I remember how thrilled Mateo was a year ago, returning from Poreč and giving me a detailed report about his first tango festival there, the famous Mediteranean summer tango festival. Mateo's report in short: it was amazing on and off the dancefloor. Diabetes-level of sweetness all around, fun, sun, sea, beautiful ladies from all around the world, partying on a boat and all that tango. A year ago tango meant almost nothing to me. So I had been happy for him but never imagined I would've enjoyed it too. Now I remembered the stories from a new perspective; a perspective of possibility that I too might enjoy tango craziness over-load. Early June, but July was already announcing itself with rising temperatures and less classes to attend in Ljubljana. Everybody in our tango community was talking about this year's Poreč. The talk revolved around the topics of:
Poreč was in the air but I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I felt no pull towards it in my belly, so I remained passive and observed the hype. Soon Mateo asked me if I was coming. I said I didn't know. Gradually over the next days I went from »I don't know« to »maybe,« and then to »probably,« followed by »most likely.« I was included in several Facebook chats where Poreč was discussed. When I finally decided that I would go, everybody has already hooked up with somebody to share apartments. There I was, alone and apartmentless. An apartment-orhpan. Come to think of it, a lot of orphan symbolism washing up on the shore with tango... So I began to search for company and accommodation. I talked to everybody I knew and kept getting the same response: »Sorry, no more room, we're already teamed up.« I was on the verge of cancelling Poreč altogether. I didn't feel like making a serious, let alone solo effort to join the caravan. And then Sanja called: »Listen, Marko, Agnieszka and me already have a small apartment. But we're willing to cancel it and get a bigger one if you want to join us? But you have to tell me today.« This is how Life makes sure I don't miss out on something that's supposed to happen. This is how we get to be each other's angels. I called Sanja back soon after and said I would be happy to join her crew. So that was set. A couple of weeks went by and I spent them in England, Newcastle, where I lead a training course in edu-LARP design. By the struck of misfortune, it had been two weeks of no tango.
The festival was in two weeks! I needed to get as much practice as possible. Being a beginner is no sin, but being a rusty beginner going to his first international tango festival... would just be plain suicide. Tangocide. I had learned from Mateo that Poreč was no local milonga with friendly faces. It was a massive dance event, full of beautiful people and a high level of tango skill. Ladies came to have a dance of their lives. Men came to provide them with one. So I organized quickly. On Wednesday I attended a practica with Marko and Agnieszka. On Thursday I went to a practica with Marta. On the weekend, Barbara and I attended a workshop in musicality with Alberto Goldberg. Alberto's workshop was the first time I had been dancing some sequences that I didn't know I knew. Totally spontaneous! Improvisation gave birth to some unprecedented skill. But that's another story... The following week I attended again a practica with Marko and Agnieszka and a practica with Marta. On Friday I had my first private class with Sanja. The same evening I met with Vesna for some 1-on-1 practice. The next Tuesday I took a private class with Marta. And on the last Wednesday, a day before Poreč, I went to a milonga organized by our school with a portuguesse DJ Joel, Piki's new boyfriend. It was my first milonga without Barbara. I was not overly happy with my performance. In fact, I felt my tango was pretty bad. Not the best kick-off for Poreč... After the milonga and my crying over it, I learned that during the course of the last two weeks, I had performed what Sanja calls a 'pretiraving,' which would translate to 'over-doing it.' Pretiraving does not result in more skill but more frustration. More is not more. Less is also not more. The 5th law of tango. It sounded about right. I was however sure that even over-doing things would eventually bear some fruit. But Lady Eventuality bears fruit to those who are patient. The festival was tomorrow. That was my time-frame for patience. And then Thursday July 9th finally arrived. My crew came to pick me up and off we went, towards the promised land of soft embraces, shiny faces and just about everything that rhymes with -aces. ! The Before is part of The Poreč series. New post coming soon !
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AuthorBlaz B, social tango dancer since February 2015. I'm sharing these posts to inspire future tango beginners, to encourage today's beginners and to possibly entertain those dancers, who have already become regulars at tango heaven.
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