DanceHop: Dance Events, Dance News, Dance Videos, Seattle Dance
Dancehop blog: events, news, lifestyle, lessons, video, and more

I was practicing at Dance Underground yesterday with a friend of mine who has rock solid technique, and she noticed that I wasn't moving as a single unit. During my trip to Buenos Aires, I took 3 private lessons in 3 weeks, which can be seen as ambitious. I think my dance will make a quantum leap, and yours can too, provided we follow these rules:
1. Record yourself Often times we have no real idea what our bodies are doing, and how our thoughts translate to real world movement.  It's a lot easier looking at someone else and deconstructing their dance.  If we take a step back and put our egos aside, we can improve quickly… Read More

[wpyt_profile1]Nl0J0yG-aQE[/wpyt_profile1]
Here's a vid from our YouTube Channel, DanceHopChannel, with Bruno Tombari & Mariangeles Caamaño, performing at Villa Malcolm. The quality leaves something to be desired, so if anyone can recommend a semi professional camera that can also record video well, please let me know in the comments. Read More

Here's a video I just put up on Youtube showing a friend playing bandoneon and singing, for New Years at Studio Dinzel in Buenos Aires. I saw him a few days later performnig with a group in Salon Canning, the scene down there is VERY interconnected. [wpyt_profile1]HBV2m55sWUY[/wpyt_profile1]  Read More

The BBC has this article about psychology experiments, showing the correlation between atractive males and dance style.
To paraphrase: Apparently women like small to medium size movements, with some degree of complexity including random movements. They're stil lstudying this and can use your help, check out their wacky video. Read More

[wpyt_profile1]QvbFieQ9kXE[/wpyt_profile1]
Eugenia Parrilla and Ezequiel Farfaro, dancing an alternative style tango, with non traditional music. I took a private with Ezequiel this last trip, and 3 with Eugenia the previous trip. Read More

Two years ago, I saw 4 people in the airport I knew. This year, it was three, which is still somewhat crazy. I met a couple from the UK the previous night dancing at Salon Canning, and then ran into them in Ezeiza. I also ran into Rachel who I'd met at another milonga (Nino Bien) when our paths crossed in Dallas: [caption id="attachment_148" align="alignnone" width="448" caption="Seeing Rachel during my trip back to the states"][/caption]… Read More

I leave tomorrow morning, and looking back on this experience, I feel like I pretty much accomplished everything I wanted, without trying too hard after setting the goals. It reminds me of my experience of Burning Man.
I'll be going out tonight, as a means of bidding farewell to the city and the dance as I've experienced it here. Hera are the latest photos of the trip. [gallery]
I feel like it's a lot easier to be one's authentic self while traveling, since one doesn't have a self image to try to prop up as much. New places and faces mean one is out of the grind, and more into the current experience.… Read More

Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Workweek blog gets some amazing guest posts, including one by Leo Babauta, on how to change your habits systematically. One key idea was that of changing only one habit per month, until you get the hang of it. For January, I will incorporate writing in a journal daily, and including my 3 most important tasks.
Often we try to take on too much at once, get stymied, and give up. By slowly but surely gaining traction in changing our lives, the result can be profound.… Read More

I've been having pretty interesting talk with cabbies in Buenos Aires. For starters, most of the older men that are driving have come out of retirement after the economic crisis, where a LOT of assets were frozen. I just found out that most cabbies rent their cabs for about 180 pesos a day, and happen to make about 50k a year, which is the minimum for a family of 4 to have a decent quality of life. In essence, half of their cost comes from the rental of cabs and the license. Licences are limited to something like 75,000 in… Read More

I was working on the last post and ran into Pablo, and a friend of his. Pablo happens to be a kickass nuevo tango dancer, and Jewish, like myself, and many of the tangueros in Buenos Aires. I actually think we're very present in the scene, moreso than the 100k or so Jewish people who live in Buenos Aires, a city of 45 million I believe. Read More