loose your money and phone, so take care of your belongings. Hold your bag if somebody bumps into you. A bag with a zipper is a must, hold it all the time, and have your backpack on your stomach and not on your back.

* Don't change money on Florida street.
There is also fake money around, usually 50 or 100 peso bills, so take it as an authentic BA experience when you get your first fake fifty!

* Don't walk from San Telmo to La Boca, take a bus or taxi. In La Boca, take care of your belongings.

MORE TIPS

* Take a flashlight with you, or buy one from here, and keep it with you. There are power cuts often, so you never know when you have to help a lady friend to open her shoe clasp in the light of your flashlight.

* Tips for the toilet or el baño.
1) It is common at least in the old houses NOT to throw the toilet paper in the toilet, but put it in the waste paper basket, because the plumbing is ancient and we don't want the toilet to clog.
2) In the traditional milongas, there used to be a lady in the ladies' baño, and she would hand out toilet paper, and sell mints and stockings and earrings and knitted shawls and even dresses, basically anything that a woman could suddenly need in the middle of a dance evening. On this trip, I met this phenomena only few times: in the milonga in Club Sunderland, one night in La Viruta, and in the restaurant Todomundo on Plaza Dorrego. So be ready to hand over some pesos in exchange of toilet paper.

* Join the group "Surviving in BA" on Facebook!!!

Showtime!!!

Today we had a very exciting day: we had the honor to perform at the practica of DNI!!! We danced two songs, and we chose ones that we have performed already a few times before: a tango by Di Sarli "Junto a tu corazon" and a vals by Biagi "El ultimo adios". I have to say I was a little bit nervous, but the performance went well and we had so many friends there to cheer for us!!! The moment was amazing when we stepped to the floor and the friendly noise surrounded us!!!!!

Pasi was handsome as ever, and I had on one of my new dresses. 

Maria, Ale y Kristin

here is the tango and...

...here is the vals

SHOES!!!

Okay, you probably thought that this is Maria who is writing. Wrong. This is Pasi and his adventures in the wonderful world of SHOES! I have to admit I am somewhat more conservative and not quite as enthusiastic about it, but definitely I have a crush... And yes, I DO like Maria's shoes. And so do you. Still I am not sure if she dares to share this passion in it's true, enormous scale, but let's hope she shares some of it. Even I have not seen all the shoes she has bought...

Anyway, let's start from the modern ones.

The first pair is actually not tango shoes, but perfect november shoes from Satori bought from Palermo outlet area (here). Very comfortable and slippery, perfect shoes for instant surprise dancing, too. Tonite I had them seriously tested in El Motivo dance floor. They got crazy...

The next pair you probably recognise if you danced tango at all. They are the famous 2x4 al pie, with interchangable soles. The most expensive tango shoes. Well, actually they are not shoes but sneakers or sneaker-shoes, something between. They are soft and very comfortable with soft and well designed heel and good general balance. Unfortunately, the don't last in my use at all. The first pair was destroyed in four months, and this pair is already showing signs of tiredness after a couple of weeks. Maybe it's just me, some say their durability is good and they use them for years. For my use the weak point is the heels and leather over the heels. Soft heels just don't last in my use...
2x4 have their shop close to Salon Canning in Scalabrini Ortiz 1753, 3rd, and they are open Mon-Fri 2p.m.-7p.m. and Sat 3p.m.-7p.m.

Here is a very nice pair from 4corazones. They have a nice shop in Callao 257, 3.A with cool pants and shirts for the guys, too! These are also sneaker-shoes with very thick and well made leather. It is made by sr Fabio himself from the original Fabio shoes. The heel is a wide and gives better support than those of 2x4, but for my taste they are just a little bit too back. Also the ball of the foot gets better support than in 2x4 because of wider design. The cromo is great for many slippery floors here in Bsas. But. They have soft heels and they are already a little bit injured. 

