|
Leonardo in Bali
Bali, January 2008
Dear Tango friends,
Another tanguero came, bedazzled and bewitched us, and left again. For
eight weeks Leonardo kept our tango hearts pounding and our legs moving.
I will never forget the valses with him, just turning, turning, turning
until I didn’t know which foot was left or right. What elation I felt!
Or that lesson during which he sang tango songs with his beautiful tenor
voice while we were practicing my new figures.
And – O Wonder – for once nobody had to complain about not dancing in
the milongas! Not just once, but two or even three times. I made the
calculation one evening: we were 13 women and Leonardo danced with all
of us at least three times (a few lucky ones stayed late and got a
fourth dance). Assuming that one tango lasts three minutes, that makes
117 minutes – almost two hours – of straight dancing! And that’s at 10
p.m. after teaching 5 (S: how many?) hours of private lessons and
dancing with everyone during the practica. And all the while he made
every single woman feel like it’s the best thing in the world to dance
with her right now, be she old or young, experienced or beginner. A big
big applause for Leonardo – and the tip for all tango teachers in the
world to pick up meditation and fill themselves up to the rim with Zen
energy...
That Leonardo hardly speaks a word of English was sometimes a challenge.
Until the very end, you couldn’t quite determine whether he was asking
for juice or shoes. With his appetite for mango it was usually the
former. But it speaks for his character and charm that even without
exchanging many words he made many new friends in Bali and will be
dearly missed. And in terms of dancing, some even considered the
language barrier a bonus. Don’t talk, just dance, we could adapt the
song title.
There was a notable change in the composition of people in the milongas
while Leonardo was here. We saw a lot more of some women who usually
disappear after the practicas – because they rarely get asked to dance.
We all know that tango life is unfair – young, attractive women and
experienced dancers are getting much more attention (unfortunately,
tango is just like real life...). So being asked again and again by this
attractive, charming and wonderful professional dancer – it can really
make weak female hearts flutter...
There were some other additions to our dance evenings. Alex, Ratihs
mathematician husband, was convinced to join the tango world after
Leonardo explained to him the beautiful structure of the dance. Welcome!
Leonardo was always open to ask strangers to dance, too, such as the
Argentinian girl with whom he danced quite a wild chacarera and proved
that his legs are at least as rubbery as Jerry Lewis’. Leonardo the show
man – that was another a side of him.
And he passed on the performance bug to others: We saw a whole series of
very impressive performances due to his teachings. David and Maria did a
beautiful job (Maria and Iris, we are all so jealous that you’ve got
tango husbands!), and also Franziska, and Iris and Matthew, who learned
some cheeky new jumps and poses.
A
few of us got to know his other side as well – the deep spirituality and
his buddhist attitude to life. Our sightseeing tour to Amed included
praying at 8 ceremonies and I (being one of the few he could speak to)
had the honour to receive a lots of buddhist teachings (some asked for,
some unasked for). The tangueras also had to spare him for Franziska’s
yoga retreat. Of course, with a body trained in ballet dancing and
stealed with hours and hours of tango, yoga poses are a piece of cake.
There were, however, also some less enthusiastic voices about his
teaching. Too much “just live the present moment” in his lessons, and
too little structure and teaching effort, I heard some say. Well, my
dears, as Stefani already said: for the basics we have Ogie and soon we
will have Anibal for technics and theory , Leonardo, however, was for
the inspiration!
With best tango wishes,
Beate
|
CLUB
...
