Tips to Happy Stiletto Feet

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by Sharna Fabiano

Ladies, do your feet hurt after tango? Of special concern to tangueras who wear high heels for dancing is foot care!

First, understand that if you spend any length of time in high heels, you MUST have a "recovery practice" that undoes the damage that high heels do. Below are some tips to keep your feet happy and ready to dance!

PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

1. Invest in comfortable (flat) walking shoes or well-padded sneakers to wear when you are not in heels, and go barefoot or "sockfoot" at home. For those near the beach, walking barefoot on sand is one of the best things you can do to strengthen your feet!

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Hi, My name is Michael, Independent Computer Programmer and Consultant, and I'm a Tango Dancer

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interview with Holly Darling

Michael Grandcolas is one of the very first sustaining enthusiasts of Oxygen Tango in addition to being an incredibly committed and longstanding member. He also practices Tango daily and has done so for more than a year without missing a single day, following the Seinfeld productivity technique that Avik shared in a guest charla at Oxygen. The discipline, challenge, and emotional connection of Tango keep him coming back for more for over eight years.

What drew you to Tango initially, and how did you discover Oxygen?

I’ve danced for a long time in other dances, and helped teach ballroom classes for about ten years. None of those other dances totally clicked for me so I was just looking around for another dance, and oddly enough Robert Duvall’s interest in Tango made me decide to take a lesson and see what it’s like. My first classes were out of Santa Monica College extension.

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Hi, My name is Pei Pei, Associate Registrar at UCLA Law, and I'm a Tango Dancer

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interview with Holly Darling

Pei Pei Tan is the new Member Relations Specialist at Oxygen Tango and a recent Tango Challenge graduate. She is incredibly passionate about everything Tango, caring about people and community- building, and newly addicted to asymmetrical clothing and stilettos. After just six months of dancing Tango, she can attest to the transformative power and spiritual dimension of Tango, as well as her surprising love for greeting people.

What drew you to Tango initially, and how did you discover Oxygen?

That’s a really good question. All my life I really loved social dancing, ballroom dancing. I had zero dance experience, never took ballet as a child, no dance experience, but I loved the costumes. My favorite movie was Strictly Ballroom. I was so miserable in law school; I wanted to drop out of law school and become a professional ballroom dancer; that’s how delusional I was. My ballroom experience had only been about a half dozen group classes at various community colleges over the years.

 

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How To Give Feedback To Another Student

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by Brigitta Winkler, Oxygen Guest Faculty

To give feedback is difficult. And, good feedback is one of the best sources for successful learning.

Student-to-student feedback does not judge right or wrong. Nor do we deal with guilt. Poorly or badly given feedback can not only slow down but sometimes it shuts down a learning process all together...or leads into other scenes. Feedback should be never forced on a person who is not open for it.

Feedback is simply a message that informs you how your behavior is received by others. In movement and dance this means usually: "how does it feel?" In partner dance, we use feedback to improve the experience in the given relationship -- because, it can be completely different with someone else.

Here are helpful questions to explore with your partner as a door-way into feedback:

• What helps to achieve what we want ?

• Is it comfortable ?

• What do I miss ?

• Where am I surprised ?

• What do I need, to feel better ?

Update

on 2014-01-16 20:17 by Oxygen Tango

For three decades, Brigitta Winkler has galvanized the Tango Renaissance. Her work with legendary  Virulazo, Copes, Todaro, Avellaneda, Naveira, and Arquimbau, combined with her oceanic knowledge of the human mind and body through Body Mind Centering, make her a unique and extraordinarily profound teacher who is able to access each unique individual's specal gifts. Brigitta’s influence has profoundly penetrated the current generation of young teachers we are all fans of. A strong, expressive and authentic dancer, Brigitta commands the respect of the leaders and followers all over the world.

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Brigitta Winkler

For three decades, Brigitta Winkler has galvanized the Tango Renaissance. Her work with legendary Virulazo, Copes, Todaro, Avellaneda, Naveira, and Arquimbau, combined with her oceanic knowledge of the human mind and body through Body Mind Centering, make her a unique and extraordinarily profound teacher who is able to access each unique individual's special gifts. Brigitta’s influence has profoundly penetrated the current generation of young teachers we are all fans of. A strong, expressive and authentic dancer, Brigitta commands the respect of the leaders and followers all over the world.

Tango Nicknames of Bygone Days: Celebrating Dancers' Uniqueness and Individuality

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by Lauren Kendrick

José María Baña "El Pibe Palermo" (kid from Palermo) and Carmen CalderónThe history of tango is studded with tangueros and tangueras with alter egos, creating a tradition of nicknames which continues into the present.  A person's tango persona is often separate from their everyday life.  For dancers in the past, tango was a merit-driven escape from their social and economic class and so some did not want to be known by their true names and professions.  In other cases nicknames arose merely because other

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