Muma teaching Ricardo Vidort's legacy in California this October

Jantango very kindly passed on a link to some videos of Muma's visit to the US in October. There's a long radio interview, and several tracks of performances with Rafael Galante from LA. It's such a pleasure to watch Muma dance. There's nothing rushed or over-eager about her dance: it's as if she tries to step at the last possible moment. It adds a particular energy to her movements, and to me this langorous, unhurried way of stepping makes her dance more sensual. Sadly, there's been nothing at all from Ojai or Seattle, where she gave workshops. She also taught in LA, so we can only hope that videos of some of her 2015 teaching in the US will emerge.

There's just one video I can find of Muma teaching: it's during her visit to Vancouver in 2009. There's a short account of her teaching on posture (with a very helpful exercise) from her visit to Seattle in the same year.

The radio interview is nearly two hours, although the first ten and the last 20 minutes are 'filler', and it's split up with music tracks. It's also long because translation is sequential, but it's fascinating and brilliant to listen to. Muma's family background was 'golden age' tango, and it's wonderful to listen to her recollections of the musicians and the dance she grew up with.

This is a general summary. The interview begins with general family background.

00:35 She talks about Tanturi's Asi se baile el Tango and says it describes exactly how tango was danced when she was growing up. (There's a translation of the song here.) Then she talks about d'Arienzo, then Di Sarli. (A real insight into tango as it's heard in Buenos Aires. Essential.)

01:01 She talks about the importance of codigos in Buenos Aires, but implying that courtesy and respect should be followed generally. Cabaceo as a 'seductive game'. Respecting the dance floor, not barging into the line of dance, etc.

01:11 Talking about Ricardo Vidort, a great description of how he danced. Importance of perfecting the walk. As to the 'eight classes', '...in all the years I spent working with Vidort I never heard him mention to me that he had eight classes'. How his classes actually were. 'It's a lifetime of practice.'

01.24 Other people she danced with.

Of course, there's more. Ojai's advance advertising highlighted the '8 lessons' as the topic of Muma's workshops, but Muma herself says in the interview that they didn't exist in a precise form, and their later publicity toned it down to the teaching of 'La esencia of Ricardo Vidort'. She explains that he believed in teaching walking and some basic material, which could be taught in six, eight, ten classes. After that it was up to those who learned from him to go out and create their own tango from these fundamentals. She also says that he wasn't the kind of teacher who wanted to claim students and get them coming back to him again and again. You need to be pointed in the right direction, but after that it's up to you to work on it.

Muma in Ojai, and online links to Ricardo Vidort

I'll put this page here, at the risk of overwhelming a 'private home' in Ojai, because  it's a cause for celebration that Muma has been invited to put this teaching together,  and with hopes that she'll be invited to Europe (and to the UK in particular!) to teach it here as well. Moreover, the article has a number of links to YouTube, but nothing new. Incidentally, I wish there were 'hundreds of examples of Ricardo's dancing on the internet'! Many thanks to Jantango for the link. Home | "Equinox" | Ojai / Monday | Ventura / Tuesday | Nevada City |  Workshops  |  | Resources | Contact