One great advantage: they are by far the cheapest shoes, and definitely worth getting!

And now to conservative, real shoes.

This brown suede-shoe pair is from Susana Artesanal, from Abasto barrio (Jean Jaures 465). Beautiful, classic design with wide design with just a little pointed toes, hard and well positioned heel, and good support in the ball of the foot. Torsion resistent, protects the foot and rather slippery leather sole makes dancing very balanced and easy. This pair might turn out to be just a little bit too big for me after I have used them a couple of times, so if you are interested they might end up in your shoe collection... Very good shoes with affordable price.
They hold open Mon-Fri 10a.m.-8p.m. and Sat 10a.m.-6p.m.

Here is the first pair from AR-SIL, or Snra Leo. They have been in business for 30 years and produced shoes already in the '90's tango shows. It is sort of obvious from the ladies' shoes since they tend to be little old fashioned, but the men's shoes are just incredible. Custom made shoes of highest quality. You can choose from a couple of hundred different materials and maybe 20 different models. Heels are wooden and you can choose from three different. They last forever. I made four pairs six years ago and I still use them. I even have one pair that it 11 years old and use them constantly. None of them are broken or destroyed in any ways. Perfect fit, although you might have to send them back a couple of times for fixing, but it is worth it. Also, if the fit is really tight, you might have to use them for 10-20 hours before they have softened and melted in your foot. Now my old shoes are like gloves, and I can use them for a whole weekend without problems. 

A few years ago they opened a little shop in San Telmo, av. Juan de Garay 908, esq Tacuari. They don't have net pages.

This pair of brown wings and white middle part has a middle high heel with excellent fit and balance. Leather is really thick and stiff now that they are new. Laces have distance so that when the shoe stretches just a little bit there is still space to find a good fit. The sole is very stable and torsion resistent. They support your foot everywhere and really help you dance better. 

Price is very reasonable especially when you take account their durability.

The second pair from AR-SIL is a little wilder: a shade thinner leather with reddish python in the whole shoe except the lace and ankle area is very red. The heel is the same as before. As the leather is little thinner, the fit is already better and they have a little bit softer feeling. 

And last but not least: leopard heel, ankle and lace area and a horribly green toes! When wearing the pants, you can hardly see the leopard, the same effect as in the red-python shoes. It only surprises you sometimes. When the lady have something green on, the shocking effect of the green toes is considerably milder and instead it is just freakin' cool. And you know what: almost every woman have SOMETHING green quite often...

Things are back to normal

For the moment the city is calm and quiet - as much as it can ever be. The lights are back, the internet is working, and the milongas and classes run normally. And we are also running as normal. Whew. And I just realized that I am so perfectly happy now that every day we can do what we want to do: we can go shopping or to classes or visit the city and choose where to go eat and what flavor of ice cream I want today and which of the many milongas we choose to go to or if we stay at home. Or do nothing. Hmm, this starts to sound familiar, I've heard about this kind of thing before - is it called a HO-LI-DAY??? I so needed this.

* Yesterday we got Pasi's third pair of shoes from Sra Leo, and they fit perfectly now! I took my pair back to be fixed. Pictures later.

* A class of Tango salon by Marta y Manolo, in the style of the 50s! We learned the salidas of the 30s, 40s and 50s, some fun steps, and found out that in the 40 there really was a test you had to take as a leader to be able to enter the dance floor, and there really was a guy to guard the pista and if you behaved in an non-orderly way, you got a warning, and if you did it again, you were thrown out!

* Dinner with friends at the famous restaurante autoservicio Bellagamba Bodegon ; thank you Kiamal and Susanne for a fun night!!!

El apagón - Lights out

Well, I have no problem making Facebook-updates nowadays. Always when I can make them, I can write that the internet and electricity (and this time also water) is back. We have been without electricity for almost a week now, and this morning we woke up to the sound of our fan buzzing and our fridge coughing! What lovely sounds!!! So now we are off to shower, and then Feria in San Telmo!!!

