Lidia and Hector Legrand
These excerpts submitted by Lidia and Hector Legrand with authorization by Matías Castelli, author of the book The One Tango You Danced with Me. 1st edition, 17grises Publishers, 2012.
If you are interested in learning more about Argentine Tango and Tango events in SaddleBrooke, please visit our website http://tangoargentino.sharepoint.com, where you can also read Parts 1 through 21 of this series.
The purpose of publishing this series has been all along to acquaint the reader with all subjects surrounding Argentine Tango, the Dance.
We are honored that we have been authorized by our friend and writer Matías Castelli, whose life revolves around Argentine Tango, to publish the English translation of the following paragraphs, as they will convey some perspective about Argentine Tango culture:
“As we grow older, we acknowledge that dancing couples are only concerned about showing off. They forget about how important dancing with feeling is. Their steps become gradually more complicated while they forget about the embrace, as they do not care about dancing gracefully, or about the beat, or about stepping in synch with the music. That is why they pay attention to us, Nina, because being innovative is only a question of going back to the essentials.”
“If you are to pass judgment on a place based on the artificial flowers you can find in all dance halls, this place has no appeal. But if you add to it the dancer´s body language, the serious gestures of the orchestra musicians, the women´s well taken care of dresses, the style in the facial expressions of the men (sometimes carefree yet in some situations aggressive) in search of a female dancing partner, then Glorioso Palermo turns to be so charming that it becomes unique.”
“There are some women who ask to be led. They will not move unless they receive a precise signal. This is not an indication that they surrender, on the contrary. They say: “I don’t feel your signals” as they lean on their dancing partner. Even if they are slim, they make their bodies feel heavy. Other women prefer to move around their axis, always light. They like to adorn with enhancements the slightest musical passages.”
About Lidia and Hector: Argentina born U.S. citizens and SaddleBrooke residents, founding members of SATS, chartered in both HOAs. They travel to Buenos Aires often to dance Argentine Tango, to participate in International Argentine Tango festivals and to further refine their Argentine Tango teaching skills. 2015 is Lidia and Hector’s twelfth year as SaddleBrooke Argentine Tango Dance Instructors of both group and private students. They have been teaching Argentine Tango dancing for sixteen years. They also offer seminars and workshops on Argentine Tango music, history, culture and cuisine. Please visit their website: http://tangoargentino.sharepoint.com.