Tango Lab in Ojai:  October 2015 Celebrated Milonguera + Teacher Muma Valino — from Buenos Aires — The "8 Lessons"   — of Ricardo Vidort — Monday - October 12, 2015 — at a private home in Ojai — More Information:   Tango Lab Overview           Muma's Bio + Background More Links to Muma + Ricardo           Past Quantum Tango Workshops Tango Lab with Muma Valino:  Ricardo's "8 Lessons" Muma & Ricardo Vidort, dancing in 2001 — at the opening of "Bien Jaileife," her milonga in Buenos Aires A classic milonguera and celebrated teacher, Muma Valino visits Southern California + Ojai for the first time ... on what may be her last ever tour to North America. Muma is master of dancing tango in the intimate "close embrace" of the milongas and dance floors of Buenos Aires, where she grew up and still lives today. The daughter of a well-established tango family, the likes of Alberto Castillo and Ricardo Tanturi were frequent visitors to her childhood home, and her mother was a singer with the orchestra of Francisco Lomuto. In her own time, Muma has been a cherished dance partner of several of the most renowned + influential social dancers of her generation — among them, Osvaldo Natucci, Fernando Hector Iturrieta, and Dani "El Flaco" García — and with these and others, Muma has helped create a vital "living bridge" between the Golden Age of tango's storied past, and the dance we continue to explore, create and enjoy together today. In this regard, , Muma is perhaps most widely known for her many years of dancing and teaching with the legendary milonguero Ricardo Vidort, who began as a teenager in Buenos Aires in the 1940s, and passed away in 2006, after more than 60 years in tango. Like Muma, Ricardo was a consummate social dancer whose philosophy and approach centered on the nuanced interactions and subtle pleasures of the milonga, where we gather not to "perform" tango for the benefit of any onlooker, but to share and celebrate the pleasure of being with each other, moving together in the company of friends and the music that we love. As a key figure in the "Tango Renaissance" that began in the 1980s, Ricardo was also famous for his views on teaching and tango pedagogy — especially for his push back against those who sought to make tbe dance seem much more complex, rarefied and esoteric than he felt it needed to be in order for us to enjoy it on the social dance floor. Rather than taking an endless series classes in the vain pursuit of an elusive and hypothetical "perfection," Ricardo suggested that dancers could find more value and pleasure in focusing on just a few key concepts, ideas, principles and techniques — a solid foundation that would enable them to enjoy and expand on a lifetime of tango — dancing, learning and improvising on the social dance floor. One well-known expression of Ricardo's philosophy was his claim that he could convey all that one needed to know — all the essentials of tango — in just "8 Lessons," after which he would send the newly minted dancer out into the world of the milongas, to apply and refine these insights over time as they discovered and created their own unique and personal "style" — one of the milongueros' highest values. ... Alas, Ricardo never took time out to document and record the many details of his famous "8 Lessons" approach to learning tango. But to our great good fortune, Muma was there — dancing and teaching right alongside Ricardo during the height of his influence and activity in the 1990s and early 2000s ... And she has generously offered to share and pass on some of her unique insight into the ideas, concepts and material that she and Ricardo developed and explored together. Most of Muma's recent visits to North America have focused on Tango communities in the Pacific Northwest — Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Eugene — where she is a cherished presence. Muma has a reputation as a warm and easy-going teacher, able to convey tango's nuances with clarity and grace, and who embodies the pleasure and confidence that she brings to the dance floor. Muma's teaching has been described as "hands on" rather than analytical — less about the mechanics of any given movement or situation, and more about how we can each find and express the deeper, richer and more resonant "emotional core" of our own personal tango. Please join us in Ojai for this rare opportunity to spend a little time with Muma Valino and her "8 Lessons" of Ricado Vidort — an invaluable window onto Tango's rich history, and a welcome inspiration for our ongoing evolution + the unfolding future that lies ahead ... Muma's visit to Ojai is being made possible by the generosity of our fellow dancers and organizers, DJ Ronaldo + Melinda Bread, who are hosting Muma on her first ever visit to Southern California, and who will present another invitational workshop with Muma over the weekend, focusing on Milonga Tráspie and her dancing + teaching with Dani "El Flaco" García. Overview:  Ricardo's "8 Lessons" with Muma Valino When:  Monday, October 12, 2015 Where:  in a private home in Ojai Tango Lab: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. - a Two-Hour Seminar on  Ricardo's "8 Lessons"           — plus supervised práctica time with Muma Cost:  $30 / Dancer * ... (= $60 / couple)    *   For this edition of "Tango Lab" ... •    Active Social Dancers This edition of Tango Lab is aimed at active social dancers in our local and neighboring communities. To join us with confidence on Monday evening, you should be familiar and comfortable with dancing in a closer embrace — improvising tango in varying floor conditions, to a range of music, with a variety of partners ... •    Role Balanced In order to maximize everyone's experience and insure that we have an equal number of leaders and followers, you are encouraged to register and attend Tango Lab with a partner. For single dancers interested in Tango Lab, please let us know your role, and we will do our best to match you with an appropriate single partner, if available ... And while "traditional" gender roles are not a limitation — women who lead and men who follow are both welcome — we will plan on keeping to an even number of dancers so that everyone will have a partner throughout this seminar ... •    Limited Enrollment Thank you for your understanding that, because of the size of the room, we will only be able to accommodate a limited number of dancers for this intimate seminar in a private home with Muma Valino. Questions + Registration — please contact:   Stephen Bauer ... More About Muma Valino A lifelong milonguera, Muma Valino lives and breathes the most prominent social form of Argentine Tango — as danced in a "close embrace" in the crowded clubs and salons of her native Buenos Aires. The daughter of a well-connected tango family, Muma grew up steeped in the music, movements and traditions of the dance. As tango reemerged in the "Renaissance" of the late 1980s and 1990s, Muma became one of the most prefered partners for a generation of older milongueros who began dancing back in tango's "Golden Age." Not only was Muma a welcome presence on the everyday social dance floors of the milongas, she was also a highly valued colleague in countless demonstrations and lessons. Over the years of teaching with her fellow milongueros, Muma has emerged as a gifted and celebrated teacher in her own right — widely acknowledged as a master of milonga tráspie, the lively "tango picado," and the philosophy + approach of her long-time collaborator, the renowned Ricardo Vidort. Some of Muma's Partners — Clockwise from top left: Ricardo Vidort, Dani "El Flaco" García, Osvaldo Natucci, and Fernando Hector Iturrieta. Above:  Muma teaching, dancing and demoing in the Pacific Northwest, 2009 - 2012 ... this will be her first visit to Southern California More Links for Muma Valino + Ricardo Vidort Muma on Ricardo Vidort Muma reminiscing about dancing + teaching with her friend, the late Ricardo Vidort. Muma's Dancing in Buenos Aires •  With Ricardo Vidort, at the opening of her milonga, "Bien Jaileife" (2001) ... •  Demo with Dani "El Flaco" García, milonga tráspie at "Sunderland" (2001) ... •  On the social dance floor, dancing vals with Osvaldo Natucci at "El Beso" (2000) ... •  On the social dance floor, with Fernando Hector Iturrieta at "Lo de Celia" ... Muma's Teaching A video collage of Muma teaching in Vancouver, BC, (2009) ... and an overview of her upcoming workshops, later this month in Eugene, Oregon. Interviews with Ricardo Vidort Speaking on video with dancer + writer Janis Kenyon in 2001, Ricardo profiles his philosophy + approach to tango as a social art form. Transcripts of later interviews — on his life in tango ... on learning + feeling ... and his last interview, looking back when he was in hospice. Ricardo's Dancing There are hundreds of examples of Ricardo's dancing on the internet, but this series is from Rome, probably filmed in the early 2000s, before he fell ill ... More Reflections on Ricardo's Impact on Tango From a longer article, "The Last Compadrito," by friend, tanguero + blogger Rick McGarry, from his website Tango and Chaos. Earlier in the article, Rick also shares his views on Ricardo's dancing as profiled several imbedded video clips ... More writings on the idea of "Simplicity" in tango and Ricardo's famous "8 Lessons" approach to the dance ... And, beginning at 00:34, a video collage of Ricardo — dancing, teaching, chatting, and having fun in the homes, cafes, studios and milongas of Buenos Aires ... Muma's translator during her visit to Ojai will be her friend Ronaldo. A dancer + DJ in Los Angeles, Ronaldo also hosts the radio program, Tango Angeles on UBN.