The apple - kolme aasia

Nature happens

Hi everybody, we are still alive!!! There was a huge storm over a week ago, there was rain and thunder outside and rain also inside, and the electricity was cut for a day, an then the internet was gone for over a week. Now we got it back!!!!! But today the city is again in chaos, I don't know why, but the electricity is cut in large areas. It seems the hospitals are also without power! Many milongas are also closed tonight because of no electricity. A tango class was cancelled where we were supposed to go. The subway is not running... Check what's happening in the city and practise your Spanish with this article of La Nacion!

Tonight's program will continue like this: sitting on the computer, eating ice cream and coping with the heat. For change, we do have internet and electricity. And water. No air conditioning though, and it is 35 degrees Celsius outside... But we have ice cream!!! Favorite combination so far: limon, mousse de limon and dulce de leche. Mmmm....

What have been doing during the radio silence? We have been going to classes and milongas every day, we have a great circle of friend with whom we hang out, and life is good. Shoe shopping as always... not telling how many pairs! I also found many beautiful dresses for milongas and performances, you will certainly see them!!!
Visiting the yarn stores on Scalabrini and fabric stores on Lavalle; so far I have been good, I only bought one piece of fabric, but let's see how much I can fit in my suitcase...

The story continues - keep following!!!

El sábado

Pablo Inza as a visiting teacher at Dana's practica

On Saturday we had a day of great live music! In the afternoon, the practica of DNI with Marisol Martinez y los Gentiles del tango. Listen to the song "Gloria", it is so beautiful!!!!

In the evening, an exciting trip to La Milonga Moran. 

Sexteto Milonguero playing and Los Totis performing!!!

 And the trip home in the night bus!!!

El rey del compas

I have the feeling that 50% of the music that is played in the milongas is by Orchestra Juan D'Arienzo. The music is mostly rhythmical and pushing, and calm and romantic melodies are rare. I have made calculations and the truth is that for every 10 tandas 2-3 really are D'Arienzo. But the D'Arienzo feeling persists! Often you hear Tanturi, Biagi and Troilo from the 40s, that really sound quite same. Listen to Cachirulo by Troilo and El Africano by D'Arienzo, they sound quite similar! Especially in a milonga setting, when the energy of the music hits you first before you have time to recognize the characteristic style of the orchestra. Or Una noche de Garufa by Tanturi; if you don't know the song, can you name the orchestra?

The other night, Thursday at Nino Bien, I wrote down part of the playlist, and here it is:

Malerba
Tanturi
mixed milonga
D'Arienzo
Biagi (yes, really!)
Troilo vals
D'Arienzo
Calo
Di Sarli instr
Calo vals
Pugliese

Quite classical, I would say... The only Di Sarli I have hear is the good old instrumentals from the 50s. Only once I have heard a classical Rodriguez tanda, only twice a Fresedo tanda (oh how refreshing that was!) and only once or twice a Canaro tanda!!! And a surprise: they love Malerba, and me too, so I'm happy! The truth is that most of the local DJ's don't have so much music, and they don't share, so what they play is quite limited. Maybe Antti and Kristian know more about this. In some ways it is quite nice to dance to familiar music in familiar places: I do love the Troilo-Goyeneche tanda that I count on hearing in Canning on Mondays in the small hours of the morning when the floor is already quite empty...

Wow, now we are playing the "recognize the orchestra" game with D'Arienzo and Troilo. This is fun! And to make it more difficult... add Tanturi or even Biagi! Oh no!!!








And finally, a flower to all the tango DJs and musicalisadores who keep us dancing all day and night long!

El desayuno

Continuing the breakfast theme...

Presenting to you the media luna, the main ingredient of the breakfast in Buenos Aires.
















Arriving home after a successful trip to the supermarket.

Climbing to our roof terrace...
and finally enjoying the breakfast!
Or, hmm, let's say brunch!!!

