Ogie Mendoza TANGO    

Tango opening salvo

Dateline: Hong Kong/Singapore  January 1 – 7,2007

                                          WEEK  1

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! It’s the first day of the year and it feels good to start with the year right. Friends from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Jakarta and Manila have been sending me New Year’s wishes and little did I realize that I have countless friends who remember me during this special day. I consider friends as treasures. And I will forever be grateful to my Creator for having given me wonderful friends these past few years.

I carried on with my writing to make the most of the remaining days left in Hong Kong because in two days time I am set to fly again to resume my works in Singapore. I hardly felt the holiday season the year that passed. But no regrets, as I have conditioned myself and the people around me that my life this coming year will just be busier as I fulfill my dreams and ambitions that I have longed for.

I had quite a nice stay when I visited friends and relatives the second day of the year. They have not seen me for one year and was just too happy too catch-up with them. While I wanted to see Disney HK, I did not have the time to do it because of my writing. Instead, I went to visit my two favorite spots on my last day and those were the night markets in Temple Street and Mong Kok. This is always a must for me. I have to always have a glimpse of these two night markets to keep me in touch with Hong Kong. It’s a nice walk one would experience every time he/she promenades the pathways of these markets during winter. I love Hong Kong!

I went to do some little shopping to buy some gift stuffs for friends and students in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bali. I did my own shopping as well to buy some nice shirts and accessories which I’ll be using for my travel, teaching and performances. These markets have so much to offer at very reasonable prices and I have to take the opportunity while I am here.

On January 3, I was off to Singapore as I boarded CX 739 at 11:35 am. I have my sights set for the coming year and first on my project list is the tango tour I am doing in cooperation with Tatler Indonesia. It’s quite an ambitious project if I may say so but with the support of a prestigious company like Tatler, how can I go wrong.

I arrived at Changi airport at 3 pm and from there proceeded to the city to settle myself in the coming days. I called up Bg to ask he if I can stay with her until January 8. She gave me her nod and I hurriedly went to her place in Dalvey Estate to put my acts together. I started sounding of my students that I will be in town for five days. And as I arrived in Bg’s house, she was there to open the door and received me as I greeted her the best of 2007.  She was in a very happy mood after her Christmas family reunion in Wistler. She sounded very jubilant as she talked about her son, daughter and grandchildren as they skied and played and cooked during the holidays.

Although most of my students are not yet back from their holidays, I am happy to retain my most reliable ones in Bg, Angeline, Shirley & Rose. Immediately all four carried on with their lessons in the succeeding days with no traces of holiday hang-over They are tango “locas”, a term of endearment I will call people who are so much in passion with the dance.

On Thursday morning Bg took the first class at 10:00 am. She was so raring to go back to tango having tango-ed out for almost a month. Without hesitation, I immediately brought her to a few rounds of dancing and decided that I won’t do much discussion today and instead opt to just make her dance until she is back in proper form. True enough that was what the lady wanted and was so happy that she finally got to dance again her new found favorite which is of course the tango. She knows about the tango tour I am organizing and has expressed her willingness to join said tour in February.

In the afternoon Rose Dieu, took her lesson at 3 pm. She’s just been back from KL where she gets to tango with the KL crowd. She too was looking very happy these days and had spent the holidays up in KL with her daughter and grandchildren. Her dancing has improved so much and she’s getting more and more attuned to the nuances and the little details that go with the dance. Another one added to the list of students who has achieved a certain level of tango maturity.

And in the evening, Angeline and Shirley ran a one hour class each for both of them starting at 6 pm. I have no problem with my two “tangueras” as both have consistently posted progress in accordance with their level. Angeline is getting better each day while Shirley has started to manifest in her movements the fine controlled movements that I want her to imbibe and understand. It is always gratifying for teachers to see their students the way they expect them to improve. This needs a lot of mutual trust and respect for each other to be able to sustain a relationship that will guarantee good quality results. I am pleased that I have this kind of relationship with students like Bg, Rose, Angeline & Shirley.

The succeeding days were more lessons with Bg, Angeline, Shirley and Rose. In between lessons, I will take time to map out plans for the tango tour slated for February-March. I started jotting down an 8-day itinerary, with a two week overstay in Buenos Aires to do side-trips to Rio de Jainero and Iguazu. I specially designed this itinerary in accordance with Maria Lukito’s specification. I can’t help but feel excitement about this trip because it will give me the chance to visit some interesting places in South America. But being a tango tour I made sure that I did not deviate from its main concept and I have to include a tango workshop with a chosen maestro to teach the group while in Buenos Aires. The usual city and shopping tour were included as well otherwise it would lose the fun if I miss this out.

Barely seven days into 2007 and I can see myself really getting busier as each day passes.

