tango

Happiness as Anarchy #160: Vals, Waltz, 3/4 time

2019-10-29T08:17:36+11:00October 29th, 2019|Uncategorized|

One, two three, one two, three ... it's such a beautiful feel, the waltz or vals or valse, depending on which language you prefer. The tango vals is particularly beautiful - it has all the wonderful motion of the three beats, with soaring melodies over the top. Similarly, the dance has quite quick footwork, but

Happiness as Anarchy #156: Long dancing days

2019-10-25T17:06:31+11:00October 25th, 2019|Uncategorized|

I confess, it's late. 3am to be precise. That's what you do here in Tango-land on Thursday nights, and I left early! The day began early with a tango class at 11:15am, included a concert in the early evening of top notch tango music, and finished after a lovely night of dancing with fellow students

Happiness as Anarchy #153: Dancing as Anarchy

2019-10-22T12:47:32+11:00October 22nd, 2019|Uncategorized|

In the face of a looming election and economic crisis, the Argentines are hitting the streets with protest. The tango dancers are doing it to, in a gentle and connected way. Yesterday they held another Milonga Contra la Neoliberalismo (Dance Against Neoliberalism), outside in the Plaza Unidad Latinoamericano. All afternoon and into the night a

Happiness as Anarchy #140: Music as memory

2019-10-10T13:12:48+11:00October 9th, 2019|Uncategorized|

How lovely it is to have reminders of special people who are no longer with us. For me, these moments happen mostly with music. I was at my tango class today learning how to do graceful ochos (figure eights) and the teacher put on some opera for us to practice to - none other than

Happiness as Anarchy #139: Tango Shoes

2019-10-08T13:34:45+11:00October 8th, 2019|Uncategorized|

Having spent a week dancing in my workhorse shoes from home, this morning I acquired a beautiful pair of tango shoes. Let me be clear: they are not fashionable. They are very old fashioned in the tango world where everyone is wearing strappy, sparkly things with stiletto heels. However, I love them, with their closed

Happiness as Anarchy #126: One month holiday

2019-09-25T21:39:59+10:00September 25th, 2019|architecture, art, books, coffee, food, Happiness as Anarchy, people, Things That Make Me Happy, Travel|

Five weeks off work would make anyone happy, and I'm no exception. An adventure across the Pacific awaits with tango shoes and a foreign language. Sleeping in, dancing late, discovering a new city with its food, culture and songs, meeting people, having time to think, create, wonder and wander. See you Friday, Buenos Aires!  

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