This week has been quite rainy, so we have taken every chance to sit on our roof and enjoy the sun. This morning we woke up to thunder and lightning; the whole bedroom was full of flashing lights, and thunder and rain roaring on our terrace. Now the sun seems to be back and the birds are singing.

Funny how you can buy ready-made tostados at the bakery, with all kinds of different fillings, and toast them at home! Tostado con jamon y queso, por favor! 

GOOD MORNING!!!

Weekend news 2

* On Sunday we went to the feria artesanal at Plaza Serrano in Palermo, the neighbor barrio. Lots of leather products, bags and belts, and all kinds of jewelry. Clothes, some have a very clever design, some very bad fabric. Funny, I did not buy anything, maybe I'm sick; wait, I am sick, I have a flu.

* Between our barrio Villa Crespo and Palermo there is a huge area of outlet shops. Mostly Argentine brands, but also international sportswear like Puma and Nike. The funny thing is that the shop window says "vintage", and I get all happy and run for the vintage clothes, looking for jackets from 1940s and dresses from 1950s, but in these shops it means only "last season". So now they have the winter collection 2012 on sale, lucky for us! Pasi got these nice winter shoes! Good for the Finnish winter when we come back home...


* On Sunday night we went to the milonga at Villa Malcolm. At Villa Malcolm, there is a milonga every night with a different organizer, so all the nights have a very distinct atmosphere. Sunday night is the milonga Viva La Pepa, popular among young people and different styles of dancers. Before the milonga we took part in the advanced class given by Julio Balmaceda y Corina de la Rosa. They are beautiful tango salon dancers with a lot of experience. For us, their style is special because of the spiral they use in every movement. And we want to learn that! And their vals is so beautiful!!! Check this video, already some years old, but it is the classic where they do all the beautiful typical vals movements!!!! Go ahead boys, check those steps!!!

Their class was very very good, clear instructions, sometimes only one, and enough time to practice after every talk. We were happy. And planning to go again. And of course, we would LOVE to have them in Finland, they really are a big name in the tango world, everybody should know them, and their teaching would really give something essential for the Finnish tango dancers.

* Quinteto Real played at the milonga. Wow. Read about their history and about the founder Horacio Salgan. Very big and beautiful music, composed and played more for listening than dancing, usually played in concert halls, so it was a very special occasion to indeed be able to dance it LIVE!!! There was a beautiful show by Guillermo Cerneaz y Marina Kenny, and it seems that Guillermo's dream has been to dance live with Quinteto Real, so now this dream also came true! Read about this evening also from this blog!

* Best ever: we biked to the milonga!!! Thank heaven for the oneway streets of BA, only one direction at a time to look for danger. I was scared as anything, but still it was the best! 20 blocks to go, what is better than bike!!! And actually there are bike lanes, we have to learn the routes. And yes mother, I will go and buy a helmet.

Weekend news

* On Friday we went to the class of Los Totis, Virginia Gomez & Christian Marquez. Their class was recommended by a friend, I did not know them before. They dance elegant tango salon style, in choreographies they use skillful show elements, and their musical precision is amazing!
The class was nice, they showed a beautiful sequence with classical and interesting and seemingly simple but actually complicated elements, and we could do it, and during the class they both came to help us and then we did it better. And they did not tell us to push or pull or change the embrace, so that was refreshing!

Here are some videos of them:
Lovely vals, amazing jumps for the men!!! Musical and quick milonga; women will maybe recognize some adornos that we practiced at Ruskatango-festival! Here is one more link including tangos and the milonga, filmed at another angle.

What do you think, would it be nice to invite them to Finland?


* Friday night we continued the evening at the milonga Yira Yira at La National. La National was closed for some years, and now it is open again, which is very good, because the venue is nice and the floor is very good. All this you can see on this video of the milonga, filmed earlier this year.