It seems luck is on my side since I did TANGOXPOSED. But all these are products of hard work based on careful planning, strategizing, creating and developing ideas and many more. I must just be too engrossed with my career this time that my mind is overflowing with creative juices coupled with the right people to work with that things are working to my favor. I have to play my cards well making sure that all projects I undertake will bear great results enough to create a mark in the Asian market.

Things are quiet at the moment in Singapore, quite understandable as people have not gotten over their holiday hang-over. Life will get back to normal in a few more days when everyone’s been back from their holidays.

Dateline: Singapore/Jakarta/Bali    January 8-14, 2007

                                                    WEEK  2

On my last night, Bg invited me for dinner-dance in Temasek Club. We met up with dancing friends Colonel Lim and wife Florence ditto with Vincent, Fred, James, Barbara, Annie and many more. Angeline and Shirley joined us later as they both want to see the Filipino band that plays there. I managed to convince them to take a look into this band as both are music aficionados and are great admirers of Filipino talents. True enough, when they heard them play, they immediately succumbed to their musical prowess, especially when they heard the singer sang Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton. They were seen hanging loose and having great fun.

The following day I have to fly to Jakarta to conduct some private lessons before flying to Bali and at the same time meet-up with Maria Lukito and Ronnie Wongkar to discuss the itinerary for the tango tour. I dashed off to Changi airport at 8:00 am to catch my flight via GA 825 that will leave at 10:05 am.

In one and a half hours I was seen collecting my luggage at the Jakarta Airport and soon after headed to Formule 1 Hotel in Menteng where I would be billeted in the next two days. I rang up Suzan to inquire about my schedule and she told me that Maria and Ronnie are to take their lessons while I’m in Jakarta. She also advised me that both Maria and Ronnie wanted a meeting with me concerning our tango tour itinerary.

At 3:00 pm Maria took her lesson that went on for two hours. I saw her at Ruma Maroco where Suzan arranged the lesson. Always very sweet and nice, Maria even had something for me, a freshly made “kueh” or local cake. We then started our lesson where

I have to thoroughly grill her on the importance of posture by defining her axis/balance. While I discussed this with her last month when she had her lesson, it seemed to have not set in to her system, thus the need to explain this element once more. 

Maria is the classic example of a student who needs much pampering somewhat typical of ballroom ladies who are so used to being treated with all the niceties. While I off course respect her and treat her nicely, but when it comes to learning tango properly I make sure that I send my message across, other wise everything would boomerang back on me when I don’t put my foot down and make them understand that it’s not an easy ride to learn tango. With a very précised and accurate discussion of details concerning balance/axis, weight changes and all that stuff, I finally convinced Maria that she there is no short cut to tango except to learn it the hard way. But since she was reacting to my discussions very well she took everything in stride as she painstakingly went through the rigors of understanding all the elements concerning tango posture. She felt a big change in her movements and was finally convinced that what I was teaching her was exactly what she needed and not all those steps some local and foreign teachers from the Philippines a.k.a Filipino DIs are teaching her. I am happy that I was able to prove my point and even luckier that she listened.

Ronnie came for his lesson next at 5:00 pm. But instead of having lesson at Ruma Maroco he opted to have it in his house and brought me there. Ronnie is the typical rich Chinese guy who has all the best things in life. And one can see immediately from the signature shirts he’s wearing and the luxurious jewelry and cars he’s using. Loaded, I would say. But he has this special liking for dancing that he can keep training until he gets it right. He admitted that he is a slow learner thus the need for him to repeat things over and over again until he gets it. His center has considerably improved since the last time we worked together. But I still discussed on this matte thoroughly with him to provide him the much needed balance he needs to carry on with the dance. He is one student who listens to his teacher and I appreciate him for this attitude as it results would be easier to achieve if he were to keep it this way. I also emphasized the line of dance through which he is to use the basic steps I thought him and was very pleased with the way he was responding to my discussions.

After the lesson Ronnie invited me for dinner at Shanghai Blue owned and operated by Lucienne, a student from Bali whose family owns the Tugu group of hotels in Indonesia. The place has fantastic things to offer from good Indonesian food, to opulent ambience down to decorations of priceless Chinese antiques which the family is noted for. Her dad is the biggest antique collector in Indonesia. Ronnie and I were accompanied by two ladies Brenda and Dawn. Brenda is Ronnie’s current girlfriend while Dawn is a Singaporean and a good friend of Brenda. We had such great time enjoying the delectable cuisine that was served during dinner as we talked about tango and the many things concerning business, politics and gourmet food and wine which is Ronnie’s favorite topic these days as he is Paris bound for a 6-month gourmet course in the French capital.

It was past 11:00 pm when we decided to call it a night. The group dropped me off at my hotel and promised to catch-up again sometime in the future.

