in memoriam - info

You have to learn how to learn.Every tango class I had taken up until thatpoint had simply shown patterns. Carloshad tried even from those first classes, toshow people that the dance consisted ofsimple elements, NOT patterns. Fromright off the bat, he tried to explain that thesalida was not a choreography that neededto be danced as one 8 count sequence. Itconsisted of three separate parts that couldbe combined in a myriad of different ways.In 2005, this may not seem like such aradical concept in Chicago. But back then,it was mind-blowing. Unfortunately, eventoday, many dancers don’t understand thissimple concept.He was the first teacher I had thatever made me simply walk to the music asan exercise. And he did it in every classthat he could. Private classes were noexception. We had literally taken 8 privateclasses that first fateful year in which wedid nothing but the salida. But he took thetime, to beat every last detail into us so itwould be second nature: the position ofthe feet and legs, the cleanliness of eachstep, and the connection to the beat of themusic. He used that sequence because itwas common to us, not because he wantedus to dance that way.This is where one of my favorite quotesof his came from--Touch-a you ankles and brush-a youknees.Another big change in our dancing evolvedas a result of that simple concept.It was only after the repeated technicaltraining that he worked with us on thetrue essence of the elements and how theyshould be used, as well as the real conceptsof leading and following.Gavito was also a stickler for the music.Nothing hurt him more than to see peopledancing with absolutely no connection to...he changed the lives of many ofyou as well, even if you don’trealize it. Without his influence,Tango...nada mas would havenever opened, and many people,several Chicago teachers included,would have never been introducedto our dance.the music. And he knew that it was a longprocess to teach. First, he had to makesure people understood the beat, and howto step properly on it.The tango is danced to the beat of theheart, tic...toc, tic...tocBut the dance was far more than that. Healways said, “If all you do is step on everybeat of the music, you don’t need tangomusic. You simply need a man with a drumin the corner.”There are two interpretations of themusic (at least), one is to dance to the beat,and the other is to dance to the musicalphrase. I dance the phrase.He also had a profound impact on themusic played in Chicago. Before Gavitoarrived, there was a preponderanceof instrumental music played, someappropriate, some not. Some hated vocalsfor a myriad of reasons. He wanted toopen up people’s minds to the beauty ofdancing to vocals of the golden age. Therewas one night we were with the cast ofForever Tango at dinner after their show,and he asked the following question of thegroup, “When you dance to vocal tangos,do you dance to the orchestra or to thesinger?” No one there mentioned thepossibility of dancing to only instrumentals.That’s when I knew I had a lot to learn!Then there were the codigos—thecodes of the milogueros. Gavito gave memy first introduction to these concepts.Codigos like not only wearing a jacket whiledancing, but making sure it was buttonedbefore you dance, or wearing pants thatare slightly long so that your socks don’tshow even when extending your leg whiletaking a side step, and making sure younever expose the soles of your shoes whiledancing. All of these were a source ofpride to the milongueros. No matter ifyou had worn out socks, shoes with holesin the soles, you always put on your bestappearance out of respect for the ladiesand the dance, and hid any potential flawsin your clothes and shoes.He, like other milongueros, deeplybelieved in yeta, bad luck. Traditiondictates that there is one song that is neverdanced. As a matter of fact, the name ofthe song is never spoken. The story goesthat it was the last song that Gardel sang.It’s since been proven that it was not, butit was still a song that said goodbye tohis friends. Whenever the song or thename of the song A**** M******** (namewithheld to prevent bad luck!) men wouldgrab and squeeze their private parts, andwomen would squeeze their breast toremind themselves of the pain Gardel feltin the crash. When I first witnessed this,I thought it odd, but saw how deeply itaffected him, and always respected it. As amatter of fact, Kathleen and I automaticallyreact in exactly the same way to this day!Carlos also explained to us that again,out of respect for Gardel, his songs werenever played to dance to. No one beforeaugust 2005 • tango noticias 3