* I have found my long lost twin, Kristin from Norway; several people, even her roommate who has seen her every day the last 2 months, has mixed us up!  Her roommate thought that she is at home sick in bed, and suddenly she saw her dancing in a milonga... Kristin has been great, she updated our milonga knowledge the day we arrived and made us feel welcome, thank you Kristin!!! This photo is taken in the small hours of morning in front of La Viruta, after a day and night of dancing in Practica DNI, Milonga10, Cachirulo and Viruta.

Okay...

I said "more"...

New shoes

Need I say more?

Estilos distintas - Different styles

Yesterday we took our first tango classes here in BA. First we went to DNI Tango School, that is run by Dana Frigoli, and where Carina also teaches. We took a group class and did some efficient shopping in the DNI Store (pictures later!).
In the group class we did some sacadas and ganchos. The sequence itself was easy and clear, we were able to do it with our own style pretty easily, but oh boy, how to do it in the DNI technique!!! I was told to bend my knees, pull with my right hand, make my waist grow 10cm longer, separate my upper body from my lower body and move them to different directions, and wave my tailbone when I take a sidestep. Pasi had to pull with his left hand, connect his right knee and left shoulder, make a circle with his right arm and left foot, and move his foot with his pubic bone. Just do all this and it will be all right, all right? All right???!!???!? Whew. In the end of the 1,5 hour class we were able to do all this, or something like it, or something that remotely resembled it, or at least we felt different and confused. And strangely, it worked. Whew. Need to book more classes.

In the evening we went to a very different place. The practica of Carlos and Rosa Perez is famous for the Villa Urquiza style, training beautiful tango salon style dancers, and also producing winners for the World Championships of Tango Salon. Seven or eight winning couples of the last years have been training and polishing their style there! We are very interested in putting some Villa Urquiza into our tango salon, so the plan is to spend some evenings there. First we had womens' and men's technique separately, and then we just danced, and Carlos and Rosa helped the couples. They are really really nice and friendly!!!
So the new ideas from there? Carlos suggested that we change our dance hold in some little ways, or actually completely! With his right hand, the man doesn't hold around the woman's back but only until the middle or so. Then the man can lead with his right arm! Yes, he leads with his right arm on the woman's back!!! Because the lead from only the chest is not clear enough, and the woman has to feel a clear lead. Good for leading ochos, boleos... We tried this and it worked!!!
The leader's left hand is more on the woman's side than what we are used to. And we had to lift the elbows! And the woman's left arm and hand lies on the shoulder of the man. So in the end the dance hold felt strangely familiar... hmmm, wait... from Finnish tango!

Wow, so amazing to experience this diversity of styles and teaching!!! And so healthy to do things in a new and different way, and also to be told to do something in a way that we usually say NOT to do! So students, can you anymore believe anything we say? I would say it is not about believing, but trying out with an open mind what the teacher is proposing. Are you able do it in the way the teacher is showing? Can you do it in your own way? Feel how it feels, is it working, and then decide what is right for you!

Spreading the joy of Finnish tango

Yesterday we had the honour to show Finnish tango in Buenos Aires. We were invited to perform in the opening ceremony of the Scandinavian Film Festival, that takes place here in BA this week and next week. Last year the main guest of the festival was Mika Kaurismäki; this year the main guest is a Swedish director. The place was beautiful, Club de Progreso, check the photos behind the link!!! We danced on the patio, pictures 8-10!
It was a beautiful sunny day until the evening when it started to rain really really hard, so we danced one of my favorite Finnish tangos: Sateen tango, The Tango of the Rain.

We were happy with our dancing, and so was the audience, the Finnish and the Argentine alike. The Finnish people were happy to see Finnish tango danced in a soft and elegant way, and we were surprised to meet people who live in BA and don't dance tango. Oh no, we will never be able to understand that!

And, most importantly, my bright pink dress matched the poster of the festival.

Buen día, Buenos Aires!