The following day Maria rang me up to follow-up on the tango tour itinerary. She requested that it be an 8-day tour so that it can fit in to her heavy schedule. She also reminded me to include good restaurants noting “Los Immortales” with preference. She also mentioned Abasto Plaza Hotel as the place she wants to be billeted in as the general manager is her very good friend. She gave me the contact of the GM and gave me a free hand to liasse with her concerning hotel bookings for the coming tango tour.

In the afternoon at 2:oo pm I saw her for her scheduled lesson. She did a one hour class at Ruma Maroco followed by Ayu & Cris. The lessons conducted today were quite fulfilling as I saw all of them, Maria, Cris & Ayu improving a lot on the basic elements of the dance. Ronnie was suppose to have his lesson as well but cancelled at last minute because of an urgent meeting.

My flight to Bali is scheduled at 8:00 pm tonight that I decided to go back to my hotel and start packing my things. I advised Suzan that everything’s been complied for concerning this trip of mine and that I will be back again sometime in February for our next scheduled workshop.  I rushed off to the airport at 5:00 pm to catch-up with my flight. It’s still a working day in Jakarta so I needed to have a leeway for my travel time to the airport as I’ll be caught in a terrible traffic jam when it builds-up during rush hours.

Well what else is new? Expect this when you are in big cities.

I arrived in Bali at 10:30 pm aboard a Garuda Airbus 426 en route to Osaka. I was so pleased to have boarded a huge plane expecting that a small aircraft would ferry me from Jakarta to Bali. Funnily, I was only in my rubber sandals when I took this flight because of the early check-out  I made from my hotel which gave me no time to change my clothes and bathe either.

I got into Stefani’s tango house at past 11:00 pm and immediately retired and called it a day. Gut nacht!

The following morning I met Stefani as she handed me my schedule. She was looking great and in high spirit as she told me that today is her birthday. Happy birthday Stef! I wish you more happiness and more tango. She told me that she will tender a dinner reception on Friday to Tango Bali Club members and friends.

Today is going to be a hectic day as I teach Mark, Lola, Sabine, Victoria and Anama. Barely eleven days into 2007 and I can see myself in total high gear as I prepare myself for more teachings and set my sight on bigger things to come this year. I am oozing with so much energy and I feel I am ready to conquer my ambitions this year. It feels good to be busy and loaded with many things to do. God has been good to me.

Mark took the first slot at 12:30 pm. It feels good to see him once again as he hopes to really be more focused in tango this time. I’ve heard it a countless times but Mark is a busy buddy  as he runs his business, attends to his social life among other things that I will give him my full understanding if he falls out of tango from time to time. What is important is that he likes it although not totally in passion with the dance but he certainly likes this art form. He likes the music very much and that he would also like to improve on his dancing. I ran a one hour class with him just revising on past lessons he had learned. Mark is easy to teach He knows what he wants but he listens to important points needed to make him a good tango dancer. We worked on some routines he learned during the CITA of last year and some from my lesson and that of Roberto’s as well. I would say that Mark has gained enough confidence as can be gleaned from the way he was moving. Honestly, I was really impressed by what I saw. He is now less than two years in tango and the progress he has made is indeed remarkable. Great to see you again dancing Mark!

Lola then came to take her lesson. She and Mark were supposed to take it together but because Mark has an important meeting to attend to that Lola has to do it without him. Fine! Lola after all is easy and flexible. She can work alone with me and still do things with burning passion as she is totally in love with tango. We did our usual rounds as I take her to a few minutes of warm up. She was doing very well and has much better improved balance, tortions are getting more defined and  musicality is good enough save for a few little details that would help enhance all these elements for a an even better dancing.

I then went to Seminyak for the continuation of today’s lessons. Being a Thursday, normally Stefani would arrange all my classes in Sunset until 7:00 pm after which I run to Made’s Warung for the weekly “practica”. Sabine was scheduled at 3:00 pm and as soon as I arrived at the restaurant she was already there. We wasted no time as we immediately went to do our session. Although still a bit tight on the shoulders and her balance still needs more definition, I brought Sabine to several exercises that would make her improve all these weak points in her. She is a very diligent student and in all fairness to her, while she is a slow learner, she actually understands the discussions I would normally give her. Short of saying theoretically, her mind is quick to catch-up but her body is slow to respond. She is one of those students who respond to movement repetition or otherwise known as muscle memory. These are people with slow reflexes and poor body coordination. But with the constant lessons she’s been taking with me, I would say that she has managed to improve a lot as compared to the first few times she came for lessons when it felt like I was moving a wall when dancing with her. I mean no offence but this is what one feels when the partner one is dancing with possesses these problems. Sabine did a good progress in the one hour that we worked together. She will be a good dancer sooner or later.

