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Vignette by Lara Triback, Portland,
OR
Twelve-hour brunch.
One tango genius.
Meredith`s apartment. Her Argentine
boyfriend and tango
savant Andrés, wide-eyed Adam from New York, Andrés`
80-pound partner Marcela and her Bolivian boyfriend,
twice her height and three times her girth. My lindy
hopping-tango practice partner Michael. Two full meals,
two rented movies, X number of hours dancing on the
closed-in patio.
The previous evening Michael and I
struggled with at
least fifty other dancers, ranging from intermediate to
international professionals, to figure out advanced
tango combinations offered by Gustavo Naveira. One
young porteno in a sleeveless t-shirt elicited a "Muy
bien" from the Master. Everyone else appeared
exasperated. Someone described dancing with Gustavo
as dancing with God. Due to the comparatively small
class size, Adam ended up spinning Gustavo`s partner,
a visibly pregnant Giselle, and despite my immense fear,
Gustavo successfully executed two of his combinations
with me. For 20 seconds of bliss I was dancing with a
buttery bear.
Michael and I have set aside three
hours per day to hone
our technique and further deconstruct the challenging
10-second brain-twisting combinations that we have
been learning at the rate of one hour of practice per
second of successful execution.
At Meredith`s we asked Andrés
to help us figure out how
to put together Gustavo Number One: Begin-with-
colgada-then-gancho-the-girl-while-giroing-before-
stepping-immediately-into-a-back-sacada move. Without
a moment`s hesitation, Andrés executed the
combination effortlessly. While we attempted to peel our
jaws off the floor, Andrés added a few alternative
endings. After two hours with Andrés. Adam began to
plan his return to Buenos Aires in order to study tango
exclusively with him.
Andrés is the hidden gem of
tango nuevo. He has been
dancing tango for 18 years and as a child studied with
Gustavo and other Masters. Andrés has deconstructed
every permutation of every tango concept, and with
scientific precision communicates these structures to
his students. ("Your feet are facing at this angle. Your
hips are at this angle. Your chest is at this angle. Turn
your head, and she goes." And she does.) Now thanks
to Meredith, next winter Boy Wonder Andrés Amarilla
will take the US by storm.
Tango Friends in America, Mark Your
Calendars...
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