After three movies, two bottles of champagne and a million long hours, the plane finally landed in Buenos Aires. Calm down mother, the champagne bottles were very very small.
We spent the first day with Carina: she was our lovely angel and saved us when we could not get into our flat in the morning. We had a very happy reunion: she has stayed 4 months in Tampere, and she arrived in BA only two days before us! She cooked us a lovely dinner and baked rye bread (pan de senteno), so we all felt at home.

In the evening we got to our new home: the lovely flat of our friends and tango colleagues Solange Chapperon and Gonzalo Orihuela. They are now on tour in Europe with their company Kambras with their new production Cram. If you happen to be in Switzerland or Germany in October-November, go and see the show!!!

Finally, a mystery picture: find Pasi and Theo the cat!

Travelling...

Soon we will go on a little holiday, and we will have the most wunderbar people replacing us in Tampere!!! Daniela y Raimund from Mala Junta Tango School in Berlin will come to live in our house, teach our classes and, simply, BE us. Make them feel welcome, enjoy their company and make the most of their time here in our beautiful city!!! Make Finnish October and November feel like Spring in Argentina!!!

Ommm....

Ohh, what a beautiful week in the Asthanga yoga retreat!!! Yoga teaching and hosting and island by Stefan Engström and Anatomy of Wholeness teaching by David Gorman. PyM is now totally mesmerized by the  Learning Methods... You can be sure that you'll hear about it in the tango lessons this autumn!!!

Peruskurssit Maailmantangofestivaalilla 15.-16.9.2012 Argentine tango basics

Tervetuloa tutustumaan argentiinalaiseen tangoon! Kahden päivän kurssilla Pasin ja Marian valmennuksessa opit perusteet helposti, ja Maailmantangofestivaalin konserteissa ja tanssitapahtumissa pääset heti tanssimaan! Suosittelemme kurssia myös niille jotka haluavat kerrata perusteita, tai jotka joskus, esim. viime vuonna, ovat olleet tangon alkeiskurssilla. PyM ei koskaan pidä kahta samanlaista alkeiskurssia!!!
Kurssi järjestetään yhteistyössä Tango aMoroson ja Maailmantangofestivaalin kanssa. 

La 15.9. klo 11-14
Su 16.9. klo 12-14

Tunnit pidetään ravintola Telakan 2. kerroksessa.
Kurssin hinta 50e / henkilö.

Ilmoittautumiset pareittain ja mahdolliset kysymykset sähköpostitse osoitteeseen
info ÄT pasiymaria PISTE net
tai puhelimitse 040 840 1426

Tervetuloa!!! Bienvenidos!!!

Welcome to beginners course for Argentine tango! During these five hours you'll learn the basics of tango, so that you can dance in the concerts and dance evenings of the World of Tango Festival!!!
The workshop is also good for those who want to refresh their tango basics, and also for those who took part in this course last year! Pasi y Maria always have a little bit different approach on every beginner course!

Saturday 15.9. 11h-14h
Sunday 16.9. 12h-14h

The classes are at Ravintola Telakka 2nd floor.
The price is 50euros per person (40e for students)

Registration in couples by
e-mail to maria AT pasiymaria DOT net
or phone 040 840 1426

Welcome to the world of dance and tango!!!

Visiting tango teachers

What a great summer camp we had in Varala!!! Sunny days and amazing thunder storms!!! And great friends, beautiful dancing, laughing, good jokes and bad jokes... Now our house feels quite empty.

But not for long! We have the pleasure to welcome Maxi Gomez and Laura Legasque to our home and our tango community! They are visiting Finland, and teaching also in Tampere. Some of you remember Maxi from last summer, and Laura from Oulu Tango Week some years ago.
The classes are arranged in co-operation with Tango aMoroso and PyM.
Here is the program:

Argentine tango classes, group and private classes! 
Solo and partner technique!