After Sabine it was Victoria’s turn to take her lesson. Victoria is Franziska’s sister and  she has just been back from Germany after being away for awhile attending to their trading business. Yes, she and Franziska would take turns to go to Germany attending trade fairs which they have been doing for many years now. She now joins the tango bandwagon happening in Bali and enjoys the dance very much as she keeps herself fit and socially active whenever she is in the island. Although not difficult to teach, Victoria has been improving considerably since she started taking lessons during her last visit. She now can somehow attune her body with the basic steps of tango and quite understand the principles involved t make her a good tango dancer. She has no problems with balance thus making her center defined from the very beginning she took lessons. Except for a slight tightness on her shoulders and an open chest to make her more sensitive to the man’s lead, Victoria is sure to catch-up with her German friends who are all full-fledged “tangueras” to date. Welcome again Victoria!

Anama then took the lesson after Victoria. I remember her taking a series of lessons last December making her finally understand what it means to dance an honest-to-goodness tango. In th beginning she was quite hesitant when I was discussing her about the elements of axis/balance, weight-changes et. al. but after the changes she had felt in her movements during my last visit in November, it finally dawned on her the importance of all these little details making her now more attentive to my discussions. Actually, she was not supposed to have any lessons this time as she was Cebu-bound to attend the Ati-atihan festival. Cebu of course is that city in one of the islands of the Visayas in the Philippines which is very noted for this festival. Being a Christain nation, the Philippines especially Cebu will annually commemorate the feast of the Infant Jesus as part of its religious ceremony. It is a very grand celebration similar to the mardi gras in Rio de Jainero.

With more discussion on axis/balance and a little loosening of the tightness on her shoulders brought about by her improved balance, Anama is now ready to conquer level 2 of her learning the tango. She was quite happy about the progress she’s made so far and was looking forward to her next lessons in the coming days.

In the evening I went to Made’s Warung. It was again “practica” time for our Tango Bali members. Franziska, Victoria, Anama, Sabine, Dewi, Mark, Agus, Matthew and some visiting “tangueros” were present during the evening. Stefani and I ran the usual exercises as we gave them some exciting figures to work on. After the exercises everyone had the chance to display their prowess as we opened the dance floor to the usual dancing. It lasted till about 10:00 pm until we adjourned downstairs to take our dinner. What a nice way to open the New Year! No wonder Tango Bali which is barely two years in existence but had posted enough progress to be in the league of the other established tango clubs in Southeast Asia. Credit of course goes to the indefatigable lady behind its success, Stefani K.

The following day was unusually quiet as no lessons were lined-up during the day. It’s alright! You can’t have good days all the time. But actually, Stefani purposely arranged it this way as she celebrates a belated b-day party where she invited Tango Bali club members for dinner at her tango house in Sanur. This is the second year she’s celebrating it in this house and as usual, foods and drinks flowed during the evening as everyone from Nancy, Made, Ellen, the German ladies, Mark, Ricky & Agus, Omar & Lily, her children Aylin, Julian and Kim were there to make this important milestone in her life memorable. As usual tango will always be present specially so if the birthday celebrant happens to be the founder of one of the most active tango clubs in the region. We partied till about 2:00 pm and everyone felt great about this recent bonding. Happy birthday Stefani!

Saturday was a heavy day indeed. After the fun party last night, I conducted five hours of lessons starting from 2:00 -7:00 pm. It was quite exhausting though considering that it was a marathon lesson that went on consecutively from noon till early evening. Well, I have been so used to this lifestyle that sometimes I can’t help but feel exhaustion from time to time brought about by low bio-rhythm. I’m only human that I needed to adjust my body moods during certain days. No regrets.

Anama, Sabine, Victoria, Fanziska and Dewi all took their lessons in Sunset. All five have wonderful lessons today making me fulfilled as a tango teacher. Anama is getting used to the discipline of the dance that she now grounds herself on the floor by defining her axis. Sabine on the other hand is gradually moving her torso each time she moves into forward and back crosses. Victoria carried on with her initiation into the other aspects or elements of the dance as I taught her the “giro”. While sister Franzisca enjoyed her lesson on “volcada y colgada” , elements essential to get into tango nuevo Whereas Dewi sans George is now getting better into every movement she does as I took her into the complicates steps I already discussed with her during pat lessons. She’s getting much lighter now and slowly imbibing that distinct tango feeling of connecting to her partner.

The following day Stefani and I went over our usual practice/exercises working on past choreographies at times developing some new figures/patterns to even enhance our routine. Fortunately today there is not much things to do that I decided to go to the beach and tried out this water sport called para-sailing. This is when one is tied to a speed boat and with a chute on his/her back. The speed boat driver then runs the engine and he/she is obliged to come running to get ready for take off as he/she ascends from the waters catching a spectacular view of the foreground from above. Unlike parachuting where one comes down from a plane, para-sailing is the opposite, you take-off from a seed boat. It was a nice experience and I would certainly love to keep doing it as it gives me a different high. Finally I was able to experience this feeling of parachuting in para-sailing

In the evening I asked Wiwik, my masseur to give me some body works as I brace myself for another heavy week of teaching. What a nice week end!