Muma speaks

The opportunity to spend four minutes in the company of Muma as she recalls meeting, dancing and teaching with the late Ricardo Vidort. It's wonderful to hear her talk about tango, having only watched her dancing. Thanks again to Bendtango.

Muma

Just some notes: sadly, I'm not going to get to meet her this time around either. She has a website with videos and a biography, which says she learned in the traditional way, and that's how she teaches.

Sadly, again, there are few videos of her on YouTube. Jantango filmed her in Lo de Celia, but it's during a milonga, so not always clear. There are several demonstration milongas. I posted about her before here and Ampster, who was lucky enough to take classes with her, records her advice on posture here. The best milonga ever filmed (but perhaps not the best film of a milonga) is on Jantango's blog: there's a link to it in this post. Muma dancing with Ricardo Vidort... and Gavito also on the floor.

After Maria Plazaola teaching in boots, here's Muma teaching bare-foot in Vancouver... But I think the best is this video with 'El Flaco' Dany. Unfortunately, the pixelation is eye-watering. Despite El Flaco running all around her she seems completely unhurried, completely cool. I think it also shows the grounded quality of local dance, which continues to remind me of canyengue: the weight comes down firmly, it's a beautiful, down-to-earth dance, and yet her feet are wonderfully fast and accurate. There's something of a dream-like quality in her dance. Beautiful.