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About terpsichoral

A foreigner struggling to improve her tango in Buenos Aires.

A milonga transplanted: “Sundays at El Beso” in its new home

Posted on May 15, 2012

The entrance does honour to its name. Club Fulgor, the resplendent, glows in an inviting festive lipstick red and holly-leaf green, with the familiar shiny white capitals above the door. I arrive to find a small group of well-known El Beso … Continue reading →

Posted in Cabeceo, El Beso, Frustrations | 9 Comments

The sedentary and the mobile

Posted on April 30, 2012

“I’m not sure my friends will come”, he says. “They find this milonga rather intimidating.” I snuggle deeper into my woolly cardigan, shivering under the icy blasts of the air conditioning. “C’mon, let’s go”, he suggests, as the sweet violin strokes of … Continue reading →

Posted in Buenos Aires, La Viruta | 4 Comments

Seeing ourselves as others see us

Posted on April 23, 2012

We dance with treacly slowness, tucked carefully into a corner, pausing every few beats in a kind of freeze frame. The photographer’s lens is trained upon us and the consciousness of that pulls my body up, tall and proud. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Frustrations, Practising | 7 Comments

Bondage and freedom

Posted on April 15, 2012

Obediently, I bend my head forward slightly and rest my sweat-dampened forehead against the curve of his cheekbone. Immediately, the word is a smaller place: my gaze is forced diagonally downwards to take in a small wedge of smooth pale … Continue reading →

Posted in Active following, Decorations, Frustrations, Musicality, Practising | 1 Comment

Small World

Posted on April 10, 2012

A science-fiction fantasy. The women were three uncomfortable, elbow-jogging rows deep that night. As I tried to tuck my shoe bag — bulging awkwardly with my bulky street shoes like a strange foot-eating python — under my seat I felt … Continue reading →

Posted in Beyond Buenos Aires, Frustrations, Tango crushes | 2 Comments

The tango snob

Posted on April 4, 2012

A fiction with “a hero whom no one but myself will much like” My bicycle dynamo made a high-pitched squeaky whirr, like a strange species of cicada, and my wheels produced a dull squishy sound as I traveled over dead leaves. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bad dancing, Beyond Buenos Aires, Frustrations, Leading, Multiple tandas with the same leader, Not getting dances, Rejections, Tango through male eyes | 54 Comments

A tango crush

Posted on March 24, 2012

He sits at the bar sipping from a small white coffee cup, flanked by two women friends I know only from sight. I hover nervously nearby, my usual awkwardness in social situations magnified by a factor of 10. He spots … Continue reading →

Posted in Tango and Sexuality, Tango crushes | 10 Comments

The natural

Posted on March 18, 2012

A fantasy I love not just the dancing, but the rituals of tango, too. I felt a quiet confidence infuse me as I strode down the tiled corridor, catching a sneaky glimpse of myself in the mirror. My slenderness was … Continue reading →

Posted in Beyond Buenos Aires, Tango and Sexuality, Tango through male eyes | 14 Comments

Mutually assured musicality

Posted on March 12, 2012

This isn’t really my scene. “Terpsi”, a friend of mine jokes, “what are you doing here? Did you take a wrong turn somewhere on the way to another milonga?” I always feel a little awkward and out of place in this dark … Continue reading →

Posted in Active following, Buenos Aires, Decorations, La Viruta, Musicality, Sweat, Tango Nuevo, Tango Styles, The embrace | 4 Comments

The girl in the polka dot shoes

Posted on March 7, 2012

I am pensive in my technique class today, in the warm sunset-orange room with the elegant triple-toned fileteado adorning the mirror. The same word is emblazoned there in red, white and satsuma colours as is embroidered on our teacher’s black T-shirt in … Continue reading →

Posted in Buenos Aires, La Maleva, Leading, Learning and Teaching, Practising, Same-sex tango, Solo technique practice | Tagged , | 2 Comments