Friday 10.8.2012
17h-18h Women's technique I (Flamencostudio)
18h-19h30 Men's technique I (Studio PyM)

Saturday 11.8.2012
11-12.30 Folklore: Chacarera
12.45-14.15 Tango salon: complex figures
14.30-16 Tango show: coreografia

18-19 Women's technique II
19-> Practica

Price 15e/workshop, technique classes 10e. 
Registration and info Maria Laurén
maria@pasiymaria.net
tel. 040 840 1426

Private classes possible on Sunday 12.8. and Monday 13.8. at the Studio PyM. Contact directly Maxi or Laura on Facebook. 

Maxi y Laura will teach also on Tuesday 14.8. at the Mustalahti harbour 18h-19h before the milonga!

Special activities in June

We have been very lucky to get a lovely invitation for Midsummer: we will be teaching tango on a yoga retreat on a beautiful island near Hanko! We get to train some astanga yoga and share some tango with new people! We are prepared: I got a new yoga mat today because it seems I have lost my old one... Pasi also got a new mat, a pink one!!! If you are interested in joining us, get in touch! The dates are 22.-24.6.2012.

The next weekend 30.6.-1.7. there is a special event in Tampere. Fintage ry, the vintage lovers' association, is organizing a vintage weekend in Tallipiha. For two days we can live in 1940s atmosphere with music, clothes, food and dancing that fits the era! There will be vendors of clothes, hats and jewelry, and all sorts of activities from 11am to 5pm. Beautiful old cars, and war history re-enactors!!! And live music with two great orchestras: Seminola on Saturday and Trio Nautilus on Sunday! And there will be dancing!!! The bands will play from 3pm to 5pm, and before that at 2pm there will be a dance class by PyM! On Saturday we will teach foxtrot and Finnish tango, and on Sunday we will teach fusku/swing. So all dear dancer friends, put on your best summer dance outfits and come join the fun! And bring your non-dancing friends too to learn some slow, slow, quick, quick!!!

Wonderful, wonderful StPetersburg!!!

First I have to say SPASIBA BOLSHOI!!! Again we had such a great time as guests of Maxim and Gala in their tango school Caminito in StPetersburg. Thank you for inviting us and taking such good care of us!!! And thank you Sasha for the formidable themes for the classes, Igor for letting us sleep among the Russian classics and antique philosophers, Alisa for the excellent translations in and outside the classes, Luba for the cakes and beauty, Volodja for driving us safely through the crazy traffic, and Vala for photos and being our raccoon. And thank you students for working so hard and with concentration!!! And next time I hope I can speak a bit more Russian... I have books now!!! Da svidanija, spakoinoi notshi!

COPENHAGEN TANGO FESTIVAL
For once, first time in a long long time, we decided to go to a festival just for fun. And my god it was worth it! When working with tango it is too easy to slip into working mode or just stay at home during the week-end when ever that is possible. No obligations, all you have to do is rememeber to eat and drink. Sleeping optional. Except that sleeping during a tango festival is luxury one seldom has a chance and therefore we tried that, too. It was weird... but definetily wonderful!
We met alot of old friends from the time when none of us were teachers yet. By coincidence for many of us this was the first festival in a long time we were able to attend without working there. We definetily have to do that more. All of us.
After all, that is why we do tango. Love for the art of tango music and dance. It is better to do it instead of talking about it...

Workshop in beautiful StPetersburg 25.-27.5.2012

And the amazing and beautiful program of the weekend!!! Thank you Maxim, Gala and Sasha, we are happy to return to your beautiful city and school!

“ Pasi & Maria Elisabet Lauren are at the Studio of Argentine tango ‘Caminito’ on May 25, 26 and 27!

They last visited us in March 2010, they performed classes and shows, danced ungrudgingly

at local milongas of ‘Tangomania’ studio and ‘AT’ club. And we also were happy to meet them at fests that took place in Tampere and Helsinki.