Dateline: Bali    January 15-21, 2007

                                              WEEK 3

It’s only the second half of January and I can see myself running in four different cities from Hong Kong to Singapore to Jakarta to Bali, keeping myself very busy with work from teaching, to organizing and all things tango.

I just had the chance to view the website for TANGO CARAVAN. Stefani who did it was very pleased with its outcome. All the information for this coming tango tour is now contained in a website and it would be much easier for us now to promote it to the fullest. I went over the pages in the website and finally decided that it was ready to go online. I then advised Maria Lukito , Rony Wongkar etc. that they can view the website over the week-end. They were pleased to hear this wonderful news. Finally, they realized that the tango tour will now be a reality. This is the blue-print that I’ve been telling Maria about. And I’m so pleased that Stefani and I did a wonderful job.

This week lessons and the two “practicas” were the common flair in my schedule. It doesn’t come as a surprise anymore as I’ve been used to this lifestyle whenever I am in Bali. Lessons with Mark, Lola, Sabine, Helena and Anama were on, on Monday and Tuesday. Mark and Lola finally got to work together and were seen enjoying the routines that I taught them. Both have displayed enough confidence in their moves especially Mark who has been to Buenos Aires and knows exactly how the dance is danced from its birthplace. He kept doing the steps and figures I taught him while Lola was just there to follow every direction Mark would take him. They were doing very well and I hope that they carry on working together as this is the only way for them to improve on their dancing,

Sabine and Anama meanwhile were still catching up with their understanding of the dance but have consistently been progressing insofar as movements are concerned. Both ladies are keen learners and have the determination to get to the bottom of things until they are satisfied with the results. I still gave added inputs into their weight changes as they started defining a much better balance and axis.

On the other hand, Helena was there to provide the much needed break I need after a heavy dose of tango. Rumba which is supposed to be one of her favorite has indeed improved a lot. She is seen always enjoying her lessons as she does all these fun dances with me. Well it gives me just as much pleasure to break the monotony of tango, at least for a moment.

The “practica” at Made’s was great again. We had two Aussie “tangueros” who came to join us for the “practica”. Mario who is quite a regular fixture in Bali as he comes here at least twice a year and makes it a point to join the Tango Bali Club to tango what else. He is from Melbourne and like David, the other Aussie guy who is quite a professional tango dancer hails from Melbourne as well. This guy has been into tango for more than twelve years and has a good feel for the music. He runs a bar back home and teaches tango professionally. He is set to do a show together with his partner in Shanghai and Korea and promise to drop by Bali on their way back in September 2007.

As usual, our tango ladies were extremely happy brought about by the presence of men who can dance the tango. Made, Nancy, Ellen, Franziska, Sabine, Anama, Matt, Peter and Galina and even Mark were all there that evening. We had another glorious night once again.

On Wedenesday, Galina took her lesson at 2:00 pm at Stefani’s place. Because she is from Sanur, logically it would be to her convenience if she were to take it there. She has just got back from Florida where she stayed for sometime running her business. And now that she’s back again, she needed to polish her skill on tango once more. Galina loves tango so much. While she has been out for sometime, but the minute I danced with her when I brought her to a few rounds of dancing, she was almost back in form. She herself couldn’t believe it. She was impressed by her ability to still dance the tango. I reminded her to be a bit more centered by being more focused on her axis as he defines weight change and would from time to time remind her that she must press her lower abdominal muscles and squeeze her butt to avoid duck-tailing,

At 4:30 pm Stefani and I were off to Jimbaran for the Jenggala jive workshop scheduled at 5:00 pm. Again everyone in the Jenggala staff is in the foyer ready for action. It was the same people able and willing to go through the rigors of slow slow quick quick slow as we worked back on the last meeting’s figures/steps that were taught them. I added some new combinations enough to last for the remaining time left that lasted for two hours. Everyone seemed to have picked-up the new step and was seen exchanging partners to practice and remember the series. As usual, the Jenggala kitchen provided snacks for us which we all feasted on.

In the evening, I hurried back home to map out plans for TANGO CARAVAN. I was in touch with the General Manager of Abasto Plaza Hotel as per Maria Lukito’s instruction. She wanted me to coordinate with them regarding accommodation when they stay in Buenos Aires. Abasto Plaza Hotel is a 4-star tango hotel. It’s located in Suburban Abasto along Corrientes St, which is roughly ten minutes away from the city center without traffic. I was also trying to obtain information regarding Rio de Jainero and Iguazu as these two places are included in our itinerary.

Like I said previously, this tango tour will take me back to the days when I worked as a tour guide in the Philippines some twenty years ago. I simply enjoyed doing all these planning and mapping out itinerary and schedule as I complete the line-up for the said tour. I was also in touch with my travel agent in Kuala Lumpur helping me with booking reservation with Malaysian Airlines. Gosh! there were just too many things to do I didn’t realize that it will eat up my time as I shuttle from teaching and working as a tour operator. But no regrets as this will be another feather on my cap when it gets going. Let’s keep going then!

