This feed contains the 10 most recent pages in the "dance" category.

Just a short note to present a part of this blog, the static pages, which I currently will mostly use for collections of clips I want to have constantly present instead of getting lost in the history of this blog.

I'm starting off with a few tango video clips.

We'll see where this leads, I might add other static stuff as well.

Posted May 11, 2011, 2:30:28 AM +0200 | Tags: dance

Last summer, Sweden's tango community was in shock, the Tango Portal on the net was gone, all there was was a note from the owner saying that it is no more. I won't go into detail about it... however, quite a number of people scrambled to their feet, a couple creating their own site as quick replacement.

There's also this group of people who realised that a site with such popularity couldn't rest on the shoulders of one single person who might get tired of it some day and no longer care about it... so, a few of us got together and created an association that would stand behind a new Tango Portal (dansatango.nu, meaning "dance tango, now"), truly owned by community, making it possible for people to come and to leave as they get inspired or tired of it all without risking the future of the site.

In mid septembre, the association itself was started, and the site got started on not long after.

About 2 months later, the site was ready enough to get a following and be useful, and it was time to have a release party. Yesterday was the day, and it became a lovely evening with red wine, Empanadas and of course, lots of tango.

Mmmm, to tango, and to feel free to actually do it, daring to ask someone out on the floor, feeling that I can handle this, that I can lead a beautiful dance with quite a number of different dancers, or that I can follow easily, sensing quite a lot of the signals I get and do something nice with them. I recall a year ago, when I fel very new at this, you'd hardly catch me going to a tango evening like this. I did less than a year ago, but still, you wouldn't catch me inviting someone to dance. The difference between then and now amazes me sometimes.

Posted Nov 21, 2010, 8:46:57 AM +0100 | Tags: dance

They watched us, dressed in red, black and a little bit of white.
They watched us sweep each other over the uneven floor covered with a carpet.
They watched us take turns, alternating between following and conducting.

We did a three piece tanda, a bit of classic, a bit of modern, a bit of fun.
We danced, with movements, with flow, with stubbornness and with joy.

They applauded at the end, with lots of heart. We rejoiced.

Posted Jun 21, 2010, 1:13:27 AM +0200 | Tags: dance

Her scent remains, after having danced, arms interlocked.
Her scent remains on my arms, it's like she followed me home.
Her scent remains on my arms, reminding me of the few days we had.

And all I can do, is smile.

Posted Jun 20, 2010, 11:50:29 PM +0200 | Tags: dance

I see relationships as intricate dances that two people enter, no matter what else goes on around them or who else is waiting in the wings the goal is to focus solely on that dance, on the steps, and part of the art of dance is gracefully switching partners, whether the other partner is a job, a child, a friend... no matter what it is that takes the dancer's attention from the intricate dance.

Posted Jan 20, 2010, 9:53:15 PM +0100 | Tags: dance

I'm realising more and more that dancing is a much bigger part of my life than I thought... I remember the joy of going to Dance New England summer camp every august while being in a relationship with Lisa, I remember the joy of going to the Samsara dance club here in Stockholm for a bit... then there was nothing for a while until last year, when Charlie and I went to an introduction to tango, and we went to a queer tango evening evening a couple of months later... I went on taking a course this autumn.

Also, last spring, inspired by Karin, I've started going learning to dance Swedish folk dance, mostly at Skeppis, where you get to learn and dance for free.

So yes, dancing is very much part of my life, and I believe it will remain so.

Posted Nov 13, 2009, 12:13:48 AM +0100 | Tags: dance

Last friday evening, Charlie and I went to Chicago dancing. The main thing we were after was to tango, but there were other dances to play with as well, such as Salsa and Lindy Hop.

Queer tango is, according to the lovely teacher Charlotte, is really the original stuff, from before it got sexualised into men being the "leaders" and women being the "followers", and in that setting, I spent most of my time being a follower, which was quite an experience.

When I've danced before (free dance setting, individual or with someone), I've never found myself in a defined role of the dance, it's been mostly that both try to follow each others movements, or that I've danced with myself only. I've been uncomfortable with leading as well as following. Having started with tango has opened up a new world for me, as I discover I can take a lead in my life.

However, the little experience I've had dancing tango with Charlie, it's been as a leader, and as such with no other experience, I've wondered from the start what it is to be a follower in the dance, how that feels and what freedoms you still have. Last friday I got to experience it, and I loved it!

The evening itself went like this:

  • an hour of queer tango instruction.
  • a couple of hours dance, some tango, some salsa, some lindy hop.
  • an hour of Lindy Hop show followed by Lindy Hop instruction.
  • more dancing.

As part of encouraging dancing, there was a dance bingo. We got a 4x4 sheet on paper with different statements (such as "Doesn't have a blog"), and after each dance, we could check if that dance partner had something that fit one of those statements and then cross it. Quite fun, really! And I ended up getting a row :-).

So I ended up dancing with a few people, sometimes as part of the instruction (we were encouraged to switch partners all the time, of course), but also as part of the dances themselves. I will never forget being asked to dance by this marvelous guy, asking me if I wanted to lead or follow, and after I said the latter and that I was entirely new at this, he swooped me off my feet. I have never before felt like I could just lean in to someone else, close my eyes and simply let my body do what it could do without thinking about it to such a deep level.
It was simply marvelous.

I danced a few times with Charlie (did I say she looked great for the evening, mainly dressed in black pants and a grey vest?), and we revelled in how well we got it, although being so new to these dances.


You know that bingo I meantioned earlier? Well, there were a number of people who'd gotten a row and there were only 5 prises to get.
Someone was called as first winner, I don't remember what prise she chose. The second winner was... Charlie! (she chose a copy of "Femmes of Power")
The third winner was... me! (I chose a black sleeveless T-shirt with the message "Redo för en kärleksaffär..." [eng: "Ready for a love affair..."] in white, which was really an ad for KLM, but I thought it would be perfect to wear in the poly section of the parade if I blackened the KLM logo and URL)
I can't recall who the other winners were, only that the two remaining prises were another T-shirt and incense.

Posted Aug 5, 2008, 8:40:22 PM +0200 | Tags: dance

The past few days, the Stockholm Globe Arenas offered the opportunity to try a number of different dances, and Charlie and I decided to try tango!

We had a blast, and the dance seemed fairly easy, at least for a start, and is yet a powerful dance!

We wanna do more of this.

Posted Jun 11, 2008, 1:22:18 PM +0200 | Tags: dance

To see all of them, check the archive-dance.

blog comments powered by Disqus