Here is a performance playlist to 3 songs that Daniela Feilcke-Wolff and I performed to at Milonga Popular Berlin.
We started the performance with the milonga, “La Vida es Una Milonga”, followed by the tango “Remembranza” and then into a short performance to “Oblivion” – as a shout to my contemporary dance days.
The crowd on Monday nights is a pretty open, young crowd. We were received warmly and enthusiastically. It was lovely to perform with Daniela to make my Berlin debut!!! And it was a nice promotion for upcoming weekend workshops for Women leading and learning to lead.
There is still a lot of discussion around the topic of same sex dancing, about exchanging the roles in the dance while dancing, aesthetics and even simpler questions, why? And there are quite a variety of answers from 1) there are too many women dancers for the amount of men dancers, 2) it’s fun, 3) it improves my dancing, 3) why not, 4) a stand on identity and self-expression, to just name a few.
Those who know me, know that I entered tango from the perspective of a trained dancer, so the form and structure of the dance captivated me first. (Versus coming to tango as a stress reliever, to meet people, for the love of the music, or because I saw a Tango show, which are often how my students have found tango.) Learning both roles seemed natural and normal to me and then served me well when I was asked to teach. Learning new steps was never a problem and so learning to lead was like learning another dance at the time I started. As we know, the tango journey is that, a journey, and I weaved my journey between leading and following, sometimes leaving one role behind for many many months only to pick it up rejuvenated. I have found Daniela Feilcke-Wolff inspiring as a leader to dance with. She has some great insight into leading as a woman. I think we make a nice team! Enjoy!
And spread the word of our Tangueras weekend and come join us!