The succeeding days till Sunday, Mark, Franziska, Lola, Helena, Sabine and Peter all showed up for their lessons. I have not seen Peter for ages like wife Galina. And I was just too happy to teach him once again the Argentine tango. I remember both husband and wife were with us in Buenos Aires two years ago. They both enjoyed their stay there and even thought of living in the city as it gave them the ambience that they have been looking for in a city. In Galina’s words, Buenos Aires is a beautiful city which offers many things to its residents. But above all it has tango. Yes his wife has been bitten by the bug since she set foot in Buenos Aires more so when she saw the “milongas” the city is noted for. Peter has no choice but to follow his wife’s wishes. That’s how Peter loves Galina so much. Anything for Galina, he will do it. That’s why he’s in for his lesson today because this is what Galina wants. She wants him to be able to dance the tango so the two of them can tango together anywhere in the world.

I remember Peter with very weak lead from the very beginning. His posture was a bit sluggish and it needed total definition for him to find his center. I have emphasized this element during past lessons but I am again redefining it so that it gives him better understanding of previous discussions concerning this matter. I tried making him move his shoulder forward as it tends to always slip backwards. This will result to a poor unclear lead if not corrected. By asking him to breathe as he pumps air into his diaphragm, this will enable him to define his center and will only then be able to hold his upper body in one piece to direct it to a slight leaning forward position.

His shoulder tension was another issue to be addressed. Surely, with a very weak center, tightening of the shoulder is the easiest way out for one to move into tango or even other dances. This is a common problem for people who do not use their torso during leads because of an undefined center, a reason why most people will lead with their arms in the beginning until corrections have been made.

With proper breathing exercises and making him focus on his center as he presses his lower abs tightly is what made Peter somewhat draw the distinction of a chest lead brought about by this understanding. He was seen getting more balanced and partly leading with his chest as he tries to bring me to the basic “cruzada” and back and front crosses. Given a little more time and Galina will sure realize her dream of making Peter dance tango very well. Be patient Peter. Like what you said a happy wife is a happy life. And to you Galina, be patient as well. Peter’s gonna make it. Promise!

As I was going over my life as a teacher during the week, I was happy to receive an email from Anne Lim. Anne is the personal secretary of Jannie Tay of the Hour Glass. And she told me to furnish them with details regarding the possibility of staging Roberto Herrera’s group in May for a charity event to be spear-headed by Jannie no less. I was stunned at the proposal as I didn’t expect that this would materialize so soon considering that Jannie sounded me off about this last November when Roberto was conducting private lessons for her. Gosh! I was just reeling from the success of TANGOXPOSED last November, and here I am busy planning and organizing TANGO CARAVAN for March, now comes another big project in TANGO NUEVO de Roberto Herrera scheduled for May. This is a triple whammy! I couldn’t believe it.

 I wasted no time contacting Gabriella, Roberto’s manager to inform her of the recent development and promised to get back to me as soon as she obtains an answer from Roberto who is currently in Korea. Meanwhile, I sat back and relax during Sunday as I once again asked Wiwik to pamper me with traditional Balinese massage. What a life?

Dateline: Bali  January 22-28, 2007

                                                      WEEK 4

I couldn’t believe the recent development in my career. I was feeling jubilant on the first day of the week brought about by the many good things which have shaped up of late. I feel I’m getting more than what I wished for when I started embarking on an international career as a tango guru in Southeast Asia. People in the dancing world specifically tango around the region know me as a teacher. When I did TANGOXPOSED last November, people saw the other side of me as an events organizer. This coming March people will see me as a tango tour operator organizing special tango tours to Buenos Aires and the surrounding area. I am very pleased at the way things have turned out through the years. And these are all but a product of hard work, blood, sweat and tears to make these things happen. Pardon me with my self-glorification. I just couldn’t help but assess my situation and saw what I have achieved during the years. Let me go back to teaching this week.

On Monday husband and wife Maria and David from Bandung but are residents of Bali came for their first private lesson with me. I would normally see this couple attending the weekly “practicas” and have since become ardent followers of tango. I brought them to the usual walking exercises which they are so familiar with now but presented them with a more detailed approach to understanding the finer points to make it more proper. The entire one hour was focused mainly on weight changes, defining axis and playing their roles as leader and follower. With these three elements, I managed to make them feel how it is to dance with each other without any manifestations of shoulder tension. Because this is the main predicament I see in them. While they have managed to attend several “practicas” but not once were we able to attend to them as succinctly as I am doing now with their private lesson. They were doing quite well and were both happy at the new inputs they have derived from this outing. They certainly know that it will take them sometime before they can become good dancers but they are in no rush. But one thing is clear though, I can see a growing passion in them which is more than enough to make me happy. Keep it up!