Pasi & Maria Elisabet Lauren – experts in Argentine tango, as well as organizers of International Argentine Tango Festivals and performers of tango show numbers, well-known throughout Europe and the USA, are coming in St. Petersburg again!

Schedule and topics:

We’ve decided to cover some successive topics in order the participants could get the most useful ideas of how Argentine tango functions.

25 May, Friday:

19.00 - 20.20 – How to use the space while dancing, the space within a pair. Ideas, exercises and practical modes.

20.30 - 21.50 – Three minutes: what one tango and one tanda are about? Ideas, exercises and practical modes.

26 May, Saturday:

17.00 - 18.20 – Slowdown and speeding-up of the motion. Doublings and pauses.

18.30 - 19.50 – Variations with rhythm. Observation the phrase of dance: in separate phrases. Rhetorical investigation of melody and its expression (articulation) while dancing.

27 May, Sunday:

13.00 - 14.20 – Male, female and pair technical skills. Developmental exercises and practical modes.

Daniela y Raimund

Our friends from Berlin have arrived!!! Luckily they came already yesterday and not today through this snow storm! Well, Daniela is happy about the pretty snow, because in Berlin they did not have any this year. So all is good.

DyR have a tango school Mala Junta in Berlin. They have several teachers, they teach several styles and they have a popular milonga on Wednesday and Sunday.

AND here in Finland they will teach on Tuesday 3.4. in Teerenpeli 19h-20h and Raimund will dj at the milonga. They will teach the advanced group at HelaTango. They are also available for private classes! Contact Maria at maria AT pasiymaria DOT net.

Welcome Sabine!

Tomorrow is a big day for our tango friend Sabine: she will see the beauty of our city Tampere and will be embraced by our lovely world famous tango scene! Sabine comes from Erfurt, Germany, where she teaches and runs a tango association. Her big thing is the yearly TangoLehrerTreffen, a weekend workshop for tango teachers, where teachers who teach locally or internationally can meet and learn from each other. It happened just this last weekend; we want to hear the news!

On Tuesday night Sabine will teach at Teerenpeli at 19h and she will also dj at the milonga!

During the week she will participate in our private classes as an extra teacher!

On Saturday PyM and Sabine will teach in Kuopio: technique for hombres, mujeres and parejas!

And for Sunday night we head for the milonga Piritta in Helsinki!

What a week! Join the fun! Make her feel welcome!

Inspiration and some practical things

What a great and inspiring weekend we had in Helsinki at the Tango Festival Frostbite! Just a quick note on things that inspired me, and gave me lots if things to work on in my social dance and teaching.

1) Dancing tango slowly, and phrasing the dance. An old idea, of course, been thinking about this for years, but expressing it in the dancing maybe less. In teaching we have been working a lot with the rhythm these last years, and it has worked very well with the popularity of old rhythmical tango music. The rhythmical dancing that we see now in the milongas is a big change compared to what social dancing was maybe 5-10 years ago, when you really could not see the connection between the music and the dance. But nowadays I think it is quite easy to get new dancers to hear the basic rhythm in the tango music and play with that. So maybe we and the community in Finland are ready to move on to the next level in musical dancing! Thank you Sebastian Arce for reminding us!

2) Leader facing outside as a default mode in social dancing. I noticed that in the classes most teachers at the festival did their sequences so that the leader started facing the outside of the dance floor, so that the open side of the embrace pointed towards the line of the dance, and not the leader facing the line of the dance. Then the couple might turn and face other directions, but return again to this default mode. This enables both dancers to take a larger variety of steps: for example a small back step for the leader towards the center, which would be like a normal side step when facing the line of the dance, and the follower has maybe less walking backward to do. We tried this at the Monday class at Spiral, and it seemed to work fine with the experienced dancers at least. I think it created more variety in the dance, and the line of dance really stayed calm and the circle big. I have not tried this yet as a leader (Maria), but I think we'll experiment this!

3) My new love: MILONGA!!!!!