Solo practice is one of the best ways to improve your dancing. I keep coming back to this word these days. Since I'm a teacher, I'm pretty much always reminding people to practise, but the word "practice" has underlying, deeply beneficial meanings. As we head into Year 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic, with dance, especially social dance, being shut down to varying degrees for most of it, many people have repeatedly lamented the "death" of tango. In Montreal, indoor milongas finally reopened this past November – only to be shut down again a month later. So these days if we want to keep ..read more

What does our government have against dance? I have asked this question over and over, and I still haven't received a satisfactory answer, or, in fact, any answer at all. For a long time I thought our provincial leaders were simply oblivious to the mere existence of social dance. They are most certainly oblivious to its many benefits (more on that later). But now I have become convinced they actually do have something against it and against us. The only public mention of our neglected sector in a recent press conference announcing the loosening of Covid measures in all areas of entertainme ..read more

A relentless virus And clueless leaders Tried to tear our passion away But the music plays on And our restless bodies Can’t resist the beat and sway We’ve shed some tears Over friends we miss And partners held too long at bay But our fire burns strong And we will live on To dance together another day ..read more

I walk in, I lift my chest, I am confident I cross the room on rubber legs and have a seat I wave my hand to get a drink and take a sip You lift your glass, I lift my gaze and our eyes meet I look away, breathe in and out, look back again My stare intent as if I weren’t feeling shaky You nod your head, my lips curl up and you walk over I stand, hold out my hand and let you take me To the floor we walk together, then pause a moment Your arms embrace me, my eyes close and we begin I feel I know you as you send your rhythm through me You pull me close and I can feel you from within Your ste ..read more

Sometimes, I just like to watch Your face intense, hers passive Your eyes on her, hers averted Over there, her face in ecstasy As you pull her close And others pass by, oblivious Lost in their own throes Of touch, sound and feel In their world among the rest I see your smiles and I smile At the pleasure you can’t hide As the rhythm plays through you I feel how you love his touch While he's proud of his prowess Both of you so happy with him You are here, he is not You feel his very presence He’s forgotten you are even there A moment of abandon A collision. A passing apology Tension disper ..read more

Dear 2020, Goodbye and good riddance! I will not miss you, but that doesn't mean I didn't learn anything from you. You were difficult, stressful, fattening and frustrating. You were full of loss, loneliness, conflict, controversy and drama. You drove a wedge between many of us as we put our feelings and opinions about you on full display. Thanks to you and with a little help from social media we publicly shared our views about politics and science, often angrily exposing thoughts and feelings like never before with friends, colleagues and acquaintances. However, people learn a lot from adver ..read more

A guide to some of the most common vocabulary used in Argentine tango. This list is an ongoing work-in-progress. Feel free to send me questions, corrections or suggestions.   Lire en français. Abrazo. Hug. The tango embrace or arm position and hold. Dancers can use an abrazo abierto, or open embrace, maintaining some distance between the upper bodies, or an abrazo cerrado, or close embrace, with contact between the partners' torsos. Close-embrace dancing is more difficult to master for most, but also tends to be the preferred choice for high-level social dancers. Adelante. Forward ..read more

Leaders and followers have lots of freedom in the dance – within limits. There has been a lot of talk about freedom lately. What we are free to do and not do, what we are free to wear and not wear, where we are free to go and not go. I am a great believer in freedom. Freedom of choice, of expression, of religion. But freedom in a civilized society does not mean we get to do whatever we want. Society has rules and laws that we are obliged to follow or we suffer the consequences. We are “free,” yes, but within limits. We are not free to kill people. We are not free to physically assau ..read more

How long can technique classes and masked prácticas stand in for the tango that once was? Lire en français Of all the activities that have been affected by the current COVID pandemic, social events have been the hardest hit, including tango. For those of us who work in tango, especially those who make our living from it, it means our livelihood has been taken away and our immediate financial future looks grim. Many tango professionals are rethinking their careers. Schools and milongas around the world have closed and some teachers are seeking out job training in other fields. Soci ..read more

Having the time to slow down and smell the flowers is just one potential benefit of these difficult times. The COVID-19 outbreak has infected us all with fear and frustration, but it has also provided us with a potential learning opportunity. I know it has reminded me of some valuable life lessons that reflect those I have learned and in turn taught in tango. Slow down This is a hard one for many, including myself. Even decades ago, before I had a business to run and a family to raise I was addicted to staying busy. In my 20s I had a full-time career with crazy hours to which I ad ..read more