Mark and Lola were seen again taking the next lesson together. Both are seemed determined to really work it out as pair and why not. They deserve this little pleasure that can be derived from dancing with the right partner. And because both of them are driven, I see no reason why they should deprive themselves of this happiness specially so if they can work out on the many things that they have learned during these last two years. I gave them a continuing part of the series I taught them last time when Mark has to cut short his lesson. And now that Mark is on a rebound and Lola is certainly ready to jump the gun for more tango, we carried on for the entire one hour working on as much complicated routines that I can make them work on. They love the challenge and I was just pleased to give them whatever they fancied but made sure that they stayed within the context of what is prescribed by the discipline of tango. There is no way I will make my students over-look at these facts. And I always put my foot down for quality dancing. They were both satisfied with that marathon lesson we did and promise to cat-up with the coming “practicas” this week as they tango once more. Well done folks!

From Tuesday till Thursday Sabine, Helena, Franziska, Nancy, Ellen, And Anama were seen taking their share of private lessons during my stay. Sabine is definitely improving as she holds on tightly to keep up the gains she has achieved from the many lessons she has made since she started going back into tango. No pain. No gain. But you will definitely make it Sabine.

I was happy to work on Nancy again. She has been busy traveling lately and has been going through some health problems that she somehow slipped-out of tango these past few months. But being the real aficionado that she is, she still bounced back to resume her learning thus enabling her to keep the many things that she have learned in the past specially the experience she got when se went to Buenos Aires two years ago. I would say that Nancy has improved a lot despite the lull and the long absence from the tango scene. Today, I just gave her a refresher on the many things that she already knows and did a little correction concerning posture. She was great for a come backing “tanguera”.

Ditto with Ellen, who is Nancy’s alter ego in Jenggla, where she works as a top level executive for the firm, has also been consistent with the progress she has achieved since she last took lessons with me. I’m happy at the way Ellen has manifested her likeness for tango considering that in the beginning she was just tagging along with Nancy who kept pushing her to learn the dance. Now, after many lessons that were somehow forced upon her, she has gotten to like the dance and has developed some kind of passion for the dance. I can see that she’s getting more and more adept with the music as she tries to follow my lead while she executes them into movements. I can feel too that she’s gotten more grounded this time.

Anama on the other hand tried taking her last class with me before she flies off to Colorado. I gave her several exercises to enhance the elements contained in the basic understanding of tango. She knew very well that her movement now has considerably changed for the better and that she gets to feel the dance much better prior to her lessons. Exercises on weight shifting, balance/axis, connection, definition of center and musicality have been accorded to this wonderful lady whom we would all be missing in the next six months. Bon voyage Anama! Bist Gleich!

Victoria carried on from where we left last week. I brought her to the front and back crosses after making her define the basic elements from the beginner’s level. She got more excited when she started turning into figures of 8 the way she sees other ladies doing this exciting figure. While relatively quiet and a mere observant, Victoria like some of my students possesses quite an analytical mind trying to understand every word I say during my discussion of the aforementioned subject. I would say that while her mind understands the discussion her body is equally receptive as it allows theories translated into movement. Her muscle memory is superb.

During these days Helena as usual would provide me with the much needed relief from a heavy dose of tango. We did some new steps for jive enough to make her boogie once more. We sweated it out during the whole one hour trying to learn these new fancy steps as we dropped from too much exhaustion. I don’t want to admit that I’m getting old. Honestly, I still can run and brisk-walk for a cool one hour, but rock n’ roll/jive could just be tiring.

The two “practicas” during the week were again well-attended. That’s why I can see Stefani’s smile grinning from ear-to-ear. All her hard work is paying off. And credit of course goes to her for having worked so hard to make her realize this dream of creating a tango movement in the island of Bali.

During my absence, Stefani would take over the “practica”, but of course, and she is ably assisted by this young chap called Matthew. Matt is a twenty year old guy who has been trained by Stefani to dance the tango. I would say that this guy has the heart for tango. He admitted it to me once, and I was so impressed with his enthusiasm to carry on learning the dance since he started joining the “practicas.” After more than one year of constantly practicing with the Tango Bali club members, Matt has developed into a confident “tanguero” that Stefani has designated him to be her assistant as she conducts lessons, workshop or “practicas” when needed. I’m happy for you Matt. Keep up the good work.

Time really flies so fast. I only have three days to go to wrap up my work in Bali. While doing all these teachings Stefani and I were also busy planning and sorting out details for TANGO CARAVAN. I will be meeting up with the Tatler people on Sunday in Jakarta on my way back to Singapore and I have to make sure that my final presentation for the project will merit their final approval.

