Martha and Manolo 2

Martha and Manolo always seem to start with a class mostly of beginners, and at the end everyone is dancing a bit of canyengue. Martha teaches the 'basic' to a group of women who've not danced canyegue before, then brings one of them over to me; 'Dance the basic with her!' So we dance the basic, and again, and again. She seems quite confident, so I sneak in ochos, canyengue-style and her face lights up. She dances tango, and ochos are familiar. More! More! Bit by bit I start remembering everything I've learned; walking turns, cunitas, rock steps, various walks... Not a huge amount, but enough to make life interesting, and we just keep dancing and dancing. Fantastic practice for me, listening to that steady rhythmic beat and remembering what I've been learning, and she's not complaining. We stop to ask Martha about the posture, Manolo intervenes to make some corrections, and has a dance with her, then we continue: she doesn't want to stop, and neither do I. Then, end of class; her boyfriend arrives and takes her away, and I walk slowly back to Barrio Norte, reflecting that I've had at least one memorable dance every day. Worth coming all the way from the UK for that..

A young Brazilian woman, here to dance tango for a few weeks, probably for the milogueando. & I guessed she had classical dance training. She obviously enjoyed canyengue, and commented on how she liked the heavy, down-on-the-floor feel of it, and how it's a sort of proto-tango. True, and it's fun, too.