On Friday I had Peter again for his second lesson during this visit. We went over to a series of patterns specifically “giros” and wife Galina was there to watch over him. Galina who acted like a stage mother was directing and advising Peter on what and what  not to do. Galina loves it so much that Peter would be able to dance with her one day her favorite dance, the tango. And I understand her sentiment. Peter was his usual cool and jolly self as he went with the flow allowing himself to learn everything that has been taught him during the one hour lesson while wife Galina back-benches. Just kidding! But Peter like Galina has also the heart for tango which makes both of them winners in the end. Keep tango-ing!

Mimi had her lesson as well. She came over at 5:00 pm straight from work. Always busy that she is, Mimi still can find time to learn tango which has become her passion. While she was just a mere observer from the very first time she came for workshops more than a year ago, she somehow managed to get bitten by the tango bug in one of the “practicas” that she chose to stay on with the club to continue learning the dance. So every time I’ am in town, she will sign in for private lessons to build up on her tango. She has improved a lot despite her poor muscle memory but like what I use to mention, with constant repetition, there is no other way for one to go but to remember the things that have been discussed concerning steps/figures/disciplines/forms and what have you. She is now dancing much better now but still needs a little more fine-tuning especially on breathing and weight changes to enable her to receive the lead with much ease and grace.

Over the weekend, the German ladies Franziska, Anama, Sabine, and Victoria were once again seen lining up for a few remaining lesson until I leave on Sunday. I would say that all four ladies have done fairly well during this trip and they only deserve the best coaching that I could ever give them because they are dedicated and passionate “tangueras.” I salute these ladies for their exuberance and wish them the best of everything about tango. They’ve done fairly well during this trip of mine. And again I am satisfied with the results they have given.

As I set off for my next journey, I still have my last routine to do. And this is my Balinese massage courtesy of my regular masseur, Wiwik. He went over my tired body once more as I prepare myself to leave for Jakarta on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

On Sunday afternoon, I took off for Jakarta via GA 405 at 1:10 in the afternoon to meet up with Maria Lukito , Rony Wongkar and Cindy Sondakh regarding the implementation of TANGO CARAVAN.

I arrived in Jakarta one hour delayed from my scheduled arrival. All three were already waiting for me since 1:00 pm at a “nyonya” restaurant in Menteng area. I was so apologetic about the delay that when I finally made it to the venue, they asked me to relax and just have my meal first before we start with the meeting. They were very nice and accommodating I knew this TANGO CARAVAN would be successful judging from the attitude and behavior of the three main participants.

As I finished off my lunch, they all joined me for dessert as we discussed the agenda for my visit. From itinerary, to air ticket price/class etc., down to accommodation, we discussed everything that needed to be discussed to make a final go of this project. By the end of our discussion, we all have finally agreed to make this project happen. Done deal!

I’m really excited about this development in my career. From a teacher, I have branched out to become an events organizer in TANGOXPOSED and now a tour specialist in TANGO CARAVAN. All these years I did nothing but worked hard and realize my dream of one day contributing something for the growth of tango in Asia. And it’s happening now. Need I say more?

The following day lessons were again conducted for all three participants. This is to prepare them for better understanding of the Argentine tango before they set foot in its birthplace, Buenos Aires.

It was a busy day for me as I ran a six hour private lesson for Cindy, Rony and Maria one after another. I started at 11:00 am with Rony taking the first slot. He decided to focus mainly on basic walks and asked me to really do everything to correct his posture. He was quite attentive and focused I would say as I outlined one by one all the necessary corrections needed to make him improve on his dancing. He was very pleased to feel good about his movements when we ended the 2-hour class that saw him moving and walking much better. He needed more time to consolidate it in his body all the inputs that have been received during this session.

Cindy then took the next slot at 1:00 pm. She has always been telling me to make her a very good tango dancer. I don’t know if I have to take her seriously as she doesn’t seem to me that interested with tango except for the fact that she may only like the figures that normally go with the dance and usually what moneyed ladies like her would go for. But giving her the benefit of the doubt, I took her plea seriously and carried on with the discussion of her previous lesson concerning shoulder tension, axis/balance etc. These two elements were outlined in details to make her realize that she needs to be centered to avoid creating shoulder tension each time she moves. Like Rony, she was quite attentive and also a serious learner I would say.

Maria then took the last slot at 3:00 pm. Like Cindy, I have to continue making her understand defining her center. She actually has made lots of improvement from day one of her lesson with me. The entire two-hour class made her understand the importance of all these elements I have been discussing all along, as she finally felt getting and feeling much better with her movement. She was very glad at the progress she’s made.

I wrapped up my class as I rushed off to my hotel to catch-up with my flight to Singapore this evening. Jakarta is indeed happening. I feel great that I finally made it to this city as I teach and do projects concerning tango as I boarded my plane to Singapore via GA 830.

               For more information about tango in Bali visit www.tangobali.com ,

               Tango in Jakarta, visit: www.iodi.com